Alphazero

@casepb:

Good idea on a user review. Will do.

I just read Brad's review. I did get the T-Pose thing he mentions once, and it was really funny, but a lot of the other problems seem to have been addressed. Quests can still take you all over the place, but you can skip some of the travel animations. I liked the characters more than he did. Nomad remains awesome.

@freedom4556:

Yeah, last boss was short and simple but I was okay with it. I was ready to be done. I actually thought the boss dialog was hysterical. He's like the worst dad ever throughout that whole thing. "You have already lost. I'm the result of a thousand species. Why aren't you more like your sister? You're going to wear that? Clean your room Ryder."

I liked it a lot. Combat was fun, looks like they fixed some of the weirder facial animations, and I liked the story. I didn't play it pre-patch, and the few times I tried to play the multiplayer I was matched with people a dozen or so levels higher than me and died instantly, but overall I think it was my second favorite after ME2.

Pros

• It was long.
• Lots of very different planets.
• Driving the Nomad was awesome.
• Combat (biotic, tech, weapons, and especially all three together) was fun.
• I liked the crew and Ryders.
• Pretty good with the fast travel points.
• Drack
• Vaults looked awesome.
• Some code I worked on (in a very tiny way) was mentioned in the huge Open Source part of the credits.

Cons

• It was long.
• Stuck on a loading screen forever bug, had to unplug the console to fix it.
• All characters on the Tempest have the same butt-first animation when you start talking with them.
• Talking with PeeBee in a crazy T-pose where her elbows flopped around.
• LTTP multiplayer seems really hard to get into, which bummed me out because I really liked it in ME3.
• Looks like the Quarian Ark will never be arriving.

Some of the game's shortcomings felt corporate. They're all the sort of bugs that the team making the game had to have been aware of, but EA had to hit a release date for their shareholders and the result is glitched. There's definitely an upside to companies like Valve and Nintendo that either are able or allowed to polish these things seemingly forever. Mass Effect: Andromeda does in many ways feel a bit rushed, but well worth it for me.

November 8th is International Take A Juggalo to Red Lobster Day. Consider the Juggalos in your life. Consider the Red Lobsters. Only together can they truly determine how "Endless" the shrimp is. Some Red Lobster managers are cool with you bringing your own alcohol probably.

Take the whole Fam.

https://www.facebook.com/events/730458267088119/

ABM!

I'm thinking of using it for industry... if I can work out how to move it.

So much depth and complexity in this game while simultaneously being very slow. It's interesting. I like it.

Want to buy some plagioclase?

Heya, applying.

New engine? Please?

I know how big an ask that is, but as much as I love the gameplay of Fallout 3 and Skyrim (when it works) it's more than little bit creaky.

Microsoft store says $399 and Amazon says $479 for Sunset Overdrive bundle. Has anyone spotted it at $349?

Very well written, Jeff.

I don't think it's Dark Souls he hates so much as it is all of videogames and the devotion they can create in players jumping through the arbitrary game hoops. He's saying there's no value in it.

The next stage is to realize the same thing can be said of all of life and you have to create your own value.