What Did You Do Today in Andromeda

I tried both Scott and Sara and its hard to put into words but I just found the dialogue and Jaal's OTT affection to be really off putting. As I said tried twice fully intending to go through it but by the time it came to commit I just couldn't do it.

Huh Reyes swept my Sara off her feet without intending it to happen, thought I was just flirting but no!!!!! Revert to earlier save. 

That wasn't the Primus. That was Archon's Sword.

You have to tilt the camera juuuuust right to get a good look at what is inside. However, finding it will allow you to find the "alien object" in the system once back on the ship.

Alright! Finished my playthrough with Scott Ryder. A few final notes:

- Even though I only had one mission left, I spent another 5 or 6 hours in the game, just wrapping up stuff (first before, than after the final mission). I do like that there is so much epilogue stuff in there, so many people who have special post-ending dialogue. I think that's great. After the ending, I spent 2 hours just talking to everyone, even though I had basically no quests left. More games should do this, it's a cool way to "wind down" after finishing the playthrough (though the planet hopping is still a hell of a time sink).

- As for the final mission itself. I really really like it. It is absolutely spectacular from start to finish and IMO one of the best final missions that BioWare has ever created. First of all, I do like the plot development, where the Archon was basically using you, biding his time. This is exactly what makes him a much more effective villain than e.g. Coryphius was. He did have a plan that we didn't really see. The only plot hole here is that the Archon really should have taken out the Nexus when he snatched the Hyperion. Clearly he has the fleet to do it. Even the Primus shoudl be on board with that. The only reason I saw before as to why he didn't do it was because he didn't know where they are but clearly he does now.
There are a bunch of possible head canon explanations for this though. The one I go with is two-fold: 1. The Kett do not want to kill too many initiative members because they want to keep them for exaltation later. Destroying the Nexus now would have "deleted" all that genetic material for them to harvest and 2. the Archon clearly is a very arrogant man who doesn't see Ryder or the Initiative as a threat at all. he makes this clear in almost every conversation you have with him. Thus, he saw no need to cripple the Nexus because it simply wasn't really an enemy to even think about much.
So that's my explanation but it would have been good to spell some reasoning out in the game.
Still. apart from this minor complaint, I thought the twist with the sibling (including the part where we get to play them for a bit) was very cool. They also managed to give the whole AI-in-the-head thing an extra creepy vibe by showing how dependent you had become on SAM.

Visually, the final mission is a blast. A lot of games don't really do visual climaxes at the end anymore, probably because statistics seem to show that a lot of players never finish SP campaigns. That's a shame IMO. A proper story needs an exciting ending, both in the sense of plot and in production values. DA:I for example also kinda disappointed me there a little bit because it was basically a rehash of the very first level. The new Deus Ex Games could have had much more spectacular endings. Hell, even Witcher 3, which is a dam near perfect game IMO, had it's most spectacular scenes before the ending IMO. Even the old Trilogy games were hit and miss IMO, ME1 was brilliant, walking up the Citadel tower, ME2 was meh, just another Collector Base and Terminator baby, ME3 tried it's best but was mired down by the ridiculousness of the star kid and the fact that there was such a huge visual discrepancy between the in game scenes and the cinematic cutscenes IMO.

But anyway, ME:A really manages to dial it up to eleven for the final mission. The Dyson sphere and the space battle look great. And the Nomad section in the sphere, with the Hyperion and the Archon's ship fighting it out above is one of the most spectacular sights I have seen in a video game to date.
The actual final battle against the archon also happens in an environment the scale of which is kinda awe inspiring, just when you hover towards that control tower.
As for the final battle itself, I don't really like boss fights, I rather like when a more difficult scenario is presented within what we've had before (I also really liked ME3's final stand at the missile trucks) and that is exactly what happens here. Tons of bots and an architect plus the hold out scenarios worked pretty well. Could have thrown a bunch of destroyers in there for higher difficulty (IMO those are among the most challenging enemies in game, especially if you have 2 or 3 of them at once) but hey, it works as is. I also like that we don't defeat the Archon by shooting him but by "outwitting" him, at least as far as the plot is concerned.
The music - which I don't find that great in this game in general, certainly not when compared to the awesomeness of the trilogy - also manages to take it up a notch from the rest of the game.
And again, the fact that we have a nice epilogue on the Hyperion/Meridian Port where we get to talk to everyone again is an added plus as well.

