Mass Effect Andromeda Message Board  

Story: As you know it starts 600 years after leaving the Milky way in between ME2 and ME3. In the Andromeda system. Were the Andromeda Initiative Created by Jien Garson an eccentric human billionaire. To find a new home from the reapers invasion. To me this is pretty nice side route away from the MEU we know. From what I have seen it certainly going to be interesting.

Game play: From what I have played there is plenty, from the amount going on from the start and what you can interact with e.g. from talking to the crew on the Hyperion/Nexus/Tempest. Even what you can view. Even the planets in the Heleus Cluster some nice bits of info along with scanning for anomalies. Even with being on EOS. Even the nomad looks amazing and feels great, I love the changing from the 4wd to 6wd. Fighting in the game is fluid and fun. Weapons are pretty neat. Not be able to create anything right now but I can say I am excited to be able to make weps. The armor system looks good and feels alright. The dialog wheel with the change from paragon/renegade system. I like the wheel never had an issue from the DAI game with it. Also I was not really a fan of paragon/renegade but I did always enjoy being a douche. So far am not sure how its going to turn out with out it in the game. But that is not going to stop me from giving the game its chance. One thing I will say that needs to be improved is the character Creator there was some detail there. But not as much as I hoped there would be. I did get a character out that I was happy with Link even my in game sis Link. But with more control put into it and a lot more options. Am sure it would be much better. I wont knock it off fully but it certainly has room for improvement on that.

Graphics: Well from what we know on the system specs that was issued out a while back rec spec's are Intel Core i7-4790 or AMD FX-8350, 16 GB RAM, NVIDIA GTX 1060 3GB, AMD RX 480 4GB, DX11, Win 7 64 above and the HD space of 55GB. Well my rig is 1 year n 7 months old and she handled the game cranked up full and ran at a steady pace of 60fps. No issues with graphics or animations in my view. No game breaking bugs or anything that really broke my immersion. To me the game looks amazing.

Music: Oh man another awesome set. Listening in game and out of game has me excited even right now I am listening to the soundtrack. Click Link to listen to it.

Controls: Controls for me were fine. I used the old tried and tested method of Mouse and Keyboard. No issue got right off the bat. I do not know about the game pad wise as personally I find using a game pad for games like this hard. But its up to your pref.

Replay Value: At this point can not say as it is just the beginning for the game. But speculating on how Bioware has done their games. I am defo hoping for replay value.

Overall: As I did say I have only played the first 10 hours and forgot to point out I did not touch the MP side. The story of the game certainly has me interested. Does it fit in with what we know from the Original Trilogy. I say yeah, why because why not. You will most likely have some group thinking about a back up plan and they did. Some folk might pick at it, but I say let it have its chance. Right regards to everything else. No bugs or glitches that broke the game or my immersion for me. But that is not to what you might be like. Graphics amazing running at a steady 60fps for me. Game play amazing great fighting fast n fluid. Detail certainly is great in my view. Replay value cant say but hoping there will be. There is one thing I did point out it was the character creator needs improvement even though I was happy with what I made, I certainly would have liked more control. So in my current state just now as an Early review. 9.5 paws out of 10. For now from what I have seen.

I appreciate the thorough review and my own, after the 10 hour trial, aligns with yours completely.

I really have enjoyed the storyline thusfar and professional game journalists like the oaf at Rock, Paper, Shotgun who stated that you're an all-powerful and universally revered Pathfinder within 30 seconds of starting the game are lying. In just the 10 hour trial I felt a tangible sense of progression and character growth through events I won't spoil, and if you bother to read the in-game lore and converse with its wide array of NPCs you have plenty of context for the wh' and where and how of the circumstances that have brought you and your companions 600 years into the future and a galaxy away from home.

The graphics are nothing short of stellar, especially on High and Ultra settings. There was a patch yesterday and it seems to have both restructured Female Ryder's face a little; which it needed, as angular and long as her features were; as well as added some more facial animations. My male Ryder arched his eyebrows in a conversation with Cora where I remember him being entirely deadpan before.

The sheer amount of content, the sights to see, places to explore, and gear to discover and create is head and shoulders above anything Mass Effect has done before. The Research & Development system is a revelation for the series, has tons of stuff to craft, and gives some meaningful progression to the development of your new home in the Andromeda galaxy as you add new colonists and unlock perks through them along the way. Add to that what is undeniably the most robust multiplayer system we've ever had from Bioware's flagship franchise, and the fact that multiplayer involvement can improve your single player campaign with gear and experience, and you've got 100+ hours of game time, easy. The universe is anything BUT empty and just in my limited play-through thusfar (the single player campaign is gated just before a pivotal moment beyond which the rest of the galaxy opens up) I found myself starved for choice with a thousand things to do and nowhere near enough time to accomplish them all.

As a final side, yes, the facial animations could still use a bit of work. I think some people are unfairly comparing them to Horizon Zero Dawn. Those who say it is a step backwards apparently don't remember some of the goofy and godawful Shepard expressions from ME:1-3, and the particularly ridiculous complainers clamoring that Andromeda falls short of even Witcher 3 are remembering that game with decidedly rose-colored glasses. Over the weekend I went back and replayed Witcher 3, comparing it side-by-side with Andromeda and there's no adequate comparison. Witcher 3 looks wooden and still as mannequins against ME:A. Again, not saying Andromeda has perfect animations at all ... but it ain't anywhere near as bad as some of the naysayers are saying.

My advice? Play it for yourself. If you've enjoyed Mass Effect 1-3 this will be what you're looking for in a worthy successor. If you enjoy story-driven RPGs with a lot of opportunity for character growth and plot twists, you'll probably love it. Exploration? Multiplayer? Yep, you're more than covered too. I find Mass Effect: Andromeda to be a FAR more robust game than Mass Effect 1-3 were at launch and anything but the pile of trash a few vocal naysayers and nit-pickers would have you believe. That's my five cents and thought I might as well add it in.

sooo sorry to butt in but i cant hold back my excitement Game just unlocked for me and now downloading Deluxe Edition Content

The game is definitely good, sure it has some facial animation problems for humans at least. If it were really pronounced problems it can effect your game. But otherwise all the things you can do just from the beginning is awesome. From what i've read the game doesnt start getting off the rails till your past where the trial left you.

So the first planet and your first explorations are looks to me like a way for you to figure out what you can do. I didnt find enough materials to create anything before my trial ended. But from the looks of things you can make weapons, armors and even Modifications for those armors you make. I think i was only able to research some weapons or armors.

Seems a bit complicated but i wanted to keep scanning for research points,and minerals, which seems pretty cool. Learning about skills and powers you can change on the fly. I believe i picked fire based skills. Just love turning those enemies into Barbecue. I couldn't even pick a favorite weapon, there are so many that are unlockable from researching and from buying them outright. Somehow i'll have to take the time to test out every unlockable weapon and armor.

So much to do so little time in the day, if you ever see a pale white vampire drooling on the street you will know just how long i spent playing when the release date comes around.

lol thanx for the update guys. sooo excited 😀