Mass Effect: Andromeda -- Why so much hate?

I don't get it. I really don't. I've been playing the game now for several days, and it seems pretty solid. It doesn't exceed ME2 or ME3, but Andromeda is certainly better than the internet seems to say it is. It's sitting at 74 on Metacritic, but I believe it should be somewhere around an 85-88: still not as good as the original trilogy, but neither is it a game that can just be ignored.

Most of the complaints I've seen are largely based on the animation bugs and glitches, but having put in about 25 hours so far, I've only noticed one or two. That's about as bad as any of the previous games. The faces don't look as bad as everyone else seems to be saying, at least I don't think they're so jarring that I can't enjoy the game play.

Game play is by far improved over previous titles, and I haven't seen anyone say otherwise, but it seems that an overall good looking and great sounding game with great game play can't overcome a few graphical errors here and there. I just don't get it. I hear everyone crying that it breaks immersion, but it's a game. Just enjoy it, you don't have to live it.

Oddly enough, there was a lot of hoopla about bad writing as well. I do think, especially early on, there's some groan-worthy lines, but I don't think we can blame writers for having a different sense of humor. The only thing I can blame the game for is not capturing the same gravitas of the original series, but that probably has a lot to do with the more casual tone of the new cast. I really don't understand people complaining about the characters not being good, I absolutely love the cast.

MG Shenlong ver. EW

So I've been unable to post for a while. I went on vacation then came back to a computer which broke down. I've replaced the hard drive and have it working again, but now my faux photo studio will be taken down for a few weeks, so I'll just have to make my last few posts out of the pictures I already have.

As for the model, I have mixed feelings. I certainly like the original versions of the Shenlong and Altron better than the Endless Waltz versions. I was disappointed that the dragon arm on this kit doesn't actually extend. The old HG 1/100 kits had extending, segmented arms that worked like in the anime, but this just flips over. I haven't read the manga yet, but I assume this is how it now works.

I like the shield design, and I like the idea to go with the beam trident instead of the glaive.
 

MG Strike-E + IWSP (Lukas O'Donnell's Custom)

When I first saw this particular Strike Gundam, I immediately fell in love. I don't always go for the suits with the most weapons (I usually do, but not always). But in this case, the design was absolutely fantastic. It's basically a Full-Armor Strike gundam, and as we should all know by now I'm a pretty big sucker for the Strike's design. Besides being bristling with guns, this suit includes two katanas. Also, it has pistols, which are pretty cool.

 

Winter Soldier, Pt. 2

So I said I wasn't impressed with the Winter Soldier figure I had previously picked up. So I got a new one. This one is very improved. The face actually looks quite a bit like Sebastian Stan. In addition, he's got a gun and a knife, both of which look pretty realistic.

 

MG Strike Rouge Ootori Ver. RM

This is the very first kit I ever picked up from the Gundam Seed universe. I was kind of wary of it because of the pink, but once I noticed the fighter jet style missiles under the wings, I for some reason was totally sold on it. I ended up loving it, from the stickers, to the posability, the inner frame, the awesome accessories, everything was awesome. Even the pink seemed to work pretty well (it may be difficult to tell in the photos, but even the white parts are tinted pink). It inspired me to go out and get the regular Aile Strike, the Destiny, Strike Freedom, etc. I even watched the show (Seed I liked, Seed Destiny was fun to look at).

 

 

Falcon

I grabbed this figure when out one day at Wal Mart, which is a bit of an oddity for me. But it turns out they had a couple of figures which were exclusives, so I picked them up. Falcon comes with wings that plug into his backpack, and also a little hawk drone.