When comparing Mass Effect Andromeda vs I am Setsuna, the Slant community recommends I am Setsuna for most people. In the question“What are the best RPGs (role playing games) for PS4?” I am Setsuna is ranked 28th while Mass Effect Andromeda is ranked 55th. The most important reason people chose I am Setsuna is:
I Am Setsuna's environment is beautifully somber. The dim, muted colors, serves to draw the player into a barren, empty overworld. The all-piano soundtrack is gorgeous and somehow manages to highlight the sad tone of the game.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Combat is very fast paced
The combat in previous entries of Mass Effect has been based on getting behind cover and having good aim. That aspect still exists in Andromeda, but thanks to the new jump jet, things are much faster and much more fun. The jump jet allows you to vault over obstacles or make quick dashes while running, which lets you flank, charge, and generally just outmaneuver enemies in many more interesting ways.
Pro Exploration is quite fun
Nearly every planet in Andromeda is unique from the others. There's different terrain and environments to check out, new hazards to watch out for, and a plethora of missions to complete on every planet.
Pro You can change the way your character works on the fly
In Mass Effect Andromeda, the class system is incredibly open, and classes can be swapped at any time, even in the middle of combat. Essentially, you can go from being a battle-hardened front line soldier to a crafty engineer, or even to an infiltrator that's capable of invisibility. This will also swap out your abilities, which makes sure you're always prepared for the next challenge you have to face.
Pro Good Story
Pro Fun multiplayer
Mass Effect Andromeda's fast-paced combat from single-player works well with the team-based multiplayer matches, where up to four players cooperate to complete hacking or target objectives while fighting back against waves of enemies. Maps are densely packed with obstacles and winding rooms to take cover in or to take the enemy by surprise. Aggressive foes actively push back forward into player territory even on lower difficulties, keeping matches fun and intense.
Pro The environment really drags you into the game
I Am Setsuna's environment is beautifully somber. The dim, muted colors, serves to draw the player into a barren, empty overworld. The all-piano soundtrack is gorgeous and somehow manages to highlight the sad tone of the game.
Pro The combat system is familiar to almost everyone
I Am Setsuna uses a turn-based battle system that has been used in countless other games, bringing a sense of familiarity to the game. You're able to attack with your weapons, cast devastating spells, or even use combination attacks with your teammates. The combo attacks are particularly fun to use, as you'll have to experiment with different characters in order to achieve different effects.
Pro Impressive character development
Pro The characters aren't what you'd expect
The characters of most RPG are fairly standard. The hero who started from nothing, or the strong, silent adventurer, or the hyperactive, overly enthusiastic type. I Am Setsuna deviates from the standard tropes of the classic JRPGs, and lets each character tell their own story without taking away from the overall feel of the game.
Pro You can build your characters however you like
Characters in I Am Setsuna have their own active skills that are unique to them. However, there's a large pool of passive skills that can be used by anybody, which can lead to all sorts of interesting combinations. For example, you could have a taunting ability (something that makes enemies attack you) that also raises the user's stats, or a fire spell that somehow does cold damage.
Cons
Con No single-player DLC
There will not be any single-player downloadable content for Mass Effect: Andromeda. This is especially disappointing because, by the end of the game, the writers clearly intended to give more context through DLC about certain galactic races who were absent from the original story. With the news that the publisher, Electronic Arts, has put the Mass Effect franchise "on ice," the series' future looks bleak.
Con Sub-par storytelling
MEA's writing is very inconsistent throughout the game. Sometimes the dialogue is really poor, having lines like "my face is tired". Other times characters forget important information such as the length of their trip to the Andromeda Galaxy, showing surprise at things that should be obvious to them. Even though there are few great moments with moral grey areas, most of the story feels rushed, incomplete, or done by completely different teams with different visions for the game. The end result is a story that lacks immersion and isn't very memorable.
Con Poor face textures and animations
Widely mocked and ridiculed near Andromeda's release, the facial animations, eye movement and tracking, and general skin textures are still sub-par, even after patches meant to fix these issues. Characters look unnatural and downright ugly at times, with the female Ryder inspiring dozens of cringe-worthy compilations of her cinched facial expressions and comical duck-like running animations. Moving to the Frostbite engine no doubt hampered the team's efforts to create believable faces, but in a Mass Effect game, the faces especially should not have been as bad as they were.
Con It relies on nostalgia and story telling to cover up mediocre gameplay
While the turn-based combat systems of JRPGs have been going strong for longer than 20 years, it also means that there's generally nothing new to expect, and that is certainly true of I Am Setsuna. Fans of the genre will enjoy the nostalgic feel of it, but newcomers may feel put off by the slow speed and rather uninteresting combat.
Con Combat may be too easy
I Am Setsuna allows you to customize your character's abilities, which can end up making you severely overpowered relatively early on. Some players may find this a little boring.
Con The sad and depressing tone of the game may bring you down
The entirety of the game fills you with a feeling of sadness and regret. This overtone never really lets up, though there are glimmers of hope and levity during your adventure.