Board 8 > Mass Effect: Andromeda review zone

(+) Yeah! (+)

http://opencritic.com/game/1547/mass-effect-andromeda

averaging an 82 so far but still early on. Here's the current highest and lowest review for comparison

Press Start
James Mitchell
9 / 10

Mass Effect: Andromeda manages to successfully bring back the sense of exploration and discovery that fans have longed for since the original Mass Effect, whilst honing and improving the already enjoyable combat mechanics of Mass Effect 3. The result is something truly special – a metaphorical slow burn, a hybrid that is sure to appeal to fans of both the original game and its flashier sequels. Despite this, Andromeda is hampered slightly by its lack of visual polish and presentation, which can kill the wonder and fantasy as quickly as it builds it.

Destructoid
Brett Makedonski
6.5 / 10.0

Mass Effect: Andromeda spends a lot of time not really feeling like a Mass Effect game. If anything, it feels like a spin-off -- the sort of thing created by another studio that's unsure about what direction to take it. Like in the game itself, there are problems with the atmosphere. But Andromeda is very clear that it doesn't aim to be like the other Mass Effects. New beginnings, not funerals -- for better and for worse.

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oops I refreshed the page and it's down to 78
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Gaming Nexus
Kinsey Danzis
8.8 / 10.0
(XB1)
Mass Effect: Andromeda doesn’t quite live up to the hype, but it comes close. Considering the situation in which the developers found themselves, they put out an addition to the franchise that really feels like returning home even though you’re millions of light years from Earth. With stunning scenery, a distinct Mass Effect feel, and an abundance of things to do, it’s a worthy investment for any Mass Effect veteran or newcomer—but don’t expect it to be perfect.

Eurogamer
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
(PS4)
The combat crackles and the worlds are lush, but mediocre writing and tepid quests add up to what is probably BioWare's worst RPG yet.

USgamer
Kat Bailey
(PS4)

3/5 Stars

Mass Effect Andromeda falls short of its predecessors, but it's still a competently executed open-world action RPG with an interesting world and tons of quests to complete. Its biggest shame is that it doesn't make better use of its setting, opting instead to go with more of the same. Hopefully BioWare will be more ambitious when it comes time for the inevitable sequel.

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http://i.imgur.com/D59VXpc.png


go me
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Good job Bane

also down to 76 now :|
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PlayStation LifeStyle
Keri Honea
6.5 / 10.0
(PS4)
With the vast love of the Mass Effect series, Andromeda was never going to make people 100% happy, the same way the ME3 ending didn't make people happy. The BioWare team put so many great things in place, but the main story, the characters, and most of the writing keep the game from being great. Sadly, technical mess keeps it from being good.

GameSpot
Scott Butterworth
6 / 10
(PS4)
Andromeda's combat soars but its storytelling sputters, making the series' first venture into uncharted space a shaky but occasionally satisfying new adventure.

Polygon
Arthur Gies
7.5 / 10.0
(XB1)
Andromeda succeeds, despite a host of problems

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Is it time?

http://i.imgur.com/0fPbkQ7.jpg
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well this is a bummer
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75 now!

IGN
Dan Stapleton
7.7 / 10.0
(PS4, XB1)
Mass Effect: Andromeda only occasionally recaptures the series' brilliance, but delivers a vast and fun action-RPG.

TheSixthAxis
Dominic Leighton
8 / 10
(PS4, PC)
I found it hard to be excited during the opening hours of Mass Effect: Andromeda. It feels too safe, too much like what's gone before, but then it clicks. There's a moment where the galaxy opens up and you find yourself embarking once more on a huge mission across compelling, beautifully constructed planets, surrounded by memorable characters. Sadly the glut of technical missteps serve to cheapen proceedings, but this is still an adventure you don't want to miss out on.

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Down to 73, officially mixed reviews, and Bioware's worst ever.
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goddamnit i fear i'm impressionable enough where i think about the possibility that if i had not seen anything about the s*** animations/voice acting/review scores i would have had a better experience but now it will cloud my perception and make me judge it more harshly than i would have

Lightning Strikes posted...

Down to 73, officially mixed reviews, and Bioware's worst ever.

Even less than Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
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Professional review scores will never matter.
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JONALEON1 posted...

Lightning Strikes posted...

Down to 73, officially mixed reviews, and Bioware's worst ever.

Even less than Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood

By one point admittedly but still that's actually kind of worrying.
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I really debated cancelling my pre-order but I didn't

might not get to it after persona anyway
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It sounds like after patches itll go right back to being a 8 or 9 out of 10
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Eddv posted...

It sounds like after patches itll go right back to being a 8 or 9 out of 10

yeah, this is why I'm probably gonna wait for awhile
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www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/03/20/mass-effect-andromeda

I think I'll sit this one out.
(At least until the version with all the inevitable dlc is priced off.)
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very divisive reviews. half the reviews praise the combat while finding the story lacking; the other half find the story to be fresh and the start of something new, while the gameplay drags it down. this isn't something you see out of major Western games. a critical consensus forms early and it's fan response that generates most of the discussion
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UItimaterializer posted...

Professional review scores will never matter.

Huh
I recall a lot of times you celebrated when a game you hate got terrible review/s
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Hm, sure the game is probably not good. Still, I was able to get some enjoyment out of other pretty bad Bioware games like Inquisition and ME3 so maybe I could find myself liking enough of Andromeda.
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I guess eventually one of the games this year had to be not great.

