Mass Effect Andromeda Catch-All

Demosthenes wrote:

...they've been dealing with the Kett for as long as they can remember, thanks to the Kett basically completely destroying their materials on remembering histories and their home planet's suddenly crazy terraforming problems and...

This is one of the mysteries that I am sad may not get cleared up if they never get to make a second game. Like where did the Angara come from and why don't they know? I suspect it has more to do with the Remnant than the Kett.

Bfgp wrote:

Vetra and Drack, best companions in Andromeda.

Vetra is like Garrus' older sister (if he had to have one). I feel like I can understand how it is to mother hen someone younger now I am a parent.

Drack's not bad, he's your grumpy old guy and I love it since I am turning into a Drack as I grow older.

Sara romanced Peebee in my playthrough, because, she was the only companion that had a vivid personality. I mean, Jaal almost made the cut with his awkwardness (poor Liam never had a chance, he was way too millenial-like for my tastes).

Overall, I liked the characters, and I think with more content they could have grown a lot more to me. What I think held this game back was bloated content in the open world environment. I would have liked more on-the-rails nailbiting story (even if it is against the whole premise of Andromeda as a sandbox to humanity and the arks).

Ugh, I gotta go back and finish the game.

Honestly, to make the easy comparison, Andromeda is a less screwed-up version of Anthem. Both had lots of individually good parts (Anthem's scenery is stunning, the flight mechanics are the best I've ever encountered, and there are hints of some great NPCs with the facial modeling/voice acting), but it just doesn't all fit together. I mean, those parts in Anthem are few and far between and it's fundamentally a dumpster fire of unfinished ideas, but it could have been something. Andromeda has great companions, the combat is amazing, and there are a lot of really interesting stories in the idea of finding a new home and the Arks and everything else, but the open world stuff and crafting and just meandering around? It never fit.

The good parts of Andromeda were related to the characters and world building, just like the ME trilogy, and the rest of it just felt like some other development team did it and just tossed it in at the end.

Andromeda is way, way, way better than Anthem, but Anthem, even before the Kotaku article shed light on it, really did feel in lots of ways like everything that went wrong with Andromeda, except turned up to 11.

Rykin wrote:
Demosthenes wrote:

...they've been dealing with the Kett for as long as they can remember, thanks to the Kett basically completely destroying their materials on remembering histories and their home planet's suddenly crazy terraforming problems and...

This is one of the mysteries that I am sad may not get cleared up if they never get to make a second game. Like where did the Angara come from and why don't they know? I suspect it has more to do with the Remnant than the Kett.

Just in case you haven't finished this (and knowing we've got RnR playing through right now)...

Spoiler:

They absolutely do, you find evidence that the Angara were... engineered by the Remnant's civilization. To what degree is left somewhat open-ended, were they a race nearing intelligence that the Remnant uplifted, or did they create them all together? That's an answer we don't have and likely won't, sadly... but there's plenty of evidence of the Angara's origins being tied to the Remnant.

The Kett, however, are something of a mystery, thanks to the Kett's destruction of so much of Angaran history. I don't think, however, like even the game seems to point you at, that the Kett are an adaptation/forced evolution of SOLELY the Angara. As we see by the time we finish the Salarian Arc/Archon's Ship mission, the Kett are always looking at new life they find as a way to further adapt. The Krogan are intriguing for greater fortitude for their species, the Salarians are fascinating for their much higher intellectual/mental capabilities... and the Kett are already working on distilling both species' genetics into their own to incorporate that. On top of that, we know that the Kett are muuuuuuuuch larger than this group we've encountered in Helius. They're apparently widespread throughout MUCH of the galaxy, and we're apparently dealing with like a regional overruler, not the leader of the Kett, just these Kett. Given their practices and some of the records we find during the Traitor Kett storyline, we've got politics, beliefs, etc... that are shown here that are not indicative of TRUE Kett. And... honestly, based on everything we see that the Traitor DOESN'T object to... the Kett kind of sound like Protheans... just much more literal about making everyone Kett rather than just incorporating species into the Empire.

I had forgotten some of that. Once the big Kett secret had been revealed...

Spoiler:

... I kind of started thinking of the like a biological version of the Borg.

Rykin wrote:

I had forgotten some of that. Once the big Kett secret had been revealed...

