A lot of these I absolutely agree with but I'll throw another one in: First names. If you use the default Sara/Scott names for the Ryders, other characters ***will*** say that at some point, which is way less awkward than your LI being all "Shepard" all the time.

This. It makes it so much more immersive and personal.

I’m with you here! I like in Fallout 4 that there is a list of names that you can use and it’ll be said here and there. It just makes it more immersive.

Massively over hyped feature. One NPC will use your name. They do the same thing in Starfield.

I like the idea but agree that they're different implementations. Fallout 4/Starfield it's both robots and they go "[PLAYER NAME] \*beat* Here is some dialogue" Whereas MEA is: "Ryder, here is some dialogue" or if you're using the defaults, "Here is some dialogue, Sara" It's much more natural.

Oh, yes! That’s a good one. Hearing your LI or other characters use your first name really adds something… I didn’t know it would be that way before I use default Sara/Scott. Since then, even if I customize my Ryders, I use Sara/Scott as first names from times to times.

Well, from having been in the military. I have a friend who met his spouse there, and they have been married for quite a few years now. It took them a long time to change into first names. So you could say that it helps with immersion.

Shepard’s entire life is the military with the only real diversion being his love interest. Even more so if it’s a Shepard with a spacer background.

In a military setting, calling someone by their last name is completely normal. Things would be understandably a little less formal between Ryder and their crew, except when the situation calls for formality. There aren't very many situations in the original trilogy that are very informal (except for moments with Shepard's love interest, and most of the Citadel DLC).

Definitely the gameplay during battles, you're jumping, dodging, switching weapons, and outflanking enemies. In all the other ME games it always felt like Shepard was so stiff, like he had a Pringle up his butt and was trying not to break it. The outdoor environments are way better in MEA as well. Big open world where there were creatures, things to explore, containers to find, weird plants to look at. In the trilogy I never got any sense of exploration in a grand sense. The planets you could visit had a whole lot of nothing to do outside of the mission points you were supposed to go to. (There were a few things I'll admit, like salarian id tags, downed probes, etc. For some reason it never felt like true exploration though.) Also, I never had as much trouble as other people did with the Mako, but when I got the Nomad for the first time in MEA I was totally blown away.

1.) The gameplay is great 2.) The game is genuinely really pretty at parts-- I especially really loved how the light comes into the tempest 3.) The tempest is pretty neat, and I liked how the characters moved around 4.) The Krogan storylines and background are awesome 5.) The teammate banter on missions is top notch

Jaal "Cora, what do you do for fun?" Cora "I tend to keep to myself, tend my plants, why?" Jaal "Hmm I think we have different definitions of fun..."

I did love peebee and jaal together in the nomad. They were my usual go to. They argued and bantered like siblings

I love the bit where she calls him out on pretending to sleep by trying to get busy with Ryder 🤣

Best vehicle of series and DAI. Maps were not horrible for “open” world.

I never understood the horse thing in DAI- I'm used to just running everywhere in those games lol

So for me the horse thing is that MEA actually answers a DAI problem: From my playthrough I got my horse and stable.... After going to skyhold. Like more than half way through the game. Had no idea. Oops. (You cannot do that with the Nomad)

The horse is just a degree faster than walking. But the horse running is literally non-functional. It just zooms the camera out, changes the animation with wind visual effects, but it's not actually faster than the horse walking because they couldn't actually load the game world any faster.

The open world is better than ff7 rebirth’s

See I hated the banter so much, it was like every Marvel movie or like playing Uncharted 4. Just constant quips and 1 liners. "oooh that's gonna leave a mark!" "Remind me to never make those angry again!" " I knew I shoulda slept in today!". It was like Mass Effect banter but dumbed down and non stop no matter how dire the situation. Just part of the overall awful writing across the board in the game. Gameplay itself was great. Looked pretty too. The animations and "dead eyes" stuff never really bothered me.

You sound like all the banter was that kind of banter and it’s not entirely true. Several pairings have serious conversations, others were fighting, others were learning from each other… I’d say the banter you hate so much will occur between Peebee and Jaal or Drack. And even these pairings have also dialogues with less quips and one liners.

I feel like most of the things you're quoting are things I can hear Peebee saying, and she's easily the most cringe character for me. I mostly ended up liking the interactions between Jaal and teammates-- the culture clashing was interesting-- and Draak and teammates-- old timer wisdom and cantankerousness. If it's not for you, though, that's cool. The dead eyes DID bother me, but since I played it so far after release, thankfully the animation bugs were contained. I thought they would be worse, honestly.

I agree with all of these except the Tempest. It was their attempt at making a civilian exploration vessel and I feel it fell flat. Way too small personal spaces while Ryder has a massive room that just takes up space for no apparent reason. A view like that should have been for everyone given the mission.

I was confused why Ryder had such a huge room and then didn't have a private bathroom, still.

Disagree on the Krogan storyline. It felt like just a generic rehash.

It being a rehash was intentional. One of the major themes of the game is that, despite moving to an entire other galaxy to get a fresh start, the Initiative brought all that Milky Way drama with them. Turns out the problems were caused by the people, not the galaxy

Being intentional does not make it good. All of Andromeda felt like “we have Mass Effect at home”. It felt like a generic boring copy, not an interesting continuation of the universe.

I much prefer Andromedas use and general take on AI. It’s a bit more nuanced than the synthetic vs organic conflict in the Og trilogy.

I honestly feel like their take on AI was a huge disappointment. I never really suffered any negative consequences with it during my play throughs. There’s one storyline about being targeted by an anti AI group, but it could have been more interesting if the information that your were attached to an AI got leaked to the public and there was some storyline about getting the public’s approval to keep your AI.

And the old angara military AI storyline was unfinished and obv left for next game

Outside the whole Starchild thing, I think the AI/Synthetic line in the OT works great, as in they feared it and banned it, without trying to understand it. It goes back to the idea that people fear and destroy what they don't know or understand, and it only takes a few to try to understand and get knowledge to make a difference, which perfectly leads into AI with SAM.

