Mass Effect: Andromeda

Where I live 16 is a compromise which can include both M (such as Bloodborne) and T (like Batman: Arkham and Uncharted). Though all previous Mass Effects have been PEGI 18 here in Finland, so does Germany have it's own rating system for games?

edited 18th Jun '16 9:51:30 AM by DeadlyAssassin

Yes. And they're very strict about it.

But, at least their reasons for it are more reasonable than Australia's.

The 5 ratings Germany has are

1. No Age restriction

2. 6 years and older

3. 12 years and older

4. 16 years and older

5. 18 years and older

A few years ago, many products also had to go an additional procedure of censoring before they would be released, though this has mellowed out by now, most games come uncut nowadays (though there are still some occasional complete bannings).

EDIT: PEGI is also printed on our game boxes, though it is only a recommendation.

Mandatory is only the USK seal.

edited 18th Jun '16 10:25:32 AM by Forenperser

Not to mention the law that even if your game has Nazis in it the Swastika can't be seen anywhere.

Yeah, the swatiska is unfortunately still something german authorities have a 0 tolerance for.

In games at least. Films or series? No such problems.

edited 18th Jun '16 11:22:17 AM by Forenperser

Mass Effect is kind of similar to the Halo franchise, it can be intense at times but there is a big difference between those two games and something like Gears of War that revels in blood and body parts. The only times Mass Effect really earned its R rating was the bloody walls of the Citadel at the climax of 3.

What about Project Overlord?

edited 18th Jun '16 2:48:49 PM by TheAirman

What's that?

The one with David and his brother.

It was dark in tone and story, not blood-and-tits. Which is what usually drives content ratings.

Ah right, this is the ESRB we're talking about.

Blame US sensibilities. And as for N7 Guy: If Ryder was Male, wouldnot the N7 Guy be the sister? Or is N7 Guy always male? If N7 was also a Ryder, I should say.

I believe the N7 Guy is a different character that Bioware has been hush-hush about. I remember back when the game was first announced, someone on twitter asked if it was our PC and it was confirmed that it was someone else and not the PC.

ESRB is better than than the MPAA, as they group together a wide range of games into the M rating just to be safe (and rely on content tags to explain why), while the line between PG, PG-13 and R is often blurred and uncertain. In any case, the priorities are different around the world depending on which elements are considered taboo. European countries tend to be softer on sex and language but harder on violence. Germany in particular is still sensitive towards Putting on the Reich in stories.

Ya know, Andromeda makes me think about worst part of 3's ending .-. And by worst part, I mean something for Bioware:

By making the final choice be "Everything will be changed forevar", they have essentially killed setting as usable one without reboots or cutting of branches(and thus making even more choices pointless). Sure they could do sequels or something before reapers attack, but everything would be overshadowed by "Eventually reapers come and ruin everything so its kinda pointless".

I mean, that is rather odd since they clearly wanted to make franchise out of Mass Effect even after ME 3 was finished, so I find it odd they actually went through with "radical galactic change" ending like that .-. Even the original "Do you become reapers or not" idea from concept stage wasn't that bad since it was pretty much "Does humanity exist anymore or not" so would have been easy to just pick non reaper ending as something to continue from.

Surprise Andromeda footage from Sony's PS4 Pro reveal conference.

I can't figure out if Male!Ryder is voiced by Nolan North or Troy Baker. Which probably means that he's voiced by neither.

Just rewatched and he is almost certainly voiced by Nolan North.

edited 7th Sep '16 12:53:24 PM by lrrose

That's not surprising.

Anyway, looks very pretty, at least in 4K. Guess Bioware's sticking with the Inquisition style of running around in non-combat.

Got an Inquisition vibe off it. AND a Halo vibe.

Those things scream Progenitor to me.

There's just something - it doesn't feel mass effect-y yet. It just looks like Dragon Age with a sci fi skin. And I have No Idea What It's Missing....

It's been said ME 1 was slow, but the animation of the games always had a certain weight going for it, which increased in each entry, feeling more substantial, more...meaty, more real. The animation here feels floaty and light by comparison.

Inquisition's combat lacked a certain physicality from previous DA games, too. Say what you will about DA 2's over-the-top action, but it was visceral, it had impact. Maybe too much for some, but it was there.

There's also the whole problem of this looking like one of DAI's Astrarium caves.

edited 8th Sep '16 10:48:09 AM by Unsung

I think you've hit the nail on the head. Whilst it's pretty there's no sense of presence, or weight.

It looks rather light.

And yes, the cave is a bit too featureless, and looks too shiny. It's the problem with the engine I suppose - rock looks slick and wet all the time. Not everything has to be shiny!

Eh, I think Inquisition's combat was plenty visceral.

I wasn't a fan - I found it extremely dull and repetitive. Actually, I found pretty much all of Inquisition's gameplay to be pretty boring. A dozen massive maps, with absolutely nothing of interest in them whatsoever - just fifty thousand copy-pasted enemies and some shallow text-only quests.

The story and characterization was all right, but the tedium I found inherent to the gameplay side of things is probably what's kept me from ever finishing the game.

The melee combat felt a bit more impactful. The ranged and mage stuff not QUITE as much. Yes, you could knock people over with a ROCK PAWNCH but that was about it. The reaver and sword and board felt like they had impact and hit the health bar whittling a little more.

For the most part.

But there still wasn't the same one for one impact that you got in ME (Well, until you hit later difficulties of ME when enemies were just as bullet spongy)

ME had you flinging enemies around a lot more, they felt like individual entities. Enemies in Dragon Age felt like MMO foes, with prescripted animations and no real apparent ragdolling.

So, you know that N7 guy in the original Andromeda E3 2015 trailer? That's your dad.

Huh! That's interesting. A lot of people that want Male Shp and Fem Shep in the same story often headcanon them as brother and sister anyway.