Mass Effect Andromeda - Part 2
So, I've already given some general impressions from partway through the game. What can I add after hitting the end credits?
Most of the earlier thoughts remain. The animations are far from perfect, but didn't frequently bug me. The UI (whether managing inventory or navigating the cluster) is overly ponderous. Abilities and combat are fine and can even be pretty fun. Squadmates seem at least moderately useful to me - not as effective as I am, but they manage to keep enemies busy and finish them off on their own. Environments are pretty nice. The cast is reasonably varied and most story threads fairly interesting. There is a sense of exploration and discovery that's appropriate.
I really wish the game has some sort of virtual firing range or something where you could test out weapons you hadn't yet purchased/researched/developed. I wanted to try a lot of researchable weapons, but several of those I did felt unsatisfactory for one reason or another, making them a waste of resources.
I had some concerns that six squadmates felt like a small roster, but in the end I'd say it's a reasonable number for a series-starter. Their personalities are generally interesting. I wish there were more to do with Vetra, but I'm sure most people have a favorite they can say that about. There's also a slightly tigher connection with the rest of the crew and flirting options with a handful of people off the ship as well.
I was worried the moral questions surrounding the AI SAM might be overlooked. While there were some discussions I envisioned that never materialized, there's at least a side quest related to AI-phobes and there are smaller bits along the way with crew and such on the issue. SAM manages to be earnest and largely relatable in spite of the looming danger his capabilities pose, making it easy to see "him" as friend and partner. That's good since those capabilities prove such a lynchpin to the overarcing plot involving "Remnant" technology.
Through a lot of the game, the dialog options seem to matter little. Especially as you get deeper in the game, though, there are some more difficult binary choices and interrupt actions that look like they'll have repercussions for a while. Some of that comes into play at the climax, though it goes by fast enough to miss a lot of the details. More of those choices look like they'll shape details of the setting into sequels. I can think of two or three situations off-hand where you have to side with one group or another, plus a few options to kill or spare certain figures who could definitely return. Depending on how you play your cards, the "Pathfinder" of the other races on hand could be different when the dust settles. I think you could probably even end the game with between three and five outposts in the cluster. Judging from the past ME games, a lot of that could be glossed over and make little functional difference, but they're all potential branches that could affect future games.
And at the end, you can continue with side quests and exploration. An enemy has been defeated and a foothold established, but some big mysteries remain. The game lays the foundation for a new series, and I think it does a pretty good job of it.
Gosh, let's see...
- I'm glad the quarian ark (planned to be carrying other races as well, like volus, hannar, and elcor) gets a mention at the end and is shown to exist, though a transmission directing others to stay away immediately makes me wish I could go find out what's up.
- The timing of that is a little odd, though. The quarian ark left after the others. The human ark apparently was able to still receive messages from the Milky Way about the time of ME3, as there are logs revealed that include messages of Earth being attacked by the Reapers. It's unclear how far out or when tose messages were received, though.
- The kett are a sufficiently monolithic and disturbing enemy race. From a functional, on-the-ground perspective, though, they're a little bit too similar to the ME3 Reaper ground troops in my book - with specific units modeled after other races that have been "exalted."
- The discovery of the timeline of the angara and the cluster is curious. I don't recall hearing exactly how long angara live, though it makes one wonder if the first-generation ones had implanted memories.
- With the Remnant/Jardaan so heavily invested in terraforming and species-building, it makes me wonder if they're connected with the kett as well. A previous project in another part of the galaxy, perhaps?
- The Jardaan in general remain a mystery, as we only see their creations. They apparently fought with another group that somehow unleashed the Scourge as a weapon, but there are sooo many questions along those lines.
- Why the hell didn't Ryder (and others) make a bigger deal of him/her getting injected by the Archon? My first thought, all the way back to the ship, was "SAM, Lexi, get this shit out of me!"
- Some of the inter-character banter is just great fun. Love it. And Vetra's romance... Ahahaha! Steak dinner. Yeah, she can't cook, but the attempt is cute as hell anyway.
- I'm just a little troubled at how readily the people of the Mass Effect universe throw themselves behind use of alien, powerful, barely-understood technology. First the mass effect relays (which turn out to be bait by the Reapers), now Remnant terraformers because... well, we push the button and it seems to make things more liveable!. And even settling on a Remnant micro-Dyson-Sphere. In some cases, there's limited choice, but I'd be a whole heckuva lot more wary and careful about it, at least.
