Andromeda is… fine. It's not anywhere near as terrible as everyone made it out to be. It's just fine. Played much worse games that were received much better e.g., Outerworlds. Andromeda has good combat.
It's the first instance I can think of where jewtubers piled onto a 6.5/10 game and pretended it's the worst thing ever to get clicks. Became very popular after that.
I believe this pajeet was intimately involved with the development of Andromeda. And coincidentally, the game didn't have a lot of lighter skin options when creating a character.
Mass Effect series.
Posted: March 27th, 2024, 20:59
by Vergil
Bioware really was ground zero for a lot of the shit you see commonly now.
I completely avoided that game because of the massive gay influence. MA 1 and 2 were not bad, 3 felt like a console clone, but that one from the start looked bad. In fact, when I first heard about it, I thought it was some mod for fags to get off on.
Same was with DA though. 1 was good, 2 was too console for me, and Inquisition just seemed like a gay/bestiality game.
They have been pulling BG3 antics for a long time.
I honestly believe that Dragon Age Inquisition is a much better game than Baldur's Gate 3. Yes, there are fag and dyke companions, but they will not try to rape/buttfuck you against your will, the dyke is obnoxious but the fag is much more tolerable than Astarion. Elves as "an oppressed" minority are much more interesting than the tieflings in BG3. Also the main story is leaps and bounds better than bg3's.
► Show Spoiler
One of your own companions turns out to be an ancient elven god. It seems like Shakespeare compared to bg3 Act 3 mind flayer shit.
I completely avoided that game because of the massive gay influence. MA 1 and 2 were not bad, 3 felt like a console clone, but that one from the start looked bad. In fact, when I first heard about it, I thought it was some mod for fags to get off on.
Same was with DA though. 1 was good, 2 was too console for me, and Inquisition just seemed like a gay/bestiality game.
They have been pulling BG3 antics for a long time.
I honestly believe that Dragon Age Inquisition is a much better game than Baldur's Gate 3. Yes, there are fag and dyke companions, but they will not try to rape/buttfuck you against your will, the dyke is obnoxious but the fag is much more tolerable than Astarion. Elves as "an oppressed" minority are much more interesting than the tieflings in BG3. Also the main story is leaps and bounds better than bg3's.
► Show Spoiler
One of your own companions turns out to be an ancient elven god. It seems like Shakespeare compared to bg3 Act 3 mind flayer shit.
That implies it's ever going to exist and EA won't have goons walk up and down the Bioware office with shotguns after DA4 is their like 6th flop in a row.
That implies it's ever going to exist and EA won't have goons walk up and down the Bioware office with shotguns after DA4 is their like 6th flop in a row.
Now why would they do that, when they could just reshuffle these "Devs" back into other games studios and create even more garbage?
Mass Effect series.
Posted: March 27th, 2024, 22:32
by rusty_shackleford
I will be surprised if bioware still exists after dragon age deadname flops
I will be surprised if bioware still exists after dragon age deadname flops
Yeah. I was surprised they announced ME4... tbh, they should've done ME4 and saved Dragon Age for when/if ME4 is successful. Seems to me Mass Effect is a bigger IP, right? Or am I wrong?
Mass Effect series.
Posted: March 27th, 2024, 23:20
by Vergil
I think Mass Effect kind of has a bigger and more recent stink on it due to Andromeda and bioware's last big flop was sci fi. ME4 is also probably harder to figure out how they're going to do since they seem to be fully walking back doing anything new with the series and nostalgia baiting with Shepherd/trilogy companions. There is literally no reason for another Shepherd game.
Mass Effect series.
Posted: March 27th, 2024, 23:58
by BobT
Although 2 was..alright, I was kinda sad how they changed it up.
I always say ME1 was an RPG that just happened to have shooting as it's combat.
ME2 was a shooter that tried to pretend it was still an RPG.
Not even got around to playing 3 yet, not sure if I could bring myself to do it..
ME1 had a lot of re-used assets (same cave 3,000 times) and voice lines ("I will destroy you!") etc. but beyond that I really enjoyed it. It really felt like they tried hard to immerse you into the world, even providing a codex reason for not using traditional "ammo" etc. Shame I had to mod it to unlock all weapons though. No reason I wouldn't still be able to SHOOT with a weapon (but be a little shit with it and miss out on bonuses). Bit silly carrying them all with me and not being able to use them. Really enjoyed exploring my ship and the citadel.
