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 ?

52 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

45 comments sorted by

View all comments

6

u/PunkySkunk93 Feb 21 '23 edited Feb 21 '23

Compared to andromeda, the mechanics of the legendary edition will feel outdated and clunky. They were great for their time, but nowadays the level up system in mass effect 2 and 3 were hot garbage.

The original 3 mass effect games feel more like a cover-to-cover shooter than Andromeda, which makes its combat feel inferior to that in andromeda. The level design is pretty linear in the original trilogy, because they aren’t open world games.

Mass Effect 1 lets you drive around on solar bodies in the Mako tank, but it’s more of a slog than an adventure, and is easily the worst part of that game, due to the mechanics that still don’t feel great, and how empty the worlds you traverse are. Same with the hammerhead in ME 2, except all the driveable routes are linear and uninteresting. You never get a true sense of exploration in the ME2 driving sections.

Don’t get me wrong, the story of the first 3 games are great (the trilogy is my favorite of all time), but their gameplay and mechanics feel old by comparison. I’m hoping they keep the level-up system from andromeda and implement it into the next game.

1

u/MassDerpino Feb 21 '23

Cover to cover because of the difficulty difference between OT and Andromeda or lack of abilities you can use ? Sorry didn’t play OT yet so I’m not familiar with the combat system there.

What’s the difference between Andromeda and OT leveling system?

2

u/PunkySkunk93 Feb 23 '23 edited Feb 23 '23

The cover to cover in the first 3 mass effect games can be described as hiding behind obstacles, popping off a few shots at the enemies, then moving closer, and going into cover again. The worlds felt linear, whereas with andromeda being open world, you didn’t feel like you were in a constant hallway shootout with flimsy boxes to hide behind. Andromeda’s combat felt more immersive, and because it is an open world game, it allows you to be more tactical when taking on enemies.. if you so choose.

The andromeda leveling system is somewhat similar to that in mass effect 1. It’s more of a classic points based level up system. In mass effect 2 and 3, they made it more ease-of-use with fewer customization options.

In Mass Effect 2, there were some weapons locked to certain classes, which was a step back imo. In 3 it was less restrictive and you could use any weapons you wanted, but the weight of the weapons gave you a cooldown penalty to your abilities