- I love the krogan, but they always carry the worry that they might do just what the Citadel races feared: overbreed and warmonger their way over everyone else.
Most of the earlier thoughts remain. The animations are far from perfect, but didn't frequently bug me. The UI (whether managing inventory or navigating the cluster) is overly ponderous. Abilities and combat are fine and can even be pretty fun. Squadmates seem at least moderately useful to me - not as effective as I am, but they manage to keep enemies busy and finish them off on their own. Environments are pretty nice. The cast is reasonably varied and most story threads fairly interesting. There is a sense of exploration and discovery that's appropriate.
I really wish the game has some sort of virtual firing range or something where you could test out weapons you hadn't yet purchased/researched/developed. I wanted to try a lot of researchable weapons, but several of those I did felt unsatisfactory for one reason or another, making them a waste of resources.
I had some concerns that six squadmates felt like a small roster, but in the end I'd say it's a reasonable number for a series-starter. Their personalities are generally interesting. I wish there were more to do with Vetra, but I'm sure most people have a favorite they can say that about. There's also a slightly tigher connection with the rest of the crew and flirting options with a handful of people off the ship as well.
I was worried the moral questions surrounding the AI SAM might be overlooked. While there were some discussions I envisioned that never materialized, there's at least a side quest related to AI-phobes and there are smaller bits along the way with crew and such on the issue. SAM manages to be earnest and largely relatable in spite of the looming danger his capabilities pose, making it easy to see "him" as friend and partner. That's good since those capabilities prove such a lynchpin to the overarcing plot involving "Remnant" technology.
Through a lot of the game, the dialog options seem to matter little. Especially as you get deeper in the game, though, there are some more difficult binary choices and interrupt actions that look like they'll have repercussions for a while. Some of that comes into play at the climax, though it goes by fast enough to miss a lot of the details. More of those choices look like they'll shape details of the setting into sequels. I can think of two or three situations off-hand where you have to side with one group or another, plus a few options to kill or spare certain figures who could definitely return. Depending on how you play your cards, the "Pathfinder" of the other races on hand could be different when the dust settles. I think you could probably even end the game with between three and five outposts in the cluster. Judging from the past ME games, a lot of that could be glossed over and make little functional difference, but they're all potential branches that could affect future games.
And at the end, you can continue with side quests and exploration. An enemy has been defeated and a foothold established, but some big mysteries remain. The game lays the foundation for a new series, and I think it does a pretty good job of it.
Gosh, let's see...
- I'm glad the quarian ark (planned to be carrying other races as well, like volus, hannar, and elcor) gets a mention at the end and is shown to exist, though a transmission directing others to stay away immediately makes me wish I could go find out what's up.
- The timing of that is a little odd, though. The quarian ark left after the others. The human ark apparently was able to still receive messages from the Milky Way about the time of ME3, as there are logs revealed that include messages of Earth being attacked by the Reapers. It's unclear how far out or when tose messages were received, though.
- The kett are a sufficiently monolithic and disturbing enemy race. From a functional, on-the-ground perspective, though, they're a little bit too similar to the ME3 Reaper ground troops in my book - with specific units modeled after other races that have been "exalted."
- The discovery of the timeline of the angara and the cluster is curious. I don't recall hearing exactly how long angara live, though it makes one wonder if the first-generation ones had implanted memories.
- With the Remnant/Jardaan so heavily invested in terraforming and species-building, it makes me wonder if they're connected with the kett as well. A previous project in another part of the galaxy, perhaps?
- The Jardaan in general remain a mystery, as we only see their creations. They apparently fought with another group that somehow unleashed the Scourge as a weapon, but there are sooo many questions along those lines.
- Why the hell didn't Ryder (and others) make a bigger deal of him/her getting injected by the Archon? My first thought, all the way back to the ship, was "SAM, Lexi, get this shit out of me!"
- Some of the inter-character banter is just great fun. Love it. And Vetra's romance... Ahahaha! Steak dinner. Yeah, she can't cook, but the attempt is cute as hell anyway.
- I'm just a little troubled at how readily the people of the Mass Effect universe throw themselves behind use of alien, powerful, barely-understood technology. First the mass effect relays (which turn out to be bait by the Reapers), now Remnant terraformers because... well, we push the button and it seems to make things more liveable!. And even settling on a Remnant micro-Dyson-Sphere. In some cases, there's limited choice, but I'd be a whole heckuva lot more wary and careful about it, at least.
- I love the krogan, but they always carry the worry that they might do just what the Citadel races feared: overbreed and warmonger their way over everyone else.
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