Examining Mass Effect: Andromeda's Two Major Mistakes

[@MiniusGC]

Because someone will complain about my review score comment - How many AAA titles are scored under 75?

[@kolohen778]

im pretty sure they did it on purpose,,,,all those plot lines unexplained ...clearly they were thinking about andromeda 2....im actually fine with that..makes me excited for the next one...about the scores cant care less about them..i had tons of fun with the game

[@kolohen778]

im pretty sure they did it on purpose,,,,all those plot lines unexplained ...clearly they were thinking about andromeda 2....im actually fine with that..makes me excited for the next one...about the scores cant care less about them..i had tons of fun with the game..with that said..i agree with you about the andromeda initiative story plot...that was awkward..i really hope EA gives the franchise to another developer....i dont know what to think about bioware anymore,,,but i do want more mass effect in my life...

[@irategamer9185]

Minius GC hey man look at how shit of a score destiny for. Think it was a out right 7/10 it became the most played game for 2 years. Review scores are kinda shit honestly because we live in such a demanding time. We always expect perfection. I'll take a great game like andromeda with a few imperfections s over a perfectly boring game. :)

[@novemaspectus3429]

Minius GC I like your speculations on the intentions of the Jardaan, but using the term 'evil' might be a little crass. After all, the Turians in ME do horrible things to other species during wartime, and the Protheans created the Asari for war so...

[@ninjadejedi]

Consider they had to work with low funding, an inexperience team. I would give this game an upper 8. Their side quests - not those "task" - were perfectly weaved into the main story, Witchers or Original ME or DA, I could careless about side quests. They improve on the loyal missions, no suddenly : " Hey I need something let's go and do it " they become more meaningful. And peoples talk like Garrius or Wrex or Tali were great, no they were not

[@edsonsouza1168]

One thing we know about this "Remnant" - they love play Sudoku.

[@MrNicoJac]

For anyone interested in a WEIRD story about how the pacing of this game is fucked up, here goes: So, I started a second playthrough (new game plus) as the other gender (FemRy). When I just got the Tempest, before I've even been to Eos for her first time, I walk around talking to everyone, including Liam. He is in his couch-room, naked, with Jaal. WTF GAME???!? I haven't even met Jaal at this point!! (Also, Jaal somehow clones himself and stays where he was standing as his double walks out of the room) Then, after I've met Jaal, I go to Voeld first (because I went to Havarl first in the previous playthrough and wanted to change things up this time). After doing Voeld, Jaal says it's good Evfra trusts me now, to which I reply that it is sad it meant taking down the Roekaar. WTF GAME???!? v2.0 I haven't even met the Roekaar at this point!! Also, speaking of pacing; Everyone is oh so happy that the combat is oh so good. But I hate that you only get three powers. Now, some might say 'Oh but you get 4 profiles so it's 12 powers' but.... No. Having to change powers means you need to go through TWO screens, mid-combat, AND then use a consumable to be able to use them. Which would have been fine if you paused the combat often, like in ME1-3. But this combat is made to specifically keep you in it, no pauzes needed. Meaning that you either are stuck with three powers, or you have to destroy the best part of the combat (the immersion) in order to actually function..... So now I've got one build that can actually keep me alive on Insanity, but I can't use 90% of the powers without getting wrecked. It's just so bad. These issues, the technical shit, the plot building that Minius covered in his vid... It's like they had 5 years for this game but somehow rushed it through in 1 year. What have they been doing for the other 4??

[@MagicChestNut]

One thing that I think could have really helped the pace of the story would have been tieing the SAM memories to relevant story missions. Throwing memory triggers randomly around planets didn't make sense. It should have been more about building trust with SAM and as you help the initiative the triggers would be unlocked that way.

[@MagicChestNut]

Also the game spoils that meridian becomes a settlement if you reach 100% viability before you finish the main story

[@MegaXboxgeeks]

He is already my most trusted Mass Effect KZbin

[@pvtRyan615]

I'm starting to feel like the only person that really enjoyed this game. I loved the story, characters, combat, and exploration. I played the original trilogy many times and went into andromeda with high hopes and I don't let down. Now I just hope the series will continue and grow past all the hate it's receiving.

[@aseya-yd8po]

Probably one of (if not) the best MEA analysis out there..

[@debott4538]

Well, he mainly just points out these two issues in over 16 minutes. Other reviews 'analysed' the entire game in less time. This game is too large to grasp in just a few minutes. I played over 80 hours now and still don't really know what to think of it. This video helped though. :)

[@aseya-yd8po]

U absolutly right.. i do like the way he pointed out thoses issues. They should've hit hard with this one.. After ME3 (more precisely after its ending), they hyped us with MEA and now we're supposed to get hyped for MEA2 (or dlc's) because the delivery (storywise) is average but the meta-story seems very interesting? That's my main concern..

[@wolfiedude121]

I didn't pay attention to the marketing around ME:A but for me most of the hype came from the fact that ME3 ending was so bad. Also I kind of agree with him about the story lines and yet believe that he misses the point with the main storyline and why some of the plot lines were ignored. Like the remnant/scourge story line, if you think about it they don't have the resources to study the scourge. So it was something they had to avoid for the most part. The Quarian ark was given ample reason as to why it was ignored for the whole game and then popped up at the end (although a story line for that would have been fun). That's just my thoughts though.

