I will say this about Andromeda: Cora is easily the best human party member in the series.
They usually suck but I always liked her. Shame we're probably never going to see her again now.
On the other hand, no more Liam. Silver linings.
Probably too early to say. I mentioned earlier, they could easily set this 10-15 years after Andromeda so that cast is in more of an NPC role than party members.
I will say that Liam had a pretty great loyalty mission. What Andromeda had over ME for me was the mix of skills your companions had. In ME, I pretty much ran with Tali and Liara, since I was a soldier and that gave me access to biotics and tech. In Andromeda it really didn't matter who I chose. I mean, I picked Drack a lot because he was funny, and hit like a Mack truck, but other than that, I don't even remember.
+1
surrealitychecklonely, but not unloveddreaming of faulty keys and latchesRegistered Userregular
For the next one, I want a krogan squad member that defies stereotypes.
Like a gentle giant or scientist. The guy who made Grunt was pretty cool.
i used a few tho they slightly messed with balance, not that the game was ever really a work in finely crafted difficulty progression)
Balanced Guns
Better Enemy Health Scaling
Power Overhaul
Profiles Reworked
Better Squad
Peebee No Mask
some extra hair colours
Enhanced Statistics Page
Evade Cooldown Reduction
General Augs Rebalanced
MEA Fixpack
Melee Weapon Boost
Made things feel a lot better and ur squad were certainly more impactful
0
Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
edited December 2020
Definitely installing Turian makeover.
They just look really off in this game. I mean, the humans look bad too but in the turians' case, they look like they lost color or detail in between games, like a texture's missing or something.
BRIAN BLESSEDMaybe you aren't SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGHHHRegistered Userregular
edited December 2020
One of the mods I installed made my jetpack like 50 times stronger than it needed to be (when I was expecting it to be much more mild), which made dashing and navigation even more fun than before but also made it ludicrously, hilariously easy to perform boundary breaks
BRIAN BLESSED on
0
DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
edited December 2020
Oh yeah I forgot about the friendly AI.
That more than anything made it obvious that the switch to open world from corridor shooter probably wasn't universally agreed upon.
In the few areas that were closed off the AI while not great at least functioned.
In open space...I once saw them using shotguns and standing in one spot while they shot at enemies like 50 meters away.
I will say this about Andromeda: Cora is easily the best human party member in the series.
They usually suck but I always liked her. Shame we're probably never going to see her again now.
On the other hand, no more Liam. Silver linings.
Liam is a golden retriever with a knife; no one knows how he got it, but he's excited to help, even if there's blood everywhere and he's getting yelled at.
He might be a good asset to the Andromeda Initiative, but he can do that somewhere other than the Tempest.
+3
DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
I didn't care for Liam but mainly because he fits in the long standing tradition of making the Black character a cop(well space cop here) and then making them like overly sympathetic.
Its like I get it Liam you're one of the good ones.
I mean Garrus was an ex-cop and a woobie but he had at least some edge.
I still like the interpretation that the whole Andromeda Initiative was because they read about Ark B in the Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy books and thought the idea was worth putting into practice.
klemming on
Nobody remembers the singer. The song remains.
+5
DVGNo. 1 Honor StudentNether Institute, Evil AcademyRegistered Userregular
I'm using
Materials for Sale - because I hate scavenging
Better Lab Technicians - vastly increases the amount of research data that lab technicians drop, because I don't want to have to rush up to the tempest every 45 minutes just so I can have enough research data to upgrade my armor
No Profile Switch Cooldown - In practice I never wanted to switch profiles during combat, because the global cooldown was too high a penalty. This lets you switch and immediately use your new power set, which is a lot more fun
Otherwise a bunch of visual tweaks to make some of the characters less same facey or to change certain asthetics that I just didn't jive with (Peebee's mask, unique face for Lexi, etc)
I played through Andromeda 2 or 3 times and I don’t remember who Liam is or what the story was about beyond them going to colonize Andromeda. I do remember the... Piranha? shotgun combined with the tracking projectiles took care of basically everything without issue.
And that’s what Andromeda left me with.
Which is a way different experience from what I had with the trilogy. I couldn’t get enough of those games.
However the only thing I really actively disliked were some of the puzzles for the tower things. That was solved through whatever the omni-gel option was though.
My tierlist of human squadmates that is universally recognized as gospel and everyone definitely agrees with. S Tier
Jack - I would like a spinoff game of Jack running her academy and then leading those kids in the reaper war.
