Randomly Mine: December 26th, 2018 (Andromeda Edition)

Randomly Mine

Andromeda Edition

Normally when I make a Years Later video, the majority of the time is spent writing scripts in-order to cover as much of the game as possible. From its pre-production and development cycle to the campaign, multiplayer, downloadable content, or anything else of note.

Andromeda proved to be the most challenging yet but not because of the volume of content. I didn’t even cover Multiplayer, so that meant three distinct sections building to a conclusion. Instead, figuring out how to focus the script was what caused trouble, as Andromeda is a game that lends itself to exploring various topics.

So I thought it’d be fun to explore some of what I wrote but removed, and maybe even expand on a few of them, or explore why they got deleted in the first place.

If there’s any particular detail I wish Jason Shreirer’s Kotaku article was allowed to delve further into, it’s the tension between Bioware’s Edmonton and Montreal studios. I’m specifically intrigued by the East Coast’s accusation of stealing ideas to incorporate into Dragon Age and Project Dylan.

Because while Anthem isn’t available at the time of writing, in playing Inquisition and Andromeda at the same-time, their similarities are impossible to ignore.

They obviously run on the same game-engine; featuring multiple open-ended levels for the player to explore, solving abstract puzzles to unlock dungeons in the map and level up a meter separate from you character allowing players to invest in perks that grant bonuses like materials that by researching blueprints which can be crafted or lowering the price of upgrades for your Machine/Mount to carry on in these open-worlds collecting plants, fighting dragons, and clearing enemy camps.

I spent about 20-30+ hours replaying Inquisition, the reason being that when I first played Andromeda, I called it “Mass Effect: Inquisition” when talking to friends, due to how many of that game’s systems are found in Montreal’s game. However, I wanted to confirm that, and not discuss this based only on memory, the human brain isn’t exactly reliable.

Spending all of that time replaying the game however inspired me to devote many paragraphs to Andromeda’s similarities despite them ultimately being not very important to the game’s quality. I also intended for there to be a greater point about the Video Game Awards; how its event date being so close to November not only led to Inquisition winning game of the year, but also Bioware taking that credit as reason to replicate their formula.

Not to say I still don’t believe this. I do.

I remember a Game Informer Interview when asked about the game’s similarities to Inquisition, Mac Walter’s response was to the effect of “Well, it did win Game of the Year.”

But it wasn’t worth devoting minutes of time just to make this point that ultimately isn’t worth stealing time from other subjects, plus this theory can still be raised on other platforms, like Patreon. I genuinely do wish though we had more information about how poor the relationship between Edmonton and Montreal was, though in fairness, even if people spoke up about it, I doubt we’d get enough people to view the full story.

Finally, I removed that final paragraph because the “reading a long list of comparisons that’ll make the viewer go ‘Oof’” was planned to be done with Andromeda’s plotline and it’s similarities to Mass Effect 1. No need to repeat a gimmick within the same video.

Change is to be expected.

It’s not surprising that your personal AI SAM used to be located in the Tempest, Vetra was once named Vera, Cora was younger, or going to Andromeda was originally a contingency plan by the Citadel Council rather than a separate Initiative.

But changes are supposed to build to a cohesive whole which Mass Effect: Andromeda lacks the moment it begins. The beginning setups up a story about exploring a new-galaxy-

This paragraph serves to remind me that I failed in one regard. When removing this paragraph, I did so intending to still incorporate this information but through images rather than words. There’s multiple pieces of concept art I could’ve shown in the Pre-Production section that’d inform viewers of these changes, but forgot.

On the other hand, those details are only useful in that they serve to make the greater point of Andromeda’s inconsistency, and I believe was presented better in the final video than these sentences ever were.

The cast are well-suited to their roles with both Ryders fitting the young hero in training, Cora’s a bit distracting because I keep being reminded of Burnout, but that’s more of a personal thing.

References are fine when they don’t interfere with the video, but in this case, it killed the pacing all to highlight a piece of information completely irrelevant to the majority of viewers, all so that one of them can go “Hey! That’s CrashFM lady!”

I much prefer to bring up stuff like that with visuals as they rarely impede progress in the video.

