Mass Effect: Andromeda Revealed - Update

[Fox12]

I feel like vomiting to be honest. Who the fuck abandons the entire established universe to set the next game in a completely different freakin' galaxy? Oh, right. The guys that fucked up so badly they didn't know how to get out of the mess they've made.

To be fair, fans of the first game have been moaning about exploration and vehicles for years now. From biowares perspective, they're going back to their hard sci-fi, Star Trek roots. Going back to what the first game was. Now fans will complain about it not being like 2. Furthermore, they probably want to take the series as far away from ME3 as humanly possible. We got what we asked for, I guess.

Unless it gets ungodly reviews, I won't be playing it, though. Are any of the original creative minds even in that company anymore?

 

[Redryhno]

I dunno what it is about that, but the idea of the Illusive Man's room being a tiny relay makes me want to laugh very very hard. Citadel relay in the first game is one thing and neat the first time but the Illusive Man hiding one in his room... XD

Poor Liara especially did seem to suffer for a lack of things to have going on until being upset at Thessia and after two games of being the rogue cop wanting to be a vigilante Garrus had that pretty settled. Tali seemed to have the most actually going on. I think Mordin got a good arc despite not being playable. I suppose Vega did get a discernable arc at least, I just didn't care because I didn't like the guy... I rank him 4th least liked on top of Jacob (crime:blandest outside of outright annoying), Ashley (ME 3 confirmed my dislike for her), and Kaidan (Carth Onasi)

Never cared for Liara, especially in ME1, don't understand how anyone romanced her, especially since she's effectively barely 18 in human years, if that, and Shepard's very late 20's/early 30's. And Ash, I liked her, she had reasons for not trusting aliens and wasn't just "racist religious person #864813". ME3 really screwed that up to sorta make her the stand-in for that in some places, really pissed me off along with alot of other things Hudson screwed up.

They really screwed up the last Earth defense thing though, instead of adding in cutscenes of the races you recruited, you just get a bunch of humans everywhere.

I feel like vomiting to be honest. Who the fuck abandons the entire established universe to set the next game in a completely different freakin' galaxy? Oh, right. The guys that fucked up so badly they didn't know how to get out of the mess they've made.

snip

Both of these things can pretty much be laid at the feet of Hudson and Walters. Karpyshian and like half the writing team got sick of the bull apparently and left, and they took over the writing to turn it into a kid's after-school special.

So much potential, and they squander it for simplistic things that have no meaning and exactly what they said it wouldn't be like.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

I dunno what it is about that, but the idea of the Illusive Man's room being a tiny relay makes me want to laugh very very hard. Citadel relay in the first game is one thing and neat the first time but the Illusive Man hiding one in his room... XD

Poor Liara especially did seem to suffer for a lack of things to have going on until being upset at Thessia and after two games of being the rogue cop wanting to be a vigilante Garrus had that pretty settled. Tali seemed to have the most actually going on. I think Mordin got a good arc despite not being playable. I suppose Vega did get a discernable arc at least, I just didn't care because I didn't like the guy... I rank him 4th least liked on top of Jacob (crime:blandest outside of outright annoying), Ashley (ME 3 confirmed my dislike for her), and Kaidan (Carth Onasi)

Never cared for Liara, especially in ME1, don't understand how anyone romanced her, especially since she's effectively barely 18 in human years, if that, and Shepard's very late 20's/early 30's. And Ash, I liked her, she had reasons for not trusting aliens and wasn't just "racist religious person #864813". ME3 really screwed that up to sorta make her the stand-in for that in some places, really pissed me off along with alot of other things Hudson screwed up.

They really screwed up the last Earth defense thing though, instead of adding in cutscenes of the races you recruited, you just get a bunch of humans everywhere.

Yeah her age seemed a bit awkward. Bit less by her being over 100. I figured Asari society could have higher standards on maturity due to their lifespan, but still.

