Things you feel "Mass Effect: Andromeda" does well

I'll probably repeat some things that have already been mentioned, but here are some of the things I especially like about MEA:

-The visuals are stunning. We got a decent variety of different kinds of planetary environments, and watching the ship hurtle through space is a treat.

-Exploration is fun, the Nomad is fun to drive, and the special paint jobs and upgrades make it even moreso.  It's nice to be able to jump out and snipe enemies from afar, ala ME1.

-The word budget. Odd thing to mention, I suppose, but it's the reason we got so much banter, so many conversations with NPCs, and probably so many side quests with xtra info.

-The characters. I have very high expectations of BioWare wrt characters, and this team did not disappoint. Note: that doesn't mean I especially like all of them, but that's realistic imho. In a way, dealing with some of the squaddie's nonsense helped propel Ryder into feeling like a more astute leader. Anybody can succeed with a team of seasoned, disciplined veterans; genuine leadership involves making the most of what you have and helping subordinates out of their screwups.

-Crafting. In most games, I find that I'm often stuck between appearance and stats wrt to armor/apparel. MEA's augments allow me to use the armor with the appearance I find most appealing and give it some additional stats that suit my Ryder's build. Huge variety with weaponry, too, and I'm glad they listened to feedback about thermal clips versus the overheat mechanic. MEA provides an entire set of weapons (the remnant line) that overheats, and an augment that allows you to give any other weapon the overheating mechanic.

-The krogan. Yeah, I like what they did with them - fertility improved, but genophage not entirely cured means they can grow their numbers at a rate that's not likely to threaten the others. It signals that isn't going to be a factor going forward, though there still seems to be some animosity around it. MEA's krogan also seem more balanced not only gender-wise, but they also appear to be as interested in building a civilization as they are in making war.  I think it bodes well for their future in Heleus.

-The angara. Interesting new species with much to add to the mix. I enjoy the process of turning them into allies, and the Roekkar response all feels very realistic to me.

-The kett. Complex enough to be interesting, and making them like religious zealots is a welcome twist.

-Remnant/Jardaan. We got just enough to make me want to know more.

-Quest design. Overall decent, but as has been previous mentioned, I wouldn't have minded having a few longer quests instead of so many short ones. I did like the fact that some quests that appear to be simple fetch quests turn out to be much more - and stopping by various buildings to take out the enemies there often gave me datapads that would reveal more info about the world or some other questline.

-H-047c. Yep, it's awesome. I'd love to see more areas with gravity conditions - high as well as low gravity.

-Not sticking to cover. This is the one change to combat that I really appreciate.

The not-so-good:

-It takes a bit longer than I'd like to complete a playthrough.  I think they could reduce the size of some of the maps by ~ 1/3, and we'd still have enough space to enjoy the Nomad.

-I miss the power wheel and ability to manage squadmates in combat.  I don't much care about the profiles.

-I also miss the classes, as they were part of my PC RP in MET.  I've found it a bit difficult to simulate classes in MEA, since you kind of need passives from multiple trees.

-The Tempest is a beautiful ship, but it's a bit confusing to navigate around it.

-Ammo and first aid boxes strewn around are almost as bad as corridors filled with chest-high cover.  It is a very gamey mechanic that spoils the look of the scenery.

-No medi-gel and ammo types, etc. as consumables. So I rarely bother with ammo types, despite having used them a lot in MET.

There's probably more, but this is plenty. 

I'm in a bad spot for posting, at the moment, but this was on my mind.

The Remnant are awesome. I love the aesthetic of all things Remnant. I love the variety of bots we fight. I love how they use rapid printing to spawn new and additional machines, and to "repair" things.

I love Tom and Fryda! Both of them are so expressive and relatable. They made Ryder my favorite voiced protagonist. (Equal to Jen Hale's Shepard, IMO -- never thought I'd say that!) I am going to be extremely disappointed if we don't get MEA2 with both of them awake and interacting with each other. Their chemistry is fantastic.

Having both the male and female protagonist exist in each other's story was a stroke of genius in my opinion. How many times in games do we get forced pathos where our protagonist's family member (wife, child, etc.) is in danger but we as players don't really care? Now that I've played as both Sara and Scott, if anything happens to the sibling in MEA2 I am going to seriously lose it. Watching my custom Sara screaming during my second (Scott) playthrough was upsetting because I identified with her. When I play her again I'm sure I'm going to have a much stronger reaction to seeing Scott tortured than I did in my first playthrough because I've gotten to know him now. (My Scott is a troll and a meathead, but I love him.)