So all in all, say what you want about the game, it's got more than its fair share of flaws but that final mission is a masterpiece in my book and should be held up as an example of how to end a game.


Ok, so much for the ending. Here are a few more things:
- I chose Bradley as ambassador. As a former Alliance officer and a fairly down-to-earth kinda guy, he seemed like a good choice for my rather military minded Ryder. Went back to Eos to listen to him complain about it of course.

- There is a bug there though. When I went back to Aya, the Moshae talks like she got the ambassador position, even though back at Meridian Port she still was disappointed she didn't.

- Also on Aya, I went ahead and tried to seduce the museum curator lady. Was surprised it worked next to the Cora romance. I didn't realize she was more like a fling/failed romance kinda thing. Thus, I also got that achievement in Origin.

- Oh, and speaking of romance, obviously, before the final mission, I went through the Cora romance scene. Oh boy, didn't realize it would be so ... explicit. I thought the Sarah/Jaal romance scene was weird because he was so alien looking but I don't know, this was not much better. Pixel-People having sex on screen just never looked quite right IMO. The trilogy romance conclusions (at least the once I saw) were better IMO, in the sense that they showed less, making it a bit less cringy. Just my take on it. (And yes, I know you can opt out of the sex scene but come on, I took it this far and also you can bet my Ryder wouldn't have done that. Gotta keep RPing right, right? ).

- Also did movie night before the final mission. Not quite as good as the "social" scenes in other BW games (the card game in Inquisition was better IMO and of course the Citadel party but that comparison might be a little unfair) but still, it was a nice little bonding moment for the crew and made all the melodramatic dialogue later on seem a little more genuine.

- Went to see Kesh's healthy Krogan eggs. Good for them.

- The hints at the quarian DLC: Ok, I know this is not going to be a popular opinion around here but I am kinda glad we never got that DLC. Not because I wouldn't have liked to get more Andromeda content (quite the opposite, I'd have liked some DLC) but because I think the idea of the quarian Ark is utter nonsense (just like almost every single aspect where Andromeda tries to connect with the old ME lore). How would the quarians, space gypsies who barely get by with their flotilla and are shunned everywhere in the MW get the resources and the political cred to build an ark? And if they did, why would they take on all those other species? And if it building that ark was a joint venture of all those races, why aren't the rich volus or the influential hanar the lead species on the project?
This, yet again sounds like the writers wanting to force one of their how-cool-would-it-be ideas into the lore no matter if it fits or not (and it REALLY doesn't). So I can only imagine, if they made this DLC, I would have cringed through it until my teeth fell out. So no thanks, I am good without it and I hope that if they ever do continue the story, they concentrate on the good parts, like what is actually going on in Andromeda , what's up with the Remnant and how are we going to deal with the Kett from here on, maybe give us some new and cool Andromeda species, rather then the known MW ones and also how will our relationship with the Angara develop, etc.

