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Post by mediocreogre on Feb 13, 2021 15:27:11 GMT
Nice! I switched to PC from console thinking it wouldn’t really change things.... unfortunately it does but there is also something nice about console simplicity so I totally get console gamers. I recommend getting used to using either your graphics card’s control panel or task manager to monitor GPU usage especially temperature early on. It just lets you know base line what your games should be playing at so if you do play a game that’s eating performance (or if you fall down a modding black hole) you know when it’s pushing too hard and you might wanna tweak things. Consoles don’t have to be continuously optimized so that was the only thing different for me. But I’m basically a country bumpkin who was raised on dial up long after that was a thing so I might just have been dense lol.
Glad you’re having fun though!
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Post by dgcatanisiri on Jan 9, 2022 11:53:40 GMT
*sigh*
Been playing through Andromeda again, enjoying it pretty much overall... And then I get to Gil's romance culmination scene and the whole baby shit all over again, and now my calm is SO damaged...
If Ubisoft can give Assassin's Creed Odyssey new content a year after the successive game was released, BioWare DAMN. WELL. can put out a patch that rips out Gil's existing story and replaces it with ANYTHING better.
After all. They promised "improvements to male romances for Male Ryder" when they announced Patch 1.08. ROMANCES. Plural. All they did with 1.08, though, was the Jaalmance. So where's that damn plural?
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Post by disgustednoise on Dec 27, 2022 13:15:22 GMT
Just downloaded it on my PC because I like to suffer I guess.
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Post by Scottphoto on Jul 6, 2023 15:34:10 GMT
So, I finally read the prequel book, Nexus Uprising fully, before starting a new and potential canon deciding run, of the game. Let me tell you, if the book is supposed to convince me to side with Sloane in the game on Kadara, it does the complete opposite to me. Every time Sloane does a very terrible job as head of security in the nexus, she was always behind in learning things going on, and while the book constantly tries to make it seem she's the relatable character, she just isn't. The book is also meant to make Tann more the bad guy as her opposite, but honestly, I wasn't convinced. Every time from the beginning Tann wants to consult with Sloane, he wants to make sure everyone is on the same page, but she always has no care or interest and hates being on these meetings. Knowing what she becomes later in Kadara makes things worst. So no, I’m afraid she ain’t getting saved in my runs XD. The Reyes romance itself though TBD XD. Anyway, Sloane aside, the book does a decent job explaining to you directly what exactly went down in the Nexus, and even goes into some smaller details like what happened when they tried to visit other planets. However, the book really does feel like a drag a lot of the time, it passes days a lot where not much happened, and overall, this story could have been told in a smaller number of pages than the almost 500 pages it takes. I think this story would have also benefitted if Jin Garson had stayed alive a lot longer, as the book establishes her as an important figure but in the end, it can't really tell anything about her because her fate is this whole secret in the game so the writers struggle with what to do with that. There’s also Kandros, he mysteriously disappears at EOS in the book but pops back in on the game just fine and replaces Sloane as new head of security. I get is to make Kandros the first nexus person to have faced the kett but is weird the book didn’t feature a last chapter of him getting back. However I started my replay and in game it does explain how Kandros gets the position with Tann. I will say that’s probably the best thing about reading the book, when you first arrive on the Nexus is a lot more interesting because you know exactly what happened so it becomes more of you learning the aftermath of the book. PS: So Liara knew first hand of the initiative which explains her reaction audio even more from the mass effect next last teaser but I also didn’t realize Suvi explains the involvement of geth technology to travel there. Is a very interesting plot point thats casually hidden on a Suvi line. So far a lot of the teases we seen recently hint more Andromeda than trilogy, only trilogy nod is shepard’s armor, I guess will see how it plays out, if uhhh Bioware ever finishes DA4 lol. Also this is how my Ryder looks like, is similar to the one I did my Jaal romance way back but I used mods this time to remove wrinkles and give him the facial hair from default Ryder and can also mod into sexier versions of the outfits hehe: |
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Post by dgcatanisiri on Jul 7, 2023 1:38:15 GMT
Eh, see, I'm the opposite - I don't trust Reyes in the slightest, and honestly, he strikes me as doing the same kind of thing we see from the anti-gay bigots, of accusing Sloane of everything he's up to himself. I see Sloane's goal as getting respect - Tann didn't follow through on his side of the deal, the Uprising happened. The Initiative then boots the Exiles off the Nexus on penalty of death, and they look to her for leadership. They take a hostile port that the kett had seized from the angara, on a planet that is covered in sulfurous water. Then Ryder and the Initiative show up, wanting to set up an outpost on the planet that she and the Exiles took... She has no reason to treat them with respect because Ryder is representing the same organization who kicked them off.
