What are ya playing?

[Master_Craig]

Now that I've finished Breath of the Wild, I think I'll go back to Horizon Zero Dawn.

I want to get Mass Effect: Andromeda, but honestly, all the average reviews as well as negative feedback from players and fans has scared me into buying the game.

I might get it when it's cheaper. Maybe trade in some old games for it? I'm looking at getting rid of Final Fantasy XV and Nioh, actually.

 

[Ivory_Soul]

Now that I've finished Breath of the Wild, I think I'll go back to Horizon Zero Dawn.

I want to get Mass Effect: Andromeda, but honestly, all the average reviews as well as negative feedback from players and fans has scared me into buying the game.

I might get it when it's cheaper. Maybe trade in some old games for it? I'm looking at getting rid of Final Fantasy XV and Nioh, actually.

I hate seeing people trade in games. Not a collector huh? I collect every game I buy whether they are good or bad. I would wait for MEA to get cheaper which is what I'm doing.

Sadly, I know because you finished Zelda your Switch is going to sit and collect dust for at least 6 months until the next big game comes out. I feel bad for you.

Right now I'm playing my PS2 and original Xbox. Trying to get through Grabbed by the Ghoulies. Playing through Wildlands, Titanfall 2, and The Division on PC.

 

[Master_Craig]

Yeah, my Switch will probably chill out for a while, honestly. Unless something comes out in their eShop that looks good? Some indie games do interest me. I do have an urge to visit Zelda again, as there's a few things I'd like to try and discover.

In saying that, my brother is really enjoying Zelda. He'll still play it.

As for Mass Effect: Andromeda, I'm waiting for it to get cheaper, and I do have things to play in the meantime.

Unfortunately, yes, I do trade in games. Like you, I used to collect and hoard games, but I realize a few things...

1 - Games are expensive (especially here in Australia) and as I'm trying to save money, yet at the same time, wanting to buy particular games, I've opted for the whole "trade 'n save" option.

2 - Like I said in the first point, I'm trying to save money. So when I want to buy a game that I really want, I find the retailer selling it for the cheapest price. I go to EB Games, get them to price match. If I do trade in old games, I do it at EB, because I get a 20% extra trade in bonus, which is sometimes awesome, sometimes not.

3 - Physical copies, while cool to have, end up taking up a lot of space when you start collecting a lot. I find that if I've finished a particular game and A - haven't played it for over a year, plus B - have it uninstalled from my PS4, then I don't need it anymore and it's safe to trade away.

4 - I do make some exceptions which counter my third point... I might get rid of games that I have, that I simply don't play anymore and just am not enjoying. For example, Nioh. I really liked Nioh to begin with, but now I find it boring and repetitive... so it's a contender for me to trade away. Next, Resident Evil VII: Biohazard. I wanted to enjoy this game, and it is a good game, but I found it so frustrating that I just wasn't enjoying myself at all, and the more it frustrated me, the less I wanted to play.

 

[Ivory_Soul]

Yeah, my Switch will probably chill out for a while, honestly. Unless something comes out in their eShop that looks good? Some indie games do interest me. I do have an urge to visit Zelda again, as there's a few things I'd like to try and discover.

In saying that, my brother is really enjoying Zelda. He'll still play it.

As for Mass Effect: Andromeda, I'm waiting for it to get cheaper, and I do have things to play in the meantime.

Unfortunately, yes, I do trade in games. Like you, I used to collect and hoard games, but I realize a few things...

1 - Games are expensive (especially here in Australia) and as I'm trying to save money, yet at the same time, wanting to buy particular games, I've opted for the whole "trade 'n save" option.

2 - Like I said in the first point, I'm trying to save money. So when I want to buy a game that I really want, I find the retailer selling it for the cheapest price. I go to EB Games, get them to price match. If I do trade in old games, I do it at EB, because I get a 20% extra trade in bonus, which is sometimes awesome, sometimes not.

3 - Physical copies, while cool to have, end up taking up a lot of space when you start collecting a lot. I find that if I've finished a particular game and A - haven't played it for over a year, plus B - have it uninstalled from my PS4, then I don't need it anymore and it's safe to trade away.