[@Mankorra_Gomorrah]

i hope bioware can really pull it together in the next game. i really want to like andromeda because i really loved the original trilogy. Another issue you didn't mention is that the game dumped tons of quests on you every time you went anywhere, it's overwhelming. I hope they bring in some decent writers and some half decent voice actors to make the next game interesting.

[@debott4538]

I think that quest issue is included in Minius' pacing argument. :)

[@seesiedler1]

At least i liked the side quests more then in inquisition...

[@Mankorra_Gomorrah]

thats true, the side quests usually were enjoyable but you got waaaaay to many of them at once.

[@TazzyGoldTofo]

They gave a nice hint about Salvation, which reminds me of Illusive man's "Salvation comes at a cost" Not to mention the unanswered Cora Harper, same last name would be to much of a coincidence.

[@Staysa001]

The quests are to raise the viability of the planet. The pathfinders purpose and all that. This game isn't a series of corridors with waist-high objects to hide behind while you shoot aliens.

[@kraglord1997]

3rd Major Mistake: Why is the music in this video better than the music in the game itself? You cant even hear music AT ALL in most parts of this game. Music is 100% one of the top 3 reasons why some games are so amazing.

[@KM-qk1oz]

Old comment but just wanted to add I hated traveling around the nexus w/o that nostalgic citadel music

[@bwalker77]

I have just finished the main storyline but I still have a few things to finish so I won't watch the video until I do. Overall, I'd say the game is a solid 8/10: disappointing for a Mass Effect game, very good by any other standards. Things that could have made the game better. 1- A Virmire mission I don't mean a squadmate had to die necessarily but the Virmire mission of the original game was intense in a way nothing in Andromeda truly approaches. Having a mission that would radically impact your whole mission, or your whole crew, would have done wonders to raise the stakes. 2- A better villain The franchise mostly got away with not having its own Darth Vader but the plot of Andromeda required a much more memorable villain than the Archon 3- A less vanilla crew The squad of Mass Effect 2, this wasn't. While no one was outright unlikable, there were definitely some spices missing from that dish. I took some decisions that did not please some of my squadmates, and yet everyone was my friend in the end. I'm especially disappointed in Cora. She's more experienced than you, she thought she'd be pathfinder and instead, she's stuck being the second in command of the son of the previous pathfinder. The potential for conflict with that storyline was amazing, and yet... The writers seemed more interested in Cora as a love interest than Cora as a second in command. They struck that balance once, with Miranda. Miranda wasn't always likable: she had a conflict with Jack, she believed in Cerberus too much, she was too cold, etc... but she was always presented as a character with leadership skills and a strong opinion. Romance her if you will but she's your XO and she will be heard. Cora accepts an unfair situation too easily, too readily and her position in the hierarchy is barely noticeable. As I said, she's not unlikable but I wish the writers would have taken more chances here. So that's it. Overall, BioWare did very good but I couldn't quite shake the feeling Andromeda was a transition game between the horrible last 5 minutes of Mass Effect 3 and a new exciting step for the franchise. As if they needed a whole game to remove that bullet from their foot.

[@andreww4012]

I will say, despite my criticisms, I did come around on the crew of the Tempest. by the end of the game, I had no issues with them. Peebee annoyed me at first, but her personality is well explained in my opinion. I started appreciating their individual motivations more than I thought possible, and it does help to make the game feel deeper.

[@GalliadII]

mass effect 1 had more than just one plotline: what about the genophage? the geth motivation? (somehow resolved but turned out wrong) what about the rachni?

[@MrMarinus18]

But they were all background things and not the main focus. Also the Genophage is pretty clear. The details are a bit vague but it's well known what it is and why it happened.

[@KosherPorky]

@@MrMarinus18 Background lore on the Genophage is pretty in-depth, but yeah in game it can be a bit vague

[@MrMarinus18]

@@KosherPorky I was talking only about the first game. Most of the details of the Genophage come from the doctor in the second game.

[@JafoZero]

Is there not a line that implies they recovered Alec's body at the time they recovered yours? I thought its asked after you wake up from being dead and the doc replies they did all they could. It wouldn't make sense to attempt to revive him on a planet they couldn't breathe on, so they would've had to bring him back with the squad to the Hyperion. Where they put the body after that though is a good question.

[@DeviousCuttlefish]

Have to agree. The original trilogy sunk it's hooks into me with engaging characters and an interesting storyline. Granted everyone is different, but what kept me binging on the trilogy was wanting to see how the story and relationships played out. Not how much of a map I could uncover. I LOVED the citadel dlc because even though it was just a time sink it was super fun to get more interaction with the characters I'd grown to love. I worked hard in every ME:2 playthrough to make sure I had my whole team survive so I wouldn't miss out on any dialogue. Open worlds and mounds of side quests, while being fun for at least a while, just can't offer even a fraction of the same impact. That's the difference between playing a game and being invested in one.