And I despise what it means to let her die during High Noon - she's swallowed her pride, asked Ryder for their assistance in facing off with Reyes, and it is an active choice on Ryder's part to let her die, since Reyes is banking on a sniper, rather than his own skill. Reyes might say that Sloane would bring war to Heleus, but Sloane makes no indications of having any goals beyond Kadara Port being respected as its own independent state - even after Meridian, she's calling for people to remember Kadara came to the call, not a demand for more territory. Reyes, though? He's got his fingers in multiple pies across Heleus - you let him take power, he is the shadow ruler of Kadara Port, letting Keema be the face as he pulls the strings, he's clearly got the ear of Ryder, the Pathfinder of the Initiative, he's an operative for the angara Resistance... The only power in Heleus he DOESN'T have ties to is the kett, which means that he's able to play every side as he wants without personal risk. Which means between the two, HE'S the one with the most ability to cause Heleus to break out into war outside of the eternal conflict with the kett.
So yeah, I'm never gonna trust Reyes far enough to let him take Kadara.
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Post by Lee on Jul 7, 2023 2:51:10 GMT
Scottphoto Thanks for sharing a review of sorts of the book! I was pretty sure I wouldn't read it, but it's still nice to have it confirmed it was just meh (as most prequel material is). I'm not shocked that Sloane wasn't redeemed by the book. I don't really get why anyone likes her, but ya know everyone is welcome to have an opinion on such things.  Reyes is voiced by a very good actor who really makes the character appealing despite the cards being stacked against him. By that I mean that he's a character that's stuck on one planet, all of his content can be binged in a few hours, and he's yet another grey bisexual male character that BioWare love to beat us to death with. So he's not for everyone, but still, I like him for what he is. He was always going to be second best though compared to Jaal for me, even when I couldn't romance Jaal at first.  Reyes does have one thing going for him though, he doesn't have a homophobic best friend triggering me into a rage or depression at any time I think too much about his existence. So yeah...he's miles ahead of poor Gil. Jaal >>>>>>>>>>>> Reyes >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>X10000>Gil
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Post by Scottphoto on Jul 7, 2023 5:16:27 GMT
Eh, see, I'm the opposite - I don't trust Reyes in the slightest, and honestly, he strikes me as doing the same kind of thing we see from the anti-gay bigots, of accusing Sloane of everything he's up to himself. I see Sloane's goal as getting respect - Tann didn't follow through on his side of the deal, the Uprising happened. The Initiative then boots the Exiles off the Nexus on penalty of death, and they look to her for leadership. They take a hostile port that the kett had seized from the angara, on a planet that is covered in sulfurous water. Then Ryder and the Initiative show up, wanting to set up an outpost on the planet that she and the Exiles took... She has no reason to treat them with respect because Ryder is representing the same organization who kicked them off. And I despise what it means to let her die during High Noon - she's swallowed her pride, asked Ryder for their assistance in facing off with Reyes, and it is an active choice on Ryder's part to let her die, since Reyes is banking on a sniper, rather than his own skill. Reyes might say that Sloane would bring war to Heleus, but Sloane makes no indications of having any goals beyond Kadara Port being respected as its own independent state - even after Meridian, she's calling for people to remember Kadara came to the call, not a demand for more territory. Reyes, though? He's got his fingers in multiple pies across Heleus - you let him take power, he is the shadow ruler of Kadara Port, letting Keema be the face as he pulls the strings, he's clearly got the ear of Ryder, the Pathfinder of the Initiative, he's an operative for the angara Resistance... The only power in Heleus he DOESN'T have ties to is the kett, which means that he's able to play every side as he wants without personal risk. Which means between the two, HE'S the one with the most ability to cause Heleus to break out into war outside of the eternal conflict with the kett. So yeah, I'm never gonna trust Reyes far enough to let him take Kadara. Personally, I just don't see that with Sloane because she was never a team player in the first place. And what she does on Kadara proves as much, she becomes a dictator with those people over there, she doesn't really show like she has a team. In the Nexus sure she did play along a bit, but she never really wanted to, she just wanted to do what she thought was right and that was it, they practically had to beg her to meet with her. I also just don't get why she just suddenly sides with the