4 - I do make some exceptions which counter my third point... I might get rid of games that I have, that I simply don't play anymore and just am not enjoying. For example, Nioh. I really liked Nioh to begin with, but now I find it boring and repetitive... so it's a contender for me to trade away. Next, Resident Evil VII: Biohazard. I wanted to enjoy this game, and it is a good game, but I found it so frustrating that I just wasn't enjoying myself at all, and the more it frustrated me, the less I wanted to play.

I see, some people just don't care for it. I'm a true collector at heart and have hundreds of physical games. I tend to buy shelves or build them to make room and still make it look nice and organized. I haven't traded a game in probably 5+ years. To make access to them easier I buy 500 disc CD holders and I put all the discs in there and can just flip through them if I want to play something instead of digging out a case and having it float around until I'm not lazy enough to put it back. I have a few retro game stores near my area so I pop in every so often and pick up something off my list. I have Google Keep lists of every retro game I need or want broken down by console. I just recently picked up around 20 PS2, GC, and Xbox games and one PS1 game thrown in there.

I'm so into it I bought a HMDI multi-switch converter for $160 and can plug two component systems, 2 AV, and 3 HDMIs into it. It upscales everything to 1080p so I can play my old consoles on my 4K TV. I also have wireless controllers for every system one was made for. I'm greatful my fiancee is okay with it and actually supports it. It's an extremely fun hobby.

 

[Master_Craig]

That does sound awesome, and really fun.

At the moment, I won't lie, I am being a tight arse because I'm trying to save money. My partner and I are also lucky enough to live with my parents, rent free, so it gives us the opportunity to save. These last few months have been difficult though... car bills, dental bills etc. It just doesn't stop, but hopefully it's all good now.

In saying that though, physical space is a challenge for us.

We're trying to save for our own place. At the moment, the housing market is ridiculous and buying a home is very expensive. My partner and I both work jobs that aren't the most gracious paying. Still, the housing market is slowly dropping, so hopefully we will get our opportunity soon enough.

 

[De-Ting]

Whipped out the SNES a few days back. Been playing SMB3 on the All-Stars cartridge, and Mario Kart. Also want to play some stuff on the Super Gameboy, but haven't gotten around to it.

 

[Ivory_Soul]

That does sound awesome, and really fun.

At the moment, I won't lie, I am being a tight arse because I'm trying to save money. My partner and I are also lucky enough to live with my parents, rent free, so it gives us the opportunity to save. These last few months have been difficult though... car bills, dental bills etc. It just doesn't stop, but hopefully it's all good now.

In saying that though, physical space is a challenge for us.

We're trying to save for our own place. At the moment, the housing market is ridiculous and buying a home is very expensive. My partner and I both work jobs that aren't the most gracious paying. Still, the housing market is slowly dropping, so hopefully we will get our opportunity soon enough.

Buying a house for our generation in America is pretty much non-existant. There are people twice my age who rent apartments. Not a single person I know under 50 owns a home here as it's just too expensive. I'm lucky that my partner and I have good paying jobs and we rent a two bedroom/two bath apartment will all amenities, and we have an 8 month old son, but I remember the super struggle as I call it. The first time we moved out on our own was scary as shit and I thought I couldn't do it. You guys are lucky to live rent free right now, but I know how it feels to have no privacy, a lack of space, and the constant need to save.

 

[Master_Craig]

We're going a bit off topic from games, but... yeah, I am lucky. My partner and I are very fortunate in that my mother and father allow us to stay at their house, the house I grew up in, rent free. In saying that, it's not an easy ride - we need to obviously pull our weight, which I believe we do.

I want to buy a home but at this stage, my partner and I just can't afford it. So we're just saving the best we can for a decent house deposit and hopefully in the future, I can try and apply for better paying positions. Same with my partner.

I would like to move out though... mostly for space, privacy and just having "my own" home, you know?

Going back to games... my partner has picked up the Switch and is now playing Zelda.