ME2 then dropped the no ammo thing and turned into a cover shooter Gears of War crap. Shame. Some cool moments though like the intro cutscene and suicide mission especially.
I REALLY wish they'd stop wanting to "appeal to a broader audience". It just dilutes the damn game and what makes it different and cool.
ME2 then dropped the no ammo thing and turned into a cover shooter Gears of War crap. Shame. Some cool moments though like the intro cutscene and suicide mission especially.
Don't play ME3. If ME2 was borderline unbearable for you ME3 has absolutely nothing to offer.
Mass Effect series.
Posted: March 28th, 2024, 01:10
by wndrbr
The year is 2050.
"Mass Effect 7 was the last good Bioware game"
"Dragon Age Escape From The Closet wan't all that bad to be honest"
"Anthem 3 wasn't entirely awful, I kinda liked flying mechanics"
"I'm surprised that Bioware still exists, they had like 22 flops in a row"
"Mass Effect 7 was the last good Bioware game"
"Dragon Age Escape From The Closet wan't all that bad to be honest"
"Anthem 3 wasn't entirely awful, I kinda liked flying mechanics"
"I'm surprised that Bioware still exists, they had like 22 flops in a row"
Every other EA studio gets bulldozed after a minor stumble, whoever is in charge of bioware now must have epstein-tier dirt on EA execs.
Mass Effect series.
Posted: March 28th, 2024, 01:32
by aweigh
I have read before that the main reason EA keeps BioWare around is because they believe it grants them 'prestige', as in "well EA keeps artsy studios around like BioWare who make unique narratively-driven games instead of just pumping out yearly releases".
Basically a business decision made because of the optics, they believe they gain more in goodwill by owning the BioWare name than what they lose funding their games.
I have read before that the main reason EA keeps BioWare around is because they believe it grants them 'prestige', as in "well EA keeps artsy studios around like BioWare who make unique narratively-driven games instead of just pumping out yearly releases".
Basically a business decision made because of the optics, they believe they gain more in goodwill by owning the BioWare name than what they lose funding their games.
Essentially this. The issue that Bioware has though is that they have pretty much entirely burned through all of that goodwill with the constant fuck ups and it's getting to a point where it's no longer going to save them now that they're publicly cold product. They've gone from a darling prestige studio to an embarrassment.
Mass Effect series.
Posted: March 28th, 2024, 04:20
by asf
moss effect was really bad
Mass Effect series.
Posted: March 28th, 2024, 05:19
by Oldtimer
I actually liked the triology (and avoided Andromeda like a HIV-infested plague rat) - the first game was a great gateway into the universe, the second provided background for the third and the third was pretty darn awesome. To be noted, I bought the game way after the ending debacle so I never saw the original ending which is what made people so pissed (wise after years of buying games blind - never be the first out of the landing craft). That is not to say the triology didn't have problems, like way too sparely populated (where are to just mention that, all the council members, because three people do NOT handle the affairs of entire species), way too little interaction with the team members and worse of all, way too polished and cut - for example, in ME2 when you look for a rogue merc company tasked by the local police, the fucking company is on top of the police station... That did not help my impression.
But yeah, a really great triology. The other triology - Dragon Age - started stronger but had a very deep dip in quality with the second game with its 'awesome button' (remember when they marketed that?) and endless hordes of enemies dropping from the sky.I know that was probably just Varric exaggerating during the interrogation, but I had to play through it... Terrible. Although I must say I liked the story - not everything needs to be about saving the universe, because man is that trope stale. The third game had its points, but that was marred by the blatant wokeism inserted, like that tranny. Dorian was however a good gay, since that actually gave him both another layer of personality as well as a back quest (no pun intended).
Mass Effect series.
Posted: March 28th, 2024, 05:22
by aweigh
i very recently played thru the ME trilogy remaster and enjoyed them all a lot. Probably enjoyed ME3 the most simply because it had the most fun gameplay for me, just enable "reflexes" for slow-mo bullet time and shoot everything. The Citadel DLC with the party with all your companions was also quite fun, especially after playing through the previous games.
Mass Effect series.