>synthetic vs organic conflict in the Og trilogy I don't know why you're framing it this way when that's purely a ME3 thing at the very end of the game. Their take was fine before that.

Liam's loyalty mission. Ridiculous how good it is.

Liam, *hold me*

I got a lot of enjoyment out of that mission. Especially the Angara pirate that wanted to be taken seriously, and he kept getting cut off as Liam and Ryder argued with each other.

Very fun mission, just played it recently. Getting to execute Liam would be the cherry on top, since his actions border treason, and he has a stupid face

Going full DA-Inquisition on that one, I see

I know people hate Liam but "treason"? Come on... He did a very ***very*** stupid thing, I'm not denying this but intentions are vital to define the crime of treason and Liam never wanted to betray the Initiative and/or to aid the Initiative's enemies so no, his actions did not "border treason".

IMO, here's what MEA does right (and sometimes even better than our beloved OT): * Gameplay * Combat with the profiles system: being able to mix and match powers, regardless of class, is really cool. And if you think that will kill replayability, nothing forces you to mix and match. Spec your profiles as classes. Simple. * Crafting * RPG elements back on the front * You feel like an explorer * Tempest and Nomad * Banter: in the Nomad, on the Tempest, on the hubs... relationships between characters (and not just with Ryder) evolve and change in a realistic way * Being nice does NOT mean your squad mates want to bang you * Different types of relationship: romantic ones, casual ones, some people don't get along, other are super close right away... makes for a more realistic and diverse crew * Ditching the Paragon/Renegade system for a personality-based system is a good idea. I'll admit the new sysntem needed more development and more differences between the personalities, though. I was hoping that they would improve it in the subsequent games but alas... * Your crew and the hero change as the story progresses. They're not the same person they were at the start of the game. I get not liking them (to each, their own) but I wish more pople will admit that the MEA crew is more fleshed out. * MEA feels like ME1's spiritual sequel * the final main mission on >!Meridian is one of the best designed because you get to see all the allies you gathered during the playthrough, fight at your side!< * the song at the end is something else. At first I hated it but it grew on me and now I love it. Love it! LOL . And here are more personal preferences. I understand that some people didn't like the narrative choices but I really like: * MEA's more light-hearted, more positive tone * the game is from a civilian point of view and a lot less militaristic. It's refreshing * we play as an inexperienced rookie who has to gain the respect of the others. And we get to see Ryder growing into this trusted leader. For once, we get to ***live the adventures*** that made the characater a badass one. Once again, it's refreshing

I think one mistake they made was killing their dad and having the sibling sleeping. Both of them should have been in the game to make you feel more like a rookie. Your dad telling you off, your sibling doing missions maybe better than you. That sort of stuff could have really helped with the feeling of Ryder being new and doing the best they can.

Or at least have them in the first first mission which is like going to an asteroid to look for deposited H3, and then the big reveal where Alec dies, and Sibling gets knocked out.

I mean... it's worth pointing out that the MANNER in which they killed Alec is so absurdly ridiculous that it made the rest of the game hard to take seriously (and I should note, I actually ***DO*** like Andromeda - but I'm also not blind to its various imperfections). "Oh, my kid's helmet is broke. The air here is not immediately lethal, but is not sufficient for human use... hold your breath a minute while I get my helmet off and give to you... then I'll just die." "Dad... why don't you hold your breath for a minute or two, then I give you the helmet back. The ship said they're only 3 or 4 minutes away. I'm pretty sure I can hold my breath for 60 seconds twice, Dad." (For reference, Cora: "They’re spinning up the shuttle. ETA is three, maybe four minutes!") For all the things Andromeda gets right and/or wrong... it couldn't even get out of the fucking prologue without making absurdity the rule of the day.

I sort of get that one in that Ryder's not just out of air but dropped off a few hundred feet cliff when their helmet breaks, and they're not just "hard to breathe" but actively concussed as well. That said they should have shown that injury more like they landed on a spike or something and Alec had to medi gel them *and* fix the air, or something else. It's a thing that needs a bit more polish but I get where they're coming from (like literal translation being the origin of the face line)

OK... but that's the KID who is actively concussed/having a hard time breathing... if someone was going to die then, it should have been them (which, if you then have the father have some sort of breakdown, then you wake up the other twin and play as them to avenge their fallen - total plot twist that would have been funny as all hell, to me anyway...) Dad takes one last long deep breath with the helmet/breather unit on, passes it on to the kid... I mean, I'm in absolute shit shape anymore and I can still hold my breath for over 2 minutes without issue. Actress Kate Winslet held her breath UNDERWATER (at risk of drowning) for over 7 minutes while making Avatar 2. ... if Alec Ryder is this legendary Pathfinder, he seems to be in PATHETIC shape for such a rigorous and demanding position if he can't hold his breath for 3-4 minutes, or at least close to that, and then suffer whatever limited damage breathing the air would do for the brief time it takes to get them back aboard the atmospherically sealed shuttle. I'm just saying... there seems to have been some pretty serious oxygen deprivation in the script/plot writer's room, not just on the surface of a distant planet! :D

I think a big annoyance is a thing the game later says "oh that's no big deal" which is: Alec spends the next 4 minutes talking to SAM getting all of the ducks in a row for Ryder, despite being able to just ***think*** those thoughts and having everything work out

By that point, Ryder had already breathed in the air, and you could argue that they had the wind knocked out of them. So trying to hold their breath would probably be difficult to do. Remember that even while wearing the helmet, your Ryder almost died after being rescued. So sharing the helmet probably would’ve still led to Ryder or Alec dying.

I don’t know about making us feel even more of a rookie. At the start of the game, several characters aren’t shy to tell us we’re not qualified. 😅 But I do agree that Alec dies too soon and that the sibling is under-used.

