Bang for you Buck [ Edited ]

[taglag45]

   You know after all the P_ssing, and Moaning about this game, in the beginning.. And I did my fair share.

I have to say this is a Huge game, with and UN-godly amount of things to find, and explore.

I am on like maybe my 5th play-through, and I keep finding stuff I never saw before. It takes awhile to reach the end of this game, if you even try to just do maybe half of the side quest's.

The Romances are not as exciting as they were in the first, and second ME, but they are unique, and sort of fun. ( Though the Ugly Characters don't help this )

Truth is, I have had more fun with this game, or played this game more than any other game I bought in 2017.  I find my self returning to it a lot.

 I mean I was a very Big fan of ME1, and 2, and I played ME3 {sadly to the end}.  So I am sure that has some to do with my Continued Playing of ( I find I enjoy ) this game.  However I find the Story is actually not that bad, the Graphics, are actually pretty darned amazing, and now that I run these Mods.

1.Armour - Asari Breather for Ryder-323-

2.Asari Underarmor Chest Replacer All Variants-399-1-0

3.Asari Underarmor Casual Replacer All Variants-399-1-0

4.Suvi Tweak-375-1-0

Which allow My character to look better, and not look like someone pasted Lego blocks on there body, and called it Armor.( However I will say the So called armor in DAI was way more ugly, and stupid looking )

   Also I believe that Most any of the major Bugs Have been fixed, and I don't think I have ever had a CTD, even before the Patches ( I bought the game Day One for PC), and I personally never ran into any Graphics glitch myself, I only saw the Ones others posted ( with the Exception of Once I saw the PC twist her head around almost backwards, which actually made me laugh...

  I do not play Multi player, I never played it on any of the other ME, and I won't play it here.

      So I guess My Post is only about those that Love The single player RPG aspect only. 

 I just cannot make my self Play Ping is King games, and sense they have MTX I know I will not be playing "Ping is King", and because "I spend money" I play better, and look better either.

   People say that Multi player helps sell the game, I think it helps sell MTX, and I also think it brings people to play the game that don't like RPG much anyway, so they automatically begin bashing the single player RPG, as they don't like it anyway, and between matches I am sure they use the forum as a cooling off spot, and personal rage area.

   Just My take, And I am not against Multi player, I use to play them a lot, I just finally realized Ping was always king, and sense Micro Transactions have become the norm for them, I have no desire to play them at all.

    It all boils down to How many Hours I have enjoyed this game, and, that I keep coming back for more.

  So I have to say, that I more than got plenty of bang for My buck, in fact I don't think there are many games I have played, as much as this one that came out in 2017, and am still playing.

[mcsupersport]

Yup, I agree on most points.

I do think the game still has issues, but it could still be easily patched to fix most of them in one or two more patches.  I think the vitriol was so harsh, simply because of ME3 endings and it is popular to bash EA.  I also think EA/Bioware helped out in the bashing by releasing a game they knew needed 2-5 more months of polishing before release and then was almost silent on what they were doing to fix it....

Having said all that, the game is very playable, and if you are willing to overlook(or MOD) a few graphical choices by Bioware, then it is actually a really good game.  I played multiplayer, which gets boring after awhile to me(would rather have co-op game play as companions drop ins)  and I still play single player.  I think I have about 600 hours in the game, with my highest character at level 99, and that was recent with a run from mid 60s to 99 on Insanity just to see how it went.  The power balance is fairly good, but I still wish they allowed more active powers at least 6 instead of 3.  I don't play a whole bunch of guncentric characters so I can't really say much about gun power balance, but the ones I did use on my Adept were pretty good I thought...Hurricane(pistol), Carnfex(heavy pistol), Piranha(shotgun) and Ishrey(Sniper) all crafted with various mods. 

I haven't ever gotten 100% completion on a game, and have finished it many times.  I still find stuff I didn't know was there, quests I haven't seen before and tibits of dialog that I haven't heard before.  I think it is sad that EA abandoned the game instead of sticking with it a bit longer, and thus killed a game that has much to offer gamers and the Mass Effect universe.

