#generic fetch quest number 57

[conteststarribbon]

that feeling when you realise that you're a protagonist (doomed to be in a Situation at all times)

anyway hi this is clemont uriel my son (they/he/spark). i gave him all my stress about mundane things and made it Worse.

often wears a blindfold because permanently glowing red eyes from human experimentation are a pretty identifiable trait. this gets more visible further into the story (eventually just entirely red eyes with no whites with rhombus/diamond shaped pupils faintly visible) so blindfold becomes a basically permanent feature. eyes get at least mildly fucked up because of this.

has freckles basically everywhere, not just the face. some of them changed shape after they got light magic from awakening. (shape in question is light magic's icon) light part of hair is naturally like that, hair there is thinner and overall less of it grows in the same amount of head area compared to the darker hair. (fact: repeated hair pulling can cause hair loss)

most inaccurate outfit ever btw. overall a weird combination of multiple half formed design ideas. imagine a significantly more wizard looking outfit. and those fuckass metal claws only on one hand, dagger in the other. (more damage vs precise attacks. also vague parallel w Peacekeeper wearing one of Theos' armour gauntlets after AA). undecided on what long range weapon i should give him. hair is shorter,, like top of to mid ear length and not shoulder length. however this is the most accurate hair i could find.

u think ur fighting a mage? nah get hit the luminous beast instinct.

long sleeve grey turtleneck + matching gloves (right hand with shiny grey claws) + very specific jacket i am still making into roblox clothes + shiny grey pauldrons that cover shoulders, armpits and slight part of upper arms and connected cape with some kind of space design on the inside + matching the cape, big fucking wizard hat + shiny grey dagger in left hand. lots of dangling and/or draping parts in the outfit compared to solstice's outfit being lots of somewhat tight layers. (both get alternate outfits for warmer/colder weather but one version is always their main design). most of the armor stuff is hidden under the clothes or just part of the clothes via hand waving explanation of enchanted fabric bc armour is HEAVY!! (solstice is the one who gets a fuckton of visible armour) unsure on the shoes but i might make them steel-toed for more grey details.

colour placement is something i always get weirdly focused on when it comes to ocs. abnormally so.. esp w characters who come in a set like thse two. i am a sucker for parallels.

solstice gets a lot more grey in her design but clemont gets a lot more of the space motif in his. (also might change the accessory gradient in solstice's design to be dark purple -> magenta -> light pink instead of green -> blue -> purple -> pink, silly cauldron/potion bag gets ominous orange glow emanating from the inside. clemont will probably have mostly green with some teal and yellow. might make orange their 'shared colour' as is tradition for me to give all my ocs who form into a duo whether by design or by forcing me)

spell names are all music themed!!! unsure on what instrument to make him play tho...

[timsim26]

Mass Effect Andromeda Review

The Mass Effect series is one of the most revered and respected gaming brands ever released. The world building, strong characters, paralysing loss of loved characters and story moments that are iconic left a real imprint on the gaming industry. Unfortunately many people choose to remember the ending of the third game, which marred the franchise. Bioware went away for 5 years to deliver a new beginning, loosely linked with the trilogy and set in the Andromeda galaxy.

You play as Sara or Scott Ryder, brother and sister, who are part of the human ark. This ark has been sent on the 600 year journey to the Andromeda universe in search of a new world. The humans are not alone in their journey, as the Turians, Asari and Salarians have also sent arks into Andromeda. Krogans have also made the trip as well as dozens of individuals who went earlier to establish a home base known as the Nexus (think Citdadel). Of course, when you awake as either Sara or Scott, shit has definitely hit the fan, as a giant space phenomenon has crashed through the ark, causing malfunction and your sibling to be put into a long coma. Your job as the Pathfinder’s daughter or son is to check out the first potential home world known as Habitat 7.

While this all sounds very safe and very familiar, it does establish Sara (I played as Sara and haven’t as Scott) as an interesting character that has a variation of approaches. Removed is the renegade and paragon options. This allows much more freedom, rather than committing to one approach, even though you may not agree with all the actions. You are free to make decisions as your character based on how you want them to react to that particular situation. After a terrible incident on Habitat 7, which sees your father killed saving your life, you inherit the prestigious role as the Pathfinder, in charge of finding a new world for the human race to live. This is a huge job and involves difficult choices, putting up with the new galaxy’s politics and also fighting the new enemy and new alien race, the Kett.

As the story continues, there are a number of interesting twists and turns, that introduces new characters to join your squad and offer loyalty missions, similar to Mass Effect 2. While the loyalty missions hold the same purpose, there is no real consequence to not following them through like in the second game, where you would see characters die as a result. The loyalty missions were the best part of the second game, as they gave you a reason to delve deep into your squads history and personal lives. While there are some examples of this in Andromeda, I found the loyalty missions to be very, very, very long and drawn out. They are designed to continue over the course of the entire game. This time around, Andromeda is a 50-70 hour game. I spent 57 hours in the game before I reached the ending credits, still giving 3-4 major side quests unfinished. That was main story, exploration and loyalty missions padding that time out (also a good 3-4 hours of loading I presume). The loyalty missions in Andromeda do boil down again to doing a specific tasks that links and helps a certain character. They can get very fetch quests heavy and in some stages of a few loyalty missions it becomes a planet hopping slog, that got very old and tedious. It still pushes you through as some of the story moments that occur are fantastic.