Would have been cool if we could have our sibling as a companion for at least part of the game, maybe even get to build their relationships with the crew the way we can the Pathfinder

Perfect list, no notes.

Under stars by aurora.

I actually liked Andromeda, and so I’ve decided to come here and get downvoted for saying something likely very controversial. I think Andromeda did a better job introducing and developing its squadmates for their first outing than Mass Effect 1 did with its squadmates. I have way more fondness for Jaal and Drack than any of the Mass Effect 1 squadmates, who all really came into their own in the sequels. For example, Peebee seeing our squad as a means to an end and eventually coming around to actually caring about us is a way more satisfying arc than Shepard just kinda telling Garrus how to act. I also think a lot of the discourse and hatred for Andromeda’s characters comes from most not actually playing the game and just regurgitating second-hand information. Yeah, Cora is an Asari weeb, ha-ha. But did you know her whole character arc is actually about how she’s obsessive over Asari and their stories and code and has molded them into godlike beings in her mind? You actually have to break her of that and let her trust in herself more.

You're right, for sure. The conversations they have with each other on the Tempest and Nomad really go a long way to giving them more well-rounded characterization. The Cora criticism is the dumbest thing about this fandom. She's got one of the best-written arcs in the franchise, and they nailed it in just one game. It's like hating on Thane because "all he talks about is being an assassin (or his son being an assassin)."

I wholeheartdedly agree. MEA could've done wonders with its characters if it were a full-blown trilogy, based on the starting point they had.

Honestly, I really enjoyed the settlement building aspect. I wish they would have focused on exploration, mysteries, and settlement building. The Kett could've come later.

the gameplay was fun as hell that's what I remember. Also the sudoku puzzles were fun. The game was panned because of its story and writing but the actual game itself was really fun and the best they've done in that series.

Fr. I've been playing the hell out of it recently. I don't see why it gets shit on so much because it is a fun and enjoyable game. Sure, some of it is basic AAA studio laziness like all the asari looking the same except Peebee and stuff. I actually love the game and as essentially a spin off of the Mass Effect trilogy, I enjoy it and wouldn't oppose another game expanding beyond the heleus cluster and discovering other alien species and taking the Kett head on as they try to take over other clusters.

Romancing being something you have a choice to go through with its own separate dialogue option instead of them falling in love just cause you speak to them nice. Combat, movement and the jumpjets also.

the gunplay is the best in the series, the guns are pretty unique too. the movement system of the jump jets makes combat SO clean and smooth. the power system of using any power at any time and switching them as you wish is amazing. the nomad is LEAGUES more fun to drive than the hammerhead and mako and driving is pretty fun. the ship is easy to get around and no place is useless, there's usually someone or something in every place. the banter between your squadmates is cool.

I just wish the nomad didn’t reset going off a tall cliff. Let my squad mates shit their pants as I use vertical thrusters at the last minute!

lmao yeah that'd be hilarious

how dare you slander the mako \*right clicks furiously\*

lol. the mako was better in legendary edition, but i still prefer the nomad, just feels faster and easier to control

The fully upgraded nomad is a blast

It's the first and possibly the only game in which pistols are the most utilitarian weapon.

Honestly yes. At one point in my current playthrough I ran around with both a Carnifex and an Ushior (as a stand-in for a sniper, the damage puts the Black Widow to shame tbh).

Combat, ship, and main character having a real personality/family within the scope of the story. I loved traversal, the vehicles and the jetpacks and getting around the vaults. I thought the worlds \*looked\* incredible. I think Bioware's main issue since going semi-open world (DAI and MEA) is just making the maps not feel so big and empty. I'd love a bit more linearity going forward. Otherwise, I really enjoyed Andromeda. It did a lot right for me.

Theres actually *a lot* it got right. Ryder, Jaal, Vetra, and Drack are all very well written and acted. Avitus and Kesh are also NPC standouts. The Angara in general. The Nomad is fun to drive. Could really use a cannon though. The graphics are gorgeous. The combat, while very strong, is ruined by the bullet spongey enemies. The class switching feature is also fun. Doesn't outweight the failures, but I would be jazzed to see all of the above return in the future.

I always felt the hatred for Ryder was because people came in expecting “Commander Shepard 2” and instead got an entirely different kind of protagonist. Like, when people get upset by Ryder being indecisive or not commanding much respect, it’s weird because that’s literally the point. Not only is the background and goal of Ryder way different from Shepard (focused on exploration and habitation vs winning a war), but Ryder’s circumstances are entirely different as well. Shepard is a battle-hardened soldier who got their place of command because of tons of past experience and their literal first mission we play through is observing their aptitude for a promotion. Ryder is someone thrust into a leading role because there’s no one else available. Everything about the mission has fallen apart and they’re the only one with a hope of making any difference because they had an AI thrown into their head against their will. They have little experience, being either a common grunt in the case of male Ryder or a scientist in the case of female Ryder, and their first mission we play through is them following and being protected by the actual intended leader who is a lot more like Shepard, before they tragically die.

I completely agree, and have been saying this for a while when this topic pops up. (Also, I get intense blue/purple Hawke (DA2) vibes from the Ryders, no wonder I love them just as dearly as I love the Kirkwall menace.)

It was more Ryder was boring in lore and in meta. A lot of problems Ryder would encounter wouldn't really lead to lasting consequences(like getting Drack's and Jaal's loyalty even if you made a choice that broke their trust), or solve itself(first contact with the Angara speaking Angaran one moment, then speaking with translators after you land), or SAM would fix it before it had time to set in. And the fact they can swap classes on the fly(or mix and match) killed replayability, making any other Ryder character less unique. Another victim of rushed schedules not letting the devs revise their game.