[taglag45]

   Yes I think the closest to 100 % completion was my last game I got 95%, ( I do not concern my self about trophies, that is for me, such a time Waster, and Gimmick by the Game makers ) but just powered out, and I wanted to make a new character, and play the first part's again, so I went ahead, and finished.

   I am playing only for story this time, Or at least that is my intention.  So no insanity this time I think, for ease, and more looking time I am going with  Veteran, and may drop to Normal at times, I have done 2 insanity runs, so I don't feel the need this time, I am not a great player, and a little ease to my strain for story time, and pleasure will be nice this time.

   I also want to enjoy the Graphics improvements to my Character, right from the start.

   I did not find or figure out how to make those work with Frosty Mod Manager Until this last play through, They made the game so much more enjoyable, To Me .

[ThandalNLyman]

Echoing what @taglag45 said, I have very few complaints about the game-play or mechanics of MEA.  I see the "twisted neck" graphics glitch a fair amount (more than one scene, and consistently in those scenes) and a few of the facial animation oddities, but nothing that puts me off the game.  And I won't do MP either.  Just no interest in real-time action on other people's schedules.  (Which is why I anticipate Anthem with mixed feelings.)

I, too, did my usual "Normal => Hardcore => Insanity" progression, and now am content to play on "Casual" or "Normal" so I can just enjoy the story.

My complaints are all around the relative lack of "story".  I've played thousands (yes, thousands) of hours of DAO, and the intra-party banter can still surprise me.  I think I had cycled through all of MEA's by about the fifth playthrough.  And then BioWare abandoned the game.  So many obvious DLC opportunities (Quarian Ark? Angaran AI? Kett homeworld?) left orphaned. 

[Hoverael]

I also don't think it was fair to bash Bioware or EA either MCsupersport, i agree with your on that.

There is a great deal of things in Andromeda and that goes to show how much attention to detail Bioware put into such a project and how much everyone else should be thankful towards EA about to allow Bioware to build such an expansive game, with the graphics, audio and everything else. Bioware has always been about their Storytelling.

I never managed the 100% either, on my only playthrough back on launch i probably made about 75%, it's a proper game you can spend countless hours on. i might give it another try soon as this cold virus i got has worked its way out.

I remember the Isharay Sniper Rifle, ultra long range with excessive damage potential, but rightfully limited in how many shots it can hold and reload. Thing can own any battlefield with the right person behind it.

When i got a hold of the m8 Avenger though, i never left the weapon for another, i upgraded it and it became a real dominant weapon, with accuracy upgrades and some damage potential, it's real useful at clearing hallways and rooms, but with those accuracy upgrades it goes from a mid ranged weapon to a long ranged weapon.

[LoveParusMajor]

This * is what I was talking about since andromeda release..

Its a good game, internet hate train is just composed of loud obnoxious crybabies. Every time I challenged some complainer to explain to me why the game "sucks" he would give almost pre scripted response " game is buggy" and there are others who went in a little deeper and try to argue that characters are uninteresting and story didnt make sense..

Every game on release is buggy.. it was resolved fairly quickly and characters are only uninteresting if you didnt pay any attention to what they were saying. 

Game is introduction to new narrative with so much potential.. if you remember when ME1 came out, we didnt think much of it ether.. Back then in the forums the main debate was are the reapers real and council seemed shady to everyone..

I still cant wrap my head around why developers listen to crybabies of any kind, weather they are haters, feminists, sjws etc. they are not relevant, they wont buy your game... They cried so you punished actual fans of Mass Effect.. makes 0 sense..

[taglag45]

I sort of blame, or think that some blame at least falls on Anthem & EA. ( Have read where EA was willing to postpone the release of Andromeda, but these things can be deceiving, and not always as they are displayed )

  As I understand it Anthem pulled a lot of talented people away from ME:A, and pushed production of the so called Destiny >Anthem game. A multiplayer, MTX, Bilk the player out of all the money they can game, or that is what I seem to be reading.