I'm still on Horizon Zero Dawn, chipping away at it. Aside from Mass Effect: Andromeda, there's nothing coming out in the near future that's tagging my interest. There's a few... lemme jot down a list.

-Super Mario: Odyssey for the Nintendo Switch
-State of Decay 2 for PC sounds cool, but I may need to upgrade my graphics card
-Days Gone looks cool, for PS4
-Uncharted: The Lost Legacy for PS4, because I'm a big Uncharted fan
-God of War for PS4 looks interesting too
-Spider-Man looks great, because I loved Spider-Man 2 so much (PS4)
-Vampyr (PS4) also looks interesting.

I would say games like The Last of Us 2 and Red Dead Redemption 2, but I don't know when they'll be out.

 

[Ivory_Soul]

There are plenty of games this year I'm looking forward too

-Prey
-The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind
-Yooka-Laylee
-BulletStorm: Full Clip Edition
-Injustice 2
-Tekken 7
-Middle-Earth: Shadow of War

Those are just in the next few months.

 

[HK-47]

Europa Universalis IV, getting back into it as Portugal and for once, France and England aren't at war, which means I can putz around in the Iberian Peninsula, smacking Granada around and getting Castille in on the Morocco front. Worked for Tangiers and expanding my North African presence before I launch my colonization game.

 

[COMaestro]

Playing Day of the Tentacle on my Vita. Have old memories of the game on the PC from years ago.

 

[LinksOcarina]

Finished Zelda.

Finished Mass Effect: Andromeda.

Reviewed Mass Effect: Andromeda (7.5)

Waiting for Persona.

Likely going to play Planescape Torment Remaster for review in a few weeks.

Man, I got a lot of RPGs to go through...

 

[Master_Craig]

I ended up getting Mass Effect: Andromeda.

I traded in two games (Nioh and Final Fantasy XV) to get $66 of store credit from EB Games, then I bought Andromeda for $13, as it was supposed to be $79. I've got ten days to play the game and make up my mind as to whether or not it's worth keeping. If not, I'll return it and get my money back.

I spent three hours playing it yesterday and my early impressions... eh. It's not bad, but it's not great, either. I think I'm disappointed, so far.

I really like the setting and idea, that humanity (and other species) have worked together to create the "Andromeda Initiative", travelling over two million light years from the Milky Way, a six hundred year journey into the unknown. That sounds awesome. On top of that, their departure is set during Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2, so we have no idea of the aftermath of the Reaper war.

How it's all executed... um.

The animation really is dodgy. I thought the Internet was just being mean as it always is, but the way characters walk and run, especially how they talk, just looks very unnerving. It kinda takes me out of the immersion, especially with the story telling.

I chose a female Ryder, because my partner likes seeing a female lead, and we went with a female protagonist in the original Mass Effect trilogy as well as Dragon Age: Inquisition. I'm regretting so hardcore about the default female. She just looks... weird, like she's always awkwardly smiling, especially in emotional cut scenes.

When it comes to the environments, the graphics look awesome and it's very imaginative. Characters though don't look very crash hot, especially the humans. Their hair, with the exception of the default Ryder's (I guess) looks awful.

Some of the voice acting is alright, a lot of it isn't. Some of the writing is just bad. In combat, old mate Liam goes "I really pissed that one off! Maybe it's because I shot him in the FACE!" - what? Maybe it's not so much the writing, but perhaps the delivery of said line? I can imagine Garrus from the original Mass Effect trilogy saying that line with a lot more subtlety and sarcasm, not childish enthusiasm.

I got far enough to unlock the Mako and it drives okay. I've heard people complain about it but to me, it seems fine, a huge improvement over the original Mako from the first game.

The menu structure of the game is overwhelming. Pretty confusing, too much going on.

Combat is where this game is at. You're a lot faster this time around, having unlimited sprint, the ability to perform quick dashes in any direction as well as high jumps using your suit's jump packs. I like how versatile skills are, so rather than select a class at the beginning of the game and be locked into skills, you can select from a wide range of skills, such as biotics or tech. Biotics are actually really fun this time around, so I'm making my Ryder to be a biotic.