Posted: March 28th, 2024, 05:31
by Vergil
Speaking of the triology remaster I really despised the way they changed assets around and back ported certain things to try and make the games seem more cohesive. Instead it just causes certain things to look really out of place and fuck up the art style even more than the bugged facial animations and lighting in ME1 already did.
Mass Effect series.
Posted: March 28th, 2024, 06:41
by loregamer
I enjoyed the entire trilogy but this video put into words what felt off about ME2’s story to me:
Mass Effect series.
Posted: March 28th, 2024, 07:30
by Envergence
I'm pissed at the direction they took with the graphics and supposed consistency for LE. It's there for some characters, but not others, or the direction taken was the wrong one. But that's what mods are for...
The first Mass Effect will always be my favorite of the series. This LE patch mod helps it reach its full potential (there is one for the original, as well).
► Show Spoiler
I even enjoyed its combat a great deal, especially with the independent cooldowns that we don't get back until Andromeda. Legendary Edition also allows the use of untrained guns without penalty (but also no benefit; a fine and welcome balance).
The overall setting and how it was presented felt very grounded in reality, with exception of the Asari. It's hard to suspend my disbelief that they are 100% human female-shaped, albeit with head tentacles. I know it was established that they're simply supposed to be "space babes" and nothing more, but coomers shouldn't be allowed to write lore. Also, the concept of not knowing what the Quarians look like is retarded because there would be countless photos and vids of them on the extranet from pre-exile.
The squadmates grow with you and feel like actual people within the limitations of the dialogue (even Liara to a minor extent), and it feels like they truly support Shepard. Many would find the UNC missions tedious and/or repetitive, but I enjoy these too.
The main quest is my favorite in the series. So many impactful moments, so badass, very dramatic, etc., etc.
The planets may not have a lot of exciting things going on, but the sights are breathtaking.
The Bring Down the Sky DLC was an excellent showing of the story potential the setting has. It felt like it blended seamlessly into the base game (minus the ship's VI having the wrong voice). The Pinnacle Station one is tedious yet oddly satisfying when you complete it. The reward is neat, story-wise, but ultimately useless. This one feels less seamless, but I think it's primarily because Shepard has much more important things to do, lol.
I like that I can leave insubordinate Ashley to die on Virmire. As much as I value her character growth, a generic soldier is worthless compared to a biotic (especially a sentinel). That, and her character gets completely bastardized in the third game, so killing her is a mercy. The only people who choose her over Kaidan are braindead simps who'd sacrifice a whole platoon to save a vagina.
Mass Effect 2 is my least favorite of the series, but I still enjoy certain things about it a great deal.
► Show Spoiler
They threw away the realism and grounded nature of the first game for gay movie-cool bullshit. Goodbye armor, hello catsuits and exposing our skin and eyes to the vacuum of space! Shepard's death (retconned in 3 to just brain death) is retarded and impossible to suspend disbelief for. I have to do mental gymnastics and pretend he simply got caught in the planet's orbit, rather than somehow being in any way salvageable from burning up in the atmosphere and pasting onto the planet's surface.
The camera is claustrophobic, and Shepard's movement has become sluggish. This is also where they implemented shared cooldowns (likely as a result of arbitrarily limiting our total skills), which requires mods to remove. The abilities are more fun; the biotics have a lot more personality, so to speak. This is also the infancy of the biotic charge, which isn't great but will become so in 3 and perfected in Andromeda.
The side quests and companion quests become much more fun and interesting, however the companions' unique quips in the first game are replaced with canned comments that get repeated where applicable. This is one of the things that make the squadmates feel a little less like a unit, along with the interactions with them feeling rather stilted at times.
I like the companion shouts during combat which they sadly didn't carry over to the third game; they have a lot of personality. I wish they'd at least done something akin to ME1's combat shouts so that they'd still feel alive but not yell flippant things during such a heavy time for 3.
The main plot is okay, I guess. It's frustrating at times, especially with the retarded gating of Legion behind a quest that sets off a timer. Mods can help. Also frustrating not being able to calmly explain things to the Virmire Survivor, but BioWare relies on irrational characters even if it's out-of-character. Suicide mission was quite fun, though.