[@DeviousCuttlefish]

Pauly Hazelnuts Absolutely. I was one of the few that was disappointed by no paragon renegade choices. That alone promised at least 3 playthroughs by itself. All renegade, all paragon, and a mix of the two which was my favorite. This just feels totally bland :( makes me sad because I really wanted this to be good and it's only so-so

[@vtheman1850]

Yeah see I agree about the original series, but this gives me what i wanted for a while, a nice, relaxed self contained experience in the series, not trying to match the narative scale of the originial, cause it just doesn't have to.....

[@gluebubble]

So about the pacing - I think they tried to address that by saying you can do your exploring and side stuff *after* you finish the main story if you want... which is true, except they don't tell you that you affect who lives and dies in the end mission if you don't do *all* of the filler content before you take on the last mission. So you're obligated to do it all, if you want your favorite people to be in the next game. I found myself dying to know how the game ended, but turned off by still having 10-20 hours of other shit to do before I felt 'safe' running the last mission.

[@LtKharn]

Not only that but as gamers we've kinda been pre programed to do everything in a place before moving on, in case we can't come back. I basicly got to a planet, did everything on it then move to the next one.

[@oleglovky]

I disagree about the pacing issue. You don't have to 100% every planet before you can progress with the story. If the pace is more important to you than exploration just do the priority missions and move on, then come back to do everything else after the story ends.

[@TMLCJLK]

If you guys just want to hear the “Major Mistakes” Minius points out, but actually avoid the spoilers, here they are: 1:38 - The game holds back way too much story-wise (spoilers go from 2:25 to 12:05) 12:44 - Pacing

[@littlejash]

Amen on the second point. I really hate that MEA didn't grab me.

[@TazzyGoldTofo]

After beating ME:A I really just want DLC to get some answers. I really hope they watch your video, and kind of set up Andromeda 2 in the DLC's to give us some of these unanswered plot lines.

[@jaycenzimbeck7638]

I disagree with the second point. The exploration is one of the things the game did right. Your role is Pathfinder. To have that role and limit you to mission segments would go against what Ryder is all about. My biggest complaint with the original trilogy was that we didn't get enough time with the Galaxy. We were so focused stopping the Reapers that there was no time to see the sights.

[@TheRacoonGhost]

about the quarians, they clearly where added in latedevelopement when everyone where asking/seeing quarians everywhere and not planned from the start.

[@AlexStarkiller1]

Mysteries are fine. And a lack of mysteries is not objectively better. and I loved the open world. the pacing suffered for it, but only because I decided it should.

[@AlexStarkiller1]

And of course there's less mysteries in Mass effect 1. All but the reapers were already known in the milky way. the Andromeda Galaxy is entirely new.

[@AlexStarkiller1]

I'll give you the mysterious backer plot though. That was definitely within this story's ability.

[@kepsilon165]

To be honest with some of the plot lines I liked that they didn't completely finish them because I started speculating on the countless possibilities and it has made me have a few discussions with some friends to see what they think, and with the Jordan/Remnant i was slightly upset that I didn't find out more it still got me thinking plus I think there is a possibility for a story DLC that will help give us some more answers about them but still leave enough in the air to keep people thinking about what happened

[@sashamaddah1160]

All very good points and that twist you mentioned sounds freaking awesome.

[@osmancardona3613]

Damn watching this finish after finishing the game, and after recent ME news too..Minius you called it..

[@harryblake7207]

I like to think the remenant were trying to create an army but when the angara realised they were being used they sabotaged meridian and released the scurge

[@tymtraveller]

I agree completely with the first point. as for the second: I suspect that if there were solid plot lines with some resolution, the issue of exploration in an almost MMO type world (respawning enemy placements), would likely be less of an issue. The grind would be for a purpose. As it stands, it feels like this was a giant prelude.

[@THE_REAL_POLITIK]

I agree with you minius a overall good game undermined by some base cracks

[@Egeslean]

I'm only 8 minutes into the video and I want to say, 'Thank you'. Only after hearing you say it did I realize you were able to put into words what I was feeling but couldn't figure out how to express. I'm gonna watch the rest now...

[@StiffAftermath]

Man, I loved the whole "restoring the planet" gameplay loop so much...

[@willchalloner6643]

Oh you just know that backer has blue glowing eyes

[@ldkinbote]

Heh, it was funny that after I finished the first playthrough I thought, "Wait, did they ever explain who killed Jien Garson? Did I miss that mission?" I also found that and the shady Andromeda Initiative storyline really interesting.

[@pickledparsleyparty]

It's setting up a trilogy. I wouldn't frame unanswered questions as "flaws" or "mistakes." They're mysteries. Flaws draw us away from stories. Mysteries draw us into them. The kett are arguably this game's focal point, and we learn a ton about them. The Jardaan are this game's Reapers--they are questions that the series will answer over time. If the game answered all of your open questions, then there would be no need for more games, and either this game would take 300 hours to complete (and have taken much more time to develop and be much more expensive to buy), or it would have had to rush through the answers we want.

