User reviews

Ok, I will admit my first play through was a shambles. Half of what makes up the Mass Effect universe was missing. I needed my dose of the Quarians I tell you!

However, on a second playthrough, a colleague convinced me to go in with fresh eyes, just Andromeda no Mass Effect. So I did.....

And my god this game is good. Some obvious ploys and deliberate plot holes ready for the next instalment. Which sadly looks like won't come to fruition. :( But I could have lived with story holes, knowing it will be revealed eventually in further games or DLC.

The combat is fun and worked well, the characters where a little similar to the DA:I group but hey, if it ain't broke why fix it. The voice acting was good and the story kept me interested.

It's a real shame we won't see anymore of Andromeda.

So after self isolation in 2020 I decided to travel as far as I could, so I picked Andromeda Galaxy... After an edgy launch in 2017 Andromeda was hated and obliterated... Maybe at launch it was pretty bad with all these animation issues and bugs... Some time passed, game was patched and since in 2020 there is not many worthy sci fi RPGs to play anyway I decided I will give it a go... My God It's full of stars... Now I am reviewing the game as someone who played all 3 mass effect titles , 2 Kotor titles and Dragon age 1 &2... What can I say about Andromeda? I am enjoying it... As much as I am a fan of ME2 , which had one of the best stories ever, Andromeda does not shine with story and dialogues as much... But the exploration and combat mechanics as well as character building is actually better... I now suspect that it's fans of ME2 that generally hated Andromeda... ME2 was the most cinematic and more action focused than exploration focused out of the 3 and since majority of gamers come from that background anyway I can see why they hated Mass Effect franchise leaning toward ME1...

I think the extremely bad reviews exaggerated and consider the game a must-have for any RPG, and especially fans of the series!

This game is FANTASTIC. This is a perfect stand-alone game in the Mass Effect universe. The story is great and keeps you wanting to continue to find out what happens next. By far one of my favorite games. Plus who doesn't love complete and full customization.

Having just finished the game for the first time. I can't see why this game was dumped on so much. While it is different from the first 3 Mass Effect games, that was its point. It was meant to be in the same universe as the first 3 games but have a storyline not dependent on those games. Liked the story and hope someday BioWare and EA games decide to continue it as originally planned. Would have given it a 10/10 if not for: 1.taking over three weeks to complete 2.made some of the controls easier 3. Not ending in a cliffhanger (although this is entirely due to the real world issue of the sequel game(s) not moving forward)

I don't know why All the hate for this game I still think bioware are doing a good job on the mass effect people have got to understand that Andromeda is not the same as the frist 3 mass effect games for 1. It's a next gen game soo overall it's gonna bed different as they did the same for the dragon ages games and that turned out well.2 there's much more things to do on it and better open world with freedom of a rpg.3 yes it's got bugs but what games don't as anything else it will be fixed.it don't have to feel like the other 3 but it don't have to to injoy it hopefully people will stop comparing to the frist 3 and just see what else there is to come

Greetings from Lithuania.

After spending around 80 hours in "Mass Effect: Andromeda" (2017) and still looking forward to play for around 3 more just to finish all "alliances" quests i can safely say - i love this game.

Seriously, i picked it up just recently on PS4 with huge discount. I bought it for around 8$, but because of overwhelming dislike for this game i read i thought i won't lose much. Safe to say that it exceeded my expectation.

I highly enjoyed the story here. It is surprisingly involving tale about "Pathfinder" and finding a new home for humanity. That some very good sci-fi in here. As the one who played, finished and loved first 3 games (2nd one is my favorite still), i liked how creators moved in a different direction in this game.

This game is huge, and i mean huge. There tons upon tons upon tons of activities in here. And while planets exploration "from above and mining of them" isn't as involving as in previous 2 games, this one does an OK job. Graphics aren't that great, but game does look solid. I did encounter couple of crashes, but nothing that bad as i read before.