Main DLC: Overlord DLC was enjoyable, albeit tedious in parts. The Hammerhead is a lot more fun than the Mako. Lair of the Shadow Broker is a lot of fun, but I fucking hate Liara. Arrival is dogshit and probably the most egregious example of having no player agency (until ME3). I like Zaeed quite a lot and Kasumi somewhat, but their content is woefully lacking.
Mass Effect 3 is complicated.
► Show Spoiler
Reaper-centric aspects of the main story are good until the fucking Starchild thing and its retarded plot dump and EVERYTHING IS SO ARBITRARY. Anyway, mods help, but I recommend avoiding the overly saccharine ones. Don't even get me started on Cerberus and Kai Leng. Goodbye player agency, hello plot contrivance and cartoon villains!
The art style is at its worst. The first and second games had a lot of depth and dimension to the eyes, whereas in 3 they've all be replaced with flat, lifeless doll eyes. The uniforms are hideous, and whoever specifically designed the female uniforms appeared to have been unaware that women have these things called rib cages. Their hips go to their chests, their shoulders are sunken in, and they have gangly nightmare arms I haven't seen since Dragon Age Origin's female dwarves.
Armor is partly brought back to reality, but female armor heavily accentuates the breasts to an almost comical degree. Related: EDI is now a disgusting sexbot.
Combat is the most enjoyable of the trilogy (especially with a mod that removes shared cooldowns), but not of the series.
Companions feel like a nice blend between what we get in 1 and 2. We're bonding, they have unique comments to make, etc. However, ME3 introduced a non-cinematic dialogue system with a distant camera. This would continue to be used in future BioWare games (Inquisition and Andromeda), much to the dismay of many. It's not used terribly often, but it does feel very impersonal.
The reporter lady is a travesty. The dyke yeoman is also a travesty and I can't stand her smug voice actor. It's always an unpleasant surprise to hear her in anything.
Main DLC: Leviathan is my favorite and I enjoy greatly every time I play through it. I despise Citadel for a plethora of reasons. The story is retarded, and the whole DLC is nothing but cringey fanservice memes. It's dogshit. Omega is fun, but I never liked Aria. It feels like she tries too hard to be a man. I like the antagonist and I like that we can spare him. From Ashes is nice. Javik is a perfectly fine companion whose absence is mildly felt if you don't have the DLC, most noticeable would be significantly fewer squadmate interactions. The Eden Prime mission is enjoyable, but I wish they'd had it at sunset, for old time's sake.
Andromeda is better than people give it credit for, but definitely rough around the edges. It's apparent it was made by a smaller team.
► Show Spoiler
The combat is the best in the series. Really damn fun. For me, it is like the perfect blend of ME1 and ME3. They even have a vintage heat sink you can install in your gun for the infinite ammo of the first game, as long as you take care not to overheat your gun.
The facial animations are not great; they move around too much as if everyone has some kind of tic.
The squadmates are divisive, for sure. I'd rather they not be so young overall, but I was pleasantly surprised by them. It makes it easier to believe they'd defer to such a young Pathfinder, anyway. I like default Scott Ryder. Sarah is dumb and lame.
The worlds are, for the most part, very fun to explore, but I could certainly believe Eos being a filter with regards to the environmental hazard system. Exploration takes me back to ME1, a very good feeling. The vaults are some of my favorite areas to explore.
It's the most pozzed of the series, but the majority of it is easy to ignore.
The main story and the squadmate missions are very fun, IMO. I'm genuinely saddened they dropped support of it before giving us the DLC they were alluding to at the end. The only side missions I don't like are the ones that are based on RNG enemy drops where you require an arbitrary amount of something.
I don't know what the point of writing this was. Maybe it will convince new players to give these games a shot, or at least see how modding improves them.
I'm pissed at the direction they took with the graphics and supposed consistency for LE. It's there for some characters, but not others, or the direction taken was the wrong one. But that's what mods are for...
The first Mass Effect will always be my favorite of the series. This LE patch mod helps it reach its full potential (there is one for the original, as well).
► Show Spoiler
I even enjoyed its combat a great deal, especially with the independent cooldowns that we don't get back until Andromeda. Legendary Edition also allows the use of untrained guns without penalty (but also no benefit; a fine and welcome balance).