exiles when they killed her people, her team, she didn't think much about them in the end, not even followed up on Kandros. I get that Tann summoned the krogan, but if she had gone to Tann in the first place and told him the plan she had to talk with the uprising leader, maybe that could have been avoided. Again, she just doesn't prove to me she's a team player. I don't have issue that she doesn't get along with us at first, that makes sense, I just wish Kadara would be showed to be in a good state because regardless of anything Reyes says, you could see it in the place how people were living, it wasn't a nice place. Now don't get me wrong, I don't trust Reyes either and I hate how the choice to side with either of them is presented, and I still need to replay that whole side of thing to see how I feel on him now, but the book just doesn't make a good case for Sloane. Which is my main issue with my critique on the book, is meant to make you feel for Sloane, but the way it all plays out, it doesn't make a good job on that. The only competent person in the Nexus that probably should have led in the first place is Kesh and I mean we figured that out in the game too. That said, I get people prefer to side with Sloane also because is easier to tame if she gets out of hand, is someone the Nexus knows more their profile, and her focus is concentrated on Kadara, and maybe working with us really brought her back the dream of the initiative. Whereas Reyes is a wildcard to figure out what he could do next. But at the same time, there's another good point I saw someone raised that is better to pick Reyes mostly because of how much power he has, at least you know where to find him to stop him, whereas if he just escapes, you have no way to track him down and he could strike back with a vengeance at any moment with how much contacts he has. On the other end, the fact he doesn't die also paints him more as a potential villain than an ally. I do think this is always a fascinating thing to discuss because every time I read on this moment; I see a lot of interesting versions of reasons for each side. And I'm excited to get to kadara and be on that mess again. I do really wish we had a sequel or dlc at this point that would shed light on that decision, because I do think even Reyes ending up being a bad choice would make for an interesting story too, with Ryders meant to be younger than Shepard, them being young at making a mistake because of love just sounds like an interesting moment to me too. Just so many ways to read into that story moment and I would gladly run both versions of that choice to see how it plays out. Scottphoto Thanks for sharing a review of sorts of the book! I was pretty sure I wouldn't read it, but it's still nice to have it confirmed it was just meh (as most prequel material is). I'm not shocked that Sloane wasn't redeemed by the book. I don't really get why anyone likes her, but ya know everyone is welcome to have an opinion on such things. Reyes is voiced by a very good actor who really makes the character appealing despite the cards being stacked against him. By that I mean that he's a character that's stuck on one planet, all of his content can be binged in a few hours, and he's yet another grey bisexual male character that BioWare love to beat us to death with. So he's not for everyone, but still, I like him for what he is. He was always going to be second best though compared to Jaal for me, even when I couldn't romance Jaal at first. Reyes does have one thing going for him though, he doesn't have a homophobic best friend triggering me into a rage or depression at any time I think too much about his existence. So yeah...he's miles ahead of poor Gil. Jaal >>>>>>>>>>>> Reyes >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>X10000>Gil Yeah, honestly, I don't think the book is much worth reading in the sense that you get a decent amount already told via the game, and ultimately, I just don't see the book changed my views on any of the chars. I mainly read it because I wanted more Andromeda content and see if there was any surprise on it, there's like an implied gay couple also on it I think but is super brief moment. That's definitely something that really sells you on Reyes, great voice actor, great lines, suave moves, he's got it all until the big twist at the end that makes you question everything. Ultimately is hard not to just stick with him though not so much because you agreed with what he does, but simply because you don't have that many choices in romances at that point besides Gil. We have now Jaal of course but back then, it was hard not to just accept Reyes because of that. Now I find myself evaluating the three of them and decide which one would be my canon this run. Thankfully is going to take a long while to get to that point before I have to decide, so for now just gotta push away peebee  I still do want to check out the other book though, about the quarian ark has thats not something we learn much on the game besides it getting delayed so I'm curious what story that last book tells. Cora's book welll... I don't know if I will bother tbh lol. |
