Only an hour in and I really really like it

Welp. I've pretty much played since 7AM Friday Morning, until like 20 minutes ago to download the update, with small breaks for food and sleep. I am at level 15, and I've just finished the Tombs mission... as a lifelong Bioware fan, whos long since been jaded for nearly a decade, I decided to believe one last time, and take the plunge on this with the LoD version. This is my honest opinion of Anthem so far. But before I do, I want to preface this by saying, I feel like my many years of MMO experience has possibly attuned me to games like this. I also want to stress that I hated almost everything about the Demo.

The facial animations and body animations in the conversations in Fort Tarsis and even during the campaign scenes away from the Fort... this is in my humble opinion, Bioware's greatest work yet in this area, and it's not even close. Even now I am still gobsmacked by just how good these things are in several conversations. Likewise I am pleased to report the absolutely fantastic voice acting so far, almost across the board (male PC is okay-ish). So far the campaign is honestly quite acceptable to me, and is very much the typical fair that I've come to expect from Bioware after all these years with the typical tropes they love to use. Likewise the conversations themselves within Fort Tarsis are actually written quite nicely, despite the total lack of meaningful dialogue choices. But then I never expected those from a non RPG. The Cortex lore entries are very nice, and I've spent tons of time just sitting in Tarsis reading them. I also personally have no issues with the Fort Tarsis walking/running speed. It is more than fast enough for me personally.

The combat is just as fun as ever, and was the one big thing from the demo that I did enjoy. It's not getting dull in the slightest so far. It's just stupid amounts of fun, and it gives me hope for the games future, because if your gameplay is borked, your game is basically toast. Likewise I am loving the Bastion map. It is simply gorgeous, and actually far bigger than I was expecting given my low expectations from the demo. I am also happy to report that all the matchmaking pugs I've gotten have been fairly compatent, as I've been playing on Hard the entire time with almost no issues from a teammate perspective. I would also like to point out there is no shortage of players right now despite the review bombing. I think I've only seen the same player one time since 7AM yesterday.

I've also not experienced a single technical issue so far, aside from Frostbite Sound Bug. No disconnets, no frame rate drops, nothing. But the biggest moment for me, one that finally put a smile on my face, was when I found a radio in Fort Tarsis, turned it on, and heard an episode of "The Adventures of Detective Hops". This right here, was the sign I was looking for. Fun little unimportant story bits, like the Bioware of old. Not since "Blasto: Partners in Crime" have I seen this type of content from Bioware. Not since the Adventures of Herbert "Daring" Dashwood and his faithful ghoul manservant Argyle have I had this feeling. I then found a Cortex entry that put the nail in it. The entry for Governor's Terrace I think it's called, wherein it tells the hilarious story of the various ridiculous names the location has gone through. This was the proof I personally needed to see. The passion from the dev team. I felt no passion in Andromeda. But I can see the passion of the "A Team" here. Passion takes the form of the little things, putting work into things most players will never notice.

Speaking honestly, aside from the sound bug, and sheer number of loading screens? I no longer have any other complaints about this title as of this moment. Not one. I am quite frankly perplexed by the hate train of reviews, now having fully gotten many hours of hands on experience. If this opinion changes, I'll be sure to let people know. But truthfully, right now? I am more than happy to finally be saying, I am truly happy at long last, to finally be playing, a Bioware game again.

I wouldn't recommend solo play, it's doable but you are handicapped. As for comparing it to others of it's genre, it seems on par with games like destiny or the division where content lacks but they'll add more later. It's also just as weak "RPG" wise like the rest, dialogue means nearly nothing🤷. You get two ways to say yes or no lol.

My sound was very high when i heard that radio for the first time... 

Tomb of the Legionnaires has fetch quests that are best/only done in Free Play. Which can't set to private.

Also loving the game! Level 23 and can't hardly stop playing. I just wish I could convince some of my friends to play it with me.

Yes. Which is why it's so bizarre. ME3 and DAI were both criticized extensively for forcing players to experience parts of the game they may or may not have any interest in. It's like Bioware doesn't trust their own content to have intrinsic appeal, they gotta force people into it.

I had set the game to "private" prior to the first mission.  I did that with no issue.  The second mission introduced me to freeplay so it forced me to go away from private and it went to MP and added 3 random's to my game.  The 3rd mission introduced me to expeditions and it did the same thing.

I like that mission. It is one more incentive to explore Bastion in freeplay, which between the size of the place and the number or players (4 at most) end up being pretty much a solo experience, which is good.

Players only tend to join each other when facing world bosses (titans) or when someone is just flying and decide to stop to finish a world event nearby.

Yes, got pretty good at fighting Titans solo on Grandmaster1 difficulty with my tank of a Colossus build I've attained (lightning that freezes enemies and a cannon detonator that restores a ton of armor with each hit). Where as before I used to fight him from far away, now I'm right in his face chewing bubble gum and kicking butt.

Yeah I too agree I can't speak about Fallout as that's not really my cup of tea but I do agree about Andromeda in that it got the short end of the stick as I too enjoyed it in fact I still do as I recently started a new  playthrough of it just landed on Havarl in fact. Mainly because I've been playing it while waiting for Anthem to download as I've been kin f doing a bit of a Mass Effect/Dragon Age marathon atm. It's actually finished downloading now but I'm in the middle of a quest atm so I'll probably finish that first before I start up on Anthem.

I suspect you likely will have to select private each time you want to go into a new mission or something perhaps.

I can absolutely recommend to play solo. I am playing on hard and it is a nice challenge. Really fun combat.