[@blackknight4152]

Well i agree 100% with the lack of answers of the Plot, but I cant agree to you about the open-world mechanic. It is incredibly good, to the point trying to rush the main campaing without exploring and increasing viability is a suicide. Exploring, mining and making all those secondary misions that remind me the small tasks that had impact in the original trilogy are perfect. To the point the main plot it self is worst than all the secondary misions plots toghether. The combat is very good, but a well thought build can destroy completely the challenge of Insanity, specially "Shield regeneration based builds" that makes you become a god combined with the Bio-converter and the shield oscilator. Basically the Garrus-god Build is worst than a well built Ryder, which is not good if you are looking for a challenge. I found my self ending the Final mision without diying and in less than 30 minutes. The main problem of the game is the lack of scalation of your enemies and dificulty. Being way greater than the others mass effects, makes the snowball effect triger later but once it does, it does way stronger than any of the 3 previous games. At level 60 you are invincible. You have to deliberately use bad weapons to make it a challenge. In the end too many ways to become a god and so few improvements to the enemies while the game advances. i thought I wouldnt need a mod to increase the dificulty of this game, but I was wrong. The last 30 hours its like Im playing in normal dificulty in Mass Effect 1. The final mision especially. Also not having a proper Boss Fight, like in MAss Effect 2, but at the same time not having a properly built antagonist, that you can talk to ( like in Mass Effect 1 and 3) makes the worst combination possible for a Final Mision. No boss like in Mass Effect 3 and no charismatic antagonist to talk to, the end: an unfullfilled final, with lack of answers and challenge that only gives you cool cinematics, cool music and a great battle that you dont participate in. BTW, its worth every single euro I spent on it. Cannot wait for dlc of the lost arch.

[@nailed999]

Exploration is good on its own. But not with the story

[@347tester]

Migue Mig noooo his right its one of the most boring parts

[@blackknight4152]

@kenway leviathan if you dont like Massive exploration games, you will find yourself bored. I find the exploration of Mass Effect incredibly good, reminding me my best moments in games like Skyrim or Kingdoms Amalur with secondary misions that were really cool.

[@100Predator]

To me Its always quantity over quality, it works in MMO games, not in SP where the narrative is the focus, quests that breaks the flow or mechanics that breaks the flow of the game. Breaks the whole immersion and makes you wake up and remeber ohhh its just a game... MEA kept rememebering me all the time how. Trilogy might been more linear but every corridor was handcrafted, it had a purpose. As did the few quest there was. You where never distracted.

[@phoenixevo87]

Migue Mig as for the difficulty: wait until you're above level 90 and can barely kill anything on insanity because of how tanky even common enemies are

[@csdn4483]

Minius, I doubt they left Alec's body on habitat 7 since Alec would have been right there by your character when the shuttle picked you up. Also, SAM points out why your mother needs to stay in stasis, because if she's brought out, her disease will start up again and she'll die. So you need to wait until the medical technology is there. Your character and sibling also realize that your father wasn't going to just let your mother die when he had a chance to save her. I think more the same in all this is looking more in depth at your father as it's obvious he had a lot more motivations that what is seen in the game, even with the memory fragments. The scenes shown in his life goes to show that he truly cared about his family, he just had a hard time expressing that. I think that really shows by the fact that he would not let your mother die even when she was consigned to do so. I also think that some of the plot lines have been purposefully left open for DLC and potential follow ons. Remember, when Mass Effect was released, they weren't sure if they would be able to follow on with additional titles. They had to make it as self contained as possible (this is what happens a lot with games and movies with the first in a series, you need to be able to wrap up everything if you don't plan on continuing). BioWare definitely thinks there will be more ME:A games, so they purposefully left things open to continue in other games. The Jardaan, the Benefactor, whoever created/used the scourge, the Kett sequence after the credits, these all lines to follow for the next game or DLC. Then there's the plotline you didn't mention that shows up once you kill the Archon, what's going on with the Quarian Ark? The warning message indicates they've run into something, something that is hunting them. Is it the Kett, the Jardaan, whoever used/created the scourge, the Reapers, something else? As I see it, we have probably two to three potential DLCs coming for ME:A, something involving the Benefactor (which I think Tann is working for directly), possibly more involving the Kett, and other worlds that might open up from bring Meridian online.

[@thetokenwon506]

Me and my bro we're just talking about this. They left way too much in the air.

[@Kingstyles05]

The first ME had the same type of pace, maybe even slower.

[@Rheinguard]

After reading a bunch of terminals and finding out how the Kett reproduce, I felt like they were just a rehash of the Collectors from ME2.

[@pontan8084]

I like that we dont know alot of the Remnat yet, It adds mystery. And I LOVE the open world

[@kaybeeglide]

They had FIVE years to make this game. FIVE years?!?!. And there are loose ends to tie up?!?! WTF. Story, story, STORY...that is what separates ME from other games. I am getting SO tired of corporations coming in and RUINING the artistry of gaming. Put people in charge that KNOW what the fuck they are doing. Stop money grabbing - it sickens me. You can't spoil a subject if the ending is unanticipated or not desirable. After ME3, you would think BIOWARE would know this. I think I'm done.

