TobiasFunke

40 minutes ago, Kurt Swanson said:

This is spank worthy indeed.  Also please help support Kid Rock by buying his line of MAGA hats and God Bless President Trump coffee cups.  It is for a good cause. 

Never forget

1 minute ago, mulwin444 said:

Its definitely infectious.  CDProjektRed created an incredibly vibrant fictional universe with some immersive and interesting lore.  With all patches and DLC completed, you're getting the best version of the game.

Yea I bought the complete edition. Like this types of games, it's taking me just recently to understand the alchemy, oil, building aspect of the game but I'm getting the hang of it. Thought I was going to be doing worse in battle but I'm not so bad.

Been playing The Witcher 3 for about 15 hours now. I'm loving it! I'm acting towards it like when I played Skyrim for the first time. I can't put the game down, always wanting to do another quest even though I know I should shut the game off, and when I'm at work I'm thinking about the game.

On ‎4‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 0:42 PM, mulwin444 said:

@cezero @TobiasFunke

Just wanted to give you guys my final word on "Mass Effect: Andromeda",

I finished the game last night at 100% completion and it took me 110 hrs to complete everything including all available side quests and exploreable areas of the Heleus Galaxy cluster.  Overall, I really thought it was a great game and give a 9 out of 10 overall and plan to start a New Game plus playthrough soon to finish collecting the achievements I've missed the first time around.  Its best not to compare this game with the entire Mass Effect Trilogy as you had 3 games and 5 years to get to know the characters.  I think its most accurate comparison would be  with the first Mass Effect game as it introduced us to a whole new fictional universe that you had to get to know and care about.  I remember how difficult it was at first to get used to layout as I worked my way through the inevitable fetch-quest made available for the sole purpose of building XP and get you used to the layout of the sometimes labyrinthine Citadel.  Now, after more than 20 playthroughs in the past decade, I zip through the side quests on my way to the major plot points that get you off the station and into space.  "Mass Effect: Andromeda" has a similar feel in the beginning as your first mission and your first visit to the Nexus both are designed to give you a feel for the new conversation and combat systems respectively.  Also, Ryder is not Shepard.  When we start Mass Effect, we are informed from the beginning that, regardless of what gender or background you choose for Shepard, they are veteran soldier/Biotic/Tech and battle-tested.  As you progress through the game, immediately, you rightfully speak with authority and are given the respect of your pre-determined accomplishments.  With Ryder, you are thrust into the role as Pathfinder through circumstance and, while trained, do not have the years nor victories that Shepard did to that point and, rightfully, the conversation options reflect your "green" nature.  And, finally, while the planets are plentiful, the region is smaller.  In the original Mass Effect, the entire Milky Way was accessible through Mass Effect Relays that connected the various races in their previously established galactic clusters.  In ME:A, the entirety of the game takes place in the Heleus Cluster so its newer races are appropriately scaled to the more focused scale.

 

Ok, with that being said, its a great game and stands on its own, so, adding on to my previous comments in this thread:

Pros - 

 - I liked the story and thought the main plot was engaging enough to keep me interested and invested.  Overall, the voice acting and dialogue are hit-and-miss at times but that was also true withe original trilogy so it fine overall.  Honestly, I liked the new dialogue system and thought the idea to abandon the Paragon/Renegade options were wise. 

 - Tagging on to that, the loyalty and main mission are among the best BioWare has done.

 - The combat and level designs are some of the best in the series.  The Frostbite 3 engine allowed BioWare to create a more dynamic battlefield and the jetpack gives you an opportunity to seamlessly progress around the encounters.  At first, you focus on one area of combat expertise (Solider/Biotic/Tech) and you mainly rely on three skills that balance between colldowns and weapon use.  As you level up, more options open and points can even be redistributed to allow you to switch profiles as I started as Biotic, switched to Solider, switched again to Tech, changed to combo Biotic/Solider profile and then finally finished as Biotic again.  Even with all these choices, though, you can just stick with one profile if you want and you'll still have plenty of combat powers to choose from.

