[Mass Effect: Andromeda] Sara's out and Scott free; tag your spoilers.

Sorce

Previously on the Mass Effect Thread
Version 1.0 - Mass Effect Andromeda announced, featuring even hotter humanoid ship AI
Version 2.0 - Ryders on the Tempest
Version 3.0 - Negative Ghost Ryder, the planet is full.

(OP at least partially stolen from Curly. He carries us through more than just MP.)

https://youtu.be/X6PJEmEHIaY

What We Know So Far:

Sorce wrote: »

Who wants a release date?

It's probably March 21st, 2017.

Release date CONFIRMED as 3-21-17, as of the CES Gameplay Trailer. Also by everyone on the internet, provided you're in North America. Everyone else gets to wait until the 23rd.


Hardware Requirements
One (1) Xbone
One (1) PS4
or, if you like PCs..

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

OS: 64-bit Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10
PROCESSOR: Intel Core i5 3570 or AMD FX-6350
MEMORY: 8 GB RAM
VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GTX 660 2GB, AMD Radeon 7850 2GB
HARD DRIVE: At least 55 GB of free space
DIRECTX: DirectX 11

RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

OS: 64-bit Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10
PROCESSOR: Intel Core i7-4790 or AMD FX-8350
MEMORY: 16 GB RAM
VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GTX 1060 3GB, AMD RX 480 4GB
HARD DRIVE: At least 55 GB of free space
DIRECTX: DirectX 11

Techy stuff, aka "Resolutions and FPS"

Last I checked, we were like other Frostbite games on PS4 and XBox One - 1080p and 900p respectively. All are at 30 fps. PC has uncapped framerate.

Link.


Versions of the Release:

So, quick post rounding up the SKUs.

As far as the game itself, there's three iterations: Base Game, Digital Deluxe, and Super Deluxe Edition. If you want the Nomad a steelbook, there's two iterations; the Model Collector's Edition, and the Remote Control Collector's Edition. Here's the differences:

Base Game just has the game itself, no extras whatsoever. Costs $59.99
Deluxe has the Base Game, plus a bunch of in-game collectibles like armor/guns, a pet Pyjack to punch in the face, and some MP booster packs to start off with. Costs $69.99
Super Deluxe has all the above, plus an additional MP booster pack a week for 20 weeks. Costs $99.99.

Here's what the Digital items actually are:




For the physical items, those are a separate purchase (NO GAME INCLUDED).

Model Collector's Edition. You get a die-cast version of the Nomad (1:18 scale) and a steelbook case. Costs $100.
Remote Control Collector's Edition. You get an R/C car version of the Nomad (also 1:18 scale) instead of the die-cast model, and the aforementioned steelbook case. Costs $200.

So this time around you can spend anywhere from $60 to $300 to get your Mass Effect Andromeda fix, but keep in mind that this doesn't include any kind of DLC/Season Pass, because that stuff hasn't been announced as of yet. At least there's an armor/skin/booster pack when you pre-order!

Also there's supposed to be an upgrade available for those that purchase the base game but want the Deluxe Edition. Details have yet to be announced.


BioWare's Andromeda Gameplay Series

Part 1 - Andromeda Gameplay General Overview
https://youtu.be/HrWgLMH8yRU

Part 2 - Profiles, Favorites, and Squad Assignments
https://youtu.be/d3q_Nd5arZM

Part 3 - Exploration & Discovery
https://youtu.be/Ts9WLMSAYVE

Part 4 - Multiplayer
https://youtu.be/6OmW-4F4h30

Other parts incoming maybe!

Additionally, here's a link to the Andromeda Initiative, where more information/videos can be found. Watch all 6 and get an in-game item for your character!


Lastly, Quads.

Sorce

Multiplayer
Since the game has MP, and it's all co-op, here's a list of your fellow Pathfinders to meet, go to interesting locations, and kill stuff with.

Sign up here.
Population list here.

Related to the MP, there's an app for that. Control your Strike Teams, manage your MP characters, etc. They're also free, so download away!
Google Play Store
Apple/iTunes App Store


DLC
News: Andromeda is getting DLC, but not a Season Pass.

Dragkonias

Quads.

Edit: Beaten, curses.

DemonStacey

Ok this game is super awesome. Like so rad.

Like god damn.

2 disappointments so far:

CC. I don't mind it not being deep but they actually messed up beard blending completely. There's only like one or two options that blend so if you want a beard instead of the already somewhat lacking 12 options your are down to 2. Which yea seems like a weird oversight.

