A New Nemesis and Some New Friends

My schedule has been a little hectic lately and I haven't had a lot of time to play much.  I'm still trekking through Dragon Age:  Inquisition and haven't completed any new DLC to write about.  Fortunately my unending obsession with Mass Effect and the upcoming Andromeda release means that there is plenty of non-playing material to analyze...like the recently released cinematic trailer #2.

If you've been keeping up with the Andromeda Initiative briefings then most of what is in this cinematic shouldn't be too surprising.  There's the ark ships which were detailed in one of the first briefings and the references to the "golden worlds" that are the main targets for exploration.  To me the most interesting and important part of this trailer is the looming presence of a dark alien force.  If you forward the video to about 42 seconds you hear a voice that seems very, very familiar but is coming from a different source.  My first reaction was "HARBINGER!"  Listen to it....do you not get a distinctly Reaper-esque feeling?  Could this new species with its "archon" be some sort of Reaper offshoot?  At 45 seconds you get a very brief look at the face of this alien.  It reminds me slightly of Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy.

The next shots show male Ryder rallying the troops to take on this new alien menace.  You see Peebee grabbing a gun and we get to hear Vetra ask Ryder if he's thinking of confronting them on his own.  Of course not!  Teamwork is one of the core principles of every Mass Effect game you silly Turian!

Ryder doesn't just tangle with the mysterious Reaper-voiced aliens, we also get to see him meet another species that looks much more friendly.  At about 1:05 there's a shot of a shuttle landing and Ryder approaching a group with hands up in a sign of peace.  We get a glimpse of some sort of squashy-headed, monocled alien leader.  They seem nice.

There has been very little mention of the mysterious Krogan team member that Ryder boasts about and who we see knocking the crap out of people.  Who is this Krogan?  Do the decisions about how to deal with the genophage relate at all to this character?  I am insanely curious and want some more details!

Most of the videos have been devoid of the more romance-y aspects of the game and there's a very brief exchange with Cora Harper.  Love it or hate it, the relationship aspect has been an integral part of the Mass Effect series.  According to this article relationships are going to be a lot different in Andromeda.  I'm interested to see how this new "more mature" relationship system plays out.

The video winds down with some intense scenes of Liam shooting at something and Peebee urging others to run.  Then there's the classic scene of the Tempest outrunning some sort of pursuing alien ship--the pulse pounding running for dear life aspect of Mass Effect is in full force to wrap up the video.

So what do you think?  Did this video leave you feeling excited or are you worried that there's a little too much that seems way too familiar?  I felt a mix of both emotions--I am intrigued by the new crew members and alien species but there's something about the "enemy" aliens that feels way too much like the Reapers.  There's a part of me that wants a very clear departure from the whole Reaper storyline but that could also understand if there was a connection.