E uns detalhes de um youtuber que foi convidado pela EA Austrália e jogou por 3 horas. Cheio de detalhes mais sem spoiler:
Q. What were the two things that stood out to you most as a good and bad aspect of the game?
The game is very much an action game now- it feel more like Gear of War than Mass Effect. I actually really enjoyed this, but I suspect that some people will feel it has strayed too far from its strategic RPG roots.
I think the depth and complexity of the skill system is excellent. The sheer number of build options available is hugely impressive. I don't think the game has been 'dumbed down' in the context of its RPG systems.
Q. Assuming you've played the original trilogy, what are the biggest differences in Andromeda compared to the OT? And what was familiar?
Differences: • the pace of the action. It feels like playing ME3 multiplayer, but constantly. • The jet-pack changes the verticality of both exploration and combat. It works extremely well. • The skills also feel far more developed you feel much more powerful opting to take the role of a biotic or engineer than you did in the previous games. You really don't need to rely on your gun as much as you used to if that's your playstyle preference. • The open world aspect feels both different and familiar. Anyone that's played ME1 will know what it's like to explore an area in the Mako, hop out, shoot some bad guys and collect some stuff. This is a pretty common loop in ME:A. • Dialogue options where very different, and to be honest I did not enjoy the transition to the more nuanced system they have vs the paragon/renegade options. In short, the dialogue options feel very ambiguous in a way I really had no idea what the option meant or was trying to portray, and no idea what my character would say after I clicked the option. To be fair, I'll admit I have heavy, heavy renegade Shepard bias here, and this system makes it much harder to be an overt dick in every instance.
Similar • Story structure, narrative, voice acting, delivery, setting etc- all of it feels right at home. It's clear that this is another well written Mass Effect story unfolding • Banter with party members was strong, funny, interesting • The flow of arrive at hub, collect missions, talk to NPCs, go complete mission, come home and move on is all intact. Structurally the game is very similar. The open world exploration stuff is very optional based on your interests in side-quests, crafting etc.
Q. How large are the open areas?
Having visited 2 planets, I'd say they feel about the same size as the Dragon Age: Inquisition locations. They are sizable enough without feeling pointlessly large. They also feel quite dense- there are rarely long stretches of nothing. The side-quests do lead you into the open world areas to find, for example, some ruins so that you can scan something for one of your companions.
Q. How robust is the character creator compared to Dragon Age Inquisition? Are the results of the auto generated sibling and father any good?
I did not get access to character creation. Your father looks awesome- tbh his model is one of the best Bioware have done. The Brother Ryder looks 'normal' in a way that Sarah does not- she has a strange expression on her face in all the cutscenes I saw that I found a touch comical at times.
Q. Tactical/Combat pause (the one that used to be the power wheel in the trilogy) - is it in, is it out? If not, how do we direct squad mates? Specifically their powers- how can I combo with a squad mates power if the tacpause is out? Can we stop combat in any way to survey the battlefield and plan out an attack in any way?
There is a pause that kicks in when you are changing weapons or skill profiles on the fly, but you cannot control your squad-mates abilities from this pause menu. You direct squadmates' movement using a button for each individual squadmate, or a button for both squadmates. As for controlling their abilities, you can only set up and detonate combos. You cannot control their every ability like in the OT. The ability paths for your companions are also pre-defined much more rigidly than in OT.
Q. What were you most impressed by?
Regardless of whether you like the more 'action focus', I think everyone will agree that the plethora and functionality of skills is awesome. It's literally a case of I want to use ALL the skills in my builds, because so many of them are just that good. In this way, I'm relieved that they allowed us to
switch builds on the fly.
Q. When it comes to in game dialogue is it only the four types of responses that they talked about as a way to respond or is it like Dragon Age Inquisition where you have those options pop up intermittently.
Some conversations will not give you the '4-type' responses that have been demonstrated. They will give you, for example, 2 different conversation options, but neither of them will be 'logical, emotional, etc…'. Very much the same as the original trilogy where not all options are paragon/renegade aligned.