Overall, "Mass Effect: Andromeda" (2017) isn't the most polished game out there to say the least, but it does a great job of "hocking" you into this world. Great story, amazing game play (combat system is phenomenal), some touching moments here and there and that stunning opening of the game when you crash land on that first planet (won't spoil further) makes "Andromeda" a must play for those who love great open world / RPG games. Loved it.

It really looks like the same game as Dragon Age Inquisition but in different settings and with different fight mechanics. Same boring side quests, rushed finale, bad or non-existing animations, bugs and glitches. So why everyone is saying that this one is so much worse? Because Bioware couldn't keep up the same feeling of running important organisation from zero to hero, and they builded up those super high stakes that you really don't even care about cause of the medium-quality writing. And with lack of that you are starting to notice things that in were hidden in DA:I behind that Inquisition atmosphere. No variety of enemies, technical issues, poor dialogues and quests that seems to be even worse than they really are. It took me 120 hours to finish it with 98%. And even with that wasted potential of the amazing Mass Effect universe that they created in the original trilogy I still quite enjoyed that. Combat is good and most of moral choices are forcing you to think about consequences, graphics is really nice and some moments can be impressive. This game is good and bad at the same time. I'll just leave this with 7/10 wich for me is safe, correct but still underwhelming and kinda mediocre.

Like the previous games of the Mass Effect franchise, the design of Andromeda's protagonist characters are based upon real life models, both of which, as you would assume, are good looking people. The male Ryder appears as handsome as his real life counterpart, Steven Brewis, while the female Ryder is quite ugly and nothing like her real life counterpart, Jayde Rossi. Additionally, the female Ryder suffers from very strange facial animations which are often highly inappropriate considering the situations she is in, an example of this would be smiling while talking about the recent death of someone she cared deeply for.

Dialogue options in Mass Effect:Andromeda are very lacklustre with most situations only allowing 2 choices, either casual or professional. Almost all the casual responses result in cheesy one-liners and the professional choices are very similar in their intent, just without the 'humor'. When you are presented with a choice to do one thing or another, almost every single time this results in no difference whatsoever and will not affect the ending of the game or even the immediate circumstances after the choice has been made. This in my opinion means the player is without control and his or her decisions are rather meaningless.

Facial animations are terrible, example: Director Addison, an important character who the protagonist comes into contact with in the beginning of the game. When you first meet Addison she has wide open eyes that don't even blink and has no facial expression whatsoever. Addison proceeds to utter the line "my face is tired". Gamers realised that this line of dialogue was created in an attempt to somehow explain the missing facial animation for this character!

Summary. Mass Effect:Andromeda has many bugs. Enemies can and do frequently spawn up in the air and get stuck there, side tasks remain incomplete and weird NPC animations which make no sense whatsoever are quite frequent throughout the game. The characters of Mass Effect:Andromeda are uninteresting, quite ugly, badly animated and sometimes annoying. Since Mass Effect games are supposed to be role playing and team building games, this means the game loses all credibility as a role-playing game.

Notes: 2 patches have been released which (attempt) to rectify some of the animation issues and bugs but not all of the issues mentioned, however, this does not in any way excuse the state that this game was released in.

Final thoughts. It's a real shame that this game was released in such an unfinished and tarnished state. No one in their right mind would ever consider Mass Effect:Andromeda to be a triple A title like it's predecessors and as a huge fan of Mass Effect 1,2 and 3 I'm left feeling empty and cheated.

Don't jump on the bandwagon that some harsh critics started. This game is actually very good! It's only real flaw is that it had to follow one of the greatest trilogies ever. Yes, people wanted insane graphics and they wanted mind blowing gameplay, but realistically, how likely was it that this game was going to be everything that everyone wanted it to be??

I played through this game after completing the first three and I really enjoyed it. I loved the sense of being in an unknown galaxy, where nothing is known and everything is being experienced for the first time.

Yes, there are some flaws with graphics (in very few places if at all now that BioWare have patched them). And the lack of alien species encountered in this new galaxy can be a bit frustrating. But overall I thought this was a brilliant game, and a very good follow up to the original trilogy with a very good storyline and characters that have serious potential if this new series of games is allowed to unfold without everyone hating on it.

