Andromeda is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But seriously, I have reasons to think Mass Effect Andromeda is very good game. That's what I call a game that provides me with many hours of enjoyable playtime utilizing EVERY aspect. It stands up even more when you compare to the original Mass Effect saga.

- Combat is much improved. I can bring every power from different profiles into the fight with only a moderate cooldown. Using Favorites, I have fluid access to 12 powers, but failing that, I can always go back into the skills menu and create a new favorite. I don't have to be at a loadout station to accomplish that. Also, the jump jet and hover abilities add a whole new dimension into the combat. The fact that the enemies are much smarter about trying to flank you and they can "skate" move very quickly also adds some depth into the combat. My companions, for the most part, seem much hardier than in the Trilogy and I can even give some of them the ability to self-revive after a couple of seconds, so I don't necessarily have to revive them myself. That they can use their powers independently to detonate enemies I prime is also a lot of fun.

- Characters are interesting. Jaal and his culture are presented in much greater depth than any of the cultures presented in the old Trilogy. either boring or copied characters from previous games. They discuss numerous things with each other rather than directly with Ryder, so how the player gets to know them will vary quite a bit from playthrough to playthrough depending on which pairs one puts together in the nomad while driving through specific areas of each world and on different missions. Each has their own story for coming to Andromeda... and does each of the Initiative NPCs you meet on planets throughout the game. I don't really miss the over-the-top assinine "renegade" moves Shepard did in the Trilogy. I suppose some people are overly "in love" with such antics, but I feel I can always go back to the Trilogy if I want more of that same old trope.

- There were NO performance issues on my system (Xbox One).

- Many of the side quests were extremely interesting... discovering an old Angaran AI in a frozen city on Voeld. Cutting one's teeth on a smaller Kett facility after running into Zaeed's son on Eos, unraveling the mysteries (over several related minor "task" quests) of what happened at Site 1 and Site 2; finding out about the Yevara's importance to Angaran lore and to their current situation. Resetting each vault (yes, these are side quests because you don't have to do them all to beat the game).

- Story is intriguing and as a lot of potential to take the series off in many different directions. It's a story about the environment and what we do (have done) to shape it. This is pretty unique to a game, since most are about war, war, war... which is what the old Trilogy was about. It is the sort of story that takes a different mindset from the run of the mill games out there to get into... a refreshing difference, IMO. (but some people just seem to want more of the same old stuff all the time - sigh).

- Exploration is much improved over ME1. The various visuals are worth taking some time to take in. The nomad is much more versatile and fun to drive than the mako ever was and it's upgradable. I liked that it also provided a temporary shield upon exiting and that, if one drove over multiple "bugs" Ryder would make comments about "speed bumps" and such. Being able to float it for more than 35 seconds on H-047c (for the achievement) was a great touch.

All in all, I had a lot of fun playing this game. It helped that I wasn't so locked into what I thought I wanted and was open-minded enough to give this game a fair chance. I'm looking forward to some DLC and a next instalment.

There's really only one way to play KOTOR2 and that's with the restored content mod.

Dude, if you are unsure how to use powers in MEA, play the tutorial again and watch some YouTube gameplay.  At this point I can no longer help you unless you make an appointment, at which point I can bill your insurance or you can pay out of pocket.  $20 copay.  

Ooh, another reason MEA was awesome? That asteroid planet. H-047c. That was so much fun to drive around on. The scenery was outstanding, and playing around in the lower gravity was crazy fun. I hope they employ something like that in DLC's and the sequels. It would be a lot of fun to have a low-gravity planet to walk around on, or if you are on a ship and the gravity goes out and you have to use your jetpack to get around.

(sigh) Time to mod-tidy-away some of the crap and angry posts...

Oh, and I didn't even mention how confusing and bad designed the menus and the minimaps are.

THEN JUST DEACTIVATE THE AUTO USE OF POWERS, GENIUS! And you saying that Shepard had only 3 offensive powers shows you didn't play Mass Effect 3, that's for sure.  

If we go by ME1 you had much more than 3 offensive capabilities. Throw, warp, singularity, lift and stasis(and i neglected to use stasis cause it's a shite waste of time so it just sat on my wheel)could all be used. That's 5 right there with the other wheel abilities being adrenaline and whatever the healing ability was called. I don't know why squad members matter cause they've nothing to do with player empowerment which was my point on the profile system.

so the wheel option gives more abilities to use at once, you raise a good point on their passives carrying over even when you're not in that specific profile. So the passives play out better in Andromeda than any other ME game but it's still not an ability players use.

you can think people have a baseless complaint, I guess that's how it'll always be for anyone having any issue with the game but I gave my own reasons to the lack of abilities being available all at once, it's a lack of player empowerment.

I didn't say you only have "access" to 3 powers, genius, I said you can only use 3 at the same time. In ME:3 I had at least 5 skills, not to mention passives and ammo powers: Shockwave, Pull, Charge, Nova and the awesome Flare. They all had a very quick cooldown if you knew how to use them. Oh, and you also had the revive skill, so it's actually 6. Like I said, medi-gel seems to just have disappeared from the lore.

It depends of how often you used your powers. I could charge and then use nova just after I finished my charge. But if you use all skills at the same time, then yes, it will take a little longer to cooldown.