Q. I'll ask the stupidest and most obvious question: In your opinion, does it live up to the hype it has generated?
Obviously I cannot say definitely yes or no, all I can say is that from what I played, I think this ticks a lot of the right boxes and is clearly headed in the right direction. I think the game mechanics are improved versus the original trilogy, so if the story, characters and 'open world' aspects are nailed, then I think this will be very well received. So I guess I'd off a cautious 'so far, so good'.
Q. What was your impression of the Crafting System?
It's fine- nothing too special. Feels very much like DA:I. Collect items from story missions, side missions, exploration planets (yes, there are specific planets with no missions on them, they are exclusively there to collect materials) and then use materials to craft items. You can add special 'power up' items to give a crafted items additional power, like more stats or a status effect, so there is some branching diversity in the system as well. I did not engage this system in-depth as doing so would require a proper game play-through.
Q. How do the weapons handle? Does the gunplay feel similarly visceral to ME3, with enemies responding to killshots realistically like having their heads explode from heavy sniper shots?
Honestly, fantastic. The main game I cover on my channel is The Division, but handles 3rd person gun-play extremely well (and other things not so well) and I would definitely class ME:A weapon handling as some of the best and most satisfying 3rd person weapon handling I've played. Guns feel very satisfying to use and require skill as you master their recoil and reticle bloom. I did no notice any killshot reactions, but I wasn't looking for them tbh.
Q. What squadmates were available to you when you played? Did they seem natural, likeable, and unique? How did they interact with you?
I played with Cora, Liam, Drak and Jaal by my side at various times. Extremely interesting and likeable thus far. Plenty of good banter on the battlefield as well, but I didn’t see the sort of companion interaction we saw in DA:I where the companions speak to each other. Not saying it doesn’t happen, just saying I didn’t personally see it.
Q. With the ability to pretty much pick, choose, and use all powers once you put a point into them. How much did you just stick with one loadout vs switching loadouts? And if you did
switch loadouts was it out of curiosity to use each power or was it because the situation called for it?
I stuck with one load-out 75% of the time, and then
switch things around for the remainder of my time. I got a sense that some enemies required you to operate at range (e.g. the heavy robots or wildlife) where the more humanoid enemies allowed me to get up close with biotic teleport and melee abilities. I think you'll typically
switch on the fly based on enemy type/size more than anything else.
Q. How would you compare the open-world design of Andromeda to that of Dragon Age Inquisition?
It feels quite similar, but from what I could tell, far less reliance on fetch quests, location unlocking and gathering.
Q. What are your first impressions of the story?
Obviously not going to speak to specifics, but I will say I thought it begins extremely well. Well written, well paced, interesting, and some very big moments early on to get you invested. The story ramps up much faster than ME1 does, so you won't have to wait long for things to get going. Overall, very optimistic here.
Q. Are there any bad aspects of the game you hope will be changed?
I miss the Renegade dialogue options :(
Q. Did it feel very "mass-effecty" to you? Or did it feel like a new game entirely with mass Effect elements?
Very much- the core DNA is still very much intact but for the combat being a lot more 'actiony'. This is unmistakably a Mass Effect game that is looking to build a new story, not a re-boot looking re-define the Mass Effect experience.
Q. How good is the banging?
Sadly, no banging was had. I'm assured though that there will be more banging than ever before, including one night stands (direct quote from the Producer).
Q. How much do profiles offer? What makes Sentinel different from Explorer?
They offer a lot. They provide a decent chunk of stats, but in addition they also augment abilities. For example, an Explorer profile will eventually turn your jetpack dash into a small teleport, even allowing you to teleport through solid objects. There are ability augmentations for each profile path.
Q. How smooth is the game performance when playing? Minimal lag or choppy graphics at all?
I played on medium - high settings on PC (Ultra wasn’t stable) and it ran perfectly. I cannot comment on high-end performance as the PC I was playing on was clearly pretty average.
Q. We've seen Nexus levels in the UI. Are those a sort of multiplayer-singleplayer integration thing or is it like upgrading Skyhold in DA:I? Does increasing the Nexus levels change it visually? It launches from the Milky way as only half the structure so I assume the rest gets built in Andromeda. Do we actively participate in that?
Apologies- I cannot speak to this without spoiling story elements.
