Mass Effect 4

[runzwithsizorz]

Like DAI, will not continue Shepard story, but looks like a typical ME game...also, the MACO is back. Anyone looking forward to this, or just a "wait and see"? IMO, the game needs to have something unique in plot, et al to be worthwhile. :whiste:

The Wife

 

[darkewaffle]

Can't wait personally. ME as a whole is one of the best single player gaming experiences ever imo. My only concern is that they probably can't/shouldn't really go back to the "save the/your world" well already which is really Bioware's bread and butter. Stories with a different scope or "goal" need to be developed differently to still be compelling even while the stakes aren't as high or universal.

 

[Artorias]

What they need to do is go back to the philosophies of Mass Effect 1 and make the human race an insignificant part of the galaxy.

ME1 was pure magic when it came to world building, you realized how insignificant the human race was, and then they threw all cool alien world building concepts out and made the human race significant in ME3, its just turned into a generic science fiction story.

 

[Zenoth]

I'm not "excited" about Mass Effect: Andromeda, but I'd say I'm curious and keeping an eye on it. It's essentially a reboot of the franchise, starting in a new galaxy and leaving 99% of the previous trilogy behind with new and unique characters, and a fresh story that has most likely (and hopefully) nothing to do with the trilogy (perhaps other than the inevitable "We really just had to get the hell out of our galaxy and find a new place for our species to survive" concept).

I am actually happy that they decided to start from scratch, rather than desperately trying to "explain" what in the great heck actually happened with an actual direct sequel to ME3 in ways that would have forced them to also canonize one of the three (excuse me, four) endings. No writer sane of mind on this planet would have bothered losing his/her time trying to do anything with the torched universe that was left behind after ME3. So, yes, rather just go somewhere else entirely and start all over again, therefor I do applaud BioWare (well, the new team) for taking that decision, as it was also the only logical thing left to do for the franchise (I.E. starting over).

I do have the feeling that Andromeda is going back to the Mass Effect's roots, namely exploration, discovery and main character / companions story-telling. I'll wait and see, but for now I'm not jumping with joy just because another ME game exists, it might still end up being a failure... but I'm genuinely hoping that Andromeda will in fact be a triumphant new beginning.

 

[cbrunny]

Not quite ready to jump on the hype train, but certainly will buy for me unless it starts to look freaking awful. I'm a big enough fan of the franchise to buy this one on faith alone.

 

[Oyeve]

Only if they put in controller support. Loved ME2 but no controller was whack.

 

[mmntech]

It's hard to get excited for any "Triple A" game these days with all the shady stuff the industry is doing right now. Given that it's EA, I fully expect ME:A to be ruined by:

-Some BS pre-order bonuses
-Forced online component that serves no purpose other than DRM and data mining
-Microtransactions
-Costly DLC that contains critical plot points omitted from the base game. (*cough* ME3 Leviathan)

I am curious to see what Bioware is cooking up though since Mass Effect is one of my all time favourite franchises. I trust them to put a great game together despite all the industry BS.

 

[Omar F1]

What they need to do is go back to the philosophies of Mass Effect 1 and make the human race an insignificant part of the galaxy.

ME1 was pure magic when it came to world building, you realized how insignificant the human race was, and then they threw all cool alien world building concepts out and made the human race significant in ME3, its just turned into a generic science fiction story.

Spot on.
ME1 was a masterpiece while ME2 was ok (didn't like the story much from the start to the end, total opposite of ME1) and has resulted in lost interest toward ME3, and probably ME4 as we.

Anyway, I'm glad the ME universe is still going on, at least.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I think they have a good universe established so that they can make a good story around a new game. I don't know if they will blow it or not.

 

[JujuFish]

I need to get back to Mass Effect. I played it for about an hour years ago and the game play never grabbed me. I do, however, love science fiction.

 

[Blitzvogel]

I need to get back to Mass Effect. I played it for about an hour years ago and the game play never grabbed me. I do, however, love science fiction.

I bought the original game on 360 the day it came out, and I played the first hour. I didn't pick the game back up until I grabbed a PC copy in 2011 and I got hooked by the story once I got through the first couple hours. Immediately I picked up Mass Effect 2 after I beat it. ME2 being more shooter than RPG didn't bother me since the first game really is a shooter anyways, but ME2 did a great job of conveying Shepherd as a character and bringing to light some of the plausible issues that humanity might have to face in the future. My only real complaint is the planetary exploration with the Mako being given the shaft, as I really enjoyed the Mako in ME1.

My biggest complain across the whole series is how all the ending battles feel underwhelming after such good pacing across the beginnings and middles parts of each game. ME3 is of course the biggest offender of all three in this regard.

 

[el-Capitan]

I inhaled ME1 when it was finally released to PC. I have finished it several times, just done a renegade early this year. I love it.

ME2 was near perfect if it weren't for the crappy inventory loadout.

ME3 i never got to play. Its part of my endless backlog.

I have read the books by Drew Karpyshyn. Unfort they are terrible.

The universe is great, however, and ill prob pick up ME4 (once i finish 3)

 

[Wall Street]

The original Mass Effect was good, but each installment was worse than the previous. ME 2 really had no story except building up a squad for 3. In 3 they throw you squad away to have you build up another one and then do all of these galactic readiness grinds. ME 1 had great story, ME 2 had some grind but I was anticipating a buildup that never paid off. ME 3 cynically had a ton of grinding and no story to speak of outside of the Skinner box.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I'm looking forward to me4 with some trepidation after me3 (great game in general brought low by some very questionable plot/character decisions). If they manage to bring back that feeling of awe and exploration of me1 with me2's character development and me3's combat/set pieces Bioware will have a helluva game on their hands.

