#theres no way i could validate that purchase just so i can play DRAGON AGE ORIGINS. THE GAME FROM LIKE 2007. BUT. :^(

[narutomaki]

I would just watch someone else play it if it wasn't soul curshing that I can't play it like I'm so genuinely upset about this and that's like fine its fine I'm allowed to be upset it is disappointing that I can't play my favorite game of all time on a laptop that should be significantly better than my old one it IS upsetting and disappointing but I also still do feel ridiculous that it's impacting me so much that I can't play a video game

[roseofariandel]

How are Dragon Age:Inquisition and Mass Effect:Andromeda so far off from each other?

After playing for roughly 12 hours on ME:A, and easily 72+ on DA:I, I can hardly believe they’re made by the same company and it's extremely frustrating on multiple levels, both on the personal level and the consumer level and I really want to break it down and talk about it a bit because if people have some answers and explanations I’d be very grateful.

So I got into both franchises pretty late in the game (no pun intended), Mass Effect 3 for the WiiU was my first Mass Effect game, and Dragon Age: Inquisition is my first (hopefully not last, they totally have to be making more, right???) game from that series. And while the two games couldn’t be much more different if they tried, after doing a playthrough just before getting ME:A, I was extremely disappointed in Andromeda, and feel it was extremely over-hyped. I wanted to like it, I wanted to love it, I LOVED Mass Effect 3 and honestly I couldn’t be more upset with my purchase for a variety of reasons that I personally feel are pretty valid, and I’m sure some may disagree.

GRAPHICS:

I Honestly had very very high hopes for the graphics in Mass Effect Andromeda, After completing Horizon:Zero Dawn almost a week before, I was absolutely enamoured with where video game graphics are going for 2017 and with how pleased I was with Dragon Age: Inquisition, a game made by the same company (I know nothing of the individual teams that work on each franchise so there's a hole in my judgement there) I was actually floored at how positively dated the animation was. Its an only slight improvement over Mass Effect 3,  a bit smoother, a bit cleaner, but ultimately, not TOO much different. Its worth mentioning that with all the memes that got posted about Sarah Ryder’s infamous gun-grab empty gaze, something I had initially attributed to a poor choice of footage, was omnipresent in Mass Effect Andromeda, the facial expressions really are as bad and poorly engineered as the trailer would have you think, eyes blink at weird intervals, micro expressions are barely existent. Its almost awkward to watch the humans interact with each other most of the time. 

This is something I actually, considering it was released 2 years prior to ME:A, that DA:I did very well. expressions weren’t perfect obviously, but in contrast to Andromeda, they were believable, engaging, and matched the tone of a conversation and conveyed emotion relatively well. Its beyond me how the older game has a more polished look with significantly better facial content but It really is strikingly different.

Hair rendering is honestly kind of garbage in ME:A,  although DA:I didn’t do much better, but it was better, in my experience anyways. 

Eyelashes are... distracting.. they look fake, like glue-ons done improperly, like sometimes when characters close their eyes, the eyelashes like..fold over the eyelids, its honestly just so painful looking...

OPEN WORLD:

The open world in Mass Effect: Andromeda is obviously a growing trend that has its roots in the success of Skyrim, and space exploration is certainly a dauntingly large task! I support and acknowledge the choice by BioWare to make many planets and star systems for us to explore, but its almost.. distractingly large. Its messy, that's the only way I can explain it, and while the planets themselves are beautifully imagined, and actually the environments are gorgeously rendered and coloured, there's about 700 quests all the time that are pointless, and totally derail the story if you choose to follow them. I get that, it is a choice to follow and accept sidequests and some people really enjoy that, but unlike Dragon Age: Inquisition, Andromeda’s sidequests seem to be only vaguely tied to Ryder’s position and influence. Side quests weren’t as numerous and felt much more purposeful in Dragon Age, and the role of Inquisitor made completing these tasks like part of the inquisitor’s job, to secure trust in the inquisition. While Ryder seeks to earn trust in the Andromeda Initiative, it still feels...wrong, unnecessary to go help an engineer fix some broken panels when I’m sure theres a pletora of other suitable people this particular NPC could go to, and I find I feel this way a lot during the NPC interactions. It just seems baseless. 

Case in point: there's too much, its a game trend done in a weird, time-consuming manner that feels exhausting and unnecessary that I feel Dragon Age: Inquisition did a lot better, for an older game by the same company. 

SAME-SEX ROMANCE:

*Minor GilxRyder spoilers ahead*

My final point on my rant before some finishing notes, inevitably comes back to the heart of me as a player, I’m a gay man, and I absolutely loved Dragon Age: Inquisition’s fleshed out, developed, and believable MLM romances. Dorian’s romance was extremely well-written, a smidge cliche, emotionally engaging and empathise (to myself at least). However, back in Andromeda my Ryder is currently romancing Gil, and while gil is actually one of the more expressive people on the ship, and people who have written articles on the matter claim he has the most developed and story-based romance (out of the 2 available, the other being a fling with little to offer), seems to be moving at a pace that is next to alarming and unnatural in comparison to Kaiden’s Romance in ME:3 and even more so than Dorian or Bull’s in Dragon Age: Inquisition (which for the record, I found appropriately paced and grew what felt like more naturally than it could have). The content is very minuscule for Gil in ME:A and I feel myself yearning for something more developed, more tangible, and as a couple, I was absolutely dumbfounded how quickly they went from being casual shipmates to holding hands on Eos. I was actually even caught off guard by the first flirt option, it seemed to do a totally uncalled for 180, just a bit too intimate for “meeting the crew” y’know? When we look at Dorian, we really see something blossom in a lovable, vulnerable way that just feels right. But with Gil, it leaves a lot to be desired and feels almost comical, and it's obvious it didn’t get much attention from the people who worked on it, which says a lot about how BioWare cares about gay men (not much apparently, at least in the Mass Effect Series so far). Which leaves me jilted towards the company and I’m unsure I will be so zealous to jump on the hype of future games. 

FINALLY...

While I’m certainly, and unapologetically talking some shit about BioWare and Mass Effect Andromeda, I have a lot of love for them and while I feel almost bored with Andromeda, I am enjoying it nonetheless. Its not a horrible game, just certainly not what it was played up to be. I certainly would not have preordered the deluxe edition for almost $100CAD had I know it was going to be like this. If you haven’t gotten it yet, I suggest you wait until you can get it on super-sale, Black Friday, or once it hits bargain-bins even. 

I’m sure I’ve said some things that some of you feel is unfair, and I invite you to challenge or correct me on it, I think a dialogue is healthy, and I realize comparing Dragon Age to Mass Effect is pretty apples to oranges, but it really does beg the question how the company can make Dragon Age as enriched and polished as it was, and then two years later, release a game that seems like it actually predates its chronological predecessor?