- Speaking of the Angara. They are one of my few complaints here at the ending because IMO they act much too tame. If I were the Angara leader, I would immediately demand to establish my own city on Meridian. Leaving such a powerful piece of technology in the hands of the Initiative/the humans and just sending a couple of people to help/observe wouldn't cut it for me. Especially because between having been in the cluster first and beeing creations (and thus one could interpret them as offspring) of the Jardaan, they could claim some sort of birthright. It should be the Angara that allow the humans to stay on Meridian, not the humans inviting the Angara there. Not to mention that Meridian would immediately solve their space problems on Aya, making the vassal rotations a non-issue. Yet, there barely seems to be any tension or even effort made on their part there, even though this time I didn't even choose the Moshae as ambassador (which my Sarah did in my last PT). The only instance that I can see where this point even comes up is the three guys in that debate circle on Aya and even them, you can shut down pretty easily.
Ok, maybe they are all still high on the joint victory against the Kett but if there ever is an Andromeda 2, this is where I would take at least part of the story, some growing tension between the Initiative and the Angara, eventually also bringing up the question if we, the MW people can be seen just as friendly explorers of if that in and of itself entails some aspect of encroaching on another people or in the worst interpretation an invasion on their territory. Andromeda had (and still has) a chance to much less black and white there as it is now and it would make it much more interesting if they had picked up on that.

- The final scene, I kept for the very end was the 100% viability Ryder-1 scene. I am glad I could do it this way this time around. During my first PT, which was before most of the patches were out, that scene could (and was in my case) triggered before the ending and it kinda spoiled the fact that Meridian would become a colony for me. Now, as a final scene, it is a really nice way to end the epilogue to the game.


Alright, that's it. Sorry for this huge post but since this is the wrap-up of my playthrough and thus my last long post in this thread probably for a couple of years, I wanted to get all my thoughts on the game out there.

All in all, my opinion on Andromeda hasn't really changed much. It's a solid 7 to 8ish game that is very flawed in some aspects but really didn't deserve the amount of hate that it got.

No reason. They didn't though.

That I did the 1st PT, but on second, I took some time to explore them. Theres some good loot and sometimes a puzzle, if one needs remnant parts, and also when running away, but I thought it was way too hard to get the stuff while the purge cloud is breathing to ones neck.

Man pissed I missed all this talk for some reason even though I have the thread bookmarked it wasn't showing anything happening.

Thanks for your commentary AnDromedary wish I'd been able to participate earlier but will go back over your comments tomorrow when I have time but looks like melbella stole all my thunder!!!

Thanks for your comments dazk

No, I haven't read any of the Andromeda books. But even if funded somehow by the Benefactor, I do find the idea of the quarians - a race who really struggles to get through the day and is really shunned by the other races - to build an arc and get everyone together rather preposterous. It just doesn't fit at all with how we got to know the quarians in the trilogy and in Ascension.
But whatever, I guess a discussion about the DLC is pretty moot at this point anyway.

As for the Angara and the Initiative: I agree that the story does a fairly decent job of explaining why the trust between the Angara (at least the ones we deal with directly) and the Initiative is established very quickly. One of my problems is actually that the story went in that direction in the first place and established "the good" and "the evil" aliens very clearly. I'd have found it much more interesting if there were much more shades of grey and if the Initiative itself - our own side - could have a really ugly underbelly to it (that is not the outlaws, again, black/white contrasting). The setting offered the perfect setup to make this story about the intertwining nature of exploration and colonialism. It was even already established in the beginning of the game how desperately we need fertile land as a matter of survival.
IMO, it would have been so much more thought provoking to tell a story about our interactions with aliens that are not outright hostile but that also see us with a great deal of suspicion and that actually do lay claim to all the garden worlds in their cluster (as we do in the milky way as well for example, which is why the quarians never found another place to settle).
Sure, right now, the Initiative is only about 10.000 people but their stated goal is to claim, colonize and grow.

When push comes to shove, will we get violent to get what we need to survive? That would have been the really interesting question that was perfectly set up to be asked in this game and it wasn't in favor of a fairly clishee bad-guy race as a common enemy for us to fight.

But now that that enemy is dealt with (at least temporarily) there is a chance again to take this kind of plot thread up and make it a thing in a potential Andormeda 2. That's what I'd like to see and IMo it could be easily accomplished just by writing in some political leadership change for the Angara and the question who gets to decide about Meridian's fate.