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Post by Lee on Jul 7, 2023 7:56:23 GMT
I still do want to check out the other book though, about the quarian ark has thats not something we learn much on the game besides it getting delayed so I'm curious what story that last book tells. Cora's book welll... I don't know if I will bother tbh lol. I listened to the audio book of that one for free on youtube. It was really good! I recommend checking it out. |
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Post by farferello on Jul 7, 2023 7:57:48 GMT
With Reyes, at least he seems to be attempting to do something about the shit going down on Kadara. Whether it's to look good in our eyes or not, he's at least not just sitting on his ass whilst murders are blatantly committed out in the open. Sloane doesn't seem to care about her people outside of that Turian, she certainly doesn't seem to care about the people of Kadara
I think if they had set up that fight in a different way so that SAM wasn't the one to inform us of the sniper it could have been handled better than us just blatantly sitting back and allowing it to happen whilst knowing it was coming. But in that moment I can understand where Reyes was coming from. He's better at slinking around in the shadows, no way was he beating Sloane in a one on one duel. It was certainly shifty, and shitty, but he also wasn't expecting us to be there, why would he when Sloane makes it clear she hates us, and hates the Initiative.
Whether I romance him or not, Reyes gets the Throne. He's not exactly trustworthy after lying to us, but neither is Sloane. You're simply choosing one bad person over another, and at least Reyes seems to make some sort of attempt to better Kadara whilst Sloane sits on her throne and lets people die in the streets.
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Post by dgcatanisiri on Jul 7, 2023 9:48:07 GMT
With Reyes, at least he seems to be attempting to do something about the shit going down on Kadara. Whether it's to look good in our eyes or not, he's at least not just sitting on his ass whilst murders are blatantly committed out in the open. Sloane doesn't seem to care about her people outside of that Turian, she certainly doesn't seem to care about the people of Kadara I think if they had set up that fight in a different way so that SAM wasn't the one to inform us of the sniper it could have been handled better than us just blatantly sitting back and allowing it to happen whilst knowing it was coming. But in that moment I can understand where Reyes was coming from. He's better at slinking around in the shadows, no way was he beating Sloane in a one on one duel. It was certainly shifty, and shitty, but he also wasn't expecting us to be there, why would he when Sloane makes it clear she hates us, and hates the Initiative. Whether I romance him or not, Reyes gets the Throne. He's not exactly trustworthy after lying to us, but neither is Sloane. You're simply choosing one bad person over another, and at least Reyes seems to make some sort of attempt to better Kadara whilst Sloane sits on her throne and lets people die in the streets. See, I've gone over this on Tumblr before - he's NOT actually doing something about Kadara. Sure, he's investigating the murders, but... I mean, Kadara is framed in a way where people get killed every day regardless of motive, we find plenty of random dead on the planet as it is, both dead from environmental hazards and casual murders. Reyes is investigating because the Collective and the Charlatan - him - are being fingered as responsible. To everyone else, to those not part of the Collective, the murders aren't connected. Reyes, having motivation to look deeper in to them, has figured out the connection, but to the rest of Kadara, this is the expected background noise, they don't think there IS a connection. And if there weren't the eyes turning to the Collective and Charlatan, I legit do not believe that he would act as he does - again, how many murders are part of daily life on Kadara, and what's he doing about them?
His other quest is about himself, how HE is asking Ryder to look in to something, for him specifically, and drags them in to the situation with Zia as a result, a situation that Ryder can't even get the option of trying to back out of.
Meanwhile, the quest that involves Sloane? It involves kett on Kadara, something that IS a threat to the people living there. For that matter, Sloane may not like the Initiative - which, honestly, I legit don't blame her - but, again, her asking Ryder to watch her back, after all of that, after Reyes attacks Kaetus just to get to her... That IS her extending an olive branch to them, showing a willingness to trust. Her hatred had been for the Initiative, but Ryder gets the chance to prove themselves individually.
And no matter what else, with how that situation plays out with the sniper, I refuse to let Sloane die just because Reyes decided to cheat.