Kasumi - I would like a spinoff game full of capers and heists. A Tier
Vega - I'm as surprised as you are, but he was the closest thing you got to a Krogan squadmate in ME3 (outside of Citadel's cameo). I respect a squadmate that bonds with me via fistfight and then crashes a shuttle to capture a fleeing suspect. Somehow gains points for the dumbest, most ridiculous little minigame where I did 100 pull-ups for no goddamned reason.
Miranda - and no, not for dat ass. I did like the character and her arc, simple as it may have been. B Tier
Liam - Points for movie night, his couch, and a loyalty mission that was moderately neat.
Cora - Maybe unfair but the constant Asari worship was actively annoying. Did have fun banter in the car.
Kaidan - Was not Wrex or Garrus in ME1. C Tier
Ashley - Was not Wrex or Garrus in ME1 and did not bring good breakfast to the Citadel.
Zaeed - beats Jacob on the strength of the memes.
Jacob - if I were interested in his abs he'd probably move 1-2 tiers. Or if he'd run the armory well enough that we could reload heavy ammo between missions.
My tierlist of human squadmates that is universally recognized as gospel and everyone definitely agrees with. S Tier
Jack - I would like a spinoff game of Jack running her academy and then leading those kids in the reaper war.
Kasumi - I would like a spinoff game full of capers and heists. A Tier
Vega - I'm as surprised as you are, but he was the closest thing you got to a Krogan squadmate in ME3 (outside of Citadel's cameo). I respect a squadmate that bonds with me via fistfight and then crashes a shuttle to capture a fleeing suspect. Somehow gains points for the dumbest, most ridiculous little minigame where I did 100 pull-ups for no goddamned reason.
Miranda - and no, not for dat ass. I did like the character and her arc, simple as it may have been. B Tier
Liam - Points for movie night, his couch, and a loyalty mission that was moderately neat.
Cora - Maybe unfair but the constant Asari worship was actively annoying. Did have fun banter in the car.
Kaidan - Was not Wrex or Garrus in ME1. C Tier
Ashley - Was not Wrex or Garrus in ME1 and did not bring good breakfast to the Citadel.
Zaeed - beats Jacob on the strength of the memes.
Jacob - if I were interested in his abs he'd probably move 1-2 tiers. Or if he'd run the armory well enough that we could reload heavy ammo between missions.
The crew of the Normandy is a diverse and interesting cast. Also, there's Jacob.
Sic transit gloria mundi.
+10
DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
edited December 2020
Jacob could have been more interesting but it was like they went out of their way to make him just...not.
Shepard: "So, Jacob tell me about yourself."
Jacob: "You know I used to roll with the Corsairs doing tons of awesome shit."
S tier:
Jack - I loved watching her soften and grow as a character between ME2 and 3. She starts out edgy and over-the-top, but comes into her own.
A tier:
Zaeed, Kasumi - Both of the DLC squadmates ended up being some of the most interesting characters in the squad, despite "just" being humans.
B tier:
Vega, Miranda - I don't personally like either of them, but they're well-written and memorable.
C tier:
Ashley, Kaiden, Cora - The boring tier. While I like them, there's not much to them to like.
D tier:
Liam, Jenkins, Wilson - Honestly I barely remember any of the Andromeda characters, but I do remember disliking Liam. The other two count, right? Wilson didn't seem so bad.
Pretty sure that's everyone.
Arteen on
0
DHSChase lizards.....bark at donkeys..Registered Userregular
i pretty much was only male shep but once i found out how Jacob done dirty a Fem shep romance he was always on my shit list. you don't cheat on my alternate universe twin sisters Mr. Prize, like if anyone gets some leeway it's the literal savior of sentient life twice over even if you were lonely for the three weeks or whatever she was gone. I can't remember if I went back and deaded him in the collector mission but it would've been tempting.
"Grip 'em up, grip 'em, grip 'em good, said the Gryphon... to the pig."
Jacob needed some kind of hook to stand out and it's very funny to me that what he eventually got was "is the love interest who ends up the least in love with Shepard."
