Mass Effect: Andromeda - Autism reaches outer space

Fight · Mar 23, 2017

Gunnar said:
Can you guys that make it sound like it is dripping with tumblr shit point some out to me. I'm not trying to argue with you or say you are wrong, I legit want to get some examples because I'm not picking it up and want to get an idea of if I'm just old and stupid or what.

The cuck, trans, gay shit in Bioware games has never been anything more than something to poke a bit of fun at, to me. It is a god-awful dialogue, fucktarded companions, and derptastic animations that made this a non-buy.

In addition to all that... I love Frostbite engine for more simple and contained games like the Battlefield series. But it completely ruined DA: Inquisition for me. It looks fucking amazing, no doubt... but the terrain obstacles and the challenge of navigating around the world are infuriating. The go here, flip this switch, and fetch that pointless shit for me gameplay should have died with WoW. If your game is built on these pointless tasks, I am fucking OUT.

Utnayan · Mar 23, 2017

Valderen said:
Utnayan

I'll ask you a serious question. I know you played Horizons and loved it, I did too...one of the best game in a long time, and as I said before might very well be in my top 5.

I want to be clear that Horizons and ME:A are not in the same league.

But you seemed so triggered by SJW stuff...I wonder how you could even begin to enjoy Horizons...the entire fucking game is nothing but SJW.

Spoilers are for Horizons not Mass Effect.

The world was destroyed by machines created by a man. He based his machines on machines made by a woman that were "green" and helpful.

How was the world saved? That same woman, came up with a plan to save it.

She created a "female" nurturing AI to rebuild the world.

How did things get fucked up again. An evil "male" AI started to corrupt everything. Who build that AI, a man once again.

They had plans for knowledge to be preserved...who was in charge of that...a woman. Who fucked it up and destroyed it. Faro, a man, same guy who created the machines that destroyed the world in the first place.

So how do we fix everything? Well the godlike female AI creates a messiah type savior who is in the image of her builder, a female.

How is that hero we're playing. She's a fucking Mary Sue...that is the best at everything she does. She's in a society with barely any knowledge of technology, but picks it up whenever she encounters it. Understands concepts that are complex to understand even today...cool explanation, she's the messiah reborn...it's in her DNA.

So people are trying to stop her from doing this. Who are they? Well a man that discovered the evil AI, created a cult for it to thrive and destroy the world with. The leader of cult is a man of course.

Of course everyone in the end is defeated by Mary Sue.

And she destroy the evil AI...no wait. It survives with the help of a man...to most likely created more problem again for Aloy.

The game also makes sure to cover minorities. The supporting cast is diverse in ethnicity and sexual orientation. There is a gay NPC in one side quest. There's a character with strong hints of being a lesbian that seems to like Aloy.

There are so many quests that are about female empowerement. Either by tracking man who did them wrong, or taking care of them.

Again both games, not in the same class. But none of the SJW in Horizons bothered me...and so far after 6.6 hours in Mass Effect, I've seen much less than in Horizons.

You are confusing female leads and a story where gender isn't thrown in your face, compared to a game in which facial graphics were purposely made ugly to not make a woman "Attractive" or Objectifed and a "I used to be Stephen, now I am this. Feels good, feels right" And honestly are trying to compare the two?

Are you fucking high?

Phazael · Mar 23, 2017

Gunnar said:
I am afraid I am a secret SJW fag because I haven't picked up on a single thing in 7 hours. Can you guys that make it sound like it is dripping with tumblr shit point some out to me. I'm not trying to argue with you or say you are wrong, I legit want to get some examples because I'm not picking it up and want to get an idea of if I'm just old and stupid or what.

Aren't you the dude who wanted to bang a tranny? You might have answered your own question there. Not judging, just saying.

But as I said earlier, if I was not exposed to this shit constantly, both by working at a SoCal college and from following GG closely, it would probably not be super noticeable. Having been "red pilled" to it and knowing the reps of the people involved in the game, you can see little nudges all over the place. Wait til you meet "Stephen".

As for your other observations, I am guessing some things were either done by the extra bodies from the Bioware A team (ancillary characters and voice acting) to get the game out the door or done super early in the games development (Clancy Brown stuff) before the competent people bailed. Looking at the credits it sure seems like Bioware tossed every warm body they could in the final year to get it out the door, which is not entirely uncommon. The idiot crew likely did not have time to micromanage those people at that point (and many were gone by then). The damage was done in the core game and characters, which is what makes it so obvious and egregious.