I could get along with Ash okay in 1. In 2 her distrust was getting irritating, exacerbated by Shepard not being smart enough to explain the matter, and in 3 I was so tempted to shoot her when the chance came. Else I'd rank her above Jacob for having a personality

Yeah... I recently replayed the entire series and the lack of any other species was jarring. You even see Wrex rallying the Krogan before the last surge but nope its humans making the charge.

And that's not even talking about the Crucible and the last choices... I hope, if I get the game which I eventually probably will, that I can keep my destruction ending. I enjoyed spiting that damn AI and seeing Shepard live. I like to think of that as a reward for not doing the other options.

 

[Scars Unseen]

I thought the ME3 ending effected every single galaxy\universe? Didn't the Reapers travel basically everywhere to wipe out\harvest all advanced life forms? If so, why would Andromeda be unaffected?

Ughh.. so many questions.

The Reapers seem to have only been focused on the Milky Way, for whatever reason. Possibly controlling the entire universe was just beyond them. In any case, as far as we know then the Mass Relay network was restricted to our galaxy, so the final choice wouldn't have reached Andromeda.

It's really sad that they went from Mass Effect's 1 "We are to powerful and advanced for you to comprehend" to.. this? Seriously, they could get into dark space (Or whatever it was called, the edge of the universe basically) easy enough yet now they cant/didn't go to Andromeda?

:'l

Darkspace isn't the edge of the universe; it's just the space between galaxies. After a cycle, the Reapers went outside of our galaxy and went dormant until the next cycle began. If you play the Arrival DLC from ME2, it literally shows them sitting just outside of our galaxy(you can tell because the galaxy looks big) and then beginning to approach at the end. There is no indication or even hint that they have ever acted in galaxies other than the Milky Way.

It's one thing to point out plot holes. It's another entirely to fabricate them.

 

[Gizen]

I am... disappointed to be honest. Frankly I was hoping for more information. This literally tells us nothing except that, presumably, the game takes place in the Andromeda galaxy as opposed to the Milky Way. Well, I had wondered how they would make a new ME game without decanonizing any of ME3's endings (since at least one of the possible endings leaves the Reapers still alive and how do you have space adventures when they can just annihilate anyone evil effortlessly?), and I guess the answer to that is just go to a different galaxy that doesn't have Reapers in it. Still though, beyond that there's nothing in this trailer to go off of.

 

[VincentX3]

I thought the ME3 ending effected every single galaxy\universe? Didn't the Reapers travel basically everywhere to wipe out\harvest all advanced life forms? If so, why would Andromeda be unaffected?

Ughh.. so many questions.

The Reapers seem to have only been focused on the Milky Way, for whatever reason. Possibly controlling the entire universe was just beyond them. In any case, as far as we know then the Mass Relay network was restricted to our galaxy, so the final choice wouldn't have reached Andromeda.

It's really sad that they went from Mass Effect's 1 "We are to powerful and advanced for you to comprehend" to.. this? Seriously, they could get into dark space (Or whatever it was called, the edge of the universe basically) easy enough yet now they cant/didn't go to Andromeda?

:'l

Darkspace isn't the edge of the universe; it's just the space between galaxies. After a cycle, the Reapers went outside of our galaxy and went dormant until the next cycle began. If you play the Arrival DLC from ME2, it literally shows them sitting just outside of our galaxy(you can tell because the galaxy looks big) and then beginning to approach at the end. There is no indication or even hint that they have ever acted in galaxies other than the Milky Way.

It's one thing to point out plot holes. It's another entirely to fabricate them.

It's been years since I actually played ME2, let alone the arrival DLC so I only just vaguely remembered them sitting "out-there" in a dark spot of the universe.

It's still massively underwhelming if you think about the fact that "Oh lets screw over ONLY the Milkyway every 5000years because why not?" if there's other galaxies with equal if not superior civilization and tech.

 

[Scars Unseen]

I thought the ME3 ending effected every single galaxy\universe? Didn't the Reapers travel basically everywhere to wipe out\harvest all advanced life forms? If so, why would Andromeda be unaffected?