 - While the planets maps are huge, there is a ton of stuff to do in them.  Obviously, how you define a "necessary" side quest may vary according to the player but there was a good mixture of planet-hopping multi-tiered side missions and procedural "Locate these 5 satellite" fetch quests that are a standard in RPGs.  The main goal of the time spent on the planets is attain 100% viability for settlement and this can be attained with the various planet's "story" missions meaning lessor quests can be avoided all together if desired.

 - The new races are well conceived and their culture richly detailed in conversations, quests, data pads entries and voice logs.  Again, this is just one cluster of Andromeda so it would make sense narratively that the amount of new races you'd encounter would be limited but the game hints at more in future installments

Cons -

 - The User Interface Menu is baffling in its design.  I mean, you get use to it after a while but, after the simplicity of the designs in the trilogy, its definitely strange they decided to go in this direction.  

 - With an available inventory at 200 (with patch 1.05 and unlocked perks), its defies logic why you can only switch weapons and armor at the Tempest or at Forward Stations.  

 - While there is some pretty cool armor and weapons available, there is no real easy way to compare what you have versus something new other than to take out into the field.

 - There are glitches.  Though not game-breaking, some are more noticeable than others and had to re-start once (during Drak's loyalty) but only once and it was fine after it.

 - You can't control the powers or the equipment of your squadmates.  Some people will not care about this but I found it a bit disappointing.

Neutral - 

 - While the world that BioWare created is immersive and visually impressive (especially on 4K), the actual people who occupied lacked the visual distinction of what was established previously.  While Turians, Krogans and Salarians all pretty much look the same, the Asari are slightly different and some character models are more realized than others.  

 - Speaking of animations, initially, there was issues with character eyes and llip-syncing but most of those issues seems to have worked out with the release of Patch 1.05 on April 6th.

 - With the big world BioWare has created, there is a large chance of losing yourself in side-quests and losing the momentum of the main narrative so something to watch out for as you start your play.

 

Overall, the game mechanics are very reminiscent of "Dragon Age Inquisition" so, if you played and enjoyed that one, you will likely enjoy this one.  If you want to complete everything (including all lowest tiered side missions and all NPC conversations) be prepared for 100+ hrs but, if you want to experience a tighter narrative, stick with the main story, loyalty missions and the minimum quests needed to get the respective planets to 100% viability and you will be done in around 60 hrs.

 

Wow thanks for the write up Mul, I figured as much of a write up would come from you!

Try rooting for the Angels in Dodgers country when you were a kid. Wasn't easy.

On ‎3‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 11:07 AM, mulwin444 said:

@cezero @TobiasFunke

So, I've hit the 50% completion point (according to the game) in Mass Effect: Andromeda after about 55 hours and I have to say I continue to be impressed by the game.  There is definitely a learning curve in this game in terms of how to use the various maps (on the respective planets, the main facility, the Nexus, and your ship, the Tempest), crafting weapons and armor, using consumables (Inferno Ammo, shield boost, etc), toggling back and forth between the various quests available in the UI...just a lot of "stuff".

A few things:

- I'm having fun switching between the different saved skill set profiles - like changing from Adept (biotic) to a soldier profile on the fly.  The one drawback is that you can't change the load out of weapons along with the profile, so, if you began as a, say, Infiltrator, and you only brought a sniper rifle and a pistol and then you change to the soldier profile, you still have just those weapons which makes it more challenging but I am fine with that "penalty" since it makes sense "in-game".

- Use the fast travel option on the maps as it makes the game pacing a lot easier.  I try to get all the accessible Forward Stations first if I can and then start working through the narrative missions.  There is a LOT of content (I've heard there is a total of 432 side quests) so I just focused on the main, secondary and loyalty missions and do little quests here and there if they happen to be on the way so the facing stays crisp.   