[@iki9230]

Here's what a typical mission in this game is like: On the Nexus, someone tells you to go to Elaaden. You run to the docks and watch the Tempest take off animation (20 seconds). Then you go the galaxy map, choose the system with with Elaaden and watch the space travel animation (25 secs). Then you choose Elaaden and watch the space travel animation (25 secs). Then you click to land and watch the landing animation (35 secs). Then you drive a minute or two in the Nomad and maybe shoot some baddies, do some scanning and read some datapad. You learn that you just received an email and have to back to the Tempest to read it (!). You go back to the Tempest, watch the take off animation (20 secs) and read the email. It tells you to go back to Elaaden. You go back, watching the landing animation again (35 secs). You drive somewhere and find someone who tells you to go to Kadara. You watch the take-off animation (20 secs). You go to the galaxy map and click on the system with Kadara and watch the space travel animation (25 secs). Then you choose Kadara and watch the space travel animation (25 secs). Then you choose to land on Kadara and watch the landing animation (30 secs). After some more menus, loading screens and running around, you are in the Kadara desert, driving a couple of minutes in the Nomad until you meet someone who tells you to go to the Nexus and meet someone. You choose to go back to the Tempest, watch the take-off animation (20 secs), and then go to the galaxy map. You choose to go to the system where the Nexus is. You watch the space travel animation (25 secs). Then you choose the Nexus and watch the space travel animation (25 secs). Then you choose the Nexus and watch the landing animation (35 secs). Then you go to meet someone on the Nexus. They tell you to go back to Kadara. You go the docks and watch the take-off animation (20 secs). Then you click on the system with Kadara and watch the space travel animation (25 secs)... And so on, rinse and repeat. There are probably dozens of missions in the game with this general format. What mentally retarded baboon was responsible for designing them?

[@godricmarsden6376]

If you chase down certain side missions you find out that there is a fracture within the Kett and the Primus, I think that was his name, wants the Archon dead because he has gone off the rails with his Remnant obsession and the Primus outright tells Ryder he wants to pull back to the Kett empire study the information they have gathered on the Milky Way races and return in force to Ascend them, in return he promises a respite for cooperation in resolving their mutual problem in the Archon. The cliffhanger with the Benefactor also makes sense because you don't know who the benefactor is or who works for the benefactor. What bothers me more is the lack of exploration into the hostile ancient AI which completely disappeared from Sam Node after I completed the main story and never gained new dialogue after I first exhausted it. I want to know more about the other arcs, especially the Quarians who sent a distress message to not look for them, yet the Kett apparently have no knowledge of them because there was no holo of them in room with the base notes a projections of the Krogan, Asari, Humans, and Salarians. I also don't really have an issue with the pacing of the game. I was bothered by the travel times between locations in the galaxy map. Yeah, you made a beautiful game, but I'll stop and appreciate it when I feel like it so don't make me watch it zoom by every time I go somewhere. I also didn't like the unmapped search quests "go find this, here's a vague hint, but no map marker". I would have also liked it if my decisions seemed to have more weight, mostly it seemed like choosing between allies with the only notable exception coming to my mind being some of the loyalty missions which you can ignore entirely anyway. Tack on a myriad of minor glitches and occasionally I would get irritated and impatient but I still enjoyed the game overall, and while the prospect of multiple dlcs to close these unresolved subplots has me worried I would love to see how the Andromeda plots unfold further.

[@hisnhersjeeps]

I'm replaying the game now, and on the Rescue the Moshae mission on Voeld, in one of the rooms at the exaltation facility are some data pads that mention correspondence with the Benefactor and possibly the Kett. I found it really interesting since this was a nice story arc that I want to see explored more.

[@iterationfackshet1990]

Imagine the Heleus cluster has a race of killer robots that come every 50,000 years to kill everything like the Milky Way too

[@mitchellman32]

I also agree with you the the Turmoil within the creation of the Initiative was one of my favorite story arcs. When they revealed the true intentions of the Initiative and the Reapers it was big for me

[@IDontknow-bs5gw]

Anyone notice how the Kett act very similar to the collectors?

[@ribroome]

The biggest difference between the Kett and the Collectors is that the Collectors act as a single entity directed toward one goal with limited impact on the galaxy (everyone describes them as mysterious and elusive, to the point where some don't even think they exist), whereas the Kett have an empire and some of them seem to have individual motivations (the Archon's obsession with the Remnant) outside what they are tasked to do - conquer Andromeda. Still, it's an interesting point and has some merit, because we really don't know all that much about the Kett as whole yet, and it possible there is something much bigger driving their empire that we aren't aware of yet. Minius' most salient point in this breakdown is frustratingly true, we really don't know much of anything after finishing ME:A, and that's not typical of the Mass Effect franchise.

