Some google-translated bits from PC games article. Spoilers for story and characters.

'The starting point of the adventure is the so-called Andromeda Initiative, a secret program that has long been used before the events of the trilogy. In this, many breeds of the Milky Way join together to explore the nearest Andromeda galaxy. The mission has above all a scientific impetus, but there are other reasons for the departure, which the makers do not want to betray. A total of around 100,000 people of different species on four arch ships make the difficult journey. A trip for which there is no return flight ticket.
Creative Director Mac Walters compares it to a possible trip to Mars. You would be on the road for a long time, without a clue what to expect at the finish line, and probably never return. The Andromeda Initiative is not about to escape the Reapers. The arks are already breaking before the threat of the all-destroying killer machines is taken seriously. In this way, the developers also skilfully bypass the controversial ends of Mass Effect 3. Each participant of this expedition has its own motivation for the journey - curiosity, adventure, survival.'

'Next, the producer changes back to the scenery and shows us this time one of the sprawling planets to explore. Let's go in a settlement that serves as a quest hub. Here you can talk with different people and accept new assignments. Away from the small town, we are on a rather barren deserts, on which it can quickly become very hot, which in turn affects life preservation. A longer stay outside of Shade or the nomad will gradually damage Ryder and his team. The environmental conditions often play an important role in the background story of a planet and the prevailing political situation. In our example, water scarcity is an urgent problem.
After a short stay in the settlement, it goes out into the expanse of the desert. For further exploration, Michael Gamble climbs into the nomad and rages. After a short drive, we witness the dynamic events that can occur in the world of the game. We meet two enemy factions who are standing together in open fire.
The player has the choice in these situations, whether he interferes or not. In our case, Producer Gamble decides to step out of Nomad and join in. He uses the vehicle as protection, just like the surrounding rocks. These encounters in the game world call the developers "light content", which serve the liveliness of the game world. In addition, there are so-called "anchor points", which are more complex designed tasks.'

'Her interest in Andromeda is the alien technology that she wants to study on every occasion. This leads them to the team of Ryder. She sees in a collaboration the possibility to trace even more strange artefacts. However, teamwork is not exactly their strength. Thus their mentality of a lonely wolf might lead to interesting conflicts.'

'He is described as a young, enthusiastic and sometimes idealist companion. He takes his duties very seriously, but carries his heart also on the tongue. If something does not suit him, he can quickly get upset. Still, he keeps Ryder's back when it matters. Nevertheless, he places great hopes in the success of the Andromeda mission, in which he sees the future of mankind.'

'Toward the end of our study visit, we can finally hand ourselves. However for the time being only to the multiplayer. Boosted by the success of the multiplayer in the predecessor, the developers have also donated the latest offshoot again such a mode. Again, up to four players on different cards fight against waves of opponents and have to meet different goals.
This time, however, these battles do not serve the purpose of constructing a galactic standby. The team had noted that this link with the singleplayer campaign in the predecessor was not well received. Their own achievements should also affect the single-player part, but not directly on the output of the story. It's more about rewarding the player. If you ignore the multiplayer, nothing will be missed in the campaign.
For our first steps in Mass Effect: Andromeda, we are playing the same pre-alpha version, which has already been shown before. This time, however, on the PC. So we can make a picture of the mouse and keyboard control, but is not yet finished. This is immediately noticeable since many menu items can not be operated directly with the mouse. In the lobby, we choose from the well-known classes, which are almost exclusively available in their human variant. Other breeds can be unlocked as usual or have not yet been integrated into the game.
We decide first for the classic soldier who has grenades and the ability to "Rapid Fire". We play a map on an asteroid, which at first glance looks very small and compact. Due to the new verticality, the map offers enough tactical options. We also quickly make a name for the new cover system. As soon as we approach a wall or other obstacle, our character is automatically covered. In the first moment a bit of getting used to, as it happens to us several times, that we sprint involuntarily directly into a cover run. After a short time, the system goes super by the hand. Although we are still playing on the lowest bronze difficulty, our squad quickly gets problems. This is mainly due to the lack of balance. But the enemies also try to drive us into corners and use increased platforms for their own benefits. Interesting is a set of new skills that we get to see here. For example, a team member has a half-baked energy shield in front of him that is large enough to allow other players to search for protection. Very convenient. Similarly, many skills will have a positive effect on fellow players. The developers want to put the coop aspect even more in the foreground and encourage the players to teamwork.
In another part, we also try out the infiltrator, which again focuses on distance attacks and stealth. Thus, he can retreat with a smoke grenade and Cloak abilities. A little missed the sniper's superiority, which this class has distinguished in its predecessor. Then we finally test the engineer, the opponent can freeze freeze. In addition, he exhibits powerful defensive towers, which seem almost overwhelming. In the end we do not make it over the sixth wave in four played games. Fun has made it despite the still clearly present bugs and glitches but nevertheless.'

Q: 'What exactly is the role of the protagonist within the Andromeda Initiative? In Dragon Age: Inquisition, many players found it inappropriate to be the top leader of a powerful organization to pick flowers.'


A (Fabrice Condominas): 'So he is not the leader of the arks in the whole. He is the leader of the scouts, the so-called Pathfinder. He is the first at a new location and he determines if the environment is safe. There is a political structure within the arks that you have to deal with. You are only the leader of your little scout troop.'

Q: 'In a trailer, you showed Ryder while scanning a plant. Is there a deeper meaning behind it?'


A (Gamble): 'This definitely has a deeper meaning. There is a narrative connection to scanning about which we are not talking yet. It will feel very natural in connection with the hero and who he is. There are more things than just killing opponents that are important when it comes to who the hero is in our game. He is a scout and a scout has various tasks that are not all military in origin. The scanner is one of those different gameplay and narrative aspects that we have. It is very important for us.'

Q: 'This time the new cover system is more automated and intuitive. How does this affect the level design? In the predecessors one could often already recognize, where a fight will take place, because a lot of coverings in the area rum rumstand.'


A (Condominas): 'The big difference to the trilogy is this time that you have no idea where the enemy will come from. They can come from above or the sides. You have either wide areas or there are usually several accesses to a room. This is another gameplay that focuses more on movement. Therefore, we also removed the button for the cover, because that would only interrupt the movement.'

Q: 'The Ryder siblings have as standard the names Scott and Sarah. How do you deal with the characters in individual names, because it is often funny when people are addressed only with the surname, especially within families.'

A(Condominas): 'In the intro scene you've seen, Scott just talks about his sister without mentioning her name. You can of course personalize your first name and the game will adapt to it. If it is a name we know that was recorded, then it is also used, otherwise we use Ryder.'

Q: 'What are your plans for the PC version? At Dragon Age: Inquisition some players were disappointed with the implementation.'


A (Gamble): 'This is actually something that we are currently dealing with now, where many parts of the game are slowly coming together. So let's look at the PC-specific things we can do to improve the game experience. We have our own team, which is currently taking care of it. There are some special features that we will more fully imagine when we talk about the PC requirements. It is also important to know: We do not port the game to the PC. It is actively developed on all three platforms. When we look at the progress of the game, we always do it on different platforms. With special feature teams, we want to add extra features to the PC version.'