'I like or love the game' (General feedback)

I'm 20 hours in and really enjoying this game. Doing quests on the Nexus reminds me a lot of me1 Citadel. The combat is really fun and I like the exploration aspect. The facial animation issues don't bother me. They are really not as bad as people are claiming, imho.

(may contain very minor early game spoilers - you've been warned)

TL;DR:
Having lots of fun, but still a few flaws that need addressing. Not as bad as reviewers made out by a long shot.


Long version:
Hmm let's see.

I'm a few hours into the game, and currently on Eos attempting to deal with the radiation issue, so it's probably a bit early yet to say whether or not I definitely love it, but I will say this, I am having fun - despite the various problems and issues I've encountered.

If I'd taken many of the player reviews on Metacritic seriously I'd have loaded it up expecting a broken, unfinished, incoherent uholy mess that could hardly even be described as a game; something that crashed upon every in-game event, with graphics that resembled an Atari Jaguar, and made Big Rigs Over The Road Racing seem like a seminal, genre-defining masterpiece in comparison.

Fortunately, I've long-since learned to put little faith in player reviews; especially ones that base all their conclusions upon quality of in-game special effects and graphical enhancements. These are the same kinds of people that pour hate on slower, more thoughtful movies because they don't have huge explosions and mindless car chases every five minutes. Gamer 'nerd ragers' and stereotypical American High School jocks probably have more in common then they might care to admit. Fortunately these types are a very vocal minority - most gamers are decent, fair-minded people. The problem is, it's usually the haters who are most visible, and tend to hog all the attention.

In any case I loaded the game up, with few preconceptions, except that the animations weren't so great, the character creator was sub-par (verified by many, reliable, independent players) and a frustrating inability to save your game whenever you wished. I was prepared for the former, and gritted my teeth at the latter.

Sure enough, the character creation screen was suitably horrid. No surprises there. After messing around for a few minutes, and creating several hideous lumpen troglodytes, and a few ugly, misshapen Morlocks I gave up and went for the default male Ryder - who at least was not an embarrassment to humanity.

Yep, the animations and lip syncing are not so great in places - but you know what? Animation anishmation! I can live with it. it's not such a huge issue in the grand scheme of things.

Yep, I miss my 'pause, aim and fire' mechanic, and am constantly blowing my power cooldowns on lousy misses on Kett that refuse to stand still and be turned into biotic cheese like they bloody well should - but I can live with that too. I'll just have to practice until I get better. What's the good in a game without challenge and ways to constantly put your through your paces and test your tactics skills?

Had a few issues with the graphics settings. Getting a good balance between smooth framerate and eye candy proved quite tricky. I began with everything mostly on high - but it soon became clear that it was going to leave things jerky and semi-unplayable; which is a shame, as all my other 'modern' games can be played pretty-much on the ultra setting, even Inquisition has the settings maxed out. In the end I had to settle for everything mostly on medium quality, with some things turned off altogether. This game is a serious system hog beyond anything I've played before! Even after quitting to desktop I find that it takes a good while for my PC to settle down, and become usable.

Some bugs too, the worst is one that stops my omni-tool scanner from working, requiring a game restart, but hey ho. I reported it and let's hope the patches sort it out.

Saving wasn't the issue I imagined either. It was only during the intro missions that I was unable to save at all. On Eos I can save whenever I like... so far at least. No quick save, which kind of sucks, but at least it's not using a check point system.

Would have been nice if somebody had actually communicated this somewhere on the internet, but I can find no references at all.

So, for anyone who is worried about saving, I can 100% confirm that I can hard save from the menu whenever I wish, even when on a priority mission. Maybe this will change further into the game, but right now it's fine, if a bit laborious.


Some of the game mechanics and in-game systems are pretty obscure, and (initially) difficult to get to grips with. The game does a very poor job of explaining things like favourites, profiles, how to swap weapons and equipment, how to heal my character when he takes damage etc. Had to use the internet a few times for work stuff out - and they say that any mechanic that forces you to look outside the game to learn it, is a bad mechanic. There's an overwhelming array of menus, sub-menus, screens, and in-game systems to learn and adapt to. None of it is particularly intuitive - or so I found. Others may disagree.

Companions: It's probably best to wait until I have a few more to form any definite opinion. The starting two seem rather generic. I can't even remember their names. I just think of them as "Serious-natured, not-very-pretty girl with unattractive grungy two-tone haircut", and "bloke who looks and sounds a bit like that techy bloke in Oceans II who uses the  'pinch' EMP". I've had no real opportunity to speak with either save at the most superficial level. I know little about them, I don't know their likes, dislikes, what drives them etc. They are just 'followers' at this stage. Maybe that will change later?

If I have to be honest though, I suspect I probably had similar thoughts about Ashley and Kaidan at the beginning of ME:1. ME:2 probably spoiled me by introducing someone like Miranda who was so full of presence and personality right up front. There's also a female Turian who I've not really spoken too properly yet, and the Krogan who a suspect will be a companion at some point. He might potentially be pretty interesting.

Peebee, on the other hand, who I met for the first time this morning, and I know is going to be a companion, is larger that life and absolutely brimming with personality. Her introduction was awesome, and I love her already - hopefully a possible romance option there.

And that's as far as I've got.

I'm having lots of fun, with the occasional frustration. It certainly feels very much like a Mass Effect game. I have the same 'In the Mass Effect universe' feeling that I get from playing the other games in the series. I like it far more than I did Inquisition - which was the first Bioware title I actually grew bored with, and wanted to stop playing half way through the game. I'm not bored at all in this game, and eager to play more.