So, yeah, I say again: Hell with Reyes. I'll at least take the threat that will come at you face to face over the one that will stab you in the back while smiling to your face.
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Post by Rouccoco on Jul 7, 2023 19:33:14 GMT
Reyes is voiced by a very good actor who really makes the character appealing despite the cards being stacked against him. For real, Nick Boulton could read me a phonebook and I'd be burning up with raw desire, I never stood a chance. Sloane who? |
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Post by Lee on Jul 8, 2023 1:19:31 GMT
For real, Nick Boulton could read me a phonebook and I'd be burning up with raw desire, I never stood a chance. Sloane who? Right? He totally is that good at what he does. |
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Post by Scottphoto on Jul 17, 2023 19:30:04 GMT
More replay ramblings: I forgot how many big gray decisions this game has, forgot about the whole Moshae rescue one for example which is like the start of those decisions. It does make me sad if we will never get to see the impact of many of these unless the new ME uses a version of dragon age keep for mass effect, which would be ideal. They already did it for mass effect some time ago but it wasn't being used so hopefully they do but I don’t want to get my hopes up. But yeah the more I keep playing and get closer to the end, start reaching the benefactor stuff, I get sad and pissed we don’t have a sequel to follow up on this stuff. I will say having read the Nexus Uprising book, it does make me more interested to follow up on quests related to it, like chasing down Spencer, and meeting Sloane. I gave Sloane a pretty good chance and made her not hate me, although she still didn't invite me to her party  . So, I once again loaded every version of that duel moment, ultimately, I am still not convinced to keep Sloane. When choosing Sloane she has no intentions to make amends with what happened and wants to also charge a fee, she only accepts cuz she likes you. The problem for me now is that the book now establishes that Sloane was one of the nexus leaders who made bad calls that led to the uprising of the exiles, she just felt guilty about what happened and decided to join them but she's not really a genuine victim of what happened like the other exiles. Which again is my main complaint about that book, because if the goal was to sympathize with her, I feel they just made me feel the opposite. If the book instead made her betray Tann and be the rebel leader from the start, she would have looked a lot better. Not to mention Tann offered exile because he thought it would be the perfect time to convince them to choose cryo instead, so there’s still the whole they chose to be exiled. Anyway, with Sloane out of the picture, it just feels like there is a higher chance of the exiles being given a chance to return back, since the Initiative and Sloane would never trust each other. You also have a much better relationship with the Angara with a representative that says she's been listened to more now with this change and Efra already has relations with Reyes too and even Jaal likes things more. So, I’m always more pro angaran because we ultimately are invaders, and probably because my country has had plenty of invasions lol I might resonate that way. The duel was also a less war like approach to deal with the situation than just increasing the war between both factions. Now about the duel itself, while I don't feel comfortable how it pans out, I feel it is ultimately a conflict between the two and I shouldn't really be getting involved, and you say as much to Sloane early on. It would have helped also if Sloane was more positive about working with you fighting the kett, but she wasn’t. Granted maybe adding one more Sloane mission in there would have also helped matters to get to see her POV more. HOWEVER, I think for now My Ryder breaks the romance even though he lets Reyes win, because I feel my Ryder is pissed, he felt used but agreed to be friends, I also like the email addressing the breakup of sorts where Reyes says I rather be friends at least then nothing at all. The non friends choice was interesting though, cuz Reyes calls you a dick lol, that one threw me off, like your one to talk lol. The way my current canon works right now is that my Ryder finds Jaal cute, interesting but he figures there's no way Jaal feels the same way, so he goes to have this fling with Reyes on Kadara because he's a human, a species he knows all about romancing, but then he realizes Reyes is a little too shady sometimes to have to deal with him in his life right now, and then things with Jaal eventually do pan out. (While I take every Gil flirt in a non-canon way just to see the main scenes, but I just don't really feel it with Gil) Personally, attraction aside (where I’m a boring human lover), I really like how the Jaal romance plays out, it doesn't feel rushed, it feels more like interest just between species getting to know each other and then develops to something more, there's just more romance to it and I like that from a story standpoint. And I just don't get that with Gil or Reyes. Gil is a little too straightforward and Gil just doesn't seem as interested in you and is more just