- Crafting is definitely worth it if you can spend a little time getting familiar with it.  You start off with your standardized weapon and armor sets and can buy some different ones through vendors but the best ones are the ones you can craft yourself using Rare and Ultra Rare blueprints.  Your ability to "invest" in research comes points generated through scanning specific areas throughout the game and points fall into three research areas - Milky Way Tech, Hellius Cluster tech, and tech related to a mystery civilization.  You invest the research points into the blueprints and use resources to create the weapon/armor, and using Augments and mods, you can create custom weapons/armor that far outstrips most anything you can buy or find in conainer.

- The Nomad is a blast to drive and the change between 2 wheel and 4 wheel drive seamless.  I didn't have a huge problem with the Mako from ME1 but that damn thing would stall on some steep inclines and you would have traverse your way around until you found an attainable slope.  For the Nomad, unless its almost vertical, you can switch to 4 wheel drive, hit the boost, and it will get you through in most cases.  They really thought that one out in comparison with the issues most people had with the Mako.

- AVP - Andromeda Viability Points - are earned through completing key mission points which, in turn, can be exchanged for opening the cryo-stasis pods of either scientists, military personnel, or merchants.  Each focus grants you different perks (for example: Military Reconnaissance = Extra Item caches on planets) and, the more pods you open, the more "alive" the Nexus becomes and the more areas it opens up.

- The tone is a lot lighter and, overall, a lot funnier in terms of some of the interactions and squad banter.  While the original trilogy always had the impending threat of the reapers and indoctrination hovering over it, this one is way more "open" and in awe of the unknown.  When you met Shepherd, he/she was already a war hero and a veteran, a commander, while Ryder is a explorer/"pathfinder" and a lot younger at 22/23(?) so there is a lot more uncertainty in terms of their confidence.

Overall, I'm giving this a solid 9 so far and I find that its pretty much on par with the other games.  Where is suffers a bit in polish in terms of animations and glitches, it really shines in its depth and variety.  You can basically dictate how you want to play the game - from superficial depth with focusing main story and secondary quests to full immersion and completionism - which definitely adds to its replayability.  Below is an interesting article:

https://reviewhonesty.wordpress.com/2017/03/26/we-surveyed-250-gamers-with-10-hours-of-gameplay-on-mass-effect-andromeda/?iframe=true&theme_preview=true/amp/

Through the survey, it found that those who actually put time into the game past the first 10 hours really enjoyed their experience.  For me, I'd say it really clicks around 20 hours and you're flying from there.  

            

Great write up Mul, thanks for that. I'm going to be buying The Witcher 3 today (yea yea I know, but better late than never). I feel like once I play and beat that then I'll probably pick up ME.

On ‎3‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 11:16 AM, Jason said:

Red Dead Redemption and Skyrim took away a significant portion of my life  

Me too bro, me too

20 hours ago, Jason said:

It's the only game that I am truly looking forward to

Really? 

(looks at your avatar)

23 hours ago, beatlesrule said:

I expect RDR 2 in November.

So do I. I hope the game is just as good as the first if not better!

38 minutes ago, mulwin444 said:

Yeah, I've read this as well.  Gamespot (6 score) and Polygon (7.5 Score) had a similar take while Forbes (8.5 score) and Kokatu (8.0 score) said the strength was the story and characters but criticized other things.

One thing I remember from 2007 with the original Mass Effect was how no one really liked Garrus or Tali much and they seemed one-dimensional but by ME3 they were two of the most beloved of the franchise.  Hard to say if it's a case of not connecting with the characters right away or if indeed genuinely poorly written.  Either way, I'm going to see it firsthand.

Garrus was my home boy. I look forward to hearing your review when you play the game.

18 minutes ago, mulwin444 said:

Yeah, if you're unsure that's the best way to go.  It's wild - I just read the Forbes review giving it a 8.5 after Gamespot gave it a 6 so there is really no consensus on this game which is weird for BioWare as their games are pretty much universally praised.  There was a lot of toxicity after the controversial endings of ME3 so I'm curious if that creeping into some of the reviews.  Mac Walters, the project head, was the co-lead writer in ME2 and the lead writer in ME3 so he knows how to make great games with compelling plots and immersive universes.   I'm playing this one because I really enjoyed what I saw in the trial and it appears to be similar in many ways to Dragon Age Inquisition, which won game of the year in many places and which enjoyed a lot.  The reaction reminds me of Dragon Age 2 and how it really divided the Bioware fan base but even that was getting overall better scores than this one so I'm genuinely curious if the negative reviews are fairly assessed or hyperbole.  I'll keep you updated.