Spoiler:

... I kind of started thinking of the like a biological version of the Borg.

Definitely a good analogy, I'd say. I hate that the game got bombed for facial animations (surprise, those are more procedural than mo-capped for most of the game because... how many actors can you really get with this many NPCs) and like... being open-world. :\ There was soooooooo many plot threads left open for the series to explore and it seems reaaaaaaaally unlikely we'll ever get those now.

[quote="Demosthenes"]

Rykin wrote:

I surprise, those are more procedural than mo-capped for most of the game because... how many actors can you really get with this many NPCs

While I’ve no doubt resource limitations are a legitimate explanation for the way this turned out, I doubt getting actors was the issue. If you already have the actors for voice, it doesn’t feel like that far a step to have them simultaneously record on video with motion tracking marks on their faces.

I concluded the loyalty mission for Liam. I probably like him less. The guy is a moron, a liability, and a douche. He'd quite possibly be off the Pathfinder team were that possible.

I hope there's positive growth for him further in, because casually he can show he has a good heart, and means well, even if professionally he is a disaster who seems unable to comprehend procedure, and patience. He's oblivious to doing things properly, to better benefit everyone, blinded by his need to fulfil an impulsive desire to be an instant hero so he can look himself in the mirror and say he tried (regardless of risk, collateral, relations). He portrays selflessness yet he's actual selfish by giving into these urges to act immediately, no matter what.

In other news, I'm all over the place with the respec bay. I need help. It's becoming an addiction.

I reinstalled this game last night, I don't know why. Let's see where this goes.

maverickz wrote:

I reinstalled this game last night, I don't know why. Let's see where this goes.

Cool! It'll be good to compare notes. As much on build as story beats. I continue to bounce all over with ideas for skill setups. I'd like to settle on one (or a few with the profile system) but curiosity and limited skill points with only three active slots is causing chaos.

juv3nal wrote:

If you already have the actors for voice, it doesn’t feel like that far a step to have them simultaneously record on video with motion tracking marks on their faces.

It is a huge and significant step to go from recording audio to doing full-face motion capture.

I've done professional voice acting, and it is a remarkably low budget affair: you walk into a sound booth with a microphone, read your lines a couple times to an engineer or two, and then leave. There's very little setup, prep time, or calibration. I've done recording sessions that were thirty minutes long from when I walked in the door to when I left.

Facial motion capture, though, is a whole other thing. It takes time to position the dots, setup the cameras, and light the face. You need technicians for each of those things on-hand to make sure that it's done properly. Each individual person is going to require their own setup, because each face is different, and it all needs to be done precisely if you're going to get usable data from it. On top of that, it's not always even possible to record voice and motion capture at the same time, depending on how your space is setup.

Ms. House, you have stated that you have experience with professional voice acting, but do you have experience with professional performance capture? No? Then everything you said about performance capture was pure supposition, wasn't it?

I rest my case.

Voice acting and performance capture are exactly the same.

I have experience with performance capture but not at a professional level. I know you weren't being serious.

Doesn't facial motion capture concurrent with voice acting also require you to use the voice actor's face as the character model? Without doing so, it seems a *lot* more complicated to tie the 3-D point histories to character model animation. You could try to warp the captured animation to a different character model, but that bag of worms seems at least as big as character animation without motion capture in the first place.

Perhaps this isn't a big issue, but I thought it was standard procedure for a single voice actor to do lines for multiple characters in video games. Having a requirement that they have the same/similar character models would be quite limiting.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Facial motion capture, though, is a whole other thing.

Right but that is all stuff outside of "how many actors can you really get with this many NPCs" which is what I was getting at with "While I’ve no doubt resource limitations are a legitimate explanation for the way this turned out". You already have the actors, what sounds more expensive is everything else.

Yeah, and it's worth noting, Bioware is hilariously stingy on some assets, which really doesn't show through very often... until you get to something like this game.

Most folks know the story of the Tali picture from ME3 (quick rundown, if you don't, it's a photoshopped stock image of a lady, reduce fingers to 3, change the skin tone and change the eyes, add some techy stuff to her face, bam, done).

IMAGE(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/74/75/f4/7475f41a0c2f919df5b29dee5522090d.jpg)

So, this lovely lady has done an amazing job of cosplaying as Samara... why? Because that's one Rana McAnear... a model who did some stock photo shoots. One of which was used as the base that Samara was then drawn against.

