Mass Effect or Mess Affect...?

Oh boy did EA manage to piss people off with the release of Mass Effect Andromeda. 

Now my guess is that most people, like me. Had a fairly balanced opinion on the chance that EA would not in some way cock up the next chapter in the most beloved space saga on modern entertainment media. But we do very little in the way of waves on the internet. 

No! it is the loud people tossing a fit that get into the media. Now this was fairly meek coming on the heels of the "Jim sterling gave Breath of the wild a 7" tac nuke that had people losing not only their shit but literally try to melt someone with anger. It did also help that people had an actual cause for their anger. The game shipped with some serious issues such as poor animations and a story that need a few hours to get going. 

Personally, I was expecting the 4th game to be much like the third. That is not as bad as one might expect. I did like the third game but I also saw the entire game as one long ending chapter.Wrapping up some nice stories and the conclusion to  Mordin Solus arc made the entire series for me. At the point of the third game, I was pretty sure that some serious Deus Ex Machina shit would have to go down. Because there was no other way to solve the whole reaper issue. Now I did not really expect an actual god machine but hey, in the end it does not matter if you see the wizard or just the strings being pulled. The illusion is still broken. So I mostly disregard the last 10-ish minutes of the game and enjoy the ride to get there. I am sure that I will view the fourth entry into the series in the same way but I do get why people are pissed. 

Now the game in general is jaw-dropping and I found myself eerily fascinated by the face wrinkle system. And for some weird reasons, I find myself invested in the characters around the Ryders. Time will tell if that is enough to carry the game and if it will be enough of a hit to get proper sequels. 

For now Mass Effect Andromeda is a flawed game with potential. 

Also why does it always have to be some ancient but now lost civilisation...? It makes sense from a reality perspective but we kinda been there done that. 

Until next time, stay safe, be kind and play fair. 

Bye.

Simply The SIMS 4.

So the EA behemoth have released in a new version and as usual a lot of people on very obscure game forums are very angry.

And I simply love it.

The fourth version of the game has one key word… Or well you know... and that is Stream-line. Everything has been slimmed down, smoother and in general easier to operate unless you are an old SIMS fanatic… then you might be a bit confused at first.  The new interface is a lot different and takes cues from EA´s other sim game. So you see people Sim City did something good. Actually it did at least two good things even if one was unintentional.

The Sims 4 is about as off-line as you can get it. Yes you need to register the game trough Origin but that is about it. After that H and I played the same copy of the game at the same time on two computers. Yes only one player at the time can access the online features but honestly so far that has not been an issue. So no weirder always on-line mode and no more validation checks. Just install and enjoy your personal lordship of digital people.

But yes in the name of streamlining much have changed. First off and perhaps what I miss the most is the ability to color the clothes of the sims yourself. No more pattern matching everything down to the last spork. In fact some clothes are actually down right boring now and finding a suit top and pants that match is a bit of a nightmare. Tim Gunn would not approve. But beyond that there is a good range of styles and items to mix and match and they included green and blue skin for you aliens out there. Next up on the missing list is one thing I personally do not miss. Just like with SimCity the well city is gone and your neighborhood is broken down in to smaller instanced blocks. No longer can your sim go on a cross city jog or travel seamlessly from location to location…. But on the other hand this means you do not need to much about with your city each expansion… Because there will be more than a few of those… we all know that. Now each expansion will most likely get their own area. This cuts down on loading times… A LOT. Because let’s face it getting in to the game usually took enough time for you to write a shot book… and get it published.

I know some people will hate this and I guess that will have to stand for them. I cannot argue against it as it is a matter of taste but for me the instanced areas feel big enough to keep the illusion alive. Now on the positive side gone are also the days of only being able to talk to one person at the time. We now have group conversations… Praise your deity of choice. Gone are also the days of just doing one thing at the time. Multi-tasking let you do a myriad of task at the same time... Like texting and talking or reading on the loo. This makes it a lot easier to keep your friends happy and the party alive. Now I am sure there is some little things that have been removed that I forget… .. . Yes… Toddlers are gone… Can´t say I miss them but I guess it makes the min-max people annoyed.

Is that you Mal...

Gone are also the days of you choosing your sims traits on a whim. Now they impact your sims behavior a lot. Pick the crazy trait and your sim is bonafide, coco for Choco-puff, no holds barred, cat tossing insane. By the same token if you shoose that your sim hate children… They HATE children, in a “yell at them rather than talking and always make them feel bad” kind of way. This goes for every one you pick. They really impact your sims behavior. They also impact the buffs you get, if your sim feel flirty even the most introvert bookworm might dare to flirt a bit and even the most confident alpha male can become embarrassed. These states open up new dialogue options and interactions that range from a flat boost to a task like a work-out or making a meal to pure flavor ones like “taking a pee like a champ” for the confident one or adding the word “vigorous” to interactions when your sim is pumped. It is nice and give you a visual cue with different colors for different states helping you to quickly identify not only your sims mood but what might be ailing them.

Also they removed the need to sell the sofa just so you could afford that computer and find a proper job.  No more reading the paper each day hoping for the best. Simply pick the phone up and check for jobs… With eight listed there is a very good chance that your planned career is there. Again I know some people enjoyed flogging them self and going by the book. But let´s be honest most skipped the paper step and either sold something to afford the computer or did the motherload cheat… That still work by the way.

Now it is worth mentioning that your relations drop pretty quickly and you need to work to keep them at decent levels and that can feel a bit daunting compared to the pace in sims 3. But the sms option in the phone and the fact that you can have group conversations goes a long way to ease the transitions.

Now I have only had this game for two days and have barley scraped the surface but to me this is the best Sims game to date and I have played them all from the Sims 1 all the way up to the weird Facebook game and now Sims 4. If you enjoy the series you will know what is in store and if you can keep an open mind about the changes I think you will find a really nice game.

I will update you all on the game as I get more time in it.

Also check out my Gauntlet giveaway in the competitions and giveaways page to the right.