I encourage you, ignore the original hate, start playing with an open mind and you will honestly enjoy this game for what it has to offer!

After watching a one VideoGameDunkey's video, I was very hesitant to pick up this game. With the Legendary Edition's release coming soon, I realized that they had likely patched up and fixed a lot of the issues that I vaguely recall Dunkey dunk-ing on (haha.) So, I decided to get it. I don't know if it's because I've matured a lot since I last played through the original ME trilogy, or if it's due to my playing D&D a lot more, but I have been so absolutely drawn in by the story in this game. I'm thoroughly enjoying the role playing aspect of this game, I appreciate that there is no color coded "good guy :)" "bad guy >:(" system. I really like that you can just play the game how you like without needing to worry if your karma is high enough to get a certain dialogue choice. I just feel like I've been better able to role play in this than the original trilogy, but maybe that'll change once I play through them again.

The reason I gave this an 8/10 is because of how tedious some of this game is. I mean, do we have to do the mini-cutscene to fly between planets every time? It gets very old when you are trying to do a specific companion's loyalty mission, and all the sudden you have to jump between 4 planets which takes upwards of 10 minutes when really it should take 5. Also had quite a few bugs while playing through, mostly textures stuff, which I can overlook. The game is at it's best when you're partaking in the linear quests - like the companion missions. The exploration leaves a bit to be desired, in my opinion, but even with all this annoying tedious stuff - I still had a blast playing through the game. I felt sick to my stomach during some story reveals, and I had no trouble stepping into Ryder's shoes. Like others here, I wish that it had been completed appropriately upon release instead of the half-cocked game they put out. It deserves a sequel because it was a lot of fun and engaging story wise - to me at least. I'll always consider the original trilogy some of my favorite games of all time, but Andromeda holds a special little place as well.

I highly recommend picking this up. It's $10 brand new via Amazon. Treat it as a separate story from Shepard and the Reapers, because it's a separate story from Shepard and the Reapers.

PS: Liam is the worst companion and I almost stopped playing the game because his dialogue during the tutorial made me cringe.

I saw some of the early releases, read the reviews, and stupidly formed my own (misguided) opinion on this masterpiece. What an idiot!

I recently played through the 3 original ME games (inc. All DLC), and thoroughly loved them anew.

Never managed to get past the 'opening act' of Andromeda as it felt so, well... Not the Mass Effect I loved. No Shepard. No Reapers, etc. (plus all the major bugs present at release!!)

This time, stuck indoors in Dec 2021, shielding from Covid, Jonesing for ME and having no ME to play, I decided to give Andromeda "one last bash." (Note: I do **ALL** side quests and 'busy work' in games that I can so I can experience everything)

OMFG. How much content?!!

I am actually ashamed of how I have bad-mouthed this incredible piece of gaming artistry in the past.

On reflection, this was partly because of the sh**t-show of the ME3 ending, and that it did not continue the battle of Shepard and Humanity against the Reapers.

My bad.

My regret.

Once you get past the realisation that this is not a continuation of the fight against the reapers, and that this is actually a clever exploration of how Humans and the other races from this galaxy interact with the new races they encounter in Andromeda, it starts to grow on you.

(Yes, there is a *LOT* of running and shooting, crafting and upgrading, with active online multiplayer components for those interested. Servers still active Dec 2021)

I'm not going to say that ME Andromeda is better than the other ME titles, or that you too might have been swayed by how the studio (allegedly) was forced to bring the ME saga to a close.

What I will say is, give it a chance.

It IS different in places, but still essentially the same ME goodness, with a few tweaks.

The game mechanics design build on the characteristics of the species we already know and love, with new aspects and features that bringing a breath of fresh air.

Currently 90+ hours in and according to the game's own reporting metrics: only 47% complete!!

Give it a chance. Throw away misconceptions. Enjoy a whole new galaxy of ME.

I only wish I'd played it sooner.