[@owengrant9066]

One idea i had was that after developing the FTL (Faster than Light) technology that got them to the Andromedan galaxy. In the 600 years or so that it took them to get there that the FTL technology back in the milkyway would of advanced so much that they could of developed an even faster way of getting to Andromeda. I thought about the fact that the reminent appeared by coincidence on all the planets surveyed by the initiative. And it appeared around 100 years after they started their journey to Andromeda. And by some coincidence ryder can use sam through his omni-tool to interface with the reminent technology. What if someone from the milkyway travelled to Andromeda with there 100 years advanced FTL drive to help the Andromeda initiative to succeed by terraforming the surveyed worlds and more. Then a war broke out with the kett and my mysterious milkyway friends. Another thought was that the reapers are back again. That they originated from the Andromedan galexy and that the terraforming was their new form of farming complex organic matter in order to consume. Basically in mass effect Andromeda we have almost a direct correlation between the two stories. We have a mysterious race of beings that have radically advanced technology and that something happened to them and that their not around anymore and some unknown protagonist was responsible. I hope the next installment gives us what we need. Mass effect 1 was awesome. Mass effect 2 also good. But i think number 3 just completely lost the plot. I just hope history doesn't repeat itself. PS did anyone else really miss shepherd? Liara T'soni is still alive but they made her stay in the mikyway. I think it would of been so awesome to see atleast 1 character from the previous mass effects. Also iwas really hoping that peebee was the child of shepherd and Liara :(

[@matthewmelange]

13:00 I think the best way to solve the open world problem is to make the Nomad be able to traverse any terrain. Even going up a 90 degree angle on a mountain. The greatest problem of the open world part is you need to get to point B but there's a mountain in your way and you don't know whether to go left or right around the mountain.

[@teamRoyce]

Good points Minius. I was a little overwhelmed by the scale of the game and how many things they were to do at any given time, but it did make the game last longer so I liked that. I like the Mass Effect 1 style of "Take your time no one is gonna die tomorrow" rather than ME2 and 3 where squad mates were talking about the final mission from the 1st minute and how we all gonna die. I think the plot point of Andromeda was "Get set up and survive!" Even how they talk about Port Meridian being the first capital and basically every single ark is still almost completely in cryo. Like all the other plot pints were just to create this feeling that this is a living universe with many more secrets to unlock. The end of the game wasn't supposed to feel like an ending. You're right though: we should've known more about each of those 5 points: Like whats the next step. Whereas it feels more like "Ok Andromeda, you're move!" Another critical error I thought was the lack of impact Datapads and Terminals had on story. You could read some messages and journals that gave some cool hints/insight into characters motivations and it was like a 4th wall because Ryder and his group never reacted to it. Just you the player knew what was up.

[@MrMarinus18]

6:50 It also would have made for some diplomatic conflict since the people who you are trying to ally with would associate you with the enemy. So maybe you need to do all kinds of tasks and make good dialogue choices to win them over. Maybe even have multiple endings. Like you can firmly ally with them, can maybe be hated by both and die a horrible death or maybe pretend to ally with them but then hand them over to the other side.

[@anomaly_7303]

What's the song in background someone pls help its so peaceful

[@mizz_marvel543]

When you brought up a lack of Alec's body I lost it haha XD I could totally see that happening. I mean he might be the first exalted human!!! Imagine what kind of impact that would have...

[@sirlandynor0014]

Hey Minius. Great Video. I agree with your story line points, yet I have to say that I have found exploration very fun.

[@BulletNG]

You're so right and it's actually saddening. I really wanted this game to do well. Of course there are people like us who can see through the shit that the trolls are throwing at it, but we're not the ones that decide whether or not the story will continue. I fucking love this game considering all its flaws I still enjoy every minute I spend with it and really look forward to the future of this new franchise. One thing that really bothered me was how pretty much every single Path Finder or "leader" died. That just feels like a lazy way to force these new opportunities and allow you to made decisions quickly.

[@Anaguma79]

You've done a very good job approximating my feelings about ME:A. I'm especially annoyed at the lack of resolution of the Garson-was-murdered plot. I could have forgiven how spread out the plot was if they're given the NPCs more things to say in between, but I lost count of how many times I walked around the Tempest hoping for new conversations only to see everything greyed out.

[@itzjakerzb8159]

My view on the game is that since you've traveled 600 years across deep space to andromeda you're supposed to not know everything within the first game it's supposed to be about adventure and discovery but you shouldn't know everything within the first game

[@laughingmantis3476]

Dat combat. Couldn't have said this better myself man, cheers.

[@craiggraham2383]

Right from the get go it sounded like one of the major issues was they tried to include too many ideas, and the overall vision wasn't nailed down tight enough. All the plot points left as loose ends seems to confirm this. My favorite part of the game was investigating the Andromeda Initiative backstory, the murder, etc... one of the only reasons I ended up finishing the game, wad that I kept hoping at some point that storyline would pick up again. I was so excited to find those Cerberus agents, and was really looking forward to seeing if my choice there would impact future interactions, but it went no where. The game ended it felt like when you'd have a game on two discs but Blockbuster only put disk one in the case.

[@grantcook1883]

Couldn't agree with you more. My own personal idea for the remnant reveal was that the angara WERE the remnant, and had their society destroyed by the scourge.

[@EnthrallingBass140]

I was discussing the game with a friend of mine and we actually concluded that this game came close second as our favorite mass effect. Though it's really hard to pinpoint why. I think it's a combination of quality of life changes, character development, environment, and story.

[@RejhGadellaa]

You make some excellent points about the story that I've been feeling too. Screw the technical glitches, those can be fixed. It feels like I just finished a season of Lost. The phrase "Wtf is going on?!" comes to mind - and it would be okay if it would have a "Hugo finds the hatch" cliffhanger but it doesn't even do that...