I'd post the IGN review here for you to see but it was a facebook video. Some of the key things that I took away from it was that there was no buy in on the other shipmates, the difference in species is lacking, and the worlds even though are vast are not too diverse when it comes to the structures. With the original trilogy, other than the beautiful gameplay, the best part about the ME series was the relationships you had with the other characters in the story. It seemed like this one doesn't have that.

And of course I've heard numerous things on the AI speaking/graphics problems but I won't pay attention to those critics since that will (or should) be hammered out by the launch of the game.

On ‎3‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 2:04 AM, mulwin444 said:

Just finished the trial tonight and and really enjoyed myself, especially once I got off the Nexus and got my ship.  Since you got the trial access, I'd at least get to the first planet and explore as I really think it plays to its strengths.  If you have any questions - planet scanning, combat, skills, or whatever - just quote this and I'll tell you what I know. 

Just watched the IGN review of the game. Based on that alone I don't think I'm going to be buying the game anytime soon.

3 hours ago, fan_since79 said:

President Trump is anything but pessimistic. His latest tweet:

“Despite what you hear in the press, healthcare is coming along great. We are talking to many groups and it will end in a beautiful picture!”

 

More troops win the fight...

13 minutes ago, Geoff said:

Former WWE exec. Linda McMahon approved to head Small Business Administration.

 

Now he's got this train back on the rails!!!

 

 

 

That makes sense since the McMahon's have made a living of eating up small businesses.

Finished FC: Primal at 100%. Loved that game so much.

Started AC: Syndicate and I like it already so much more than Unity. So so much more.  

On ‎12‎/‎18‎/‎2016 at 6:55 AM, Jay said:

ugh.

Is it my imagination or did Michelle pack on some lbs?

 

Check your 2008 spank bank to see. I know she's in there.

Who was Make Angels Great Again before changing his name?

1 hour ago, Tank said:

this had better be sir francis drake and elizabeth I, or else you'll be exposed as a complete fraud.

It's actually Jay and Trump

14 hours ago, arch stanton said:

It's not so much about hurting China's feelings. It's about not being a giant ass about every single teeny tiny little thing you do in your entire pathetic existence. There's been a longstanding agreement on this subject. Given enough time I'm 100% positive that this will be proven to be a calculated move related to an agenda other than the best interest of the USA.

It probably DEFINITELY has nothing to do with him waiting to build luxury hotels in the country. Nothing at all.

On ‎11‎/‎26‎/‎2016 at 4:40 PM, Jason said:

Far Cry 3 was the only one I played. I really liked that weapons found had a certain condition and wore out after so much use. Do the later ones have the same thing?

FC4 does not have that. Primal though since you are basically a cave man it stays very true to the hunter/gatherer aspect of life. If you throw spears and don't pick them up you have to build more, same goes with arrows. So you are constantly cutting wood and hunting out of necessity of the game. I like it a lot.

Bought FC:Primal and AC: Syndicate for $15 each yesterday.

Primal has been awesome so far. So different than the last two games.

Restarted Far Cry 4. Can't get enough of the Far Cry games.

@cezerowhat are the critics saying about Dishonored 2?

7 hours ago, cezero said:

I just watched the little bit of gameplay footage available for Andromeda. 

It looks stunning. 
 

I might end up getting 2 and 3 to play over winter break. 

If you're going to buy 2 and 3 you might as well end up buying 1. The entire trilogy is such that, a trilogy. Would you want to watch Empire and Jedi without wanting to watch A New Hope?

Did it feel good voting for Trump Jay?