Q. Is it funny? I loved that ME made me smile and laugh all the time from things squad mates said to me - to the adverts on the citadel in ME2 trying to sell me a coffin because I'm dead. Are there little things like that scattered around?
It definitely feels 'light' at times. It certainly doesn’t take itself too seriously. The humour is very much intact.
Q. Is the galaxy map music a variation of new worlds? (Please say it is)
No, it's a new track, but it definitely feels VERY similar/familiar. I liked it.
Q. did you get a chance to drive the nomad, how does it handle.
I did- it handles like an actual vehicle instead of a hover-craft/couch hybrid. It has both a boost and a jump ability. Overall I'd say they did a good job with the physics on it (thank god).
Q. How did the jetpack feel?
It's a real game changer- the minute you begin using it you sort of wish it was there in the OT. It improves level design, makes exploration more interesting and significantly improves combat. You jump into the air and hold aim-down-sights to hover momentarily- very good.
Q. Did you visit a settlement/city? Was it rather empty and static or busy/lively?
I did- very, very lively. They did a great job with making them feel bustling.
Q. Did you play with a keyboard and mouse or a controller? How was it? The way the profile system looks, mainly it forcing the player to swap between 3 ability profiles constantly instead of simply having 12 ability hotkeys, looks alot like a horrible console port and that most players will be forced to use a controller because of it. Is it as clunky as it sounds?
I used a keyboard and mouse (I also main a PC across my games) and it was flawless. Zero complaints about keyboard layout or performance'
Q. With all the good single player questions going around...I must ask then, did you get your hands on the multiplayer part of the game? First impressions? and does it actually enhance the single player aspect in any way?
No, I did not play multiplayer. I did interview the game's producer and really pressed him on this point- he made it VERY CLEAR that the multiplayer is largely the same as ME3. I asked him for specific examples of how it's different, and he indicated that it was more about the inclusion of new weapons/skills/classes etc rather than new mechanics. So expect something VERY similar to what we've played, but obviously just more content to fit the ME:A setting.
Q. A simple, probably hard to answer question but did the game excite you?
Very much- I walked away far more excited than I did walking into the session :)
Q. Is moving better? Like is Ryder more sober than Shepard, because trying to reposition during combat in ME2 and ME3 is extremely annoying.
Significantly improved. Movement is snappy, the jetpack and biotic dashes give you great mobility and the cover system LARGELY works (it can be a bit funky at times).
Q. How were load times? I know that the Andromeda team were talking about minimizing them, so did you notice a more smooth and seamless performance?
They were fine, but the producer indicated they were still optimising these.
Q. Given the apparent focus on changing your skills, etc. on the fly, how feasible does it seem to have a "purist" class runthrough of MEA? Could you get away with only Biotic active skills (of course invest in the various passive ones across the 3 classes), etc?
Yes, this is highly possible. More so than in the OT in my view.
Q. Did Ryder feel overpowered? What was the difficulty curve like in the demo you played? Were enemies interesting?
No, he felt right on the power curve. Enemies take time to down without being bullet sponges. Enemies were VERY interesting. A lot of diversity in terms of design, abilities etc. Though I must say the AI wasn’t the smartest- the very rarely looked to flank or reposition intelligently.
Q. What was the music like. Was it as amazing as the first three or was it lacking. In my opinion a mass effect game needs good music.
From what I saw, it was no where near the awesomeness of the first game. It could have just been the parts I played, but at no point did I remark the music, where I did this ALL THE DAMN TIME in the OT.
Q. When did the game "grab" you? By that I mean; at what moment did you become so engaged with the game that you started to igrone the world around you? If the game didn't grab you, then why do you think that is?
In two ways: firstly, the minute you get into combat you get a sense of how improved it is, and secondly there are some great story moments that happen very early on. They pull you straight in.
Q. What does Bioware mean when they say the game is more "exploration" focused? Does it appear that there will be a lot of content in the game?
This is very much optional based on your desire to gain XP, complete side missions or craft items. You can largely ignore this if you choose to stick to the critical story path
Q. Simply: Is it good enough to warrant a pre-order? Thanks :)
Never pre-order video games :)