It’s been said in numerous interviews that each world has its own story and while that’s true to an extent, their connections to the greater plot is identical across each.

Activate three monoliths, head down the tunnels, flip a switch, run from a deadly storm, and step outside to see the planets hazards evaporate, repeat. Ryder and SAM even have the same dialogue exchange in each vault.

So without unique events on the planets themselves concerning the story, and with only four side-quests that amount to more than meeting a hunter, this narrative driven series falls onto its loyalty and story missions.

In fairness the loyalty missions do complete their character arks and each has a different tone than the rest like Mass Effect 2, but the inferior production discussed earlier hurts most of all in these levels. Whether they reach for humor or drama, cutscenes fall flat with the lack of timing, sound-effects, and animation.

Liam’s is by far the biggest offender of this but it’s not helped by the tone which gets kicked around like a hacky-sack. This moment, and this moment occur within a minute of each other. (I had footage marked)

It really wants to be Firefly but not only lacks the whit, timing, and chemistry, its missing levity. Firefly’s known for its comedy but every episode has drama placed intelligently to give that humor some contrast.

Peebees handles tone better but uses contrived events for gags and one-liners that aren’t nearly as funny as the team seems to think.

I actually read a comment this morning from someone that said I didn’t discuss what’s brought up here in this first paragraph. Again, for the audience’s sake, as I’d go on to say the main-quest doesn’t involve these monoliths, and that there’s only four notable side-missions, there wasn’t much point to reinforcing what’s already established.

And my point about the game’s humor is merely conjecture. Unless I want devote time to breaking down why a joke doesn’t land (and I really don’t), people who enjoy the game’s humor are just going sit in their chairs learning nothing.

Since Halo Reach, I never want to make videos that will only be enjoyed by those looking for confirmation bias. I want anybody whether they think Andromeda is an underrated gem worthy of a sequel or filthy libtard propaganda to hear me out, and to do that, you can’t only show an opinion they disagree without any greater point or perspective.

That and I’d then be obligated to talk about all the Loyalty Missions, and it’s just not worth it.

Multiplayer

It’s Mass Effect 3 with less content.

Conclusio-

Just kidding, sort of. I still devoted a number of hours similar to my Max Payne 3 coverage of Andromeda’s multiplayer as I hadn’t spent time with it at launch, mostly because my computer wasn’t up to snuff at the time.

Though the opening sentence while equal parts cynical and sarcastic, isn’t without merit.

I enjoy surprising people, and the intent with this Multiplayer section was to make viewers go “wait, what? You always cover multiplayer, even when no one cares about it!”

But as I said in the video, going from three very lengthy in-depth sections with a relatively serious tone, to a quick, sarcastic first-impressions piece, just didn’t flow, especially with the video’s conclusion.

Speaking of sarcasm, this next bit confirms what you saw back in my Halo Reach coverage still rears its ugly head on occasion.

Composers, I’m not a music expert but this chorus, you’re not allowed to use it anymore. You’re done. Please for the love of god stop using this overly repetitive melody that makes me want to shred the strings off a cello, wrap them around my neck and pull until I’m greeted by Satan at the gates of Hell.

It’s the musical equivalent of telling viewers to like, comment, and subscribe. You know what almost every renowned piece of music has in-common? They don’t use this pattern because the horse has been pummeled so thoroughly, it’s already six-feet under.

Excuse me.

Bitter angry tone, condescending sentences, and Alex Jones references, I went the whole nine yards. But I’ve accepted long ago that I don’t do the angry video-gamer personality well, people like Yahtzee, Rageaholic, and James Rolfe have been doing those things for years and far more effectively with their own unique presentation styles.

I’m just a guy with a microphone, so when the angry personality comes on board, not only is it grading to hear and boring to watch, it’s so far removed from the rest of the narration.

And once again, it’s not that I don’t believe what’s said here, I very much do. But fighting to be heard on Youtube is already an uphill battle as it is, so to make people cringe through the cliché angry rant without a unique identity, is just selfish.

There’s even more in my archives and if people are interested enough, I can dig them up for future installment, in the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this look into my writing process, and subjects that the video itself didn’t explore.

Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. And have a very Happy New Year!

-Raycevick