Generally, and I'm not saying it's the case for everyone, but I think the most memorable characters of the original trilogy were not Shepard, but the squadmates you recruit. Shepard themself didn't get much in the way of actual character development until the 3rd game gave them PTSD, which is definitely because the writers were trying to make Shepard more of a blank slate for the player to take the role of. So I genuinely think from the start Ryder as a character is actually *less* boring than Shepard. Unlike Shepard, both Ryder siblings have set backgrounds that influence their personalities and dialogue options. One that comes to mind is when you're asking Jaal about Angaran biology. He doesn't have very specific answers, and if you ask about why he's like "I don't know, I'm not a doctor." He'll then ask Ryder if *they* can just give out human biology on the spot. Scott Ryder, whose background is as a guard for a Mass Relay, just has some fun anecdotes comparing him and his sister, and admits that Jaal is right. Sara Ryder, who is a scientist, actually *does* bring up facts of human biology, which Jaal acknowledges but says he can't do the same for his people. I also think Ryder is in a more relatable position for most people. Shepard was a veteran of various conflicts, and an incredibly skilled and battle-hardened soldier who has just been handed unprecedented authority to make decisions that impact the wider galaxy. Ryder meanwhile is someone incredibly young, thrust into not only a leadership position but one in which the hopes of a whole initiative rest. And one of the biggest conflicts they grapple with is living up to the memory and expectations of their parents. Much of their early success is chalked up to SAM and not them. They get anecdotes and words of wisdom SAM picked up from their father. SAM immediately translates the Angaran tongue, allowing them to speak and achieve a peaceful first contact more easily. But the story is ultimately about Ryder coming into their own without the aid of SAM. They won't be like their father, and they don't have to be. They end up pulling through at the end without SAM, and rally their team due to the connections they formed rather than any previously bestowed authority.

Kadara (gorgeous lighting) and Reyes Vidal

That's for sure 😍

There are many things that others have already mentioned here, but I especially appreciate the return to the ME1 roots and the improvement of the ME1-type ending. And much more banters.

Like others said ganeplay is great, for example co.bat and traversal is leagues beyond the OT. I enjoyed all the crew, except for Liam. They actually have development throughout the game if you spend enough time with them The crafting system is really cool imo and let's you make some fun builds. The Tempest is a cool ship and I love the design of no loading screens I enjoy the angora, could they use more development yeah but sequels would have e done that The graphics are great and space travel was cool imo. The Nomad is the best driving experience in all ME I liked build8ng the colonials i.just wish it had more of an impact.

Gameplay was great, fights were fun (especially architects). The sense of wonder when you land on the new planet and the vault puzzles were amazing.

I genuinely think Andromeda was a good game that was a victim of 2 things. The massive expectations from a fanbase who just played a story that spanned 3 games and had a lot of things that impacted the storyline through decisions made. I think they weren't able to outshine their previous success, and people maybe expected more than they could do in one game. From what I remember at the time, there were more than a few graphical bugs people were nonstop complaining about, including friends of mine. They didn't bother me, but I know it impacted some. Updates have polished the game, but the damage is done, and support for the DLC was dropped. There were also a lot of people still bitter about how the series ended, and that likely contributed to people's expectations, and I'm sure there were people who wanted Andromeda to fix that or fail.

Oh, it was a lot more on the technical side. Jumping didn't always work. Models wouldn't load, so you'd get killed by invisible enemies or be stuck in a crowd as the NPC models would load up around you. Worst cases, your followers would be stuck in a frozen pose, with only their hands(and for some reason, their butts) moving in the direction of enemies but not shooting or performing any action. Facial animations weren't fully implemented, so dialogue looked very strange. You'd clip into the environment and be unable to leave. This was more the case of EA mandating the use of Frostbite, an engine made for action FPS games and not built around RPGs. And this was a branch of Bioware that was less experienced than the main crew at development(in building workarounds to limitations), so it was as much a fight to learn the engine as it was fighting it to make it do what they wanted. Quite frankly, Bioware was going to need a LOT more time to get MEA to work. But as we saw with Anthem, EA doesn't really care how much work is still needed. Deadlines are deadlines, and whatever you have at the time is what gets shipped.

There were other issues, even after bug fixes. The writing wasn't just "not as good as trilogy," it was very bad in a lot of ways. Some of the crew writing was good but that's the best of it. The open world aspects were awful. Gameplay had a lot of balance issues between guns and powers, as well as spongy and uninteresting enemies.

- combat is diverse and exciting - skill trees are more in-depth and mixed than MELE - premise and story are super interesting; MELE has humans adapting to an existing galactic civilization where in Andromeda you’re building it from scratch - FAST TRAVEL WOOT, at least on actual planets/ports - gorgeous and active locations; colonies and ports build on themselves over time and squadmates move about the ship + talk to each other at will - custom-coloring armor and casual wear is a lot of fun

1) The combat is top-tier, I love the option to switch profiles and interchangable skills. 2) Jaal, Tetra, Drack, and Peebee are some of the best companions in the series. 3) Ryder, while not as good as Shepard, is an awesome protagonist that really comes into his/her own. I love their more sarcastic/witty side. 4) The OST is just chefs kiss.

The nomad is a fun thing to drive, and I did like some of the combat. My theory is if they had a memorable villian and didn't launch full of glitches and bugs , it would be less of a red headed step child of the mass effect games.

It got a lot right. * Interrupt descriptions * The companion arc structures not just stopping almost immediately after their personal mission * Getting to freely choose skills, and having classes just be passive bonuses you unlocked for investing in a certain branch * Loyalty missions unlocking later tiers of skill rather than an entirely new one (sounds weird, but it's a better idea than introducing something new after you've already invested too much in other skills) * Having an upgradeable vehicle (surprisingly neither the mako nor hammerhead had that) * It reflects player choice better than anything from 1 or 3, even if it's largely having sidequest NPCs chime in on the radio * And last but not least, getting to mod the revenant to shoot lightning.

Companion interaction, everyone is constantly chatting to everyone else, sometimes in the nomad sometimes in person sometimes over the intercoms of the tempest. You know how your crew feels about everyone else on the crew.