THAT IS SAMARA. This whole character's look and face came from NOT HER VOICE ACTOR. (You can find videos of her VA, it's actually really funny seeing someone either dressed as Samara or with that same facial structure toooootally fangirling over Kaidan cosplay, by the way. Very not Samara, if you ever tried to romance her in 2.)

I generally like Bioware, though their recent exposes on their development practices and what that's meant for their employees has be a bit off on them, right now... but that is a hilariously cheap way to create a face too. Don't, take someone else's face and use it as your own with enough modifications.

Demosthenes wrote:

(You can find videos of her VA, it's actually really funny seeing someone either dressed as Samara or with that same facial structure toooootally fangirling over Kaidan cosplay, by the way. Very not Samara, if you ever tried to romance her in 2.)

Now I need to find that video.

I believe I've finally settled somewhat from the respec addiction.

I had a run with a Sentinel: Energy Drain - Singularly - Lance, which whilst good fun was quite restrictive (drop Singularity, cast shield powered Lance, recoup shields with Energy Drain, manually end Singularity for the explosion and to begin recharge sooner) and not entirely effective due to the open spacious areas and enemy patterns. Lance also requires aiming and can be stopped by cover.

I returned to an Engineer: Incinerate - Remnant VI - Overload, with detonating rockets on Zap, Incinerate as a primer and a detonator, and finally Overload for shields, detonation, priming, and crowd control stun. It's varied with armor stripping, shield stripping, fire combo, tech combo, stun, distraction and additional fire or detonation (from Zap).

I have an additional profile in Adept: Pull - Backlash - Throw, which is one I thoroughly enjoy. Backlash reflection wrecks shielded foes whilst I reposition before dropping manually so to avoid the stumble animation. Pull to float, and then shoot, or detonate, or ignore for the duration. Throw to detonate or clear out those who get up in my space. Pull can also reign enemies in and as they're incapacitated upon being dropped to fumble back to their feet melee mania can occur. Krogan hammer! Or throw enemies into one another. Or throw explosive/corrosive canisters. Jedi Master!

I finally dabbled with sniper rifles and they're awesome, too.

Story wise I've just discovered something about a mystery benefactor and Jein Garson. I need more memory triggers. Eos, Havarl, and Voeld, are effectively cleared. I am to return to Aya to take a shuttle to see the Moshae.

Supporting cast wise Jaal has grown on me a lot. He's just fantastic. I love his candour. Cora and Vetra continue to bring the awesome. Professional. Intelligent. Thoughtful. Peebee has came around somewhat. Opened up more. Good to see. Liam is effectively grounded, banned from participation outside of the Tempest, until the self entitled immature douche learns about boundaries and patience. I'm itching for more dialogue from Gil, Drack, Suvi, and Lexi. I dig it when Suvi talks about her mix of faith and science, and licking rocks. Whilst Gil is just contagious fun.

Suvi spends a LOT of time trying to put things on her tongue that just shouldn't be there... Lexi finding out and the resulting interactions (especially with Kallo) are always good fun.

Is it bad that I played 70+ hours of this game and I had to use google to help me remember who Suvi, Lexi, and Kallo were? I even almost romanced Suvi! (I took our relationship to the "Let's do this!" stage before changing my mind). Maybe it's to be expected with some unusual names and a few years since I played it...

Discovered Kadara Port and mingled with the locals. Sloane Kelly. Reyes Vidal.

Spoiler:

On first impressions they're not my favourite types. Irresponsible. Flaky. Opportunistic. A desire to govern through dictatorship via fear and elimination. A penchant for the dramatic with a thirst for adulation. Yuck!

Compare this to someone like Kesh, who stayed on through hardship, who forges on for a better future, rather than taking leave to create selfish anarchy rules somewhere different. That's character.

I'm reserving complete judgement until all the pieces are in view. There appears to have been a political play to seize power on the Nexus, to squash and suppress dissent, with records conveniently scrambled or misplaced. I'm zoning in on Spender. I've concerns over Tann, and Addison. There will be a reckoning. I'm still not excusing Kadara Port, though.

This is further than I ventured previously. I'm impressed with the writing. It always stirs a response and tickles intrigue to uncover more.

I got back to this and restored the vault on Kadara.

