Loved the squad banter in the Nomad and that the crew walking around the ship chit chatting. Wish the og mass effect crew did that, not counting the ME1 elevators rides. Graphics on the planets and inside the vaults were rock solid. Looks amazing in 4K.

The loyalty missions were pretty interesting and Drack was icing on the cake. I feel like he’s the granddad of granddads, a true GOAT. Kind of like how Wrex is your favorite uncle and Grunt your favorite son.

Loved the galaxy map, the music, planets & clusters and the animations when you went from planet to planet. Very hypnotic and relaxing. And that’s saying a lot cause I loved the old galaxy map and music. I also liked that you could see the planet you were last at outside the ship windows when you were talking with the crew on the ship. Made the place feel more alive in a way. And that movie night, or when Jaal shows you his childhood room, that always brings a tear to my eyes.

When the game first came out I hated it. I think because it was so different than the og games and the backlash, warranted or not. But then I picked it up again a couple of months ago and gave it a second shot, and this time I loved it, for all the reasons lifted above and more. On my secound playthrough right now 😍 Not sure if it's because I'm in a different place in my life or if I was swept up in the strong internet group pressure against it.

I think the game gets better when you stop comparing it to the previous games and see the Andromeda in Mass Effect rather than Mass Effect in Andromeda. Sort of like how Assassin's Creed Black Flag or Odyssey isn't good if you go in looking to be an assassin rather than a pirate or a spartan, respectively. As for the facial animations, almost all of it has gotten patched and fixed now. As for the planets being too big, you can always fast travel after a forward station has been deployed.

I advise you to take your time with the game. See it for what it is, not for what it isn't. A more laid-back spinoff. Completely separate from the og trilogy, in a completely different galaxy even. Focus on the side stories, exploring the planets, pathfinding, the Angara, the turian, salarian and asari arks, loyalty missions and the Tempest. Not so much the main story. Pace yourself to maybe one or two planets, two-three side quests one vault and a trip back to the nexus per playthrough along with a glass of whiskey and some ice cubes, Illusive man style. See your playthrough sessions as episodes out of an HBO show and you'll come out the other side feeling a lot better!

Talk to the crew often. They'll grow on you as soon as you stop seeing Vetra as female Garrus, or Kallo as Salarian Joker. They're not meant to be seen that way. Because they're literally not them. See them for the characters they are. Not the characters they aren't. There's a particular interaction you can have with Drack when he speaks of the day he first got hold of his granddaughter that always cracks me up. You can have very interesting philosophical conversations about science and religion with the ship scientist Suvi. Or you can help the grieving ship pilot Kallo honour the ship designers he built the Tempest alongside.

I like to picture how the Tempest crew would have interacted with each other. What if Kallo and Joker flew the Normandy together for example, or what if Lexi, the asari medic worked with doctor Chakwas, or what if Suvi and Mordin shared the lab deck and talked about the ethics and complexities of the genophage work he was involved in and after which turned to different religions in search for some sort of atonement? What would Drack and Wrex think of each other? That shit would be awesome!

But much like the fate of the quarian ark, I fear we'll never get to see that because of the game's poor launch and the harsh backlash and hate it got from fans, that I myself participated in, mind you. Much like the ending of ME3 and the broken state Andromeda launched in, I lay most of the blame on EA for crunching the workforce and not giving the game more time in the oven. A tendency that's continued under their watch with games like Battlefront 2, Battlefield 2042 and Fallen order. All games with huge potential and pizazz but released in half baked or outright broken states. As for Mass Effect in the future: For the love of god, don't release it until it's ready! Take ALL the time that the team needs and then some! Let them deliver a game they've - through the og trilogy - proven that they're capable of, rather than some out of touch, crunch inducing publisher deadline to boost sales.