Feeling Like a Kid Again

My prediction that Mass Effect:  Andromeda would wind up being delayed was wrong...and that is awesome.  I don't know if I can fully express my excitement to be back in the Mass Effect universe...  I've been carefully calculating my departure from work each day so I can rush home to run through the daily chores that need to be completed so I can get logged on and re-enter the world of Andromeda.  It has been a very long time since I've felt this kind of excitement.  But is it worth it?  I'm sure you've read the myriad reviews and commentary that has invaded every gaming venue but I want to offer my own perspective.  I have tried very hard to avoid any of those reviews or comments so that I can make my own judgments clear of outside ideas (which, as I stated last week, has been difficult).  I'm going to try to lay out what I've enjoyed so far and what I have found lacking.

I should probably make it clear how much I've actually played--probably about 6-8 hours.

One of the new worlds to explore in Andromeda.

The Good:
1.) Andromeda uses the new Frostbite engine and I have to say that I am impressed by the clarity of details.  Space looks amazing and they've done a great job of incorporating aspects of space that you commonly see in images captured by NASA satellites.  Once you make it to a planet there is plenty to stop and gape at--plant life, scenic vistas, alien structures...it's beautiful.

2.) Movement is so much smoother than in previous games.  The animation for running feels more natural than the weird, marching type of movement from ME and ME2.  When Ryder changes direction it looks athletic.  The addition of the jump jet has added a whole new enjoyable aspect of vertical play to a game that has completely taken place on a horizontal and very linear plane.  The jump jet also makes dodging much quicker and more fluid--that additional movement is needed in a game that has drastically changed its combat systems to require more movement.  I haven't quite mastered using the jump jet effectively in combat and find that mostly I make myself an exposed target hanging in mid-air for all the aliens to shoot at.

3.) ..And speaking of combat--it has changed enough to make it feel new and more challenging, but the basics are still there.  The biggest change is from the largely stationary style in the previous games.  You need to scramble, dodge, and move from cover to cover in order to stay alive.  It's fun, but it does take some getting used to.

4.)  People may disagree with me here, but I am excited that the RPG-like elements that were present in the original ME but that gradually disappeared in the successive games are finally back.  There is loot to gather, a robust crafting system, and junk to sell.  I haven't spent a lot of time with the crafting part of it yet, but there are numerous options to craft armor, weapons, consumables, and mods.

5.) A flexible talent system that allows you to take the abilities you want without pigeonholing you into one specific build.  Even if you do lean toward a more traditional build there are combat profiles that seem to be built around your specific style of play.  My Ryder is a more traditional type of biotic who banks on combinations but if you combine those abilities with combat skills you can mold your character into more of a vanguard with lots of charging and punching.

6.) Your new ship, the Tempest, is a worthy successor to the Normandy with none of the obnoxious elevators and wasted time moving between decks.  There are also plenty of windows so you get an eyeful of amazing views of the beautifully crafted planets and space that I mentioned earlier.

7.) It manages to simultaneously feel new and familiar at the same time.  Red medkits and familiar buildings make you feel like you're still in the same general universe but new alien structures make you realize that you really aren't.

8.) Non-human species seem more expressive and more varied than they did in previous games.  Every Salarian seems like an individual rather than just a generic "Salarian" figure.  There are female Turians and Krogan!

9.) Ryder feels like a character who players get to shape into a hero rather than a "ready-made" hero like Shepard.  I like the fact that Ryder feels unprepared to be thrust into the role of leadership and can seem uncertain about the role of Pathfinder.

10.) If you choose to make a custom Ryder your parents are shaped to reflect the appearance you have created.  This may seem like something that is really minor, but it's these small details like these that stand out.  Usually I go with the default character appearance on my first playthrough but I decided to go with a custom character to check out the creation tools.  My Ryder was supposed to be a mash-up of ethnic identities but I had a tough time figuring out the eye color tool.  Rather than the light brownish eyes I was going for I got a weird light green.  It wasn't a big deal, but I was pleasantly surprised when my father figure made an appearance with those same freaky green eyes.

11.) The Nomad is fun to drive and a huge improvement over the Mako from Mass Effect...even if it can't shoot anything.

The Bad
1.) Almost every square inch of gaming related space has been chocked full of GIF's and jokes about the wonky facial animation in Andromeda.  The complaints are valid as the animation just seems....a little off.  It's not the worst that I've seen, but it's disappointing in a title with as much billing as Andromeda.  Oddly enough, it's way more noticeable with human characters (maybe it's more noticeable because we're used to looking at human faces?) than with the alien species and I've actually found that aliens seem more expressive than in other games.

2.) The menu system is a hot mess.  Even in the few short hours that I've played I am getting the impression that there is going to be sooooo many places to see and things to do and items to catalog that we need tiers to help keep things organized.  These tiered menus make it a pain to find quests or codex entries without clicking through three or four different lists.  I've almost given up on trying to find new codex entries because unless they are clearly marked they require too much digging to find.

3.) The opening hours try to cram a lot of information, characters, and places into a short span of time.  It's a lot and makes the first couple of hours seem slow.  I spent a lot of time just wandering around meeting the people who crew the Hyperion and the Nexus.  This meant there was much time spent talking and trying to keep track of the different characters--I generally enjoy learning about the different characters, but I think it would have been better if it was a little more spaced out.

4.) Planet scanning is back but in a slightly less annoying form.  If you didn't play Mass Effect 2 you missed out on the time consuming process of scanning every square inch of the many planets in the galaxy.  It has been tweaked to make it easier, but it's something that many fans of the series were hoping would fall by the wayside.  There is also a sort of first-person effect added to the Tempest that looks cool, but that makes travel between planets in a system feel slow.  I am appreciating that you can discover abandoned ships for salvage or asteroids for minerals.

5.) For me, the jury is still out about the new scanning system.  In a lore related way it is neat to be able to learn more about the world around you but in a gameplay related way it's just another task to perform.  Maybe it will grow on me.

6.) As someone who has played the entire series and experienced the ending of Mass Effect 3, I really hoped that some of those huge, looming lore related questions would be answered...or at least referred to in some way.  Thus far it appears that there are not going to be any references to the events that took place in the third game--I did notice that when you are initially designing your character that there is a box to check that lets you choose the gender of your past Shepards--so maybe this means that there will be something.  There have been references to the Citadel, which I sort of assumed was destroyed or at least rendered useless....apparently not...there has been absolutely nothing about the Reapers or the destruction that was wrought on the galaxy.  It's a little disappointing, but maybe a clean break is exactly what the series needs?  I, for one, always enjoyed the fact that the games were so connected.  I am hoping that as I play more that some of the story will come to light.

With spring break right around the corner I am planning on dedicating time to exploring Andromeda.  I haven't felt a a great connection to the other characters in the game because there hasn't really been many opportunities to get to know them.  The story seems to be picking up some steam and is getting more interesting--I've just finished exploring Eos and learning about the Remnant.

After almost five years...it's great to be back in the Mass Effect universe.