Vorph · Mar 23, 2017

Utnayan said:
Vorph - I would like to hear what you have to say since you rented it.

I have a theory.

I think I know what your theory is, but anyway...

All the criticism is spot-on based on what I've seen so far.

Animations are a goddamn shitshow just like everyone said. Combat stuff is decent, but wouldn't surprise me if they were able to recycle a lot from previous ME games. Literally every single conversation and cutscene is fucked up in multiple ways and the facial animation is the worst I have ever seen in any game worth talking about at all. Bug-eyes, duck lips, poor lip sync overall, random T-poses... it's got it all. Running around the ship/nexus, there's a disconnect between character and environment. The scale looks off, stairs might as well be ramps, etc. Running around planets isn't too bad, but the camera is practically shoved up your ass so it's less noticeable anyway.

Models aren't much better at least for humans/asari. It's not 'cartoony' it's just amateur hour like everything else. You can probably make a decent looking Ryder in the character creator with enough time invested, but the game is just going to shit on it anyway so why bother. I grabbed some presets from a GameFAQs post and it's passable I guess. When she's not moving and the face has a neutral expression, that is. Aliens seem fine overall.

Sound/voice/music are pretty much as ACG said. Sound is pretty good, but also probably has quite a bit of recycled effects from ME trilogy. Voices are amateur sounding all around. Not much of it is really offensive to the ears but there's nothing special either. The downgrade from Jennifer Hale to Fryda Wolff is massive, as expected. Dude Ryder sounds like he came into the studio and the director said, "uh, shit man, I dunno... how's your Nathan Drake impression?" Even Natalie Dormer is just kind of there. Music is frequently non-existent like others said, and nothing memorable when it's there.

Inventory seems like a return to ME1, both good (mods) and bad (everything else). UI has lots of usability issues on consoles, too many button presses to do anything. More on that under combat too. At least there's a graphics option to turn off film grain and chromatic aberration. I had a good laugh at their [completely wrong] description of what CA is though. I don't like that there are no Pro options at all. I would at least have liked the option to have the engine attempt 1080p60-ish rather than just getting 1800p30 checkerboard.

Combat is where I differ from other people. I think it's bad... really bad. I hate the removal of the skill wheel, the 3 power loadout, and the inability to command squad mates. The combo system was dumbed-down, but despite that I still have to land both the opener and the finisher myself almost all the time. The new cover system is more annoying than anything. Guns are mostly recycled from ME2/3 so at least they're ok. Biotics seem gimped just like in 2; can't affect anything with a shield which means you're fucked on higher difficulties, especially without team ammo powers from your companions (I assume they are exclusively from consumables in ME:A). I'm playing on normal anyway. I play pretty much all good games on hardest or second hardest, and even played DA:I on nightmare, but in this case the last thing I want is for the playtime to be padded with reloading and redoing fights where I died.

Story I don't really have a comment on yet. Expectations are very low after the "a lot changed in 600 years" intro, and of course the dialogue being cringy most of the time doesn't help.

khorum · Mar 23, 2017

Wait why aren't HZD and MEA in the same "class" again? Are you talking about outcomes or opportunities here?

Because opportunity-wise I can't imagine EA not giving Bioware all the rope they needed to hang themselves this badly. This is as much a triple-A product from a triple-A dev released by a triple-A publisher as HZD. But it's just shit.

Phazael · Mar 23, 2017

Utnayan said:
You are confusing female leads and a story where gender isn't thrown in your face, compared to a game in which facial graphics were purposely made ugly to not make a woman "Attractive" or Objectifed and a "I used to be Stephen, now I am this. Feels good, feels right" And honestly are trying to compare the two?

Are you fucking high?

Horizons has some SJW elements, but arguably they are well thought out and a backdrop part of the story, similar to how Last of Us (made by some really hard core SJWs) did. It never robbed from the story and most importantly you were never beat over the head with it.

goishen · Mar 23, 2017

Utnayan said:
Real question. How do you stomach any of this voice acting, dialogue, and shit story?

That is a serious question. I mean, tastes and all that? But how? The only good side quest I did in the 10 hour trial was a murder investigation that ultimately led me to EOS and figuring out what really happened in the fray. But everything else, especially the main story line, is some of biggest hogwashed garbage I have ever seen in a video game, and that's not hyperbole. How in the year of our lord in 2017 can you find that garbage, with a lot of SJW undertones and analogies in damn near every single bit of dialogue SOMEWHERE within the Dialogue of any given cut scene or bypass chatter, along with that sweet dialogue wheel which amounts to "LETS DO THIS" or "NOPE LETS NOT", be anything close to keeping anyone vested in this game? And don't even get me started on wanting to invest the time to click through some of the other dialogue options to find out more about an annoying character that has no development what so ever, or if I do, find out "I used to be named Stephen. Now I am this. Feels good. Feels right". Or Cora's undertones of the same garbage with her Biotic garbage veiled in the same vein.