non stop stalking about his stuff, like poker, the one that shall not be named, etc. Whereas Jaal literally asks about your family, about gifting others in the ship, it all feels more personal. IDEALLY, it would be nice if Reyes had more content after the duel and/or joined your squad, so you had a chance to rekindle the relationship, get closer together, see other sides of him and have those hearts to hearts, too but alas that's not the case. However, I'm probably just going to end up having two save runs, one full jaal and one full reyes later. I'm going to go back on the save and leave the duel scene for later in the game so I can do as many quests as I can now and not have a romance lock, so replaying is not a drag XD. I would say thats another complain I have with the game, the mission structure is super open once you finish kadara's main stuff where you have to go eladeen or this other planet or the achon's ship, very confusing to decide a proper order. Anyway, that was a lot of babbling, so here’s the magic of hot pc mods pics as your reward: For those interested in the mods, these are the mods I am running: www.nexusmods.com/masseffectandromeda/mods/1192/ Shirtless Casual Outfits for Male Ryder www.nexusmods.com/masseffectandromeda/mods/759/ Fuzzy Scott www.nexusmods.com/masseffectandromeda/mods/191/ Custom Scott Overhaul www.nexusmods.com/masseffectandromeda/mods/332 Headphones Be Gone Coming soon after this one will be me modding and babbling about dragon age inquisition. |
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Post by Scottphoto on Jul 22, 2023 21:49:46 GMT
Finished my playthrough of Andromeda, fully romanced Jaal (in the past I only did up to the kinky tuff XD) but I really liked how things play out in the end with him. Is just a really nice build up romance, at first is just friends getting to know each other, wanting to learn from each other and then it continues to evolve into something more, from a narrative standpoint, he really feels like a "canon" choice romance, which is honestly rare from bioware when it comes to bi/gay romances. He goes through a whole journey discovering more about his species with lots of emotions and so does Ryder throughout the journey. I also found an extra mod to make those romance scenes with armor be instead with casual clothes,and it works so much better that way:   But yeah, I had a really good time replaying this one still. But I also admit if it wasn't for Jaal's addition, I might not have been as involved with it like I was, mainly because while I like Reyes, and will do a second save with him, he's on the one planet and doesn't give enough to get there, although I am glad that at least we got him at the end of the game which I think is important, but having a tempest romance scene for him would have helped seal things as a more complete romance. And well Gil I'm a broken record lol but I forgot he accepts the baby anyway if you don't romance him which ugh. Just really wish his dialogue felt like things he wanted, because even Ryder is the one practically begging to romance him and he only really goes for it because Jill. Still hope we get a proper sequel someday, but I would at least be happy if we do get Ryder like Hawke in DAI, in a way that they can establish they are still with X romance and things like that. I want to have hope they are not just going to forget everything, especially since more people have grown up to the game with time. |
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Post by Lee on Jul 23, 2023 2:05:48 GMT
Yes! It's so rare to have a male romance that is a main character that's tied into the plot that heavily and is a m/m option! In general, most male companions feel very detached from the narrative. There are only a few that really stick out as important to the story. Jaal and Anders are probably the only story centric-romances we got so far, and I feel like Jaal was even better integrated into this story. -goes to cry a bit cause the other one that I really wished we had (Alistair)-  |
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Post by Davrin's boobs on Jul 23, 2023 11:07:50 GMT
-goes to cry a bit cause the other one that I really wished we had (Alistair)-  this still hurts me so much, fuck Gaider...  |
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. So, I once again loaded every version of that duel moment, ultimately, I am still not convinced to keep Sloane. When choosing Sloane she has no intentions to make amends with what happened and wants to also charge a fee, she only accepts cuz she likes you. The problem for me now is that the book now establishes that Sloane was one of the nexus leaders who made bad calls that led to the uprising of the exiles, she just felt guilty about what happened and decided to join them but she's not really a genuine victim of what happened like the other exiles. Which again is my main complaint about that book, because if the goal was to sympathize with her, I feel they just made me feel the opposite. If the book instead made her betray Tann and be the rebel leader from the start, she would have looked a lot better. Not to mention Tann offered exile because he thought it would be the perfect time to convince them to choose cryo instead, so there’s still the whole they chose to be exiled.
