I've recently been playing Mass Effect: Andromeda (again, on PS4 though. And yes it's a comfort game of mine) and I've been having thoughts about it. Not bad ones. I still thoroughly enjoy this game, even with the minor inconveniences or bugs. And I am on the side of "Yes, I know its a Mass Effect game set in a different location/setting/time-period. And yes, I know it feels different but No, I don't care I still like it a lot".
Some thoughts:
- I like the open-world aspect of the game. I know Mass Effect Trilogy is a bit more linear(?) about where to go and it's locations (and parts of that is nice because sometimes I don't know what I should be doing so the quests feel a bit more confined and easier to get to) HOWEVER, exploring a new world in an open world setting is fun because there is so much to explore. And, in my opinion, it's not as slow or as barren as Starfield (even though Starfield came out after, note: I struggle getting past the intro to Starfield because its so goddamn slow).
- I like the crew. We have a turian (Vetra Nyx), asari (Peebee, Dr. Lexi T'Perro), krogan (Drack), *spoiler* a new alien race crew member (Jaal Ama Darav), then of course the Human crew members (Cora Harper, Liam Costa, Gil Brody, Suvi Anwar, and obviously Ryder).
- The character creation is a bit more in-depth on ME:A compared to ME:Trilogy, unless you have mods (which I haven't done...yet.). There are tattoos, scars (not like the renegade scarring), more variety to hair color and eye color. I will say one gripe about the Character Creation in ME:A is that I cannot match eyebrow color to their hair color. It's tied to the face/complexion/whatever you choose.
- Another, minor, gripe I have is that the Maverick Helmet (the one I am currently using) doesn't really change color with my armor, or it doesn't have the same coloring as my armor like it's off by a shade or two.
- (This maybe counts for both the Trilogy and Andromeda but...) I like that there are many romance options for Ryder (some depend on gender). I love Vetra and Peebee. On my current playthrough I am romancing Suvi, but its a bit slower going than the others but she's sweet so I shall stick to her. I wish that I could romance Cora as a Female but she is straight in the game :(
- Another, a bit less minor, gripe is that on PS4 there are so many auto saves that I can have like only one manual save per playthrough, which makes I difficult to get achievements. In the past, when I didn't realize the save issue, I'd constantly get a message that I dont have room to save. And I was so confused but then later on I realized it was due to the damn auto-save function. Which you have no way of like saving less or turning off completely.
- Another, very minor, gripe is that I wish they came out with some sort of DLC for the game. Like about Jien Garson's death. Maybe, I hope, they are working on a sequel to not only the Trilogy but also Andromeda. But I doubt that because many others were disappointed, uspet, did not like the game. I am one of a few, possibly rare few, that really like the game.
- I liked the story for Andromeda. They ended on somewhat of a cliffhanger so I hope they really do make a sequel.
I need to finish the books of Mass Effect: Andromeda (Nexus Uprising, Initiation, and Annihilation). I am almost done with Nexus Uprising and it's been really good so far. Gives background to the Nexus Uprising (haven't seen any clues about the Benefactor nor clues on how Jien Garson died). The second book (Initiation), I believe, is based on Cora.