I'll still probably play this, but not until later on when it's cheap.
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GANON1025 posted...

pretty bad Bioware games like Inquisition and ME3 .

f***in smh
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GANON1025 posted...

Still, I was able to get some enjoyment out of other pretty bad Bioware games like Inquisition and ME3

???

"pretty bad" sounds more like "not the best games Bioware has ever made but still very good games by most standards."
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Hey I said I enjoyed playing them what else do ya want
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Hm. Damn. Oh well, I can wait a month or so until there's a couple of good patches and then get it later.

Updates are a real pain often when you just want to play, but I really like that a game like this isn't doomed from release. Although I feel like it encourages and enables studios to rush games out. Ah well
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Yeah I guess ill just start Trails kf Cold Steel then
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Can anyone give me an actual example of a game that was bad and then patches improved it significantly?

Like, everyone talks as if this was a major thing that always happens but I'm really struggling to think of one...
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Every single Elder Scrolls game in existence
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SmartMuffin posted...

Can anyone give me an actual example of a game that was bad and then patches improved it significantly?

Like, everyone talks as if this was a major thing that always happens but I'm really struggling to think of one...

I think most people would say Diablo 3.
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Lots of complaints about the writing, story, etc:

"They'll just patch it"

oh
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Bane_Of_Despair posted...

GANON1025 posted...

pretty bad Bioware games like Inquisition and ME3 .

f***in smh

ME3 is the best Mass Effect!
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Eddv posted...

Yeah I guess ill just start Trails kf Cold Steel then

I've had that game on the backburner for a disgustingly long time. And it's not even because I hate it or anything, I've just been so depressed about a lot of s*** I just haven't been in the right mood. Then again, I'm not sure what made me think I had to be in the right "mood" to play a video game to begin with. I suspect it's just my own excuse to put it off because my ever increasing fear of getting old.

Oh, yeah. Andromeda. From what I've come across, all of the things it does seem to be done better by other games that have been recently released, like BotW and Horizon doing the open world thing better. I've seen some dismiss the facial animations as no big thing, but considering that the first ME game had better facial animation (not that it was perfect) it's definitely worth mentioning as a con. It's not worth harassing someone about but still a flaw that shouldn't have been there. The game had big shoes to fill, and even if it weren't for that it wouldn't be able to do it, but it certainly won't help.
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SmartMuffin posted...

Can anyone give me an actual example of a game that was bad and then patches improved it significantly?

Like, everyone talks as if this was a major thing that always happens but I'm really struggling to think of one...

Dota
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SmartMuffin posted...

Can anyone give me an actual example of a game that was bad and then patches improved it significantly?

Like, everyone talks as if this was a major thing that always happens but I'm really struggling to think of one...

Assassin's Creed Unity.
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TheRock1525 posted...

SmartMuffin posted...

Can anyone give me an actual example of a game that was bad and then patches improved it significantly?

Like, everyone talks as if this was a major thing that always happens but I'm really struggling to think of one...

Assassin's Creed Unity.

hey now that just changed it from completely broken to just merely playable
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KommunistKoala posted...

Lots of complaints about the writing, story, etc:

"They'll just patch it"

oh

Lots of praise too. There's no consensus
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the consensus is to play nier instead
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yeah mass effect andromeda is a real monkey's paw of a game
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Honestly I bought and played Oblivion, Skyrim, and D3 at launch and don't remember any significant patch improvements. Are those seriously the best examples?
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SHINE put up a review of the game on his youtube channel. If he doesn't like it then it's probably really bad.
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Diablo 3 basically completely rebalanced the entire game after release but I don't think that's a fair standard for what patches can do.
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SmartMuffin posted...

Honestly I bought and played Oblivion, Skyrim, and D3 at launch and don't remember any significant patch improvements.

...did you actually play D3 after launch? They made significant changes to the structure of the game and loot system, and continue to add content 5 years later. Granted, some of that content was tied to the expansion, but a lot of it wasn't.
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Minor changes to what drops you get and how much damage certain abilities do =/ OMG this game was unplayable before and now it's TOTALLY DIFFERENT

Like, there seem to be three major complaints here:
1. Crappy animations (strikes me as unlikely to be changed/fixed/improved)
2. Bad writing/dialog (even less likely)
3. Technical glitches (maybe)

Like, none of the review complaints I've seen are of the "Biotic Charge doesn't do enough damage" nature...
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okay so you didn't play d3 after its changes, got it
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I'm quite sure I did, and I didn't notice

Maybe if you play competitively or whatever it would have been a big deal? I dunno, I was playing single player, on normal, for fun.
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SmartMuffin posted...

Minor changes to what drops you get and how much damage certain abilities do =/ OMG this game was unplayable before and now it's TOTALLY DIFFERENT

Like, there seem to be three major complaints here:
1. Crappy animations (strikes me as unlikely to be changed/fixed/improved)
2. Bad writing/dialog (even less likely)
3. Technical glitches (maybe)

Like, none of the review complaints I've seen are of the "Biotic Charge doesn't do enough damage" nature...

All three of those things apply to Oblivion and Skyrim btw.
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Also No Man's Sky maybe? I haven't played that game post-patch, so I'm not sure how well it addresses that game's issues.

Note: animation goofiness and writing isn't getting 'fixed' via a patch in Andromeda anyway
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They re-wrote/recorded dialog in Skyrim? Really?
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I'm talking about your major complaints.

They fit Skyrim PERFECTLY.
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