I finished Mass Effect Andromeda before going on vacation (yes, another one) last week.
I can say I am fully and wholly satisfied with the entire experience it provided. I know that is not much of a surprise to people who have visited here often but I went in expecting not-so-good based on pre-reviews and walked out questioning the way games are reviewed and the impact of “me too” journalism. Heck, I actually support a Donald Trump-esque “Fake News” claim here. [omg what is wrong with me!]
It is a pretty bad sign when many people who actually played the full game are giving it glowing reviews, and professional review sites who need to look for holes in the product while rushing through a quick play through to write their 2000 words for pay missed much of what was good about it. I suspect that is more of a mark on what is going on in the review industry anyway, and I far prefer reading bloggers who I know are professional gamers over people who I know are professional writers.  It feels a lot like the movie review sites who give blockbuster movies bad ratings for not being Cannes-esque enough while actual movie-goers give it glowing reviews.  The audience must (should) be considered.
All that being said, of course there were things that could have been better. The larger plot wasn’t the strongest part of the game. Too many unanswered questions about the galaxy were left hanging. Bioware clearly took the approach of taking care of the you, the protagonist and your squad’s stories over what was going on overall. And because you feel closer to your team instead of the 100k in cryosleep it works better that way anyway. Still – it feels like they could have given more but will flesh that out in sequels and/or paid DLC.
I could spend several posts worth talking about the things that could make this game better but when you take the experience on the whole, the close to one hundred hours of enjoyable game play, the establishment of the people, the galaxy, the game play.. the sheer size and scope of the project is amazing. It deserves game of the year nominations, and should get them. It gets my vote. I mentioned it in a previous post but I don’t remember the last time I enjoyed myself in a game this much. It has been years.
So, goodbye for now Andromeda. Please bring DLC soon. The good news is that with a new galaxy the possibilities are endless. My Scott Ryder ended the chapter of this game with three simple words to his team:
“Let’s go exploring”
Yes. Let’s.