Your squad again consists of a range of characters with unique outlooks and motivations. Drack, an, old battle scarred Krogan that has fought in many wars and is here in support of his daughter Kesh. Cora, a human who is obsessed (it is unhealthy) with the Asari and saving the Asari Ark. Liam, another human who is in support of the Andromeda initiative and colonising the many planets around Andromeda. Vetra, A turian try hard female Garrus who simply is not as good at calibrating things. Peebee, a quirky Asari, with a big personality who is keen to research and learn about the ancient technology of the Remnant that becomes a big part of the story and why the planets and galaxy are the way they are. Lastly is Jaal, who is a mix of Thane and Garrus from the original trilogy. Jaal is the 1 major new species introduced in the game, other than the kett. The Kadara are a large, unique looking alien that are very spiritual and present the most interesting moments in the game. Jaal is a warrior, who sticks to his beliefs and is interested in learning more about the Milky Way galaxy and why we have come to Andromeda. The cast of characters, are strong, however nothing will compare to the original trilogy’s squad. It puts Andromeda on the back foot straight away.

One major positive of the Andromeda is how open to exploration and discovery the universe is. There are 7 major planets that can be explored and made a viable living space. Every action completed on a planet increases the percentage that the planet is viable. Side quests, clearing hostile wild life, helping the locals with collecting materials and discovery special locations known as Remnant vaults lead to setting up an outposts, which again leads to even more activities and quests. The Remnant vaults are the key to making each planet liveable. This is presented early in the game and completing the Dungeons (vaults) allow the planet to remove the factor that is currently making them uninhabitable. This is explained throughout the story as your progress. Planets that are too hot, too cold, covered in radiation, have electrified water and so on can be repaired by completing the dungeon like vaults. Inside each vault are a number of puzzles that can be solved with the game’s new movement system allowing dashing, jumping and side stepping with a booster pack or simple logic and combat puzzles. The Vaults never out stay their welcome and always offer an interesting and unique gameplay experience that then make life on each of the planets much easier.

As you are working your way through the planets you are going to be engaging in a lot of combat. Way more than the original trilogy. The combat though is very tight and responsive. It may be the best part of the game as every combat scenario is a good mix of challenging and satisfying. The Kett are a pretty standard enemy and will attack you in traditional Mass Effect nature. Hiding behind cover, making use of the environment, flanking and firing off a number of powers challenges you to think quickly, bring the right squad mates and also be mindful when picking your loadouts. The system has changed in Andromeda in which you are no longer locked to choosing and upgrading skills that link to a specific class type. In previous games you were stuck upgrading skills that linked to a soldier, vanguard, sentinel etc. However Andromeda allows you to pick and choose your skills, upgrade them how you see fit and swap them on the fly. If you are struggling in the middle of a challenging fight against a bunch of enemies that have armour, you can upgrade something like incinerate that destroys armour. Struggling against shielded enemies, then upgraded overload or singularity. It really allows a great diversity in every combat situation and ensures that everyone playing the game is going to have a different approach to enemy encounters. As you put upgrade points into your preferred skills you will unlock class types that have particular buffs and skill enhancements based on the upgrades you are using. The more points, the better the class types become. These can also be changed at will from the menus.

Weapons are also very come and go in Andromeda. Mass Effect 3 really slowed down the customisation of weapons and armour, however the huge and expansive crafting system in Andromeda allows a large range of weapons to be crafted and customised to your liking. First you will have to find the resources by planet scanning or mining using the Nomad (yay it’s back) when you are on the many planet’s surface. After which, you can return to your crafting bay on your new ship the Tempest. There are so many variations of weapons that can be built and as you acquire mods and other upgrades weapons can be adapted to buff whatever suits your playing style. The game gives you a lot to play with and tinker with as you advance. Not only can you tinker with all of your skills, classes and weapons, but you can customise your rewards, strike teams and more. These strike teams link to the multiplayer, which returns in similar fashion from the third game. Wave based combat in a group against enemy AI is a fun side challenge and again very rewarding when playing with a group of friends. The strike teams can earn rewards in the single player which unlock minerals for crafting and even weapon modes. These can be completed by your strike teams, which Ryder can organise from her main hub. AVP missions are unlocked as you advance the plot and can impact experience boosts or delivery of goods and rewards.

Andromeda is a deep game with a lot of systems. While they don’t always present themselves in a way that makes sense, it does give you a lot of variation with how the game plays. Unfortunately combat is the primary way most situations are solved. There doesn’t really ever feel like there is a viable workaround in challenging situations where Ryder must make a choice that doesn’t result in violence. Often Ryder will shoot first and ask questions later. There are also not as many memorable choices throughout the game. There are a number of interesting options that at the time seem like they will impact something later on, however most never eventuate. This makes me wonder whether they were intended to be answered or featured in a sequel, a sequel we may never get after negative reviews, bugs, glitches and general negative word of mouth.  

Despite the gifs, news stories etc. surfacing about the game’s buggy and glitchy nature. I didn’t really encounter any problems. Considering this is a 70 hour, open world RPG, people have seemingly forgotten how hard it is to bug test games of this nature. We gave Fallout 4 a pass remmeber. The dialogue, facial animation and character issues have been resolved with the many post release patches and as a result give the game a much more polished feel. Clearly EA needed this game out and didn’t feel like delaying it until May. If they did, the game may have been much more successful away from Horizon, the release of the Switch and Zelda. A more rounded, polished experience in a quieter month, may have been what this game needed.

I loved playing Mass Effect Andromeda. The game presented so many fantastic combat scenarios, plenty of laughs from the engaging cast of characters and plenty of surprises when exploring the massive plants. While the story was familiar, safe and often nonsensical, I enjoyed the ride that it presented. The game leaves a lot of questions unanswered and is clearly meant to be the start of a new franchise and I really hope we see the second game at some stage.

8.5/10

Reviewed on Xbox One.