The cover system feels a bit more seamless too. It reminds me of the late Tomb Raider games, e.g. if you're wielding your weapon and you're in combat, your character will automatically crouch behind the cover. I actually prefer this.

TL;DR - I feel disappointed. I want to like this game, and I hope I do. I have ten days to make up my mind.

 

[Ivory_Soul]

Thanks for a more solid review. I think I'll pass on this until it's dirt cheap like less than $20 somewhere. I'm so disappointed this game turned out to be half-baked and feeling lazy. Mass Effect is one of my favorite franchises of all time and I have been waiting years for this. It just doesn't feel like the reboot it was supposed to be. To cut corners they used recycled assets and that's just bad for everyone.

 

[Master_Craig]

I kinda wanna return Mass Effect: Andromeda and get my $79 back... put it toward something else. :/

I was playing last night, playing the first story mission (the desert planet Eos, where you unlock the Mako and meet new squad members) and honestly, I was just feeling really bored. On top of that, I was experiencing some really annoying bugs, e.g. enemies stuck in walls, being able to shoot me but I couldn't shoot them. Bodies randomly being flung up to the sky, like they were being hit by giants from Skyrim, and an anti-climatic boss fight that was easily defeated (if taking a long time) because he could barely figure out where he was going. That last part isn't so much a "bug", just crappy AI.

I know it's too early in the game to judge and that I'm probably being impatient, but when I played the original Mass Effect trilogy, it at least held my engagement almost right away. The original trilogy also felt so much more polished... honestly, I don't recall a single "bug" in the original trilogy.

I guess I should hold off. I've got over a week to go until I'm supposed to return it for a full refund, so I may as well utilize that week. I really want to enjoy this game. :/

It might be too early to say, but I'm already predicting that Andromeda might be my "Most Disappointing Game" of 2017. Last year it was No Man's Sky, year before that it was Batman: Arkham Knight.

 

[Jonathan_Leack]

I kinda wanna return Mass Effect: Andromeda and get my $79 back... put it toward something else. :/

I was playing last night, playing the first story mission (the desert planet Eos, where you unlock the Mako and meet new squad members) and honestly, I was just feeling really bored. On top of that, I was experiencing some really annoying bugs, e.g. enemies stuck in walls, being able to shoot me but I couldn't shoot them. Bodies randomly being flung up to the sky, like they were being hit by giants from Skyrim, and an anti-climatic boss fight that was easily defeated (if taking a long time) because he could barely figure out where he was going. That last part isn't so much a "bug", just crappy AI.

I know it's too early in the game to judge and that I'm probably being impatient, but when I played the original Mass Effect trilogy, it at least held my engagement almost right away. The original trilogy also felt so much more polished... honestly, I don't recall a single "bug" in the original trilogy.

I guess I should hold off. I've got over a week to go until I'm supposed to return it for a full refund, so I may as well utilize that week. I really want to enjoy this game. :/

It might be too early to say, but I'm already predicting that Andromeda might be my "Most Disappointing Game" of 2017. Last year it was No Man's Sky, year before that it was Batman: Arkham Knight.

That's the worst section of the game. I found myself having fun a few hours after that and walked away relatively satisfied with the experience.

 

[Master_Craig]

I kinda wanna return Mass Effect: Andromeda and get my $79 back... put it toward something else. :/

I was playing last night, playing the first story mission (the desert planet Eos, where you unlock the Mako and meet new squad members) and honestly, I was just feeling really bored. On top of that, I was experiencing some really annoying bugs, e.g. enemies stuck in walls, being able to shoot me but I couldn't shoot them. Bodies randomly being flung up to the sky, like they were being hit by giants from Skyrim, and an anti-climatic boss fight that was easily defeated (if taking a long time) because he could barely figure out where he was going. That last part isn't so much a "bug", just crappy AI.