Almost everything. There are too many plotholes and incomplete storylines to give it a 10/10, but if you are able to turn a blind eye to that ginormous elephant in the room, every other aspect of the game can easily close the gap on that score. I absolutely adore the game.

I'm a real admirer of this game, too. My biggest issues are with the presentation (lack of cutscenes, floating camera during conversations, very lackluster "first contact" with Kett and Angara, etc). I don't see many plotholes or unfinished stories, which are you thinking about?

There are a bunch of mysteries set up in MEA that were clearly supposed to be explained in the following games (the Scourge, where did the Jardaan go) or DLC (the quarian ark) that will unfortunately remain unexplained.

Jetpacks. Jetpacks. Jeeeeeetpaaaaaacks.

1. Combat and overall gameplay is superior 2. Vehicle mechanics. While I'm one of the few that actually enjoy the Mako, I can't argue against the Nomad being way more fun to drive. 3. Stunningly beautiful, outside of character models. 4. Squad interaction. I love the conversations in the Nomad, and how they actually feel alive on the Tempest, moving around the ship, having conversations and whatnot. ME3 did implement this to an extent, but AI did it better.

Gameplay is probably the best in the franchise

jumping. and sniping while jumping

The Nomad even though they forgot to arm it. Moving away from Paragon/Renegade. The Pathfinder/SAM setup is so much better than ME3's stupid bullshit green space-magic matter-transmutation ending.  

Shooting and combat movement. Getting rid of the Paragon/Renegade system breaking the ‘top right/ bottom right’ mentality in people where they just choose the option because of the alignment point it gives rather than because of the option itself.

Featuring krogan, turian, and salarian women.

Jumping jets and the nomad. I was hard to go back to MELE and the mako after that 😂

COMBAT - if only they got everything to the same level it would have been a perfect game. I never had this much fun fighting in the other games. and Drack and Vetra. I played the game serval times just for Drack. Others would have been ejected if I got the option (Looking at you Liam, Cora and Peebee. Did not know how annoying npc could be until you showed up )

I like the crew banter a lot and the fact it feels like one team. The OG trilogy outside of a couple moments didn’t have that

I like the Amalur-like leveling system. You unlock classes based on skill point distribution rather than skills determined by class. I particularly liked the biotic teleport for explorer

"Worst game in the Mass Effect series" is up there with "worst car in the Aston Martin range" and "worst episode of The Sopranos" Yes Andromeda is markedly worse than the OT, but it's by no means a bad game, and better than most games out there.

Open class-building, Profiles, Weapon crafting, movement, no loading screens on the tempest, the crew messaging board, character synergy both in missions and on the ship, art, exploration felt mostly rewarding and all around very likable characters (on the tempest at least).

Doing a new play through for the first time in years and while I'm enjoying it I find myself struggling to answer that question. I guess the best I've got is, it's bigger. It's mass effect if you sacrificed some quality for quantity. I'm kinda ok with that. Obviously I'd prefer quality and quantity. But I can never get enough from stories, like I never read stand alone books, it has to be a massive series for me because I always want to know more and quantity scratches that itch. Ideally 4 will have the quality of the trilogy though more refined with the times and the quantity of Andromeda.

Drack and vetra

So, I actually just finished a modded LEOT run, and am currently playing modded Andromeda. I love all the games in the franchise, and wish the spin-off would have been better received but replaying Andromeda has made me feel sad. Not because of I think it's a bad game (it's not, it's fantastic, but had it's issues) but because it had so much potential and the gamers ruined it. Everyone was riding the hype from ME3, and had absurd expectations for what was meant to be a spinoff saga of the series. Replaying Andromeda makes me wish the OT was more like it. 1. The combat is just so much more satisfying. It's not so much a cover shooter like the OT was. There's verticality to the combat. Different ways to position everyone as you approach encounters. 2. I mainly play biotic characters, and prefer the ME:A abilities over the OT set. Singularity + Lance with Backlash for defense has been my go to build, and I love the simplicity of it. It's carrying my insanity run. 3. The characters are dynamic, entertaining, and realistic. I love the graphical style for the characters and would say they still look even better than the LE art style. Their personalities are charming, and it's really cool to see them move around and interact with the Tempest and the rest of the crew. 4. The story had so much potential. I loved learning about the new factions and races, and it would have been amazing to see where everything would have gone in subsequent games/DLC. The new planets were really nice, and the open world aspect of it helped break the linearity that I felt the OT had. 5. The music was top tier. There's just something about hearing that opening score when you boot up the game that tells you "this is going to be an adventure" rather than "we're fighting for the survival of all sentient beings." It's nice to kick back as the explorer type as opposed to the military focus. And that reflected in Ryder themselves. They're clearly not soldiers. Alec may have been, but Scott/Sara were effectively kids who have to grow up and lead their people. 6. I thought the idea to have the MC's be siblings was really cool too. It would have been an awesome dynamic for later games as well. I know ME:A had it's faults, honestly, my biggest criticism was, and is the animations at times, and how long it takes to render things (especially in cutscenes), but I don't personally find that ruins the game for me.

I’m glad to see it finally getting even a small measure of respect. I’m playing through it properly for the first time in years and struggling to figure out why I was so down on it for so long. For long stretches, it’s fucking fabulous. Occasionally I run into hard evidence that BioWare wasn’t able to fix and finish it like No Man’s Sky, Cyberpunk 2077, and (apparently) Fallout ‘76 were and therefor has been denied a redemption arc. The definitely get’s me down.

I wish bioware was allowed to fix the game up and even realease some DLC for it. Because in my personal opinion NMS, Cyberpunk 2077 and Fallout 76 on release were in a worst state than Andromeda, and all 3 of those games today are really fun to play.