The overall setting and how it was presented felt very grounded in reality, with exception of the Asari. It's hard to suspend my disbelief that they are 100% human female-shaped, albeit with head tentacles. I know it was established that they're simply supposed to be "space babes" and nothing more, but coomers shouldn't be allowed to write lore. Also, the concept of not knowing what the Quarians look like is retarded because there would be countless photos and vids of them on the extranet from pre-exile.
The squadmates grow with you and feel like actual people within the limitations of the dialogue (even Liara to a minor extent), and it feels like they truly support Shepard. Many would find the UNC missions tedious and/or repetitive, but I enjoy these too.
The main quest is my favorite in the series. So many impactful moments, so badass, very dramatic, etc., etc.
The planets may not have a lot of exciting things going on, but the sights are breathtaking.
The Bring Down the Sky DLC was an excellent showing of the story potential the setting has. It felt like it blended seamlessly into the base game (minus the ship's VI having the wrong voice). The Pinnacle Station one is tedious yet oddly satisfying when you complete it. The reward is neat, story-wise, but ultimately useless. This one feels less seamless, but I think it's primarily because Shepard has much more important things to do, lol.
I like that I can leave insubordinate Ashley to die on Virmire. As much as I value her character growth, a generic soldier is worthless compared to a biotic (especially a sentinel). That, and her character gets completely bastardized in the third game, so killing her is a mercy. The only people who choose her over Kaidan are braindead simps who'd sacrifice a whole platoon to save a vagina.
Mass Effect 2 is my least favorite of the series, but I still enjoy certain things about it a great deal.
► Show Spoiler
They threw away the realism and grounded nature of the first game for gay movie-cool bullshit. Goodbye armor, hello catsuits and exposing our skin and eyes to the vacuum of space! Shepard's death (retconned in 3 to just brain death) is retarded and impossible to suspend disbelief for. I have to do mental gymnastics and pretend he simply got caught in the planet's orbit, rather than somehow being in any way salvageable from burning up in the atmosphere and pasting onto the planet's surface.
The camera is claustrophobic, and Shepard's movement has become sluggish. This is also where they implemented shared cooldowns (likely as a result of arbitrarily limiting our total skills), which requires mods to remove. The abilities are more fun; the biotics have a lot more personality, so to speak. This is also the infancy of the biotic charge, which isn't great but will become so in 3 and perfected in Andromeda.
The side quests and companion quests become much more fun and interesting, however the companions' unique quips in the first game are replaced with canned comments that get repeated where applicable. This is one of the things that make the squadmates feel a little less like a unit, along with the interactions with them feeling rather stilted at times.
I like the companion shouts during combat which they sadly didn't carry over to the third game; they have a lot of personality. I wish they'd at least done something akin to ME1's combat shouts so that they'd still feel alive but not yell flippant things during such a heavy time for 3.
The main plot is okay, I guess. It's frustrating at times, especially with the retarded gating of Legion behind a quest that sets off a timer. Mods can help. Also frustrating not being able to calmly explain things to the Virmire Survivor, but BioWare relies on irrational characters even if it's out-of-character. Suicide mission was quite fun, though.
Main DLC: Overlord DLC was enjoyable, albeit tedious in parts. The Hammerhead is a lot more fun than the Mako. Lair of the Shadow Broker is a lot of fun, but I fucking hate Liara. Arrival is dogshit and probably the most egregious example of having no player agency (until ME3). I like Zaeed quite a lot and Kasumi somewhat, but their content is woefully lacking.
Mass Effect 3 is complicated.
► Show Spoiler
Reaper-centric aspects of the main story are good until the fucking Starchild thing and its retarded plot dump and EVERYTHING IS SO ARBITRARY. Anyway, mods help, but I recommend avoiding the overly saccharine ones. Don't even get me started on Cerberus and Kai Leng. Goodbye player agency, hello plot contrivance and cartoon villains!
The art style is at its worst. The first and second games had a lot of depth and dimension to the eyes, whereas in 3 they've all be replaced with flat, lifeless doll eyes. The uniforms are hideous, and whoever specifically designed the female uniforms appeared to have been unaware that women have these things called rib cages. Their hips go to their chests, their shoulders are sunken in, and they have gangly nightmare arms I haven't seen since Dragon Age Origin's female dwarves.
Armor is partly brought back to reality, but female armor heavily accentuates the breasts to an almost comical degree. Related: EDI is now a disgusting sexbot.
