Mass Effect: Andromeda — Issues and the Latest Patch Update
Whether you’re a video game fanatic or just a casual gamer, you’ve probably heard of “Mass Effect: Andromeda”, the newly released action role-playing video game from BioWare. Fans were eagerly waiting for the game, which came five years after the 2012 release of “Mass Effect 3”. Unfortunately, “Mass Effect: Andromeda” has received plenty of criticism from players, who are not satisfied with the game’s animations, rendering, and other aspects.
Issues and Complaints
One of the biggest complaints from players is that the game’s characters were robotic both in appearance and movement. Some fans pointed out that the characters lacked proper facial animation, so players were hearing passionate dialogue from expressionless faces — which can be kind of disconcerting. Others also noted that the enemies featured erratic movements that were far from being realistic, making them appear as if they operated on a different set of physics laws than the main characters.
Several of the issues were related to the technical side of the game. One flaw, for instance, caused the main character, Scott Ryder, to enter an “unintended animation state” if you make him run in a zigzag pattern. Another caused the game to crash if you try to run it in a 16:9 or 16:10 portrait display. “Mass Effect: Andromeda” also did not save as often as needed during missions, which can cause you to lose the progress you’ve made if the game crashes.
What’s Included in Patch 1.05
To address these problems, BioWare decided to release Patch 1.05 on April 6. The patch ensured that Ryder will no longer exhibit any problems when running in zigzag and get stuck at the beginning of the Biotic Charge Pose. It also enhanced the appearance of the humans and Asari characters’ eyes and gave them better facial acting and lip-syncing.
Another big thing that Patch 1.05 brings with it is the ability to skip the autopilot sequences that happened whenever you need to travel from one planet to another. These cutscenes add depth to the story and make “Mass Effect: Andromeda” even more interesting, but you’ll inevitably get bored of them when you’ve played the game several times. Adding the option to skip them will definitely make lots of players sigh with relief.
Aside from these changes, Patch 1.05 brought about the following improvements:
- Increased inventory limits
- Balance changes for both single-player and multiplayer modes
- Better matchmaking and latency in multiplayer
- Fixed save-related issues
- Improved streaming and better stability
- Fixed issues with music and voice-overs that wouldn’t play or did not match the scene.
Future Updates
Because of the numerous feedback and comments about the game, BioWare general manager Aaryn Flynn assures everyone that Patch 1.05 is not the last update for “Mass Effect: Andromeda”. Over the next two months, the company will release more updates to add variety to the character creator, enhance animations and cinematic scenes, and give characters a makeover in terms of hair and appearance. The team will also give Scott Ryder better “male romance options” and improve conversations with transgender character Hainly Abrams.