Replaying Andromeda one year later. God i like this game. am i the only one?

One year later I would say that the game was ok. After having being fully patched and it was an enjoyable experience however I have to be honest with you, the way this game was treated by BW/EA left a bitter taste in my mouth. The fact it was scrapped by them had made me so sad every time I put the disc inside wondering if they did not bother to care supporting it then why should I? This very last thing killed the game for me and not the trainwrecked release, I'm too much of a ME fan and would have patiently waited for BW to iron the many issues that plagued MEA at release, the fact that they just only partly delivered on it felt like a betrayal to me.

Speaking strictly about the game here a couple of consideration I matured after an year:

1. I appreciated the combat but I would have preferred the class system back. The fact you could not play immediately everything added to the replay value to me.
   
2. Ryder unfortunately is not a convincing protagonist. I know what they wanted to do with this but to be honest a grizzly and hardened veteran like Shepard, is much more enticing to play than a rookie. I want to play a charismatic and respected protagonist and not a green soldier. I know they wanted to provide a fresh perspective but I did not enjoy it.
   
3. The real lack of Renegade path, I enjoyed playing as psychotic Shepard like I enjoyed playing as Dark Side Revan in Kotor. This alternative way was taken away and instead we got the choice between playing a hero and a pragmatic character. The third evil path was removed imo. Tbh I would love to have it back for extra replayability. I wanted an opportunity to harden Ryder but I felt like a whimp playing with him/her.
   
4. The characters were ok some were actually good like Drak but ultimately all were a young and freespirited team a little bit juvenile for my taste. I wanted more people like Jack, Zaeed, Thane. I felt that the entire atmosphere on board the Tempest was ultimately superficial and too light hearted.
   
5. I really did not find the Andromeda galaxy interesting at all, it felt like a distant galaxy and everything felt abstract and artificial. The Kett other than being threatening and mysterious were outright boring. I felt no interest in knowing more on them. The Reaper were much better in projecting menace and power.
   
6. I appreciated the return of inventory, Nomad and exploration ala ME1 though to be honest I don't want this to happen at the expense of the story. I would love if they were able to strike a compromise and tone down a little bit the exploration (NOT outright remove it) and favor the story. Ultimately the exploration should be subservient to the story and not viceversa. The exploration should be supporting to the main story and not diluting the game with meaningless fetch quest. I prefer less but of good quality.
   

An enjoyable game overall but far away from the Trilogy.

What I would propose for ME in the future?

• Go back to the Milky Way, it is our galaxy after all and it felt much more interesting
  
• Do a sequel of the trilogy, swallow your pride and canonize an ending or mix some of them to create an interesting scenario to which you can develop further. It does not have to be Shepard the protagonist. Pick another crew of mercs, pirates etc..
  
• Light-hearted is good but too much is bad. I want still a dark atmosphere and characters that have a realistic story to tell us. Life is a mixture of smile, tears, joy and sufference blended together to create a unique mix. Ultimately those past tears make the next smile meaningful. Laughing and joking constantly is puerile and unrealistic. That is not life. Give me realistic people to deal with.
  
• Have a blend of exploration with a dominant narrative. As said earlier the story should be the king and exploration should serve as a narrative tool.
  

That is all I have to say I so hope one day to enjoy and love ME the way I used to.

I've always enjoyed it. It's fun and hilarious and totally on par with ME1.

It's really good! I've talked before about my fondness for Andromeda. Aya makes me want floor tiles like that in my house.

Hah so I'm not the only one who has material fetishes..
But for real, its so amazing looking, its like porcelain/elephant bone kinda, something else.

I was disappointed with the game when it first came out, but I've since come to terms with it. To me, it's like watching a B+ movie. It's not groundbreaking or anything, but it is enjoyable for the duration you are playing it.

You are not the only one. I enjoyed it too. GIVE US A SEQUEL BIOWARE!!

I’ve recently completed a play through after some time away myself and I still found it really good fun!

However, like Basileus I would like the next ME game to take place in a post reaper war Milky Way. It maybe because I’m currently playing through the trilogy again and it’s reminding me why I fell in love with the mass effect universe, but the intrigue between the races and the general lived in feel of council space is speaking to me so much more then a return to Andromeda right now. That’s not to say that I’d never want another Andromeda game however!

Well i don't want to ruin the feel good moment because Andromeda isn't a bad game, but it was the first Mass Effect game i EVER fell asleep on in the middle of playing it. Un-inspired characters and writing is the bottomline for me...and for the next game, please get rid of SAM...Ryder couldn't do anything without him....Sam unlock this door....Sam do this....and how in the world was Alex able to stabilize these atmospheres using Sam even tho no human understood this alien tech?



Yes Sam may be advanced A.I. but it still has basic understandings and fundamentals from a human perspective...going into Andromeda and configuring alien tech and manipulating it to the point to where you can stabilize the planets atmosphere is a bit of a stretch even from a sci-fi perspective. Yes we have to use our imagination, but we also like for these aspects to be implemented in some form of grounded reality...not lol...Alex used advanced A.I. space magic to do things the Kett could never do...





That said....Andromeda had stunning visuals and incredible art direction and design.....but i've seen scores from review sites ranging from 6's to solid 8....with the overall criticisms pointing to story and character issues outside of Andromeda's initial animation and glitching problems. The series can redeem itself with a solid sequel with a strong narrative and compelling characters....the kett turning Angarians into kett felt too much like what the Reapers was doing....just rehashing ideas with a different color....and some side missions had you traveling from planet to planet often times running into other side missions.....some aspects of it just felt like a clusterf**k...





Don't want to rag too much on the game tho as again it's not a bad game, just for me it wasn't a very good Mass Effect game.

I am planning to play it again in a few weeks after I've upgraded my computer. Being able to play it on max setting with everythign running smooth and silent will be nice.

Just finished it on sunday. Damn i feel nostalgic . A game with faults but with a soul. In the end you feel as if you really accomplished making Helues viable.

I liked it more than Dragon Age Inquisition personally. However I have a hard time replaying it because it takes the open world from that game, which I absolutely hated. So much empty space just to make the game seem bigger than it is. Also the animations are still terrible, after replaying the original trilogy its hard to look past them. I will say though they really nailed the combat, its by far the best of all the games.