MY BIG MISTAKE.

Although a former Mass Effect fan (especially of 1&2), I skipped Andromeda at its release. The game was received as well as a new COVID-19 wave, with scornful memes, reports of ghastly bugs, video montages of dreadful animations and embarrassing scenes; to be fair, the Mass Effect 3 ending had also poisoned the well for many. Last year, during lockdown, I finally tried it.

The bad:

• For a game about space exploration, this is stunningly unimaginative in terms of worldbuilding, planets (desert planet, ice planet...) AND creatures (TWO new races compared to the fifteen or so introduced in the main series);
• The bad guys are generic space orcs and their leader (the Archon) is the weakest BioWare villain ever;
• While writing is decent by videogame standards, some dialogues are clunky and badly in need of a new draft.

The so-so:

• Party members, BioWare's secret sauce, are... okay. They are mostly a bunch of likable characters, although none of them is a classic BioWare companion like Garrus, HK-47, Mordin, Bastila, Wrex, Morrigan, Jolee Bindo, Legion, and the list goes on. A few of them are too blatantly a retread of previous ones - take Drack, who is fine but essentially Wrex 1.2.

• There is a lot of content here, although much of it (like in Dragon Age: Inquisition) is typical open-world busywork, following the philosophy that if a quest is worth doing once (say, activate an alien beacon), it's also worth doing many times again and again with minimal variations.

The good:

• The premise was a clever way of getting around the Mass Effect 3 ending, which seemingly nuked the chance of a direct sequel with vastly different (and mostly nonsensical) possible outcomes to its infamous final choice;
• The combat is fast, energetic, the best seen so far in the series;
• Ground exploration with the "Nomad" vehicle is also the best Mass Effect has to offer;
• After years of patches, bugs and facial animations appear to have been mostly fixed.

This is the polar opposite of the first Mass Effect, which had the best world-building, writing and lore but also the worst combat in the series; the second had okay combat, amazing companion quests but a so-so main plot, and the third some of the best moment in the series (the Genophage), but was also very linear and with a dreadful ending.

Considerably lowered expectations helped me enjoy Andromeda, although it feels like a missed opportunity.

Regardless of your thoughts relating to the ending of Mass Effect 3 back in 2012, at least the Bioware team making that game had the excuse of being under the gun to create something in 18 months that was not only new, but also to build upon technical advancements made in Mass Effect 2. Such a limited timescale no matter your resources, leaves little time to explore the creative aspects that often need much input and refining to really make the material into something that will be interesting, and impactful to the gamer playing it.

I do not however, have such sympathy for the team that made this mess. Who not only had over 5 years, a budget of over $40million, but most crucially a free creative pass to make almost any sort of Mass Effect game they wanted to. The drip-feed releases of screenshots and game footage showed promise, especially with Mass Effect now transitioning to the Frostbite engine. The changing of the November 2016 release date to March 2017 again showed promise, that Bioware & EA were actually going to take real care with Mass Effect after they damage they took in 2012. I myself was quite hopeful that this was going to be a great game to put things back on track.

Then we got to play the game for the 10 hour trial, and……oh my. If it wasn't a matter of public knowledge they spent 5 years on this, I'd have thought they cobbled this together in a year, and then didn't bother to QA or beta test it. If there wasn't such a thing as a 5 year rush job for a production of this nature, then Mass Effect Andromeda is the first. Graphically the game is nice, and some of the scenery can even be breath-taking, but now we get to what really brings it down. The animations, specifically character face ones. I've never seen backwards progress on such a thing until now, the ones from the original Mass Effect back in 2007 are better than these ones, and they weren't the best to begin with! With this being a game you spend hours talking to people, this is a key basic you need to get right. When characters greet the news that they've lost a friend or family member with their eyes darting around, and producing a goofy, vacuous smile like they have mental issues, then you have a fundamental problem with your game. Serious stuff ends up inducing laughter, and the actual comedy just becomes slapstick comedy since even punches characters make don't connect as if you were watching WWE.