And then weapons. It seems like all models are available right from the start the only thing you really get later game is higher ranked versions of the same gun? That kinda sucks. Getting to see badass new weapons is always fun. Especially finding that super cool later game gun to stick with. I guess it's just like you pick your fav gun from the start and just keep upgrading that one gun all game. Which isn't bad, I just like seeing progression.

Beyond that, HOLY SHIT I'M PLAYING MASS EFFECT AGAIN AND IT'S FUCKING AWESOME.

antherem

In the first combat area in the game (spoilering out of an abundance of caution)

Habitat 7

Is there somewhere you can go to force a checkpoint save? Or, in general, what triggers them?

AspectVoid

Some thoughts of mine in the previous thread that I posted right before this new thread was created:

In regards to the quest The First Murder

I think whoever wrote that has a misunderstanding of double jeopardy. Double Jeopardy prevents the police from trying the same person multiple times for the same crime, which is why the prosecution has grand juries that review evidence and help decide what they can nail the accused with. However, if new evidence comes to light, you CAN use that to try the accused a second time. The discovery of the body and the evidence it revealed would be enough to arrest and try the accused on a lesser charge. My guess is that whoever wrote that quest knew about double jeopardy but didn't know that new evidence could bypass it. So, you're left with the two options of either covering up the evidence and leaving him guilt of murder, or showing the evidence and letting him go as it proves him innocent of the crime he was convicted of and you can't try him a second time.

In general, in playing for 16 hours (took yesterday off work so I could play) I really freaking like it. Outside of a few weird decisions in modeling where people's heads are looking or eyes are tracking during cutscenes, I haven't noticed any issues with the game on the PS4. All of the voice acting is fine, all of dialog is fine, the graphics are fine, etc. Its very ME1 in feel, which I love. I hated how they made ME2 and ME3 corridor shooters, so I am all happy with ME1 so far. I can see where some of the decisions they made to project a sense of scale (such as how the Tempest moves between worlds a little slow) would annoy or frustrate other people, but I personally like it. I'd probably give the game a solid "Good" in regards to rating it.

Iron Weasel

Put in a couple of hours last night, got as far as the Nexus. A few non-spoiler impressions:

The character creator is fine, but does feel limited. I based my RydHer on something I found online, and then managed to hack together a not-horrendous twin, so I’m pleased.

There are some janky animations (leading up to the deployment to Habitat 7, my Ryder seemed to always be looking up), but overall it’s not nearly as bad as some would have you believe. That said, I do find that some of the NPCs simply do not look good (Foster Addison is an important person, there’s no reason her character model should look like it was knocked together in five minutes).

I also do not know why the holding cells on the Nexus are located right next to the Arms Merchant. That seems unwise.

Beyond that, I’m quite enjoying it. The voice acting has been good so far and I’m enjoying getting into fights. I do wish the Tone Selection reminder box would pop up more often, since I now can’t remember the difference between Star, Clockwise Spiral and Counter-clockwise Spiral.

Sprout

Iron Weasel wrote: »

Put in a couple of hours last night, got as far as the Nexus. A few non-spoiler impressions:

The character creator is fine, but does feel limited. I based my RydHer on something I found online, and then managed to hack together a not-horrendous twin, so I’m pleased.

There are some janky animations (leading up to the deployment to Habitat 7, my Ryder seemed to always be looking up), but overall it’s not nearly as bad as some would have you believe. That said, I do find that some of the NPCs simply do not look good (Foster Addison is an important person, there’s no reason her character model should look like it was knocked together in five minutes).

I also do not know why the holding cells on the Nexus are located right next to the Arms Merchant. That seems unwise.

Beyond that, I’m quite enjoying it. The voice acting has been good so far and I’m enjoying getting into fights. I do wish the Tone Selection reminder box would pop up more often, since I now can’t remember the difference between Star, Clockwise Spiral and Counter-clockwise Spiral.

It is BAFFLING how terrible Addison looks. Like, there should be a sign floating over her head that says, "PLACEHOLDER MODEL, FIX LATER".

Decoy

I'm not a fan of the Tempest's layout or this series silly reliance on hidden loading screens.

I also spent 10 minutes fiddling with the UI, failing to simply change the colors of my casual outfit. I could get my outfit to change, but the colors just wouldn't switch off of default.

So many tiny annoyances.

MagicPrime

Decoy wrote: »

I'm not a fan of the Tempest's layout or this series silly reliance on hidden loading screens.

I also spent 10 minutes fiddling with the UI, failing to simply change the colors of my casual outfit. I could get my outfit to change, but the colors just wouldn't switch off of default.

So many tiny annoyances.

Once you change your colors you have to hit space bar to confirm. Yet there is no icon or prompt telling you this...