[@Alpha-1812]

I can think of a few ways to fix the pacing problem in future games, we get to play both of the Ryders, then every time there are uninteresting bits during the main mission, your perspective is switched like GTA 5 and you can switch them any time you like during free roam. There also needs to be better things to do while driving like chases during one of the first main missions on the planet, at the end of those chases, you unlock one of the forward stations for fast travels.

[@jesuscarrillo7952]

The biggest question I had in regards to the story was how did activating the Remnant Monoliths and Vaults reverse the effects of the Scourge if we're explicitly told and shown that the Scourge is ATTRACTED to Remnant tech? Wouldn't logic dictate that activating enormous underground cities full of remtech actually cause more damage and the eventual destruction of the planet similar to the intended Turian Golden World? It seems like an oversight but I'm open to hearing anyone's resolution on the matter.

[@kalwinters442]

Hey Minius, here's another video idea. When I went to land on a planet in ME:A, i sometimes found myself sighing and thinking "great I have to go here again." This also happened with inquisition and even the witcher. The one and only open world game where this didn't happen to me was Skyrim. In Skyrim, i couldn't wait to run around and explore every single cave, and I have no idea why. With ME:A, exploring quickly became a chore, but in skyrim, it was fun, I ignored quests just to explore. Why is that?

[@kateroman709]

As far as worrying about sales and how this might impact future games, I might have some insight. I'm a manager at a certain game store (take a guess) and looking at only numbers, MEA did fantastic. Between pre-orders, how many of those actually got picked up, and the walk in sales in the first week, this game blew other AAA titles out of the water (it sold more than horizon zero dawn! at least at my store). And despite the reviews, people are still buying it. Not nearly as many, but still.

[@PrimaItalia]

The open world and exploration are awful. All of the sidequest just devolve into just going to markers on your map, scanning/clearing out an enemy encampment, getting some inconsequential dialogue, rinse and repeat. It was so monotonous that I did not do sidequest in order. I would just look at my map and just go to the closest markers. If they wanted do sidequests properly, they should have created dedicated areas for the sidequests like they did for the kett bases. That way the narrative is contained.

[@96nikecha]

But this is definitely not the first time this is the case (*looks at Mass Effect 1 and raises eyebrows*)

[@junaidi2]

Mass Effect 1 at least don't have Contagion side quest.

[@jamesedwards1145]

If a person could rewrite the story what elements or topics would they need in the main story ?

[@stonekold10x]

I would actually make the case that Cerberus is an unresolved plot line in Mass Effect. They kill an admiral and research the husks and thorian. They do all that and you don't much about them until 2. I think that Shepard having dialogue referring to Cerberus while he was going after Saren makes them important. Unanswered questions is a good thing

[@echoness_]

About the Benefactor, in a kett facility there's a datapad reads: "Benefactor, I hear that you're having good success on [IMPRECISE: ALT:"??","Eos"]. My transfer to this place was a good idea; there's so much to learn. I'm grateful you suggested it. Let's meet again. Perhaps you would be interested to see my homeworld, like you once showed me yours. In harmony, Hztch." So it seems the benefactor contacted kett beforehand and made some kind of deal with them. That's damn horrifying.

[@neffarion]

It is known that the kett after the ending are returning in numbers with reinforcements if you explore an outpost on Eos that defies archon

[@Alex-os7iu]

I wholeheartedly agree to both points, if I would have to choose a 3rd major issue: not using the "new galaxy" angle to its full potential. 2 bi-ped races and 1 robot tribe that lacks the variation of even the Geth in ME1 is just not enough to hold a player's interest over 100 hours. I desperately waited for new races or enemy types to show up over the course of the game, but apart from the Angara you meet every possible race almost within the first 10 hours. And on the topic of open world: every game has this moment when the "illusion of open world" breaks, mostly because there is only a certain number of different gameplay mechanics or standard events behind all those map-markers and things get predictable and repetitive very fast, exploring & discovering becomes increasingly hollow when you recognize there's like 5 different buildings with only slight variations (Hello NMS). Doesn't matter how big your game is, as long as there's actual variety! Games like Witcher 3, Fallout 4 and GTA V all handled this challenge in a different and original way - W3 had the strongest characters & writing, Fallout had the most detailed locations and sense of reality with all the little details spread around and some real unique places, and GTA put its emphasis on mission variety. MEA sadly excelled in none of those aspects.

[@TrolleyDodger_]

Honestly I don't feel like leaving plot lines open for future stuff dlc or sequels were missed opportunities and the original game had 4 plotlines open at the end actually

[@TrolleyDodger_]

Cerberus, the reapers, the Council, shadow broker

[@MiniusGC]

Cerberus and the Shadow broker were DLC (at least the Shadow Broker intrigue). The council wasn't really relevant. Or interesting.