I am honestly trying to understand your mindset here and your opinion. I am trying not to be harsh or critical of your opinion until I understand how you find all this juvenile writing even remotely close to engaging.

It's actually funny, because Cora is the one who I started to bond with first. Then, it just all went to shit. Every time I start talking with her I just feel more and more pulled out of the story.

It's like they said before the game was released. "We're getting rid of the binary system of paragon and renegade." They forgot to mention that they are leaving in a binary system without gating. Well, jesus, that makes me feel better. I just wish now that I could cut off all ties with everyone and go back to the milky way, even though it'll be some 1,200 years later.

And this DAI style combat and enemies popping up right where you left them is annoying, as well. Except now, you've got ammo. In Inquisition, you had an unlimited boom stick.

fml

Utnayan · Mar 23, 2017

Phazael said:
Horizons has some SJW elements, but arguably they are well thought out and a backdrop part of the story, similar to how Last of Us (made by some really hard core SJWs) did. It never robbed from the story and most importantly you were never beat over the head with it.

I look at SJW's as extreme psychopaths when it comes things. For me, when playing Horizon,

I am controlling a cool as hell and well acted female character, where a guy went corporate nuts trying to make cash and then protect his own ass, and someone (Who happened to be female, again, I do not care) wants to see the guy rot for what he did and was wicked smart to help save the world in the best way they knew how... and then that went to shit later

I did not look at this as male/female. I looked at it as person/person.

ME:A? It's over the top just like a extreme psychopath SJW would do it. In your face type garbage about sexual identity, gender roles, etc. None of this was in Horizon just because females had leading roles.

Vorph · Mar 23, 2017

For me the SJW parts of Horizon were balanced out by the fact that the Nora were a bunch of backwater religious nutjobs who seemed about a century behind the rest of civilization's development (kind of like the team of people who made ME:A). None of the reviewers/bloggers/etc. seemed to pick up on that while praising it as 'the feminist game we've all been waiting for'.

Phazael · Mar 23, 2017

Vorph
I don't think the combat is bad, but the environments (fucked up walk meshes all over the place), button layout, and cover inconsistencies put it below ME3. The Biotic thing? I am pretty much playing straight up Vanguard on Insanity, so the enemy shield shit does not hurt me as much, especially once I scrapped together enough shit to have N7 suit. But Insanity makes the existence of the jet pack mostly pointless in combat, since you cannot be out of cover for longer than a split second without getting ganked. The inability to strip down and get 200% cooldown is the bigger blow to biotics from ME3, especially in the early levels of MP. With the two things together? Adepts are pretty much completely fucked. I mean, the bonuses are nice when you can get the multiple combo explosions going, but you basically need charge/nova to do anything meaningful to shielded enemies and that means needing the shield leech mele from Vanguard to stay alive. I still like the combat better than most shooters, but it definitely is a step back from ME3, like everything else in this game.

But the main character voice acting... Jesus christ, the fem protagonist voice actress has the blue tip butch hairdo and spells Wolf with two Fs at the end, so you know she is going to be an untalented pretentious cunt. The derpy animations in the female face (that they hilariously insist on zooming in on constantly) just push the whole thing over the top. My wife actually pauses her PS4 (she is playing Horizon) when cutscenes come up just to laugh her ass off at it. But for my money, the female station commander and Cora are worse (both in acting and animation), we just don't see them as much in terms of screen time. And that is really the issue. The entire rest of the game could be perfect, but if your center piece that the player spends every minute of game play with is DerpRyder Lesbewolffffffff, any chance at immersion is broken, rendering the entire experience shit.

goishen · Mar 23, 2017

She did a voice in XCom 2. If you've played that, chances are you've heard her. It's not really her that I blame so much, or the dude. It's the god awful dialogue. To paraphrase ACG, if I wrote a script and then hired Jack Nicholson to read it, it would still come off as someone with riddled with ADD.

Noodleface · Mar 23, 2017

So I've always stated the ME series was trash. Reason being was I beat ME1 and thought it was garbage - graphics were shit, combat was shit, controls were abysmal, and It was short as anything. Is it even worth playing ME2-3 if I feel that way about 1?

