Years after my original attempt at playing through Mass Effect: Andromeda, I'm back at it. I've started playing the game in earnest after finishing the original trilogy once more, via the Legendary Edition.
So far, so good, I suppose. I'm not very far yet - I'm on the first proper planetary expedition at Eos - and I haven't yet caught up to where I was when I quit the first time, which I believe was at the end of that sequence.
I replaced my dopey male Ryder with this one.
I didn't quit my first attempt because I disliked the game. Rather, it just didn't grab me the same way the original trilogy did, and some other game came out soon after (Fallout 4?) and I lost interest entirely.
I don't really hate anything yet, but there are a lot of little things about the game that are sort of collectively annoying:
- I don't like how virtually everyone in the game is young. As far as the story is concerned, it makes some sense, but it doesn't feel like Mass Effect because of that.
- The idea that the game's pseudo-narrator AI, SAM, has to be fused to your character's mind in order to save them from death is dumb.
- The Frostbite engine (along with BioWare's stable of graphic artists) is capable of some amazing visuals - but it sure didn't seem ready to take on the close-ups required for a game like this. I especially don't like the way the Krogan and Salarian NPC's look, compared to their original Unreal counterparts.
- The exploration camera's FOV is too high, and it creates a fisheye effect when you're running around exploring.
- There are too many points/currencies/etc. going on for purchasing new equipment and upgrades. It's very confusing.
- Combat seems accidentally difficult at 30fps.
A friend of mine, who played through the game when it launched, assures me that Andromeda is actually a decent game that just got a bad wrap. I might come away with that opinion too. But it's too early to say.
Anyway, I'll continue playing and will report back as I go. Reviewing old games is fun!