Ughh.. so many questions.

The Reapers seem to have only been focused on the Milky Way, for whatever reason. Possibly controlling the entire universe was just beyond them. In any case, as far as we know then the Mass Relay network was restricted to our galaxy, so the final choice wouldn't have reached Andromeda.

It's really sad that they went from Mass Effect's 1 "We are to powerful and advanced for you to comprehend" to.. this? Seriously, they could get into dark space (Or whatever it was called, the edge of the universe basically) easy enough yet now they cant/didn't go to Andromeda?

:'l

Darkspace isn't the edge of the universe; it's just the space between galaxies. After a cycle, the Reapers went outside of our galaxy and went dormant until the next cycle began. If you play the Arrival DLC from ME2, it literally shows them sitting just outside of our galaxy(you can tell because the galaxy looks big) and then beginning to approach at the end. There is no indication or even hint that they have ever acted in galaxies other than the Milky Way.

It's one thing to point out plot holes. It's another entirely to fabricate them.

It's been years since I actually played ME2, let alone the arrival DLC so I only just vaguely remembered them sitting "out-there" in a dark spot of the universe.

It's still massively underwhelming if you think about the fact that "Oh lets screw over ONLY the Milkyway every 5000years because why not?" if there's other galaxies with equal if not superior civilization and tech.

Not really. If you look at what the Reapers have done(and play the Leviathan DLC), it becomes obvious that for all their claims of being beyond mortal comprehension, they've never acted outside the purpose of their creation - to periodically cull intelligent species within the galaxy of their creator. Since their creator resides within the Milky Way, and nothing(that we are aware of) has ever effected the galaxy from beyond its borders within the time frame of the Reapers' existence(which is a fair stretch of time), there would be no impetus for the Reapers to act outside their given purpose. They are not explorers; they are tools.

 

[Redryhno]

Not really. If you look at what the Reapers have done(and play the Leviathan DLC), it becomes obvious that for all their claims of being beyond mortal comprehension, they've never acted outside the purpose of their creation - to periodically cull intelligent species within the galaxy of their creator. Since their creator resides within the Milky Way, and nothing(that we are aware of) has ever effected the galaxy from beyond its borders within the time frame of the Reapers' existence(which is a fair stretch of time), there would be no impetus for the Reapers to act outside their given purpose. They are not explorers; they are tools.

I think the problem here is that so much of this is locked in DLC. for ME3's start to make sense, you have to play Arrival. For the ending to make even less sense than it already does, you have to play the Relay Explodey one. For Liara to have a character, you have to buy Shadow Broker.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Not really. If you look at what the Reapers have done(and play the Leviathan DLC), it becomes obvious that for all their claims of being beyond mortal comprehension, they've never acted outside the purpose of their creation - to periodically cull intelligent species within the galaxy of their creator. Since their creator resides within the Milky Way, and nothing(that we are aware of) has ever effected the galaxy from beyond its borders within the time frame of the Reapers' existence(which is a fair stretch of time), there would be no impetus for the Reapers to act outside their given purpose. They are not explorers; they are tools.

I think the problem here is that so much of this is locked in DLC. for ME3's start to make sense, you have to play Arrival. For the ending to make even less sense than it already does, you have to play the Relay Explodey one. For Liara to have a character, you have to buy Shadow Broker.

That's a fair criticism, but I guess if they have to do DLC, I'd rather it be stuff like that than more pointless weapon and alternate costume packs.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

You'd think that Bioware would have figured out how to make helmets that don't look awful after three games, but nope.

Not gonna lie, actually thought the protagonist was a Drell until they turned around. The side of the helmet did them no favours.

OT: Well, the trailer was 100% cinematic so can't put too much faith in it, but it did have a Johnny Cash song. And games with Johnny Cash songs in them are always good. Don't ask how, just accept this fact.

On the other hand, Johnny Cash songs can also sink a game, cus I don't see a Prey 2 anywhere, awesome as its trailer was.