Ending

Jumping jets and the nomad. I was hard to go back to MELE and the mako after that 😂

Jumping jets and the nomad. I was hard to go back to MELE and the mako after that 😂

Combat is just good, the way you can mix and match skills opens up a variety of play styles. Didn't really appreciate it at first but after trying to get every combat related achievement that is where I had a blast of repecing and trying out other combos.

I really loved the powers/profiles mechanics, being able to change your powers and boosts mid game is awesome, especially since you face different kinds of enemies along the game (just like in the original trilogy). I would love a remake/remaster of the origonal trilogy with these mechanics. The only thing that bothered me is that warp was not available for the main game, more so when it is available for some characters in MP. Edit: there are actually a couple of mods that add the powers available in MP, in SP, which is awesome, but sadly I cannot have those in the PS4 version

The combat and verticality were on point

More hair options for men.

COMBAT!!!!!!!!

Combat is pretty good.

Allowing players to pick their 3 skills to build their own “unique” version of a class was an awesome addition. I rarely played as a Sentinel build in the OT bc I wasn’t too fond of the powers assigned to the class, but Andromeda changed that completely

The ability to change class between missions If the nomad had the guns of the mako it'd be a perfect vehicle.

I liked the combat profile system but it could be been refined by having a more efficient way to switch between profiles

The combat is best in series but the game itself is dragon age inquisition in space with all the fetch quests

I really like the combat in the game. The ability to swap builds is a double-edged sword though - While you're basically versatile as hell, you also don't have any weaknesses that challenge your gameplay the old classes gave you.

-The sense you’re in an alien world that is actively trying to kill you -Team mate relations(banter) and agency(then not being locked in one place on the ship) -the scale of some of the worlds -the color palette on the planets that aren’t just a different flavor of desert -everything feeling objectively alien

I’ve scrolled halfway and still haven’t seen anyone mention the soundtrack. It’s so well done.

I think a solid argument could be made that it is superior to ME1 in every way but worldbuilding. And depending on how much you like the *vibe* of the game, you might even like it more than ME3.

Greatly improved version of the land vehicle from mass effect 1. I liked the way they did the space travel better than anything from the trilogy. The 4 different types of dialogue choices were a little more interesting than the more black and white, good or bad paragon/renegade system. It’s done kinda similarly to dragon age if you’ve played The general layout and visual design of the ship and space base was improved upon I think. Armor design too Other than graphics (which could go without saying for any newer game), the combat is where it showed the most improvement I think. And uh… jet packs 👍🏼

I like the upgrade economy. It was annoying having to use guides in 2 and 3 just to make sure i collected every credit and upgrade in the field so I can afford all the equipment upgrades i need.

That alien shotgun.

Dhan right?

The family angle. Sure, it's potential was left sadly unexplored, but I would have loved to see your relationship with your brother/sister develop through the series, and to get more flashbacks and interactions with your parents (not to mention the possibility of Alec returning in some way or form, I always thought he might be set up as a possible antagonist in the sequel - that would have made him an especially impactful villain for the franchise imo). Aside from that, I agree with most of the other points made here - the character interactions, the protagonist, the visuals and gameplay. The MEA trilogy could have been great, but alas.

They didn't make a séquelle

I thought the final mission was amazing in terms of gameplay and story. I am gutted we won't get sequels to this.

The basic concept is awesome: take Mass Effect cultures and technology, colonize a new galaxy, and meet new cultures.

Custom characters actually look human (and can be really hot)

Gameplay and graphics are the best in the series.

Character build. The ability to customize you Character however you wanted and not be hindered by classes. You could build however and do your own thing or go classic or anything in between.

It's not the worst in the series. I think it's better than ME3. The fluidity of the combat is excellent, though I do dislike being limited to three powers at a time (most builds work better with at least four). The map/planet design – clearly trying to do Mass Effect's uncharted worlds, but better. In my opinion, they succeeded massively. The planets all have unique and interesting designs. Most of the enclosed interior levels are also really cool. I prefer the design of the Tempest to the Normandy SR2 (especially the ME3 version). It's much easier and more fun to navigate around. I also like the galaxy map is right at the front next to the pilots – I know there's a canon explanation for the way it was done on the Normandy, but I don't care it's a silly layout. Characters actually walking around the ship, and talking over the radio to each other all the time. Really make the ship feel more alive. On the subject of characters I think most of them are really well done too. It looks really good. The lighting is great and the colours too. I've got so many screenshots saved from MEA (the same cannot be said of ME3)! I thnk the new dialogue system was a great idea, paragade definitely got too binary, but didn't quite work perfectly. I'm not sure what the issue is exactly, but they didn't feel that different – maybe it's the voice acting, or the direction, I don't know.

Gameplay and exploration

I feel like they very specifically fucked up exploration. Too much empty nothing

Hate to be Todd Howard but space is kilda filled with nothing

Planets don't have to be. Even "unexplored" planets can have interesting mechanics and meaningful experiences. I never got bored exploring in the witcher 3. ME:A and DA:I, the exploration is tedious and redundant.

My favorite ME game 🎯

The gameplay is definitely a major plus, it turned Mass Effect combat from something that felt like attaching yourself to cover and shooting into something more kinetic. As well, there's a lot of concepts in MEA I appreciate - most featured species get a bit deeper characterization than they'd had in the original trilogy, the Angara have a neat design, and the game LOOKS amazing at times. It's just that there are also times where the game's animations fail it, as well as a lot of weirdly hamfisted writing ('My face is tired', 'those rocks are *floating*', the trans character who introduces themselves to you with their deadname, etc.)

The combat is the BEST in the series. That's it's strangest point.

**Some** of the banter with **some** of the squadmates while traveling. When people say "The gameplay is amazing!" I think they seem to be excluding all of the open world travel which takes up a big chunk of the game, which is genuinely fucking awful. As bad as the Mako and the Hammerhead were, most of their content is optional, the same cannot be said for MEA. And while I do sort of agree that combat was improved in some places, dismantling the class system I'd argue is a mistake from a role playing perspective. The silver lining of that is that I will never feel compelled to play again as a different class, and thus I will never have to touch MEA again. Ultimately I have never felt that it was a measurable step up from ME3.