Vaclav · Mar 23, 2017

Noodleface said:
So I've always stated the ME series was trash. Reason being was I beat ME1 and thought it was garbage - graphics were shit, combat was shit, controls were abysmal, and It was short as anything. Is it even worth playing ME2-3 if I feel that way about 1?

ME2/3 were definitely a departure from ME1 - ME:A in many ways returns to the ME1 formula which was rather dated when it was new, much less now.

I still enjoy it for what it is, but while I'm not sure I'd rate it worse than ME1 (I couldn't finish ME1 until ME2 was so good that I felt compelled to replay it and give it a full run through) - it definitely takes some notes from ME1.

matsb84 · Mar 23, 2017

Utnayan said:
Real question. How do you stomach any of this voice acting, dialogue, and shit story?

That is a serious question. I mean, tastes and all that? But how? The only good side quest I did in the 10 hour trial was a murder investigation that ultimately led me to EOS and figuring out what really happened in the fray. But everything else, especially the main story line, is some of biggest hogwashed garbage I have ever seen in a video game, and that's not hyperbole. How in the year of our lord in 2017 can you find that garbage, with a lot of SJW undertones and analogies in damn near every single bit of dialogue SOMEWHERE within the Dialogue of any given cut scene or bypass chatter, along with that sweet dialogue wheel which amounts to "LETS DO THIS" or "NOPE LETS NOT", be anything close to keeping anyone vested in this game? And don't even get me started on wanting to invest the time to click through some of the other dialogue options to find out more about an annoying character that has no development what so ever, or if I do, find out "I used to be named Stephen. Now I am this. Feels good. Feels right". Or Cora's undertones of the same garbage with her Biotic garbage veiled in the same vein.

I am honestly trying to understand your mindset here and your opinion. I am trying not to be harsh or critical of your opinion until I understand how you find all this juvenile writing even remotely close to engaging.

I don't think I'll be able to express exactly what it is that I like about the series, but I'll say this; I'm aware of the SJW stuff and bad writing, i just dont really care (read some of the ME companion novels, they're shit). It doesn't ruin the game for me. I just roll my eyes and carry on. I think they do enough to carry the main overarching story to make it interesting and they've done that since ME1. I'm still very early in ME:A, so maybe my opinion will change on it. Really, none of this series is all that well written. It just doesn't bother me as much as it does you i guess? Could just be the environment/theme and the overall story is enough for me (character development as well). With the character development, I think BW creates enough chances with your squad mates that you get to know them and actually feel invested in the relationship. From comments on random cities, to mentioning previous history in the ME universe or even just referencing old missions (Saren/Suicide Mission/etc). Yeah, the dialogue is mostly not great (there are some gems), but the things you do with those squad mates on missions builds kind of a bond, fake as it is, so by the time you get to ME3, and squad mates start getting killed off, you realize they'll be missed. One of the reasons i really really liked the Citadel DLC and bringing everyone together.

FO4 is a bit similar as far as story elements..the main story was poop (widely panned), but the environment/setting, and some of the other side stories were enough for me..plus mods. Though, the character development in FO4 was trash compared to ME, mostly nonexistent really. I think its hilarious that the main story track is about finding your kid, and yet, you can literally spend your time doing anything but looking for your kid, and theres not much said about it until you resume a quest dedicated to it. Smart design decision I think, otherwise you'd be like Michael from LOST yelling "WAAAAAAAAAAAAALT" every 5 seconds.

btw..ME3 was probably my favorite of the series, rubbish original ending and all (Citadel/Leviathan DLC were awesome). Though its pretty close between that and ME2.

Phazael · Mar 23, 2017

goishen said:
She did a voice in XCom 2. If you've played that, chances are you've heard her. It's not really her that I blame so much, or the dude. It's the god awful dialogue. To paraphrase ACG, if I wrote a script and then hired Jack Nicholson to read it, it would still come off as someone with riddled with ADD.

I blame her. Watch some interviews with her and one of the devs on Youtube. You don't give your main character to a complete newb to voice, especially when the predecessor was someone like Hale. It is especially jarring early because of all the scenes with Clancy Brown (who is always top notch) just amplify how terrible she is.

M matsb84
Fallout 4 was set in a semi parody universe (world never evolved past the 1950s culturally) with a lot of tongue and cheek unrealistic science for atmosphere (brainbots, supermutants, bottle caps as currency, ect) while ME has always been intended to be a serious setting. Thats largely why the entire Fallout series and others like it get a pass on story.

goishen · Mar 23, 2017

Vaclav said:
ME2/3 were definitely a departure from ME1 - ME:A in many ways returns to the ME1 formula which was rather dated when it was new, much less now.