I'm trying to think of what could have worked. For male love interests we have the tragic one, the best bud one, the emotionally vulnerable one, and the... other tragic one. Comparing that to the female love interests, clearly the gaps are the cute one, the badass one, and the... what would you call Liara... the wish fulfillment one? I think Jacob would have been more popular by FAR if he was a hard edged Cerberus die hard with awful opinions that you could shout at him about, and change his mind with the power of romantic chemistry. Or agree with him about them and be terrible together.
I have noticed that the squadmates people tend to dislike have too few flaws, rather than too many.
In fact, being nonhuman and being eccentric seem to be the two main draw. Those who are both are loved. Those who are one or the other are liked. Those who are neither are disliked.
0
DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
I have noticed that the squadmates people tend to dislike have too few flaws, rather than too many.
In fact, being nonhuman and being eccentric seem to be the two main draw. Those who are both are loved. Those who are one or the other are liked. Those who are neither are disliked.
There is an old saying in writing the worst thing a character can do isn't being disliked or hated its being boring.
Something that's always bugged me is that every Mass Effect game has the "on the ship" crew members that don't fight on your squad but still get bonding events. The chief medical officers, the chief engineers, the pilots, the science officers, the shuttlecraft drivers, etc. These roles are always given to humans, and the one time it wasn't, it was given to an Asari, the most humanlike of aliens. These seem like the perfect roles for some of the alien species that aren't major players in the galaxy, especially the ones that can never be squadmates like Hanar and Elcor.
Man I always thought it was pretty incredible that Bioware of all studios picked the sole black squadmate in the trilogy to be the one that not only doesn't carry forward a romance but has gotten someone else pregnant in the meantime. Did no one say "hey this sounds kinda like a bad stereotype and why is this literally the only romance like this?" Even Samara who wasn't even a romance gets more consideration in 3 via Citadel.
Man I always thought it was pretty incredible that Bioware of all studios picked the sole black squadmate in the trilogy to be the one that not only doesn't carry forward a romance but has gotten someone else pregnant in the meantime. Did no one say "hey this sounds kinda like a bad stereotype and why is this literally the only romance like this?" Even Samara who wasn't even a romance gets more consideration in 3 via Citadel.
I mean, the stereotype isn't that black people want to start families. He intends to raise the child and marry his new love. I think this critique is... off.
Something that's always bugged me is that every Mass Effect game has the "on the ship" crew members that don't fight on your squad but still get bonding events. The chief medical officers, the chief engineers, the pilots, the science officers, the shuttlecraft drivers, etc. These roles are always given to humans, and the one time it wasn't, it was given to an Asari, the most humanlike of aliens. These seem like the perfect roles for some of the alien species that aren't major players in the galaxy, especially the ones that can never be squadmates like Hanar and Elcor.
The Tempest's pilot is a Salarian, but given they are also a council race that doesn't change much about your point.
Posts
They usually suck but I always liked her. Shame we're probably never going to see her again now.
On the other hand, no more Liam. Silver linings.
Both Cora and Liam are great.
Probably too early to say. I mentioned earlier, they could easily set this 10-15 years after Andromeda so that cast is in more of an NPC role than party members.
Just, you know, not in combat. *Shakes fist at developer decision to not allow party weapon customization*
Yeah, thats right. I said it.
Exactly.
i found a mod that makes them much chonkier which helped
Might have to rethink being a sniper.
Also just acknowledging that the first act is kind of clumsy and getting over that hump leads to a good game.
For the next one, I want a krogan squad member that defies stereotypes.
Like a gentle giant or scientist. The guy who made Grunt was pretty cool.
Kasumi is so much better than Cora
I would put her below Cora on my own list, personally.
With the exception of Miranda and Jacob, ME2's cast was just stellar all around.
i used a few tho they slightly messed with balance, not that the game was ever really a work in finely crafted difficulty progression)
Balanced Guns
Better Enemy Health Scaling
Power Overhaul
Profiles Reworked
Better Squad
Peebee No Mask
some extra hair colours
Enhanced Statistics Page
Evade Cooldown Reduction
General Augs Rebalanced
MEA Fixpack
Melee Weapon Boost
Made things feel a lot better and ur squad were certainly more impactful
They just look really off in this game. I mean, the humans look bad too but in the turians' case, they look like they lost color or detail in between games, like a texture's missing or something.
That more than anything made it obvious that the switch to open world from corridor shooter probably wasn't universally agreed upon.
In the few areas that were closed off the AI while not great at least functioned.
In open space...I once saw them using shotguns and standing in one spot while they shot at enemies like 50 meters away.