22 hrs played, 19 %. I'm enjoying myself immensely. Just started up my MP characters as well. I can see that MP will be a blast to. Ryders first renegade interrupt was sooooooooooo sweet. I had to start up Sara to. Second time through the prologue was really powerful and the VA are doing a fantastic job. IMO.

I'm getting a hang on the combat slowly.

I love the game already. So much ME1 feeling with amped up combat. Just waiting for someone to shout "I will destroy you!"

Quicksave Bioware. Pretty please.

Ta! Gotta go to Aya.

How can I give feedback to Bioware regarding font size. I am sure they could patch something fairly easily. That's my main concern with the game. I can only play for short periods because the squinting is too hard to maintain when trying to read anything. I do have a 42 inch TV and sit about 6 feet from it. Cant move the furniture unfortunately so have to stand and get real close to read. Had the same problem with inquisition they did fix some of the text so that helped a bit.

On Voeld.

Well, I'm really enjoying it so far. Are there areas that could use work? Obviously, but it feels like Mass Effect to me. I definitely find it comparable to ME1, which I think is the fairest comparison for everything but the technical issues, rather than the entire trilogy as a whole. I like the squadmates a lot, more than I did ME1's squadmates at first, and the more casual, less melodramatic tone is a breath of fresh air after playing space Jesus and fantasy Jesus in BW's last games. The worlds are beautiful, combat is a lot of fun, and the story and premise is good, imo.

Honestly, I would love to see them make a sequel to this, given they take into account some of the missteps that have hampered Andromeda's release and improve on them. I think there's a lot of potential here for a really fun, engaging multi-chapter story, to turn a good game with some issues into a great series (with, let's be honest, a little of the ol' Bioware jank that they'll probably never truly get rid of.) That said, I don't know how likely that is at this point, but I'll be sad if this is the last we see of Ryder and their crew.

I really like the game, been playing it a ton in my free time.

I do feel like BW somehow lost all the polish they found in ME2-3, while reverting back to ME1 style. I get the style change, but I'm not sure why the polish had to completely disappear as well. The animations are BAD, the graphics overall are middling, sooooo many little bugs, etc. I could go on with specifics, but everyone has posted most of them. I'm also not sure why we had to abandon the Milky Way just to have an Asari researcher of by-gone civilizations as a squad-mate, and bad guys that

I mean, maybe I'm missing a twist that comes later... but, yikes.

That said, with the myriad of negatives, the game DOES indeed feel like Mass Effect, and I'm having a good time with it.

I do hope they get a little more serious for the sequel.

In general, I thought the game was...okay. There is plenty that did not go well, and other parts that just were not good. However, I think Andromeda was doomed from the start to be more important than it was. Mass Effect 2 was an extremely well written game, and Mass Effect 3, while not nearly as good, had some great gameplay and even some great plot movements. At least, until the last end of the game. People were going to come into this and pick it apart merely for NOT being those things. Hell, ME2 got it for changing from ME1.

The combat was a net positive. It was fluid, it was fun, and I could switch things on the fly. It ruins a bit of the replayability factor, and at the very beginning it could get a little overwhelming. But in general, I liked the freedom to switch and move. The jetpack was fun, the shooting worked well. As a third-person shooter, I was satisfied. Not blown away, but satisfied.

The plot was unique. It reminded me of Firefly, and it gave me a goal to reach to. It made me want to do sidequests because I felt the rewards immediately.
It was the right plot to have an exploration-based game, but the engine doesn't really appear to be built for that. Ryder's too much of a badass for it, even if he's green. Shooter games don't tend to lend themselves to it. When I explore, I want it to be dangerous. Games like The Long Dark, Stranded Deep, and the like do this well. But when the principle focus is combat, I feel like it wasn't the sort of game to attach "Mass Effect" too.

Speaking of missions, I liked a majority of them. Rescuing the arks felt epic, the twists with the angara worked well. Again, I wasn't blown away, but I was satisfied.

The squad was a bit of a disappointment. Liam was good for a few funny moments and beers, but it didn't rise more than "okay, you're kinda cool." Cora's talk of gardens and stuff like that was refreshingly new, but her complaining of her biotics when I've already seen Jack's story just annoyed me. I liked Vetra, but she was too much Garrus 2.0. Drack was annoying and whiny, even for a krogan. Peebee I liked more than I thought I would. Like Cora, she was refreshing, and hilarious. Jaal annoyed me. I thought he was a giant wimp!

Speaking of wimps, Ryder annoyed me a lot in the sense that I could never put my foot down. I can understand people not listening when I'm unproven, but I am the Pathfinder, and the only one who seems to be doing stuff. If these people want their loved ones out of cryo or something, they can pick up a weapon and found their own colony.

The NPCs in the game were a mixed bag. I like the Pathfinders, and most of the humans were fairly okay. Tann's voice annoyed me in the beginning because it felt like a guy in a studio. But it did grow on me. Kesh (Allegra Clark has some awesome range) was okay, but I think she banked too much on the "I'm not like other krogan) bandwagon. Addison was fun to hate. The Moshae gave me the same feel as Samara: She felt the most alien. The others, eh...Sloane and Reyes were too much like a carbon copy of Omega with a more satisfying ending.

I liked that the sidequests had more of a shades of gray type ending. The ending was a little too much space magic, I think I wanted more science behind it.

All in all, I recommend letting some patches come out. Or, maybe the DLCs then buy the whole thing in a bundle.

Backlash... its sooooo awesome I cant even cope

I also love the Nomad

The humor! I LOVE the humor! And my crew. Everyone has a unique personality. They feel like real people. Real friends. And playing a Biotic is the best way to have the most enjoyment out of this game imo! Plus I like the Vaults and all the exploration!

Jaal. 'Nuff said.

You don't have to pick default Ryder, just don't change the name (Scott or Sara).