Muzzmuzz

You know, (habitat 7 prologue spoilers)

Even If Pa Ryder turns out to have been a crappy father, husband, and coworker, the fact that he sacrifices himself without hesitation to save you is very powerful.

DemonStacey

Oh also, hardcore has killed me many times already. That's what happens when you're a Vangod with an 8 second cooldown on charge though! This is ideal though and what I was hoping for. Be hard as I get my abilities together before I build into an unstoppable god of charging and shotguns.

3cl1ps3

DemonStacey wrote: »

Oh also, hardcore has killed me many times already. That's what happens when you're a Vangod with an 8 second cooldown on charge though! This is ideal though and what I was hoping for. Be hard as I get my abilities together before I build into an unstoppable god of charging and shotguns.

Yeah the 24 second cooldown on Singularity when you first start is reeeaal tough.

Definitely not used to playing a level 1 dude again after starting as a level 30 Shepard so many times.

DemonStacey

3clipse wrote: »

DemonStacey wrote: »

Oh also, hardcore has killed me many times already. That's what happens when you're a Vangod with an 8 second cooldown on charge though! This is ideal though and what I was hoping for. Be hard as I get my abilities together before I build into an unstoppable god of charging and shotguns.

Yeah the 24 second cooldown on Singularity when you first start is reeeaal tough.

Definitely not used to playing a level 1 dude again after starting as a level 30 Shepard so many times.

Yea. I love the feeling of starting off weak and growing in power in any RPG though so I'm quite enjoying it. Some games have a distinct lack of this feeling so I'm glad it seems so prevalent here.

And the skill choices! Every level I have to actually think about where I'm going to put my points. There's so much to consider! I love it.

Decoy

MagicPrime wrote: »

Decoy wrote: »

I'm not a fan of the Tempest's layout or this series silly reliance on hidden loading screens.

I also spent 10 minutes fiddling with the UI, failing to simply change the colors of my casual outfit. I could get my outfit to change, but the colors just wouldn't switch off of default.

So many tiny annoyances.

Once you change your colors you have to hit space bar to confirm. Yet there is no icon or prompt telling you this...

Sadly, I was. /shrug... I've also had countless other weird UI and control issues, so who knows. For instance, my last restart, during the tutorial mission, the "Find Cover!" prompt stayed on-screen from the first fight, through cut scenes, all the way to me leaving the planet.

There are plenty of things to like here, but I feel like I'm trying to snuggle with my damn cat who just wants to squirm away. LET ME LOVE YOU, DAMNIT!

jefe414

played some multiplayer with my brother, bogey and geebs. Man what a blast. harrowing misadventures and good lord the bronze APEX mission with the enemy having +1000% melee damage. Destiny lightswitch all over again. We did stick to the Outlaw enemy faction to prevent SP spoilers.

Muzzmuzz

Mr. Muzz comes into the room:

"Oh cool, how's the game going? Looks like the fighting is fu--- oh you're playing Vanguard "

Walks out of the room disgusted


Because apparently in a game where can use mystical energy to lift enemies, create barriers and cause micro black holes 'zooming toward the enemies at sub light speed' is just too much.

Sorce

Mr. Muzz is clearly Vega in that argument.

Iron Weasel

Muzzmuzz wrote: »

Mr. Muzz comes into the room:

"Oh cool, how's the game going? Looks like the fighting is fu--- oh you're playing Vanguard "

Walks out of the room disgusted


Because apparently in a game where can use mystical energy to lift enemies, create barriers and cause micro black holes 'zooming toward the enemies at sub light speed' is just too much.

Make him sleep on the couch until he understands what he did wrong.

DemonStacey

Muzzmuzz wrote: »

Mr. Muzz comes into the room:

"Oh cool, how's the game going? Looks like the fighting is fu--- oh you're playing Vanguard "

Walks out of the room disgusted


Because apparently in a game where can use mystical energy to lift enemies, create barriers and cause micro black holes 'zooming toward the enemies at sub light speed' is just too much.

It's literally the only class choice that makes sense.

THE ONLY ONE.

ObiFett

I need people on the Xbone to play with in multiplayer. Randos are so bad at this game and I am tired of not having any team coordination.

3cl1ps3

Muzzmuzz wrote: »

Mr. Muzz comes into the room:

"Oh cool, how's the game going? Looks like the fighting is fu--- oh you're playing Vanguard "

Walks out of the room disgusted


Because apparently in a game where can use mystical energy to lift enemies, create barriers and cause micro black holes 'zooming toward the enemies at sub light speed' is just too much.

