Casual Reassessment--Part 1--The Team

I've just completed my second playthrough of the polarizing Mass Effect:  Andromeda and I am actually glad that I gave it another go.  My first playthrough left me feeling slightly frustrated and disappointed in the continuation of one of my favorite series.  After giving it more consideration I have more to add or to at least think about...and, of course, lots of unanswered questions.

Firstly, let me sum up the major differences between my two playthroughs--this time around I opted to make my Ryder male.  I enjoyed the male character much more than in the previous Mass Effect games and might have even felt like the voice acting was better than the female version.  For talents I initially wanted to go with an infiltrator style (stealth and sniping) but found that without the benefit of the concentration module from previous games (that slightly slowed combat allowing you to lurk around the edges and easily headshot...everything) it wasn't as fun.  Instead I decided to make Scott Ryder more of an engineer type--my go-to powers were tech combos of incinerate and overload paired up with a cryo spitting assault turret.  I was pleasantly surprised at how effective and fun the tech tree turned out to be.  When it came down to personality I decided that this character would be more of a casual joker than my much more serious and logical lady Ryder.  I did my best to make different decisions than my first character but found that I struggled with some of the major choices.  It seems like there's always something that I just can't justify in my head--like not helping the Krogan on Elaaden.  Why not just give them the Remnant drive core?  You get a settlement and you help the Krogan out--seems like a win, win kind of situation.

I am finding that I feel much more favorably about Andromeda after my second full run.  The crew has grown on me and I tried to spend more time trying to understand and pay attention to their individual backstories.  If I had to rank the crew from my favorite to least favorite crew members here's how I'd do it:

PeeBee--I love her unique personality and general zaniness.  It's nice to see an Asari character who isn't so serious.  She was my romantic choice for Scott Ryder.

Jaal--He offers a lot of insight into Angaran culture and his banter with almost all the other characters
is genuinely funny and at times can be quite analytical.

Grandpa Drack to the rescue.

Drack--He's the grandpa Krogan that we have never had.  I also have an admitted soft spot for
the Krogan and their cute little laughs after acts of violence.

Vetra--Like PeeBee, Vetra seems to have been clearly written as an outsider.  She's had to take on the role of a parent and do whatever it takes to keep her and Sid alive.  She can be prickly but I like that she stands up for herself and her choices.

Suvi--She has grown on me.  Any time a video game character starts in on spirituality...it's usually a yawner.  If you look past that aspect of her personality there is a genuinely curious scientist underneath.  I appreciated the humorous banter about licking rocks, taste testing the Heleus flora, and leaving items absent mindedly scattered around the Tempest.

Lexi--Unfortunately there's not a lot of Lexi to love...she's a side character with a minor backstory.
Her character is much more of the typical Asari and she and PeeBee don't really get a along.
Natalie Dormer's voice though...that's enough for me to rank her above other characters.

Gil--I still don't really fully understand Gil...even after two playthroughs.  He's gay, he's funny, he
is good at poker, he likes to tinker on the ship.

Cora--I ranked Cora fairly low because I feel like she's Ashley Williams without the space racism.   She's still a character who could have had a lot of potential but was stifled by lack of a good
story.  Like Ashley's annoying fascination with poetry, Cora likes to spout Asari maxims.  I
want Cora to be cooler.

Kallo--I am a little bummed by how little we actually get to know Kallo.  The bulk of his interactions
involve his arguments with Gil over how to operate the Tempest.  You learn virtually nothing about him.

Liam--I have now decided that I'm not a big fan of Liam.  He comes off as being a little immature
and irrational.  He does things without thinking.  He's also not really that interesting as a
character.

There are some standouts on your crew and there are some duds.  With some better writing and more character development I feel like the crew could turn out to be a memorable group of misfits.  I really wish someone would fix Cora...her story has potential.