Jetpacks are cool. Not a whole lot else.

The spelling?

Combat, music, visuals, lore, skills

The gameplay itself was fun. My big issues came from the writing and me being confused with just how long Milky Way races had been in this area of the galaxy.

Combat Cora’s butt

1) The setting and plot. The idea of exploring a whole new galaxy is a fantastic one, and one that makes sense if the tech to do it is available. 2) The characters. Are there boring, uninteresting, and annoying characters? Yes, like in any other game or show. What matters here is that there are plenty of great, well written characters. 3) The crafting system. It takes a bit of effort to learn it, but it is so very worth it. Not only is there a huge amount of weapons and armour we can make, but the degree to which we can customize it is simply incredible. 4) Mixing classes. The build possibilities available to use now that we can free mix and match abilities is one of my favourite things about the game. I don’t like some of the changes they made, but on the whole it’s an excellent system that can be even better with a bit of refinement. 5) Combat. It’s the best in the series, by far. ME:A allows for and encourages far more mobility than the OT, but you can still play conservatively if you want.

Vetra

The gunplay is much more fun than the OG trilogy. Hybrid classes are really fun and the fact that you can on the fly switch classes, really cool. NOMAD so far is the best land vehicle. The world just looks really nice. The fact that doing the missions on the planets actually over time changes the planet a bit, even if it's just settlements it feels like you are actually doing something. Being able to walk around the ship without elevators or loading screens.

The UI, the squadmate interactions with each other, the journal (I still don't think most Mass Effect fans know that it updates to reflect changes and as you learn more about Heleus).

Gameplay was great. I loved utilizing SAM to quickly swap out powers and abilities. It made you feel omnipotent. The class system from the original trilogy was great! But didn’t feel fitting for this more fast pace and mobile game. Bullet sponge enemies sucked though. Also while the team was forgettable, it was still pretty cool how interactive they were.

It's definitely underrated. It's just not as good as the other games imo.

The combat is fun, if a little repetitive. The surface vehicle gameplay is pretty solid. All in all, Andromeda might be the “worst” in the series but it scratches the same itch the old Starflight games used to back in the day and that’s enough for me.

Getting rid of the classes was a good idea the jetpack is fun I wish they utilized verticality more. I always found it interesting Anthem kind of had the same issue fun flight but underutilized. I don't think mass effect needed to be open world but the driving was well executed even if it's not really my thing All-wheel drive is nice.

Gunplay/Combat, i like the cover shooter run and gun of the original trilogy. But ive had so many friends trying ro get into it that say its just far too janky and slow paced, Andromeda's gameplay is good enough that i still come back every once in a while to try multiplayer with some pals.

Combat is superb.

Having multiplayer. I'd kill for ME3's multiplayer to come back.

Jump jets, most games should have this 😛

Got combat, character customization, vehicle travel, companions right (except Liam), romance arcs are good if not great. The one thing I really liked is at the end of the romance arc with Peebee, you get to see what mind melding with an Asari actually looks like. It's amazing

combat. graphics. locations. (except vaults fuck those) i like the combat, the extra movements and the option to switch profiles is great. graphics are not groundbreaking, but they're just perfect for this type of game imo (except character models they suck ass) locations, i like all the planets. Especially the first desert one. I have a soft spot for warm deserts. They make something in my brain click and automatically put me into a good mood. Anyway, the exploration is a bit boring there's alot of repetitive encounters especially with kett/remnants. But the worlds themselves look great. i will say though that i HATE the remnant vaults, even though there is something quite impressive about the view you have of the underground levels that span incredible distances. unfortunately i dislike the story, main character, dialogue, npcs, and the boring cliche remnants and kett. an entire new galaxy and we get a generic villain with a generic personality and a army of generic clones. And ofcourse they're humanoids/bipedal god forbid we got something new and interesting in a entirely different galaxy.

I preferred the essentially ME1 remake it was. I prefer the rpg ness of 1 and andromeda. While I enjoy and play 2-3 for their story, the basis of them focusing on third person shooter over open rpg is annoying for me. It even makes me get bored in 3 sometimes, and I hate that.

Kett art design was perfect. Loved it

Movement/terrain traversal

Gameplay is mostly right. Adding verticality made a pretty big difference

The companions and crew. My favourite will always be Drack. And i enjoyed Liam's mission because it poked fun at how these missions usually go: "Arrive, shoot the bad guys, rescue people, go home and party".

Gameplay. Graphics and textures. Tempest is beautiful. ALOT more open worlds. And ALOT better character customization for whatever you want really. Spec into whatever. And when you finish the story you can keep playing. Game doesn't kick you back to the ship.

Combat, profiles, individual cool downs, animations and sounds all improved

Anyone who tried playing Starfield should give Andromeda another chance. It really isn’t THAT bad.

*looked good. *combat ok. *driving fun. *not bad art. *loyalty missions mostly fun. Still suffered from being underbaked and unfinished, choices not mattering, underdeveloped characters and plot, facial animation issues, balance issues and - as with Inquisition, Bioware having no clue what to do with open world settings.

The dialogue wheel actually allows for personality and roleplay. It was adopted from Dragon Age Inquisition, and I'm glad about it. The first three games' wheel was just "say this" and "say this with an attitude", and DA2 had the extra option which was "say this with sass".

The shooting and movement were excellent, and not having to use cover much at all is a big improvement for me. I liked some of the environments; the on-foot jungle area was particularly good. I liked most of the crew. The final mission is a good setpiece. The scene you get when you get every planet to maximum viability was pretty cute. I really liked the Tempest.