Combat is the most enjoyable of the trilogy (especially with a mod that removes shared cooldowns), but not of the series.
Companions feel like a nice blend between what we get in 1 and 2. We're bonding, they have unique comments to make, etc. However, ME3 introduced a non-cinematic dialogue system with a distant camera. This would continue to be used in future BioWare games (Inquisition and Andromeda), much to the dismay of many. It's not used terribly often, but it does feel very impersonal.
The reporter lady is a travesty. The dyke yeoman is also a travesty and I can't stand her smug voice actor. It's always an unpleasant surprise to hear her in anything.
Main DLC: Leviathan is my favorite and I enjoy greatly every time I play through it. I despise Citadel for a plethora of reasons. The story is retarded, and the whole DLC is nothing but cringey fanservice memes. It's dogshit. Omega is fun, but I never liked Aria. It feels like she tries too hard to be a man. I like the antagonist and I like that we can spare him. From Ashes is nice. Javik is a perfectly fine companion whose absence is mildly felt if you don't have the DLC, most noticeable would be significantly fewer squadmate interactions. The Eden Prime mission is enjoyable, but I wish they'd had it at sunset, for old time's sake.
Andromeda is better than people give it credit for, but definitely rough around the edges. It's apparent it was made by a smaller team.
► Show Spoiler
The combat is the best in the series. Really damn fun. For me, it is like the perfect blend of ME1 and ME3. They even have a vintage heat sink you can install in your gun for the infinite ammo of the first game, as long as you take care not to overheat your gun.
The facial animations are not great; they move around too much as if everyone has some kind of tic.
The squadmates are divisive, for sure. I'd rather they not be so young overall, but I was pleasantly surprised by them. It makes it easier to believe they'd defer to such a young Pathfinder, anyway. I like default Scott Ryder. Sarah is dumb and lame.
The worlds are, for the most part, very fun to explore, but I could certainly believe Eos being a filter with regards to the environmental hazard system. Exploration takes me back to ME1, a very good feeling. The vaults are some of my favorite areas to explore.
It's the most pozzed of the series, but the majority of it is easy to ignore.
The main story and the squadmate missions are very fun, IMO. I'm genuinely saddened they dropped support of it before giving us the DLC they were alluding to at the end. The only side missions I don't like are the ones that are based on RNG enemy drops where you require an arbitrary amount of something.
I don't know what the point of writing this was. Maybe it will convince new players to give these games a shot, or at least see how modding improves them.
Good summary of the games - there are points I don't agree with, but that's not you being wrong - taste is subjective.
I enjoyed the entire trilogy but this video put into words what felt off about ME2’s story to me:
I'm not going to watch a 23 minute video about it but I too felt that the story of ME2 was really bad. I still enjoyed the game but storywise it felt like a weird spinoff with all these new elements that didn't make sense. I didn't finish 3 but to me it felt like a return to form. Unfortunately I put the game down about nine years ago and haven't played any of them since, so I'll probably just start over from the first game eventually.
I too felt that the story of ME2 was really bad. I still enjoyed the game but storywise it felt like a weird spinoff with all these new elements that didn't make sense.
it's like they suddenly went from trying to emulate Star Trek to trying to emulate Star Wars.
And then ME3 is them trying to go back to Star Trek, except this time it's JaJa Abrams' Star Trek.
To be noted, I bought the game way after the ending debacle so I never saw the original ending which is what made people so pissed (wise after years of buying games blind - never be the first out of the landing craft).
All I remember changing is the addition of a shitty joke ending.
Mass Effect series.
Posted: March 28th, 2024, 13:28
by Vergil
Mass Effect 3 might be one of the first instances of an extremely minor update put out to try and psyop people into thinking they "fixed it" and the game is good now.
Mass Effect 3 might be one of the first instances of an extremely minor update put out to try and psyop people into thinking they "fixed it" and the game is good now.
Not good; better. And ME3 IS good with the improved ending.
Mass Effect 3 might be one of the first instances of an extremely minor update put out to try and psyop people into thinking they "fixed it" and the game is good now.
Not good; better. And ME3 IS good with the improved ending.
The ending is maybe 1% of the issues ME3 has. I didnt even finish it originally back in the day before the problems made me drop it entirely.