The game is good, here are the 25 issues I have with it

Finished the game! 76 hours in and at 97 percent completion. I’m a big fan and active community member, so I felt entitled to my own review post.

First of all: the game is quite good. After a slow start, a tiresome (even frustrating) middle for a completionist, the ending is awesome. Epic.

The game looks good. There is a perfect balance in nods to the original trilogy, while still being a fresh start. The new loot system is great, hope they will keep it (no need to scan every corner while doing a priority mission that feels urgent). And the squad is cool.

But some things could be better. I’ll list them in order of unforgivable (1) to mildly annoying (25). I’m sure I missed some stuff while playing without subtitles, so please comment if some things in this list aren’t as bad as I think.

1. The same wildlife creatures on multiple planets, that's bad.

2. Pods to process people. Really, again?

3. I expected more aliens and them to be more exotic. Less humanoid, radical different traditions and a variety of levels of civilization. The Angarans are too human. They have similar biology, emotions and customs.

4. Just 14 months between arrival of Nexus and the time the game takes place doesn't seem long enough, especially on Kadara.

5. The banter on the Tempest and Nomad is fine, but the one-on-one-dialogue for squadmates after missions and worlds is too limited. At the end of the game I still barely knew them.

6. E-mail bomb after Kadara. At the moment you get the Archon’s location (which feels like a big priority) you also get dozens of other things to do (of which your gut tells you to do before hunting the Archon).

7. Come on, it isn't Mass Effect without exotic dancers.

8. One face for all Asari is strange, especially compared to earlier games. Did they comment on this already?

9. No storage and shooting range prevents me from experimenting with different weapons.

10. The scale here and there is too small for what's possible nowadays. Showing a noteworthy protest with just three NPC protesters is outdated.

11. With the murder case: attempted murder (with hard proof) is still reason for a conviction. No need to cover it up to serve justice.

12. There should be alien writing and numbers in alien places. Not just Angaran places, but also the Arks of the other species and some places on the Nexus. I know it can be augmented (that technology is already available on smartphones right now) but still.

13. Peebee's eyebrows should be explained.

14. Open worlds feel too functional, instead of organic. Makes me miss crafted levels from the OT, since the best missions in ME:A are also the crafted levels like Liam’s loyalty mission.

15. Voeld felt too much like the Imperial/Chiss storyline on Hoth in SWTOR.

16. Wise, old men on top of a high tower, overused trope.

17. Not ‘intelligent’ enough when it comes to (deeper) scifi themes.

18. Platforming sucks.

19. Some filler content is cheap filler content, but some other ‘Tasks’ are pretty decent (like the ex-Cerberus scientists for example). In general, all missions (big and small) could be paced better. What makes the Cerberus scientists good is that you run into it and can finish it right there and then, without traveling to other planets and stuff.

20. End-of-quest-dialogue is missing in some cases. After finishing 'Contagion' for example, doctor Carlyle should have something to say. But he doesn’t.

21. Everyone is bisexual, which I dislike from a canon (lore) perspective.

22. The story could've been more of a 'journey', instead of the Pathfinder being established so fast.

23. The galaxy map animations take too long. At least let us quick travel between hubs, too much going back and forth.

24. Just tell me who’s the Benefactor already! It’s obviously TIM right?

25. Somehow I’ve only discovered 96 percent of the cluster, while all systems show a 100 percent.