CHARGE HIM

Deadfall

ObiFett wrote: »

I need people on the Xbone to play with in multiplayer. Randos are so bad at this game and I am tired of not having any team coordination.

I have all of next week off, so hit me up pretty much any time in a few days.

Heatwave

I love this little vanguard cult we've made.

Other's probably view us like this though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toBqjQXYwzo

Wraith260

still about 10 hours and 30 minutes till this unlocks for me. have thrown myself onto the multiplayer list in prep though. happy to jump in with anyone on Xbone.

squall99x

I hate to bring up yet more connectivity issues but....was it impossible for anyone else to connect to (what I presume) are the online EA servers at the beginning of the game? It kept trying to connect and failing. So I couldn't do anything online / multiplayer related last night. Online worked for every thing I tried last night except for Mass Effect. I just updated my password the other day so it shouldn't have anything to do with that and I signed into the servers fine for whatever the last EA game I played was...

Dragkonias

Hiw many deaths before people realize you don't go straight to the extraction zone?

GONG-00

Without starting the single player campaign, I played one game of multiplayer last night with randoms...the added mobility is both a blessing and a curse to that common ME3 multi "WTF are you doing way over there from the group!?" scenario.

Deadfall

Retraining my muscle memory from hundreds upon hundreds of ME3 multi has been a bit tough.

Dizzy D

Dragkonias wrote: »

Hiw many deaths before people realize you don't go straight to the extraction zone?

Loads of people never learned in ME3, so I think the answer is "infinite".

Dhalphir

These planets are goddamn enormous.

Like, they are two or three times the size of Mass Effect 1 planet areas, except there's a whole bunch of stuff in them instead of three points of interest and nothing else!

Eos was already a big area to explore, and now I come back to it a bit further into the game and an area like, 3x as big again just opens up.

MagicPrime

I play my vanguard with a Charger pistol. I also make my armor as bright and visible as possible so that the rest of my team can see me clearly flying around the map like a maniac punching shit.

Iron Weasel

ObiFett wrote: »

I need people on the Xbone to play with in multiplayer. Randos are so bad at this game and I am tired of not having any team coordination.

I think we're XBL friends (Tanith 6227 if not). Hit me up if you see me online, but be warned: I haven't played the MEA MP at all. I can however fight efficiently and die gallantly.

DevoutlyApathetic

So kinda eh on the research system but I decided to give it a go. Researched myself a shiny Asari Sword and was gonna built it but now it's got Aug slots....

Anybody know if those Augs are actually going to ever apply stuff since you don't ever have your melee weapon out? Are they just another passive slot so long as I have it equipped?

Dashui

I got through the first mission last night. It's not as bad as the internet was making it out to be, at least not so far! And boy does it look good, too, outside of the dead eyes of the characters. There's some good usage of lighting and depth of field. I'm looking forward to playing more.

Has anyone gone over the settings and figured out any good performance tweaks? What setting can be lowered without impacting video quality, etc. It seems to be running okay on my setup, but I always like to get as much performance out of a game as I can.

DVG

Played through the Nexus last night (which was a nice surprise since my birthday isn't till tomorrow and my wife got it for me on release day! Wife win!)

Impressions:

* The models are noticeably lower quality than the environments, but I find it doesn't bother me very much. I find myself looking out for the things everyone was critical of and though I notice it... I don't really care?
* The combat is fun. I just did the trilogy so it is hard moving from godly shepard able to tear through all resistance to having only throw. I immediately picked up pull to go with it so I can do pull/throw shenanigans which is awesome. I like the squadmates seem smart enough to focus fire on the guy that I have suspended in air
* I love the 4-axis conversation system. I know some people are mourning the loss of aggressive asshole renegade options, but I never found I did that much anyway. Right now I stick to professional/logical when dealing with authority figures / people on the nexus while being a little more vunerable with the squad.
* After much debate did a custom Sara Ryder that looks a lot like Avatar Korra. Started with biotics, as is tradition.

PLA

The longer it's been since I played Mass Effect, the less I remember why I played Mass Effect. I remember the Mako, though. So tell me about mountains.

TexiKen

Even in another galaxy Liara finds a way to force herself into this game.

TTODewback

So I think my strat for now is to log on. play a few mp matches to get to around 30k credits, buy a bunch of basic backs, then switch back to sp.

Pixelated Pixie

In a universe with all the technology and space magic that this one has, I find myself wondering why the faceplates on the helmets of soldiers sent to the surface of inhospitable worlds are not, you know, made of something more shatter-resistant than the average suburban home window?

schuss

ABC
Always Be Charging