 

[WonkyWarmaiden]

Man, I really hope Kevin Sorbo voices the protagonist.

 

[Redryhno]

Not really. If you look at what the Reapers have done(and play the Leviathan DLC), it becomes obvious that for all their claims of being beyond mortal comprehension, they've never acted outside the purpose of their creation - to periodically cull intelligent species within the galaxy of their creator. Since their creator resides within the Milky Way, and nothing(that we are aware of) has ever effected the galaxy from beyond its borders within the time frame of the Reapers' existence(which is a fair stretch of time), there would be no impetus for the Reapers to act outside their given purpose. They are not explorers; they are tools.

I think the problem here is that so much of this is locked in DLC. for ME3's start to make sense, you have to play Arrival. For the ending to make even less sense than it already does, you have to play the Relay Explodey one. For Liara to have a character, you have to buy Shadow Broker.

That's a fair criticism, but I guess if they have to do DLC, I'd rather it be stuff like that than more pointless weapon and alternate costume packs.

I'd prefer to not have DLC that screws with the story in some way myself. Extra stuff is fine, but Arrival and the Relay one and Shadow Broker? They feel like they were cut from the game or they were ignored later because their new writers didn't pay attention to any of them.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

I hope you get to play a species other than human.

 

[DaWaffledude]

Is it weird that I'm not really excited about this? Because I'm not really excited about this. And I wasn't really annoyed all that much by ME3's ending. I wasn't particularly satisfied by it either, though so... Meh.

Captcha: "cold turkey", feels relevant

 

[WonkyWarmaiden]

It looks good, I suppose, for a completely cinematic trailer. Looks like jetpacks will be a thing and the infamous Mako makes an appearance. Seems like you're playing a human again, unless that's a batarian under that helmet. Actually, that'd be freaking hilarious.

I'm certainly interested but I need more info before I'm entirely sold.

Watching the trailer makes me realize how much I've missed the Mass Effect universe. Aw crap, now I'm gonna have to play through the first three games again.

 

[Loethlin]

So, no one is inclined to mock BioWare for ripping off Stargate Atlantis?
Because from the info so far, this trailer, and several leaks the months previous, this is basically Stargate Atlantis, the N7 version.

 

[MirenBainesUSMC]

I know people like to meta-game and give out these extremely creative " What If.." scenarios but...

Take it from a fan that was hooked since ME1. Don't bother busting your creative brain cells, pontificating possible plot connections to the Shepard story, nor wasting your time wondering how the Reaper ending would or wouldn't fit ME4 because what ever you come up with will be totally not the case and so thrown up-side down that you'll feel cheated.

This is a total re-boot. New faces. New coat of paint. I wouldn't surmise, speculate, or come up with these multi-branching solutions to the bottomless plot hole pit that the Mass Effect team effectively made.

Call me un-impressed. These PR campaigns are engineered to gear you up to some buyer's emotional state only for you to suddenly be jarred by the blunt instrument of reality when you read " EA " on the side of the box.

" And as a token of being a good gamer, for an extra 29.95, you'll get special access to your new ship's bathroom, complete with customizable shower curtains, mirrors, and for an extra 5.00, you'll get a month's supply of sh--- paper which depletes until your character needs a new roll!"

If they keep Casey Hudson in the parking lot then you may a chance with this game, otherwise, buy a good tube of " BS Off " and see it for what it is.

 

[babinro]

I feel like vomiting to be honest. Who the fuck abandons the entire established universe to set the next game in a completely different freakin' galaxy? Oh, right. The guys that fucked up so badly they didn't know how to get out of the mess they've made.

Think of it like Final Fantasy or The Elder Scrolls as a franchise.

I'm perfectly fine with Mass Effect trying something 'new' in a reasonably familiar setting. As you point out they've made their share of mistakes with the original trilogy. This is an opportunity to try and improve on those without spending all day retconing everything or being so incredibly vague so as to appeal to any given choice made in the prior games.