I know it's too early in the game to judge and that I'm probably being impatient, but when I played the original Mass Effect trilogy, it at least held my engagement almost right away. The original trilogy also felt so much more polished... honestly, I don't recall a single "bug" in the original trilogy.

I guess I should hold off. I've got over a week to go until I'm supposed to return it for a full refund, so I may as well utilize that week. I really want to enjoy this game. :/

It might be too early to say, but I'm already predicting that Andromeda might be my "Most Disappointing Game" of 2017. Last year it was No Man's Sky, year before that it was Batman: Arkham Knight.

That's the worst section of the game. I found myself having fun a few hours after that and walked away relatively satisfied with the experience.

In that case, I'll try to push through it!

 

[Ivory_Soul]

I kinda wanna return Mass Effect: Andromeda and get my $79 back... put it toward something else. :/

I was playing last night, playing the first story mission (the desert planet Eos, where you unlock the Mako and meet new squad members) and honestly, I was just feeling really bored. On top of that, I was experiencing some really annoying bugs, e.g. enemies stuck in walls, being able to shoot me but I couldn't shoot them. Bodies randomly being flung up to the sky, like they were being hit by giants from Skyrim, and an anti-climatic boss fight that was easily defeated (if taking a long time) because he could barely figure out where he was going. That last part isn't so much a "bug", just crappy AI.

I know it's too early in the game to judge and that I'm probably being impatient, but when I played the original Mass Effect trilogy, it at least held my engagement almost right away. The original trilogy also felt so much more polished... honestly, I don't recall a single "bug" in the original trilogy.

I guess I should hold off. I've got over a week to go until I'm supposed to return it for a full refund, so I may as well utilize that week. I really want to enjoy this game. :/

It might be too early to say, but I'm already predicting that Andromeda might be my "Most Disappointing Game" of 2017. Last year it was No Man's Sky, year before that it was Batman: Arkham Knight.

Whoa, Arkham Knight? I don't know why you found it so disappointing but there were worse games for 2015 like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 was mine for that year. You also had The Order, Hatred, Star War Battlefront and Rory McIlroy PGA Tour that were much much worse.

 

[COMaestro]

I kinda wanna return Mass Effect: Andromeda and get my $79 back... put it toward something else. :/

I was playing last night, playing the first story mission (the desert planet Eos, where you unlock the Mako and meet new squad members) and honestly, I was just feeling really bored. On top of that, I was experiencing some really annoying bugs, e.g. enemies stuck in walls, being able to shoot me but I couldn't shoot them. Bodies randomly being flung up to the sky, like they were being hit by giants from Skyrim, and an anti-climatic boss fight that was easily defeated (if taking a long time) because he could barely figure out where he was going. That last part isn't so much a "bug", just crappy AI.

I know it's too early in the game to judge and that I'm probably being impatient, but when I played the original Mass Effect trilogy, it at least held my engagement almost right away. The original trilogy also felt so much more polished... honestly, I don't recall a single "bug" in the original trilogy.

I guess I should hold off. I've got over a week to go until I'm supposed to return it for a full refund, so I may as well utilize that week. I really want to enjoy this game. :/

It might be too early to say, but I'm already predicting that Andromeda might be my "Most Disappointing Game" of 2017. Last year it was No Man's Sky, year before that it was Batman: Arkham Knight.

Whoa, Arkham Knight? I don't know why you found it so disappointing but there were worse games for 2015 like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 was mine for that year. You also had The Order, Hatred, Star War Battlefront and Rory McIlroy PGA Tour that were much much worse.

But you have to play them in order for them to be your most disappointing. I enjoyed Arkham Knight overall, but I still found it disappointing. Same with MGS V. Fantastic games, but disappointing because in both cases they lacked something previous titles in the series had: good boss battles. The only real boss battle in Arkham Knight was the end Riddler fight, since anything else that could be counted as one required the Batmobile.

 

[Jonathan_Leack]

Persona 5 is incredible. I'm not a fan of Anime yet I'm completely consumed by its balance of social elements, combat, and story. I don't care much for its anime cutscenes, but the gameplay makes up for it IMO.