Enemies glitch out of nowhere, your party members glitch all around you in combat, NPCs appear/vanish from thin air, some cutscenes don't trigger, some quests don't advance, dialogue in hub areas all cut one another off, so you can't listen in to any of it. Heck, there was even a bug where my character turned into something like the liquid metal T-1000 from Terminator 2!

It ends up being death by a thousand cuts, a few of those issues you could live with, but being so many of them that directly impede or taint your experience, it goes beyond farce and definitely beyond unacceptable. It's not worth talking about the story or lore, which have their own issues.

At the most basic level, Mass Effect Andromeda fails to be a good, solid game first and a Mass Effect game second. There is undoubted potential here, but it's all ruined by the awful work made of putting it together. There's so much wrong that if you couldn't laugh at it, you'd cry instead.

Don't bother getting this for at least a year, when they've hopefully fixed it or you can get it at bargain bucket prices. It's not worth your time or money in its current state, more importantly a purchase for this game now, is telling Bioware & EA that it's okay to release games in this state, and it simply isn't!

Mass Effect Andromeda: A Lackluster Leap into the Unknown"

As an ardent fan of the Mass Effect series, I must admit that my anticipation for *Mass Effect Andromeda* was higher than the Milky Way's atmosphere. The original trilogy captivated me with its rich narrative, deep world-building, and unforgettable companions. Unfortunately, Andromeda feels like a step backward, almost like it was crafted by a different team under significant constraints.

I had a gut feeling that something was off as I watched the pre-release footage. Early reviews pointed to a game riddled with bugs and in need of patches, but I decided to dive in about two months later, snagging a half-priced copy. What I found was a title that screamed, "We ran out of time." While set in an entirely new galaxy, Andromeda fails to provide the closure I craved after the tumultuous events of *Mass Effect 3*. Instead of unraveling the mysteries left behind, it offers almost nothing of substance-just a couple of recordings from the Shadow Broker and plenty of disappointment.

The new crew aboard the Tempest is instantly forgettable. While there's an intriguing Asari character, the rest feel more like placeholders rather than compelling individuals. In the previous games, I could recount my squad members' backstories in detail; here, I barely remember their names. The promise of new alien races also falls flat, as the game fails to introduce them in a way that sparks excitement or investment.

When it comes to story, Andromeda is rife with plot holes and missed opportunities. The narrative is somewhat bland, and it's clear that the rush to launch left several threads hanging. The absence of familiar aliens and contexts from past games is glaring and disappointing, turning what could have been an expansive storyline into an underwhelming experience. Promised DLCs vanished into thin air, a casualty of the lackluster reception.

Though the voice acting is serviceable, it doesn't lend itself to memorable performances. The protagonist's voice might remind some of Nolan North, but it ultimately lacks the charisma that once drew players into the characters' experiences.

The game's design opts for an open-world approach, which, frankly, feels artificial. With locked bases scattered throughout bland environments, exploring becomes tedious rather than thrilling. The missions often devolve into repetitive tasks-finding symbols, maps, and recordings. Combat mechanics have shifted toward a more fluid, jetpack-inclusive style, but I found myself uninspired as enemies became little more than bullet sponges.

Side quests are forgettable; they lack the depth and emotional weight that once defined the franchise's nuance. Quite simply, the whole experience feels akin to a straight-to-video sequel rather than a grand cinematic release.

The soundtrack, unforgettable in its predecessors, is mostly forgettable here. This contributes to an overarching sentiment that *Andromeda* feels like a mid-tier game rather than the blockbuster experience fans had hoped for. The vastness of its planets is less about expansive design and more reminiscent of padding rather than poignant exploration.

In summary, I left feeling disappointed. It's hard to piece together the details of a game that ultimately fails to capture the magic of its predecessors. Through all the promise of a new adventure, *Mass Effect Andromeda* lands with a thud, deserving of a mediocre 6/10 rating. This isn't the sequel I hoped for, and it's painful to see such a beloved franchise falter in its ambitious path.