 

[sandorski]

ME1 had an epic Story, but had horrible Inventory/Interface. ME2's Story wasn't near as good, but was decent filler between 1 and 3, but it greatly improved Inventory/Interface. I would love to replay ME1 again, but when I think of the Inventory/Interface I kinda cringe and decide not to bother.

Not really excited about ME4. I'll wait for release and reviews before deciding.

 

[futurefields]

The guy that made the series is gone right? Casey whatshisface?

 

[Rhezuss]

Never completed any ME games and I really don't know why. The theme is there and the story seem nice enough but I always lose the interest before the 50% mark in the game.

Can I completely skip the first one and start with the second? How long if the first one?

 

[Aristotelian]

I thought ME1 was very good; ME2 was great; and ME3 was a masterpiece. I know that my opinion is in the minority, but I'm so excited about ME4 and this increased after seeing the video released.

I found all three previous games really well polished. For ME4 I might weight for a GOTY edition, but I said that about the Witcher 3 and instead bought it on the first day and binge played.

This will be the game that I ditch my sandy bridge PC for

 

[BlitzPuppet]

No Reapers? No Mass Effect.

It's really like Star Wars without jedi. The Reapers are what made Mass Effect, while at the same time introducing mystery/a sense of urgency on stopping them. I am at an impasse because of the fact that I think the 3rd should have been the final chapter since it was the end for Shepard and the Reapers, but the universe was so interesting so much more can be built on it.

I loved the first and second but was absolutely disappointed by the anti-climactic ending and subpar story of the 3rd. Not sure if it's the case or not but the story felt hollow after Drew Karpyshyn was no longer involved.

I'll toss in a vote for wait and see.

 

[darkewaffle]

ME1 wasn't a bad game but I'm surprised at all the praise, I think 3 and 2 trade blows as to which is better but that 1 is definitely a step down. The gameplay was certainly the worst of the series imo and most of the "exploration" was just an artifice to grant more XP. I was kind of let down when collecting all the minerals/artifacts/medals/whatever did nothing whatsoever aside from complete a sidequest for XP. Was hoping they actually led to something interesting.

There was one Prothean monument with a short story/description on it... somewhere which described Prothean interactions with early humans (and later in 2/3 you learn a bit about Protheans discovering primitive Asari - cool tie-in of sorts) but that's about the only interesting thing I felt I ever discovered. I think it had promise if there had been more to it (and the Mako didn't handle like a hot mess).

Overall I think focusing more on scenarios in 2/3 paid off big though. Jacob's companion quest, the abandoned mining colony in 3 (part of Leviathan I think), the water planet where you meet Leviathans, seeing the flashbacks in the Geth scenario to the start of the Morning War (Geth v Quarian), Jack's school, the Shadow Broker's ship... they're still so vivid to me years later. Be it the mood or the imagery or the "...oh!" epiphany moment that comes with some critical new information, they really stuck with me.

 

[Sheninat0r]

ME1 had the best setting; ME2 had the best quests and characters; ME3 was utter trash that I couldn't even force myself to finish. I have extremely low expectations for ME4.

 

[TheVrolok]

ME3 was utter trash that I couldn't even force myself to finish

lol

 

[Sabrewings]

I enjoyed the trilogy. First and second the most, third was just a way of wrapping it all up.

I certainly won't be buying ME4 right out the gate. Maybe once it gets below $20 or so. I have more than enough to occupy me until then.

 

[magomago]

What they need to do is go back to the philosophies of Mass Effect 1 and make the human race an insignificant part of the galaxy.

ME1 was pure magic when it came to world building, you realized how insignificant the human race was, and then they threw all cool alien world building concepts out and made the human race significant in ME3, its just turned into a generic science fiction story.

EXACTLY.

I liked the personal character stories of ME2, but I prefer the philosophy of ME1 where humans were just another whatever in the galaxy.

Edit: I meant it in the context that while ME2 became more Human focused, they still did a good job developing personal character backgrounds (although if you skipped those character stories, the game was done in no time lol).
ME3 went far too overboard (didn't even finish it because I simply didn't care anymore). My preference would be take an ME1 approach, while still have side missions relegated to character development.

 

[Anteaus]

Agree with above. I think ME1 was the best because of the story and the sense of discovery around every corner. ME2 was generally solid; however, I felt the story started to deviate by focusing more about the struggle between the Alliance and Cerberus. Still, ME2 was great because of Illusive man and the team with built.

ME3 is where it went off the rails. Instead of making ME2 the "Episode V" of the series and continuing where we left off, the developer decided it would be better to get rid of our crew, steal our ship, and force me to get used to a team that was far less interesting than what I had before. The writing was noticeable different also, with dialogue being especially odd. After spending hundreds of hours with these characters over ME1/ME2, it was obvious that a different writer was being used to add voice to these characters and it ruined it for me. I'm not saying it was badly written....only that the new writer wasn't able to fully capture the personalities from the first two games.

I completed ME1 around 5 times and ME2 around 3 times. I didn't even hit 10 hours with ME3 before I wrote it off completely.

I'm excited about ME4, but honestly unless they give up this obsession with turning it into a brain dead shooter with aliens, I'm not buying.