I also am really happy that I can make an Asian Ryder who doesn't look like a caucasian person painted brown. This is the first time I've been able/chosen to play a protagonist who is the same race as me. It felt weird. And I liked it.

Jetpacks. I was really skeptical about them before the game came out but now I don't want to be without them. I also hate jumping puzzles in general but I found the ones in MEA to be fun.

Having the freedom to play any way I want. If I don't want to craft, I don't have to. If I don't want to do sidequests, I don't have to. If I don't want to play with builds, I can get through the whole game with one set of powers and one gun. If I don't want to do multiplayer I don't have to. Also having multiple ways to get what I need is wonderful. If I want to craft I can mine, pick up rocks or just buy the materials.

Return of loyalty missions. I love these opportunities to get to know the squaddies better. I especially liked Drack and Peebee's loyalty quests.

I really liked that there seemed to be little rewards for exploring, like the mini vaults on Eos, Havarl and Elaaden that you could find by exploring every nook and cranny of the map. Or the back door to the Remnant ship on Elaaden. The placement of the resources and crates on the maps was also well done, so if you saw a ledge and thought "I bet I could get up there," you not only could get up there, but there'd be a little prize for doing so.

Flying through the cluster was beautiful.

The return of Haestrom-like planetary hazards was fun. It made each planet feel unique. Hearing Ryder shouting "Ow, f***! Don't touch that!" after accidentally stepping into the water and having his shields stripped was hilarious.

The sounds made by all the forms of transportation were great. Very fitting, sounded good and made me feel as if I were there. Especially liked the jetpack, Tempest and Nomad noises.

The seamless Tempest without loading screens felt very real.

So much banter. I can't get enough.

Yeah, that's another thing. The Nomad - man, when I heard they were bringing that back, I was so sure it was going to be "The Mako 1.5".

Thank God it wasn't. The Nomad blows that POS thing called the Mako out of the water. I actually looked forward to driving it when I went planet-side.

It looked cool, it handled really well. You could actually upgrade it and change gears for driving in sand or off road. Seriously, I don't mind driving in the Nomad. It handles so incredibly well!

How could I have forgotten to mention the new mo-capped female walk/run animations? I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!

That gawdawful DA2 "sexy run" that infected ME3 and the femquisitor poopy-diaper stomp needed to DIE IN A FIRE! Sara Ryder moves like a normal human being and I'm so grateful.

All of the new mo-capped animations were good and so necessary to update the feel of the game. Scott's running animation is also miles better than Shepard's.

Only did one playthrough and it was as Scott. They fixed the female mocap? @.@

I’m the kind of guy who likes soft limits on class systems.

Oh man ME2 takes the cake. Shepard walks around like the Invisible Man is doing a Weekend at Bernies and Shepard is actually dead being strung about like a puppet.

I am the same.  I am wondering how many problems or extra work it would have been to have an option on the skills menu to set it to "Vanguard", "Sentinel", etc. So if we wanted to have some form of soft limit if we wanted it.  I know its a "me" problem, but I found I would eventually graduate back to the same build by the end of a game even if I went into it with the intention of being more limited.

I like this idea of making an option for it.  Even so, I consider the convenience of not having to start a completely new game just to try out a different class outweighing whatever tendency some people might have towards being unable to adhere to self-imposed limits within a game.  In general terms, the vast majority of players will only play any game through once, maybe twice with NG+, so I feel that freeing them up to sample different powers is just more important than locking some players into certain classes "for replay value."

I'd also add to the list of things done well in ME:A is the ability to switch the PC's gender when going into a NG+; which allows the player to experience playing with the highest tier weapons and upgrades and experience playing as both genders after only two playthroughs.  ME1 was the worst - You had to start a new game to try out any different class, a new game to change gender, a new game to try a different spec even with sticking with a class, a new game if you found that, after starting, you didn't like the look of your PC.  You also had to do several playthroughs to get all the different weapons and power achievements so you could use them as bonus talents on alternate classes.  ME:A's is just so much more convenient.  Restarting new games in ME1 just to change class or add in a different bonus talent to a class became more of a chore than a pleasure.

The looks of the game were beautiful when I played, shows what frost bite 3 can really do.