   If Anthem does not work like they want it to... Will, they will just drop it too. ( I hope this is not a trend, but I would expect it from EA )

I personally do not like multi player games, and gave them up a long time ago, I just have no use for "Ping is King" games.  Also the quantity of flamer comments in forum's like 

"That idiot does not even know how to play, I get so tired of not being able to play with other God like game players like [INSERT NAME if you are one of those.]"

Or "we had it beat, and that idiot left because her stupid Child needed  something...Geesh!, the dumb Beach."

Or " Hey just go and buy that MTX, and you can be as Great as me. Hey it's only a few dollar's, quit your Beaching. I hear they have another even better MTX coming out next Month."

  I have major concern's about EA, and there dollar worship. I know, I guess that is the bottom line, but I really miss Game makers that seemed like they made game's because they loved making them.

   I have right now a great deal of respect for CD PROJEKT RED, I mean they may turn on me too, but they seem to be really involved in there game's, and they don't seem to be trying to bilk the players. I have seen where they put a lot of effort even a year or two after releasing a game into improving ( I remember directors cut for the original Witcher, and there improvement of witcher 3. ), and adding to it, for the most part, at no extra cost.

   I am sure it is costly for CD PROJEKT RED to do this, but It show's me a company that care's about, not only there player base, but there true desire to make, and finish a polished product, no matter the cost.  ( I also remember when there was a DRM problem with Witcher 2, they just dropped all DRM, and that was, to me at that time amazing. Then they continued to improve witcher 2 adding to it also for no extra cost. )  I think CD PROJEKT RED is a truly professional Company, pushing always to make first an foremost a great game. It may not be the most profitable way to make money, but it to me is greatly appreciated, and has my full respect, and My dollars for any new game they come out with. 

    I truly wish Bioware had not abandoned Andromeda, with so many unanswered Scenarios.  But I guess we will have to except these thing's with EA at the control seat.

[EA_Ataashi]

I completely understand everyone's concerns about the future of our beloved Mass Effect series, because of how Andromeda's development has ended and with all the news circling around its production

However, BioWare never stated that it's the definitive end of the franchise. Of course, Anthem is the biggest concern of their team at the moment and it will be for some time, but it's not a big red "NO" sign for other projects Dragon Age 4 is in the works as well.

As a huge Mass Effect fan, I'd love to hear about your suggestions for the next instalment? Would you rather continue some plot lines from MEA in the next game instead of other mediums (*cough* Quarian Ark *cough*) or would you like a brand new story?

/Ataashi

[LoveParusMajor]

problem is, I dont think bioware has any say in anything anymore.. ME:A did great setup for future development, if they ever do another ME, continue the current story..

New one would only be reasonable if its done in Milky Way after Reaper war. Lore is rich so you can go ether way.

[mcsupersport]

@LoveParusMajor

I don't think a Milky Way one would work well AFTER ME3, simply because of the various ways it could end.  Unless they want to Cannon an ending, which would totally PO a bunch of people, then you would have to figure out how to work the worlds to basically make the ME3 ending mean nothing.  The best thing for this would be the indoctrination theory of the ending, and everything you see after the beam is all in Shepard's head.  Then you would have to continue with Shepard which would be popular, but I don't know if the higher ups after fighting for "Artistic Integrity" about the ending would like to go back now 6-8 years later and say, "Yup, we were wrong and our "vision" stank..."  So that would mostly cut out all Post ME3 Milky Way content.

Now I have heard rumors of a Pre-ME1 or Pre-ME2 game, in which you play a non-Shepard character doing something else in the time leading up to the Reaper war.  With one rumor of it being the first contact war, but that shoehorns a set ending into the game or basically limits the scope you can have for the endings.  If you went there, I would almost rather have a game set during the Krogan rebellions and let you play either Asari, Turian, or Salarian, and skip out on Humans all the way around.

My personal opinion on what they should do is to either continue with Pathfinder Ryder or pick up with the story moving forward with the Sibling Ryder.  So you can expand on the worlds they have created and the blank slate of Andromeda, and maybe answer some of the questions they left...Quarians, Benefactor(Geth I believe), Kett, and Angara(creator race).  I would really like to see where they could take a Galaxy that has no constraints on it and a wide open set of possibilities.