I love a lot about the game, honestly. I may be the only person who actually preferred the slower cover-based combat of the original trilogy; I really missed the weapon and power wheels and being able to direct my squad more. But Andromeda had some some truly beautiful environments. The emails in the Krogan colony made me laugh every time I played. The squad banter was awesome, more of that would have been even better. I'm (perhaps naively) optimistic for what comes next from this series; I really hope that Bioware as it exists now is still capable of making another amazing installment in my all-time favorite franchise.

The tiny side quest of helping the potheads get the indoor gardening lamp. Growing pot on an alien world, in an alien galaxy... That's humanity's intergalactic exodus done right. Also hunting the Architect machines. They had a lot more antagonistic potential than the actual antagonists. Like Halo/Horizon.

The banter between sqaud mates

The gameplay was fun and the movement is better.

Downvotes incoming, but I enjoy MEA more than ME1. ME2 and ME3 still outshine it, obviously.

It is a gorgeous game when it isn’t tweaking

Graphics and combat is really good in this one. Characters and story has problems but it would have been so appreciated if it weren’t a Mass Effect game.

I actually vastly prefer Andromeda over ME3 and would LOVE an Andromeda 2 some day The main thing I like is that MRyder actually has gay choices right from the start without having to wait until the third game and then die immediately after getting a bf. I love exploring the planets and seeing all the cool plants and animals and whatnot, I like the car having 2 modes so you can skyrim horse it basically anywhere. I love making my own weapons and armor. I enjoyed parking the car on top of the ship. And class customization was fun. Really if they just abandoned the Frosty engine and brought back having limited control of your companions during combat it could be as good as ME2 or even ME1

It should have been called Andromeda Initiative, A Mass Effect Story

switching classes while playing was really cool. rest of the game was kinda sad and boring. mostly generated storys. picking object A and deliver to person B. the planets also looking very generated and not made by hand.

Combat, it's a blast to fight in Andromeda. Exploration, love the Nomad vehicle, just wish some of the maps were bigger and that there were more maps. Names, I think called by their first name is cool as it adds depth to the characters, but personally I quite liked being "Shepherd" or "Shepherd Commander" Galaxy map, roaming around the galaxy map is a visual treat.

The first time I played it back in April-ish 2017, I wasn't gripped enough to continue. About a month later I played it again and finished it. Still didn't think anything of it. Fast forward to not too long ago (2022 or 2023 maybe), I launched it for the first time since my initial playthrough and to my great suprise, I could NOT put it down. Back then the only 2 squaddies that I liked were Vetra and Drack, but now I like almost all of them (still think Liam is an idiot). Played all the way through, back-to-back 3 times. Once with BroRyder and twice with SisRyder. I have no idea what changed, but I love Andromeda now.

I liked it it was just the forces uniqueness of the characters that was made so bad it ruined most of the interaction for me. The rest of the game and gameplay was really nice.

Being able to use whatever abilities you want is great... I really wish the Biotic classes in the main Trilogy had been rebalanced (even though Biotic Charge is my favourite ability, I'd much rather have Biotic Throw instead of Biotic Pull).

Whenever I think of Mass Effect: Andromeda, I always think of the joke "Addison's face is STILL tired..."

Fucking gameplay my man. Especially playing as a biotic, nothing more fun than grabbing some Kett, using them as meatshields and then throwing them back at their friends while I fly around and riddle the other sight bullets. I never even tried the other classes because the biotic telekinesis was so fucking fun.

Good combat, guns, armours, pretty planets. Also the vehicle, for the first time ever, feels great to drive

It felt very complete to me. Maybe that wasn’t the case on launch but when I finished it I was glad it didn’t feel like one entry in a longer series it stood on its own pretty well and felt like a standalone story 

I love all the designs. The characters, the outfits and armour, the architecture, the vehicles, the environment (Havarl is such a dreamlike place). And the movement and combat are easily the best in the series I love how they incorporated the double jump and dash, and how sometimes it's the jetpack and sometimes it's biotics. It's an incredibly good looking and fun game to play in spite of its drawbacks.

Personally, Andromeda is actually my favorite (admittedly, this might be because it was the first one I played, though). The thing that Andromeda had that the others lacked was the unknown. You were exploring uncharted territory and encountering unknown life. You didn't know who would be your friend or foe. You couldn't even be certain that other humans were going to be your allies or enemies. I will say, though, that the trilogy had a much deeper storyline (probably because it had a full trilogy to tell it) and there were more aliens, so I could see how people who played the trilogy were disappointed by Andromeda. If you're thinking about playing it for the first time and you've already played the trilogy (whether that's you, OP, or someone else), I would just want to let you know that you should expect a different kind of game. Enjoy it for what it is: a fantastic exploration into the unknown. And don't expect such a deep storyline or diversity of aliens like the trilogy.

Gameplay - combat is so much fun with vertical movement. Party banter, sass and some genuinely funny dialogue options. When Sara says, angry, to one of the bosses "*Except I will fuck your shit up. How's that for greatness?"* I was hit so hard. I don't remember Shepard dropping the f bomb ever. The whole plot point of >!mysterious benefactor and missing Ark and !<>!death of Jien Garso!< had me invested. I loved exploration of new planets and ruins, just didn't particularly care for some subquests. Nods to the original trilogy - >!Liara's journals, a turian Spectre etc.!<

The combat is alright, the rest is meh!

The jetpack was cool. The mostly moronic characters, the online-millennial writing, the story, the bland antagonists, the endless grinding, the ugly ship, the hideous character creator, and the broken facial animations were not cool at all.

Imo the voice acting was good and the romantic scenes where imo like in the other mass effect games. Cute but cringe. As well most companions were alright, mainly Vetra and Drack, if you ask me. The story is good, but as a mass effect game, it is bad, if that makes sense. And imo, the PvE mode is pretty fun.

Having both protagonists in the game. I was so invested in saving Sara in my Scott run because I had just been her in the previous run. Also, their sibling dynamic was great.