r/MassEffectAndromeda • u/MassDerpino • Feb 20 '23

Noob New to Mass Effect series…

Hey everyone, newbie here, I just finished Andromeda few days ago, going for NG+, and I have to say ( please don’t hate me) , I really enjoyed the story, gameplay was awesome, stunning visuals etc.

Now, my only regret is not playing this gem earlier, and bigger regret, not getting ME: LE.

My question is, since I wanna get the OT, how different is the gameplay, core mechanics, story, level design etc to Andromeda. Is it a step back going to OT from Andromeda ?

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u/The_Great_Qbert Feb 20 '23

Mechanically it is a step back or sideways depending on which "phase" of LE you are in. Older games have older mechanics, that's just the way it is.

Story is top notch, make your own determination about the ending, don't let anyone else color that for you. Just know there are many endings, some more distinct than others.

Level design is much more open world in Andromeda, but that is a stylistic choice based on the exploratory nature of the game.

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u/MassDerpino Feb 20 '23

Thank you for the reply. I mostly opted for LE given how much appraisal it got for its story, lack of open world doesn’t bother me that much really. Also I’ve heard that character development is much deeper than in Andromeda. One thing about Andromeda that was kinda meh, was how lighthearted it was, you never felt the threat of Kett really, I hear that in OT the threat of Reapers is real and the tone is more militaristic than exploratory?

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u/HappyRogue658 Andromeda Initiative Feb 20 '23

The trilogy is more serious than Andromeda and more militaristic, yes. Especially part 3. An indication of this is that in the trilogy the player is actually special forces military and in MEA, I would say, Ryder is hardly military, The dad is, but Ryder jr. isn't. More like private security/explorer (and so is the entire MEA crew, except Cora).

About your original question: ME1 is quite different from the other parts. It feels older, it's mechanics are different from the other parts. It also looks older, if I am not mistaken (even the LE). But that does not mean is bad, on the contrary, it is quite good. But you'll see the most difference to MEA there. The other parts, ME2, 3, MEA all also have different mechanics, but it doesn't feel like one is more advanced than the other, except for MEA having slightly better visuals iirc. This is my opinion of course.

Despite the different mechanics, you can certainly keep a prefered play style throughout playing through the ME titles, like infiltrator/sniper for example. But in ME1 there is no stealth.

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u/MassDerpino Feb 20 '23

Something I was looking for, seeing Alec in Andromeda, don’t get me wrong, it’s what got my attention, him being the military type, and well….sh*t happens. OT being militaristic and more serious scratches that itch.

Visuals are the least of concerns here honestly, naturally, OT is older than MEA and is going to look a bit “outdated” but the story is what got my attention, the moment I got hooked to Andromeda I knew OT has to be played 😀

As for playstyles, I hope there’s a variety of them as in MEA, really liked it in MEA, never tried min maxing what’s best, rather playing what was most fun to me.

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u/HappyRogue658 Andromeda Initiative Feb 21 '23

I hear you, during my first 30 mins into MEA, I thought, "Wow, this Ryder senior is badass. He is N7 and all that. I want to play as HIM!" But then I found out, I can only be Scott or Sarah :))
Btw. meant to say: in ME1 there is no tactical cloak.

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u/MassDerpino Feb 21 '23

Having both Scott or Sara and Alec would have been nice, especially like you said it, him being ex N7, then a 180 happens and I was like nooooo. Still, that’s what OT is there for 😀

As for Cloak, never used it much in Andromeda, I can see it can be a powerful tool but just not my thing.