Because Meridian is/should become a political problem. It reminds me of the Jaffa Temple in Stargate SG1 at the end of season 7 or so (?), where there is this weapon that can destroy all life in the galaxy that one faction has control over. In principle, everyone was allied against a common enemy (the Goa'uld) for a long time but when that threat is gone, that ultimate weapon in the hands of one faction becomes a real problem.
In principle, the same should be the case for Meridian, which controls the fertility (and as the Archon has established is also capable of destroying) any garden world in the cluster (including Aya). Negotiations about how to divide up control over Meridian should be difficult and could provide a basis for a conflict (at least a diplomatic one) with very interesting plot points, if the authors so desire.

Of course, the Kett are still around and would also play a role in an Andromeda 2 and then anything can still happen with the remnant or on the outposts but IMO, the thread of a conflict with the Angara would bring a whole new level of tension into a prospective future game.
That's kinda all I want to say, that I hope if there ever is an Andromeda 2, they finally start to tap into that potential.

Sassy Sara is the best Sara!!!!! 
This was my sassy Sara, she completed my Insanity run as she was also slightly crazy and her and PeeBee made a great couple, let the chaos ensue!!!! 

I've been cleaning up assignments and tasks on Voeld the past little while trying to level up a bit before taking on the Voeld architect. I had a hillarious experience while doing the Strange Beacon encounter. It was my bad for not noticing that there was one remnant creeper hiding on the platform before I triggered the conversation with Holgar. As I was talking with her, the creeper crept up to Ryder and started attacking his leg. Holgar asked Ryder "Do you have a death wish." He replied that He didn't think so. She then told him he was standing in a kett minefield and she didn't know how he got in there without triggering any mines... and all the while the creeper is whittling away at his health. Just as Holgar says she doesn't know how he'll get out in one piece either, the edges of the screen go red and Ryder falls dead, no longer responding to the conversation. The last thing Holgar says is that she'll tell the resistance where to find his remains just before the Mission Failure screen comes up. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. I was laughing so hard I could barely hit the reload to start the encounter over again. The creeper got one quick bullet between the eyes the second time around.

Yeah, when the creeper started attacking, I remember thinking that it wouldn't be a problem because he was probably invincible as long as the conversation was ongoing.  I was even more surprised when Holgar just kept talking after Ryder stopped responding.  I just wish I had a clip of it.

I've had the same happen more than once. It's pretty much guaranteed if I don't search the area first or drop a turret to keep protect myself.

I've been away from this thread for so long. I'm glad it's still alive. I have played 700-800 hours of AC Odyssey since release. DLC kept dropping and pulling me back in when I was ready for a break. A full PT takes so damn long for that game, very much on par with DAI. It makes MEA seem reasonable in length.

I've been too sick to game for a while, but finally powered up and began a new MEA PT today. I created a new Scott to twin with my favorite Sara. I started fresh from level 1, using screenshots of my CC settings to avoid importing appearances. I hate playing the intro in red and black armor. Who decided that would be a good idea? Ugh. Many of my favorite faces are "no longer available" in the ME Archives, so I'm having to recreate what I can and salvage others from past PTs.

Anyway, I logged off before seeing Tempest for the first time. My wife was home and my dog was tired of watching me play. I think I'll be able to get invested in this PT when I next log on. It's been a long time since my last PT, so staleness shouldn't be an issue. I waffled a bit on playstyle, but decided to start as an Operator and build my "Tactical Soldier". That means Tac Cloak, Invasion (or Assault Turret) and Turbocharge will be my active skills. This build is nice because you can melt even Architects with ease at very low levels.  I'm always tempted to go Adept, but biotic detonations just aren't deadly enough at low levels on Insanity. Cleaning up foes who've survived insane rag-dolling and falls from low orbit sours my fun.

We'll see which weapon I end up choosing as my primary. Valkyrie and Hornet are both optimal, but I might build a Ghost. It's pretty, it's satisfying and it isn't brokenly OP.