Raithe

The real question would be, would you feel happy and productive working if your office was at the centre of that arch?

I still went ahead and picked up a copy of the game (and technically I might have used VPN to start playing it Tuesday rather than wait till Thursday for the UK release). Picked up from where I'd run through on the trial play and carried on. I'm going to say outright that there are issues with it, it's got a fair few niggling flaws in the background, but it's also got a handful of interesting concepts and attempts. For what it is, I'm enjoying it and can see it being value for money. The main issue is that it doesn't actually feel like an AAA game, which is definitely at variance with the hype train they had running for the past year. It's the odd little flaws, and the lack of polish that seem to set this apart from previous Bioware games (heh, it does have a certain Bethesda feel to it in that matter). There's a few odd triggers that click in unexpectedly - you meet a companion npc on a planet and are obviously intended to complete that story branch that has them join you before returning to the ship, because if you return to the ship before they join you.. you can still end up overhearing that companion who isn't even on the ship having conversations with your other companions. There is some fun dialogue and some god-awful ropey dialogue. The animation is.. what it is, and there do seem to be a bit of awkwardness with texture popping with characters. The planets and backgrounds are gorgeous and lush. The music, while not bad on its own is very subdued and unlike previous ME games, they don't seem to use it to add emphasis to any emotional moments. There's no really soaring tunes to carry you along when you step forth onto a new world, or suggest the beginnings of action. But what is there is decent , standard action-rpg wander around and do stuff and explore lore, shoot things and talk to people. I'm wondering if it'll really open up once you've gotten the initial Angara thing dealt with. They talked much about the open exploratory nature, but so far it's still been fairly constrained in where you go. And the fact that 15 hours into a game and they're still introducing new gameplay mechanics does make you wonder on the pacing - but then it makes a certain sense that you're not going to deal with colony/outpost expansion until a point you can start establishing them. The return to Eos after some time has passed and seeing how it's changed in that time, and how some of your earlier decisions have shaped it is nice, so I'll be looking forward to seeing how well that carries on in the future and with any other colonies established. All in all, it's going to be an interesting journey as this game goes along. I'm pretty much expecting a lot of unpolished diamond and rough edges but to still be entertained as I ignore the occasional jarring animation and odd glitch.

One thing that's somewhat disappointing is the music. Don't get me wrong, the music itself is quite decent in itself, however it is very subdued and understated and is very much minor background rather than sweeping space opera exploration. It doesn't quite have the emotional kick/carry off that the music from the ME trilogy have.

From one of my American friends..

Having that late night re-watch of John Carter. There is something about that film that I just enjoy. A certain pulp adventure silliness that starts to cross into space opera. That, and Ciaran Hinds and James Purefoy obviously just having fun bantering between each other once again after Rome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TIvv7FMshU The bit to really pay attention to is Patrick Stewart's comments around the 3:11 mark... On the widely separate subject, this might interest a few folks: FilmSchoolRejects - The Purity of John Wick

For the somewhat random "feel good humanity" piece in the midst of all the politics and such shenanigans... BBC - George Clooney surprises 87 year old fan with birthday flowers

Welcome back, even if it is just a flying visit.

The original game was completely unplayable with a mouse, how does that work? Like Freelancer or more like Privateer 2 which officially supported mouse play but was nigh unplayable* with it? * Not that Privateer: The Darkening was ever "playable" with even the best input hardware. That game's a mess. So so. The non-flying parts the mouse is reaaly damn slow to crawl over and it works better using the keyboard to move the cursor around. In flight, it's a bit more Freelancer like, possibly a bit too smooth and quick so its very easy to overdo movements.

Tickled my humour by downloading the original Wing Commander via Origin. Although flying it with mouse is an interesting shift from the days of old...

Heh, actually one of the things that amuses me is that a lot of the flaws people seem to rail about for ME: Andromeda at the moment are ones everyone seems happy to accept for the last few Skyrim games. Some awkward facial animations, a few graphics glitches, shallow elements, a bit of an odd UI, very up and down voice acting and dialogue.... Okay, it's not what you'd hope from a Bioware game, but at the same time, can't we have similar standards between games and their reviews?

Or grew up! Nevah!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f55CqLc6IR0

I think most DnD enthusiasts shifted to Pathfinder a few years back...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNkl6V-mMDM

Polygon - ME Andromeda Review In many ways, this does sound like the first ME. Rough bits and flaws, with some elements of spectacular or emotionally moving space cheese. I think it's going to be one that's hard to decide upon until you've really gotten into it for a good chunk of the game rather than just the opening hours and introduction.

Sometimes you just need to buck your swashle... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYbIk6aXuUs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2zo1_FnNQA