Review – Mass Effect Andromeda

I was a big fan of Mass Effect ever since before Andromeda came out so I was over the moon when they announced Andromeda a the 2015’s E3 (the trailer was paired with Johnny Cash’s Riders in the Sky song in the background! Perfect!). Mass Effect Andromeda was launched back in March 2017 but back then when I was playing it I kinda rushed into things too quickly. I was also on the mic most of the time with my friends when I played this game so what happened was, I got lost. I often don’t recall my own game progression because I was on the mic so often, my mind literally played the game for me on auto pilot while I blabbed away talking about nonsense I don’t even remember what about.

But lately I suddenly have the urge to play the game again. Yeah after so long, I know, I know, back then any thought of restarting Andromeda was always haunted by the fact that the Quest tracking was messy and the stupid facial animation issue. But yeah, after calling it a day with The Alchemist Code I really felt the urge to restart Andromeda and so I did. Progressed further than I imagined I would and the best thing is? I’ve reached where I am at the moment with almost zero outstanding side quests and all visible system explored to 100%. What a feat! So after playing the game twice (sort of), I have a renewed impression on Mass Effect Andromeda.

Here is a playlist of my livestreamed ME:A gameplay back from my first attempt. Part 1 to 19 was all me.

What I like

• Slightly Improved facial expression.
• Meaningful Side Quest Story. These side quests really open up to how life on Andromeda is treating them. I like how they aid in keeping the player’s experience in the game aligned with the main campaign.
• Plenty of exploration opportunity available and plenty of flexibility to go about them too!
• Good Story Telling overall, there were quite a few occasion where I was surprised (in a good way) by how things turn out to be.
• Plenty of side quests, tasks, loyalty quests, priority quests to keep players occupied.
• Multiplayer is still the same old Horde Mode ala Rampage style but fun to play in co-op anyway.
• Plenty of variation to choose from in building your character’s stat.

What I dislike

• Connecting to server takes forever
• Game loading takes forever and ever
• Waiting for APEX team (Online Strike Team that can be sent out for missions and comes back every 2-5 hours) to come back takes forever and ever and ever
• There should be more enemies to kill, I often find the battle ending too quickly.
• Colonial Outposts establishment should be made into a mini game instead of something that just magically appears and does absolutely nothing after that.