I still enjoy it for what it is, but while I'm not sure I'd rate it worse than ME1 (I couldn't finish ME1 until ME2 was so good that I felt compelled to replay it and give it a full run through) - it definitely takes some notes from ME1.

No, it's not. It's DAI in space. That's it. I get so tired of hearing this argument over and over and over. More that later.

Yes, there is a reason to play ME2, but only because they improved on gameplay so much and dialogue (if you like ME1's dialogue) so much. ME3 is kind'a a mixed bag, improve on combat again, but then again the endings and the somber tone. Some people play it simply for the multiplayer aspect.

DAI and ME1 do share some core aspects. The semi-open world, the things that you can find that give you quests (short quests) in that world or zone. But other than that, they're completely different. For example, DAI gave you an unlimited boom stick. MEA gives you ammo and if you run out, you're SOL.

Vaclav · Mar 23, 2017

goishen said:
No, it's not. It's DAI in space. That's it. I get so tired of hearing this argument over and over and over. More that later.

Yes, there is a reason to play ME2, but only because they improved on gameplay so much and dialogue (if you like ME1's dialogue) so much. ME3 is kind'a a mixed bag, improve on combat again, but then again the endings and the somber tone. Some people play it simply for the multiplayer aspect.

DAI and ME1 do share some core aspects. The semi-open world, the things that you can find that give you quests (short quests) in that world or zone. But other than that, they're completely different. For example, DAI gave you an unlimited boom stick. MEA gives you ammo and if you tun out, you're SOL.

I play on Insanity - I don't run out of ammo (well, I do, but I know when to hit ammo boxes).... not to mention, if you played with research at all there's a "unlimited ammo" mod that's researchable if ammo is a concern ("Legacy Heat Sink" or something - sounds like it'll turn stuff into ME1 style - not gotten it yet - there's also another that turns HP into ammo, I do have that one, but didn't like how that weapon turned out (tried "energy beam mod" on it too - don't like the beam))

Utnayan · Mar 23, 2017

matsb84 said:
I don't think I'll be able to express exactly what it is that I like about the series, but I'll say this; I'm aware of the SJW stuff and bad writing, i just dont really care (read some of the ME companion novels, they're shit). It doesn't ruin the game for me. I just roll my eyes and carry on. I think they do enough to carry the main overarching story to make it interesting and they've done that since ME1. I'm still very early in ME:A, so maybe my opinion will change on it. Really, none of this series is all that well written. It just doesn't bother me as much as it does you i guess? Could just be the environment/theme and the overall story is enough for me (character development as well). With the character development, I think BW creates enough chances with your squad mates that you get to know them and actually feel invested in the relationship. From comments on random cities, to mentioning previous history in the ME universe or even just referencing old missions (Saren/Suicide Mission/etc). Yeah, the dialogue is mostly not great (there are some gems), but the things you do with those squad mates on missions builds kind of a bond, fake as it is, so by the time you get to ME3, and squad mates start getting killed off, you realize they'll be missed. One of the reasons i really really liked the Citadel DLC and bringing everyone together.

FO4 is a bit similar as far as story elements..the main story was poop (widely panned), but the environment/setting, and some of the other side stories were enough for me..plus mods. Though, the character development in FO4 was trash compared to ME, mostly nonexistent really. I think its hilarious that the main story track is about finding your kid, and yet, you can literally spend your time doing anything but looking for your kid, and theres not much said about it until you resume a quest dedicated to it. Smart design decision I think, otherwise you'd be like Michael from LOST yelling "WAAAAAAAAAAAAALT" every 5 seconds.

btw..ME3 was probably my favorite of the series, rubbish original ending and all (Citadel/Leviathan DLC were awesome). Though its pretty close between that and ME2.

Copy that

Good explanation

Better than most who blindly defend the game.

Vaclav · Mar 23, 2017

Utnayan said:
Copy that

Good explanation Better than most who blindly defend the game.

/boggle... ever feel like you're not being heard? You know I've been saying exactly the same stuff, right? ><

Utnayan · Mar 23, 2017

Lol good god.

Mass Effect: Andromeda - Autism reaches outer space

Ahn'Qiraj Raider

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Confirmed Beta Shitlord, Fat Bastard

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Murder Apologist

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F16 patrolling Rajaah until he plays DS3

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A Mod Real Quick

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F16 patrolling Rajaah until he plays DS3

Bronze Baronet of the Realm

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