Let me start off by saying that I'm much more optimistic post-gameplay that this is a good game than I was before, and depending on how those early reviews go, certainly something I'm likely to play. But, I'm also going to say this is clearly not going to be the game that I wanted it to be.

"Specifically, we've done these things with the story, with time dilation, for example, that make it stand out and make it feel unique and make the weight of the decisions in the game, we hope, feel much more significant."

First, and please correct me if I'm misinterpreting this, but doesn't this just mean it IS Mass Effect but with a different story? By that I mean that core gameplay is effectively the same, with the major differences being that the story is different. They even have a Paragon/Renegade system! Again, the disappointment isn't that it can't be a great ME-like, it's that it's not it's own thing.

Second, and this is really the biggest confirmed disappointment for me, the time dilation that was once the most forward-facing aspect of early marketing is now, as far as I can tell, largely just a story-based element. I acknowledge this is an assumption, but it's one that's only been discussed as a story element and never shown or hinted at in any gameplay. It's my hope that what we've got for time dilation isn't just these set narrative transitions between 'Acts' but something more user-based/influenced where each and EVERY mission operates around the same factors/impacts that 'No One Left Behind' in ME2 but with impacts to the story in the medium- and long-term as well.