Reyes has continued to try and play buddy, buddy, when not attempting to entice romantic relations. I simply tolerate him to make a better future.

Spoiler:

I believe Reyes may be playing Ryder for personal gain and to have the ear of a Pathfinder. It's all too much, and although we've put forth motions beneficial to others, they've also been hugely beneficial to Reyes. I wonder which drives him.

Reyes invited Ryder to a party. As if it were something important. He was rebuffed. There's actual important things to done, minus his slimy self centred manoeuvres.

I learned more concerning The Collective.

Spoiler:

They're as bad as The Outlaws. I found their base where a dunderheaded grunt openly admits to putting on a facade should the Pathfinder show up. Deception. How lovely. Whilst poking around I found their poison factory, and the hideaway prison where torture takes place. Outlaws by another name.

The Charlatan may as well be a mirror image of Sloane. Except, Sloane doesn't hide in the shadows whilst manipulating the truth.

I'm sensing the coming of a choice between the lesser of two evils.

Cora's Loyalty Mission:

Spoiler:

I thought this was great. From feeling out what seemed an eerie abandoned once upon a time ark, to locking down necessary positions whilst fending off insurgents, to uncovering an uncomfortable truth. Awesome!

I agreed with stripping Sarissa off her Pathfinder rank. Transparency is necessary. Honesty is imperative. Truth above all else. Vederia is now the Asari Pathfinder.

I could understand Sarissa's choice, respect it even, but not the deception. That's what cost her. She is untrustworthy. She denied her people the right to know, to decide for themselves. Disgusting.

Life on the Frontier:

Spoiler:

I agreed with Sid. Everything concerning Addison and the Three Sabers was made public. Addison would no longer conceal the truth. Mistakes are fine. Deception is not.

Really getting back in the groove with this one.

Saw this on reddit:

IMAGE(https://i.redd.it/7wzwu05tews31.png)

origin:
https://lintufriikki.tumblr.com/post...

So adorable!!!

Eleima wrote:

So adorable!!! :)

Possibly too adorable.

That said, RnR, your playstyle is so fascinating to me. I get your feelings on the two basically bandit/pirate factions and them basically being the same group led by two different people who are just competing for who gets to be "in charge"... and yes, Reyes is always maneuvering to advantage himself, and if that also helps other people, great.

Cora's loyalty mission is probably one of my favorites (secondarily only to Liam's, mostly because that's just goofy as all hell in the particulars)… mostly because it finally cracks Cora's professionalism and huntress worship and she starts to feel like much more of a real person. Had I known that was coming, I would probably have romanced her with my playthrough (may still, though Eleima's trying to talk me into a Kaidan romance playthrough... so it'll be quite a while down the line).

Generally, I'm not in favor of the constant deception of many of the characters throughout the game, but them actually lying was less important to me than just doing what seemed like it would benefit survival the most, with a sort of balance between short and long term benefits.

With N7 Day coming up I wonder if there will be anything out of Bioware about Mass Effect this year.

Original trilogy remaster for PS4!! (and other consoles)

I live in hope.

If they added Andromeda to PS Now, I'd probably finally get around to playing it.

Demosthenes wrote:

Had I known that was coming, I would probably have romanced her with my playthrough (may still, though Eleima's trying to talk me into a Kaidan romance playthrough... so it'll be quite a while down the line).

I'll convert you yet. See, I've already managed to get you to spell his name correctly!

Demosthenes wrote:

That said, RnR, your playstyle is so fascinating to me.

I'm glad someone found some worth to my ramblings.

I played on further to uncover more revelations that were equally response inducing. Nevertheless, as it was just I cluttering up the thread I figured I'd save it for a credits rolling summarization. Then I took a hiatus upon reaching what I thought was the end game, only for it to reveal another wee while yet.

I've centered this playthrough around honesty and transparency as much as is possible. No secret deals. No anonymity. No controlling information. No manipulation of the truth. Integrity. Consequences. Trust. I needed such in my life (because fμ©k human beings and their dishonesty within systems that empower hierarchy) and Andromeda turned out to be a great outlet.

Cora, is an amazing character. I did follow through with the romance and it is fantastic. Cora's growth as an individual. The evolution of a relationship with Ryder. Awesome.

Liam also came around so well. He spoke with actions rather than words in beautiful ways. I was so happy. I took him out on missions again and everything.