A critique on MEA's problems that are NOT about the animations.

I write this 'review' of sorts having finished the Single Player and now playing Multiplayer almost exclusively (well, what can I say, it IS fun, when it works). However, aside from the animations issues that everyone complained about (which, strangely, I never encountered) there's other problems I find with Mass Effect Andromeda that I would like to hopefully bring up. So, without further ado;

I will start with the most constant one; the companions (bar Vetra and Dreck) are AGGRAVATING. We have Cora, a commando with no grasp of the concept of FUBAR and zero adaptability. We have Liam Costa, a 'crisis specialist' who creates more issues than he solves. Then we have PB, who's romance is shoved on our faces with all the grace of a warhammer -but I can't help but feel like a pedophile every time it comes up because of how childishly she acts. I mean, seriously, she calls herself a 'scientist' but considers it a 'plan' to eject an escape pod from the Tempest at terminal velocity towards a volcano. Jaal is a self-righteous moron who believes the Angara can do no wrong. Of course not Jaal, the Angara are saints, they must all have SOME reason for wanting to shoot the one guy in the cluster who has repeatedly saved them. No, really. The companions feel like caricatures with 'traits' thrown on them by someone who just openened up TVTropes and chose a bunch of random tropes, stuck them on and said 'neeeext!'. Even Ashley (from the original trilogy) had more personality than them.

Next is the weapons/powers balance. Or rather the lack thereof. Weapons VASTLY outshine powers in the game. While, yes, I do agree that Ryder is NOT a hero (like Shepard, he was a proven War Hero by the START of the trilogy and a legend by the end) but that doesn't justify having this much of a difference. Even combos are really not all that useful. Handy, yes, nifty, sure. But when it comes down to it, my PAW is FAR more effective at tearing through opposition than my three powers.

By far the most important problem with the game is the LACK OF IMAGINATION. You mean to tell me, we crossed DarkSpace, went to a COMPLETELY different GALAXY... and both sentient alien species we meet are; bipedal humanoids, with eyes, noses and a mouth, utilize weaponry that is compatible with humans, there's large lizards and mushrooms and trees... Are you KIDDING me? The first trilogy had more of a varietion on the aliens; the Hanar, the Elcor. Those were DIFFERENT. They were UNIQUE. They were IMAGINATIVE. All the Kett and Angara feel like is a damn SKIN SWAP. Seriously? You could have done ANYTHING you thought of with the ability to have 'brand new species' and you want to tell me NONE of those responcible of artistic creation so much as looked at a Spore video? You could have had metallic plants and rocky fungi, aliens that are part gas or work in hive-like states (as inspired for example by the ocean-dwelling organism called a 'Man-o-War'). Colors, textures, everything could have been tweaked and moved about. Heck, you could have at least asked Neil DeGrasse Tyson (or any biologist) for ideas and they would have given you at least the basis of an idea for a more creative, but realistic, species. Honestly, I feel gypped with this.

Finally; the Multiplayer is FILLED TO THE BRIM WITH ISSUES. Constant crashes, enemies that are absurdly tough (do I really need to empty half my Revenant magazine on a Raider to kill him? -not that I don't enjoy the challenge), there's lag, no ability to converse with teammates without VoIP, no actual Friends List (and don't even START me on the 'Origin In-Game', because it increases my ping by about 400ms every time I turn it on). For crying out loud; at least fix the crashes, I'm sick and tired of losing stuff because of this.

That said the game is NOT bad. It has great combat feel (again, there's the fact that Ryder isn't a 'war veteran', he's an explorer, and a new one at that, so we can't expect him to be a one-man-army). Love the jetpack and individual power cooldown, the crafting's cool, loads of lore and quests to keep us invested, the Nomad's fun to just drive around the sites etc. I'd have loved taking part in a space battle (who wouldn't) but hey, exploration force, having frigates and the like probably wasn't the first thing in their minds. Hoping to see that in the next installment.

Here's my advice; fix the known bugs, add creativity. More importantly; when the second installement comes, make its multiplayer compatible with this one so, even if you can't buy the second game, you can still play and enjoy it.

Thank you for reading. Despite my misgivings, I enjoyed the game and do not regret buying it. I just have a hard time enjoying it to the maximum, as it should be -and I do believe that companies as large as Bioware and EA should provide better content.