He might be a good asset to the Andromeda Initiative, but he can do that somewhere other than the Tempest.
Its like I get it Liam you're one of the good ones.
I mean Garrus was an ex-cop and a woobie but he had at least some edge.
Materials for Sale - because I hate scavenging
Better Lab Technicians - vastly increases the amount of research data that lab technicians drop, because I don't want to have to rush up to the tempest every 45 minutes just so I can have enough research data to upgrade my armor
No Profile Switch Cooldown - In practice I never wanted to switch profiles during combat, because the global cooldown was too high a penalty. This lets you switch and immediately use your new power set, which is a lot more fun
Otherwise a bunch of visual tweaks to make some of the characters less same facey or to change certain asthetics that I just didn't jive with (Peebee's mask, unique face for Lexi, etc)
And that’s what Andromeda left me with.
Which is a way different experience from what I had with the trilogy. I couldn’t get enough of those games.
However the only thing I really actively disliked were some of the puzzles for the tower things. That was solved through whatever the omni-gel option was though.
S Tier
Jack - I would like a spinoff game of Jack running her academy and then leading those kids in the reaper war.
Kasumi - I would like a spinoff game full of capers and heists.
A Tier
Vega - I'm as surprised as you are, but he was the closest thing you got to a Krogan squadmate in ME3 (outside of Citadel's cameo). I respect a squadmate that bonds with me via fistfight and then crashes a shuttle to capture a fleeing suspect. Somehow gains points for the dumbest, most ridiculous little minigame where I did 100 pull-ups for no goddamned reason.
Miranda - and no, not for dat ass. I did like the character and her arc, simple as it may have been.
B Tier
Liam - Points for movie night, his couch, and a loyalty mission that was moderately neat.
Cora - Maybe unfair but the constant Asari worship was actively annoying. Did have fun banter in the car.
Kaidan - Was not Wrex or Garrus in ME1.
C Tier
Ashley - Was not Wrex or Garrus in ME1 and did not bring good breakfast to the Citadel.
Zaeed - beats Jacob on the strength of the memes.
Jacob - if I were interested in his abs he'd probably move 1-2 tiers. Or if he'd run the armory well enough that we could reload heavy ammo between missions.
The crew of the Normandy is a diverse and interesting cast. Also, there's Jacob.
Shepard: "So, Jacob tell me about yourself."
Jacob: "You know I used to roll with the Corsairs doing tons of awesome shit."
S: "You want to tell me about it?"
J: "I don't think I will."
Criminal.
They could have at least mixed things up by giving him mommy issues instead of daddy issues.
He was the only one who mde it out of C tier alive.
Steam | XBL
Jack - I loved watching her soften and grow as a character between ME2 and 3. She starts out edgy and over-the-top, but comes into her own.
A tier:
Zaeed, Kasumi - Both of the DLC squadmates ended up being some of the most interesting characters in the squad, despite "just" being humans.
B tier:
Vega, Miranda - I don't personally like either of them, but they're well-written and memorable.
C tier:
Ashley, Kaiden, Cora - The boring tier. While I like them, there's not much to them to like.
D tier:
Liam, Jenkins, Wilson - Honestly I barely remember any of the Andromeda characters, but I do remember disliking Liam. The other two count, right? Wilson didn't seem so bad.
Pretty sure that's everyone.
I'm trying to think of what could have worked. For male love interests we have the tragic one, the best bud one, the emotionally vulnerable one, and the... other tragic one. Comparing that to the female love interests, clearly the gaps are the cute one, the badass one, and the... what would you call Liara... the wish fulfillment one? I think Jacob would have been more popular by FAR if he was a hard edged Cerberus die hard with awful opinions that you could shout at him about, and change his mind with the power of romantic chemistry. Or agree with him about them and be terrible together.
In fact, being nonhuman and being eccentric seem to be the two main draw. Those who are both are loved. Those who are one or the other are liked. Those who are neither are disliked.
There is an old saying in writing the worst thing a character can do isn't being disliked or hated its being boring.
I mean, the stereotype isn't that black people want to start families. He intends to raise the child and marry his new love. I think this critique is... off.
The Tempest's pilot is a Salarian, but given they are also a council race that doesn't change much about your point.
Yeah, maybe, it's not 1:1 with the stuff you hear casually bandied about on Fox News, but it definitely struck me as on odd standout.