A Message to the Creators of ME: Andromeda

I am happy to see reviews starting to take a turn as they play the full game. I was disheartened by all the negativity. While MEA does start slow it gets so much better.This is a game that grows on you, trust me, after 77 hours I have completed 98% of the game and I have some strong impressions of it.

I loved the Nomad which surprised me because I hated the Mako originally. I loved the crafting once I figured it out, lots of trial and error. I loved the combat (especially the jump pack or biotics depending on your build). The new spec system is great, and really let me play around with my style.

The side quests are interesting and some make a lot of sense, like scanning rocks and plants (they could potentially impact things in the future). It's a new galaxy and this kinda stuff is part of it. Others were less interesting, like scan item a at random Remanent ruins that didn’t have a map marker (the game gives you the option and I eventually took it, to skip these lol, they pretty much are just experience boost options).

The game story is solid and delivers some truly amazing moments. The feeling of seeing the first settlement land on Eos, I did a side quest that seemed like a standard fetch mission, but ended with the birth of the first child in Andromeda which really sync’d with the story in a deep way. Those little moments really bring the reality of this game to life, and tell the story of creating a whole new colony in a new galaxy. I found myself rushing off to try and meet the little guy.

This is a bioware game so characters are important. I loved my Scott Ryder (I have already started play through 2 with Sara Ryder). You could play Shepard as a saintly cheeseball Paragon or a sociopath mass murder Renegade. I like the nuance they take with this one. There are still some generally renegade opportunities like shooting one of your companions former lovers. But generally I played my Scott as wide eyed, naiive, and cocky as hell. Loved it. My Sara I am already taking a colder more logical approach.

But like I said, it’s a Bioware game and characters matter. So here are my impressions of the companions.

1.) Liam got a lot of hate and I had mixed feelings to start but then we were fighting the Kett and he said “I think I upset that guy. Probably because I shot him in the face” and I couldn’t stop laughing. His relentless optimism can be grating, but its necessary to create the truly powerful moments with him when it slips and he has doubts. He is the visionary optimist, exactly the kind of person who would sign up for this kind of initiative. His loyalty mission provided some of the best laughs in the game.

2.) Cora had a soft side but for the most part she was the logical focused one. Her backstory though is left vague especially around her family (who were poor and died on a freighter…..) which I think was intentional, which I think impacted her story down the road. She could be a super interesting character in the future with an interesting past. Her loyalty mission was solid and showed what can happen when you have hero’s and they don’t live up to expectations.

3.) Vetra never clicked for me, I love the conversations she had with Drack from time to time but overall she didn’t click for me. If her and her sister start a trading company and we run into them on a distant world for a quick hello that would be fine by me. When I first met her I thought she would be more interesting. Her sister provides some genuinely nice moments but overall this character never clicked for me.

4.) DRACK IS AWESOME. Drack to me is the new Garrus. He was my bro, and a strong character. His soft side story about Kesh is touching, and getting into a bar fight with him at your side is hilarious. Drack became the staple of my team. His banter with team mates and random comments are fantastic. His loyalty mission was good. I feel like there is a lot more to learn there and I want more.

5.) PeeBee is interesting, annoying and funny all at once. She is a funnier more reckless Liara. She has some great commentary and her knowledge on the Remnant is a critical
device I suspect in the future which is why I see her as a LIara who will likely be in the entire series.

6.) Lexi is the new Dr. C and I loved the banter and chats I had with her. One of my favorite times in ME2 was sharing brandy with Dr.C in her lobby. Lexi lecturing me about dying so often was a great moment. She is called and distant at first, using her professionalism to hide how much she cares. Solid character.

7.) Kallo Jath has some generally sentimental moments about the Tempest that really create a touching story. He more than any other character reminds you about the people left behind and the difficulty of coping with that reality. He isn’t Joker, and I miss that but he is still a good character with a lot of potential.

8.) Suvi was ok. She had some generally interesting and philosophic moments. The origins of the Angarans really through her for a loop. I liked my chats with her. However, I see her as a Traynor or if she died in the next game I wouldn’t miss her a lot. Not sure the character has the depth to be in multiple games.

At the end this game reminded me a lot of Mass Effect 1. While the realities of the original game have been clouded a bit by the release of ME2 and ME3, which fostered and created the deep love we had for the original trilogy characters, that took time. The original game did, and still does, have a lot of glitches. The original game also had a lot of open spaces and some concepts that didn’t pan out. Andromeda has similar issues BUT, the meta-story is there and it has as much if not more potential than the original trilogy. I think a second game where you see how your decisions play out and impact things will make you go back and re-evaluate the first game. As we run into our past crewmates again and they grow, we will have the opportunity to fall in love with them. Garrus really grew on me in ME2 which made me look at him differently in ME1 and ME3. That’s what happened with me and ME1. I played it the first time, didn’t do a lot of the side content, liked the story but wasn’t overawed. Played ME2 and enjoyed it a lot and suddenly It made me go back and play ME1 through a new lens. ME3 made me do the same thing again with ME1 and ME2. I have since played all 3 games several times. The individual games each had their flaws but it was their collective whole that made them amazing.


So all in Mass Effect Andromeda was an easy 8.5/10. Story was Mass Effect through and through, lots of content to discover, neat side quests, touching moments, great characters, strong companions and a universe of content to read. Yes it has its clunky moments. Yes, there is work for Bioware to do, but that has been true in the past and I have little doubt they will do it. And like all good games it left me with questions and wanting more.