[@TrolleyDodger_]

You could argue one of the 5 plotlines that are still around in MEA aren't as intriguing as the others but it's still there, and yes it was answered in DLC or sequels, which I'm fine with if the initial plan was for this game as well

[@LutzDerLurch]

If they ship an unfinished game, by cutting out/withholding sizeable chunks of content for the sole purpose of selling a sequel, or worse still, paid story DLC, that is a bad business practise. They can leave a little bit hanging for other games and DLC to attach to, but if it is too much of the games core story, it is a very bad thing indeed, and likely fueled by greed and corporate decisionmaking. Although, it is still possible, these threads of content went nowhere, because they were never finished thanks to being rushed. No matter how you slice it, EA still looks bad and seems to have it's reputation for a reason.

[@LoomisTook]

How is 5 years rushed? I don't like EA more than anyone else, but I think in this case, hang the hat where it belongs -- Bioware: they're either incompetent or lazy or both.

[@Sergio_Math]

My main problem with Andromeda was the world building: In the original trilogy, there was a lot of diversity and everything was backed up by science, culture, historical events... There is something about understanding why the Elcor behave like they do; It is amazing to see how the Hanar evolved and how they view the Protheans; It is cool to know why the Volus have those pressure suits; It was surprising to learn about the Rachni's synesthetic communication... I had huge expectations for first contact in Andromeda. centuries of planning and traveling to the new galaxy, and finally, after lots of anticipation, FIRST CONTACT: The beings here are bipeds, have two eyes, hold rifles like humans do and even speak fucking English... What a waste. A long, first part of the game could have been just trying to figure out how to communicate with them, to understand their problems, to have them understand we came in peace... not being thrown directly into a typical, traditional, almost shakespearean drama with the Kett and salvation and honor and... Think about the movie Arrival. That explores first contact pretty well! Andromeda could have been so much more. Now, having said that, I still enjoyed the game. The gameplay was fantastic. The best combat in the entire franchise. I played the game months after release so there were no game-breaking glitches for me, so that was ok too. I haven't brought myself to playing it a second time though, unlike the original Trilogy, which I am playing yet again, probably for the fifth time in Legendary Edition.

[@taliecederwall7584]

I totally agree with you, Minius. I liked the game, it was fun, but there were some errors that are just disappointing. I wish they did more with the storyline. It felt unfinished.

[@beaver6d9]

I do a very long and thorough play through, so I totally spoiled myself on a lot of things, but honestly I can't wait months to watch this when I'm finished, so totally worth it.

[@marktime48]

I expected many unanswered questions. The only thing I was disappointed with was the inability to explore Meridian post-game. If a Meridian DLC comes out quickly I'll be thoroughly content with this game, and eagerly hoping that more follow (in LESS than 5 years).

[@d.r.dproductions6519]

Cerberus was the andormdea inictive secret backer it makes to much sense

[@PhthaloGreenskin]

not possible because you can find a data pad referring to the benefactor and the date reads 2179, cerberus didn't know about the reapers until shepard saved the citadel in 2183, so cerberus could not be involved.

[@derptraveller7146]

Cerberus is about HUMAN advancement. The Andromeda Initiative unites all species willing to help. I don't buy it.

[@debott4538]

My guess is it's the Shadow Broker.

[@Ypsilon]

Thats very unlikely cerberus would not send ships with other species, they would send only humans

[@Ozymanzak]

D.R.D Productions it is cerberus, they would have to hide their involvement by inviting some other spécies and also using the "benefactor" secret name. AND the shadow broker originally helped the initiative (while he was the Yahg) and when it was Liara she didn't say a word about it in het lasr audio log. IT IS CERBERUS, Jack Harper knew something was coming way before shepard did, Except he didn't know what or when. The "pathfinder" term was used by Jack Harper way before the Pathfinder bécame an important "word" in the Andromeda initiative. The benefactor IS Cerberus. I'M STILL SURPRISED THAT NOBODY LINKED CORA HARPER TO JACK HARPER

[@deanthomas4929]

The weird thing with the pacing being too stretched out is that the plot is supposed to take 4 months

[@spiral83]

+ Minius GC well in fairness to the unanswered plot lines, i say good. i loved the fact that they left a lot of unfinished things at the end, this game is basically an origin story and background setting for future games, Bioware did say that the game was not intended to be a stand alone game, not a trilogy: quoting Marc walters: To be clear. Just because #Andromeda isn't start of a trilogy, doesn't mean we haven't been planning for future adventures. Just not 3 acts so yes, they are clearly setting up a ton of things: the charlatan, who killed grieson, war with the kelts, the quarian ark, what happened the Jardaan, what will happen with the scourge... and more things i'm forgetting, but this is their biggest game, and it shows, there is space for DLCs and a sequel. that's a good thing for me, i want reasons to go back in this game, so i'm actually glad for them

[@spiral568]

SPOILERS: My main issue, and this is an ongoing thing with bioware across all franchises. Is the massive reduction of choice and the consequences it can have on the story. I think this is basically a choice free game and the narrative is set. And what I can do is maybe effect superficial differences on the sidelines. If you compare that to the witcher 3 where I can have 3/4 vastly different world states, multiple main characters with any variants of fate including the lead. Here like Captain Dunn is the person my choices affect in the final battle I think. and she's maybe the 30th lead character in this story? You don't even really have a side mission or get to know that character at all but that's what all your various choices in the game boil down to. Comparing that to Virmire or the suicide mission or geth vs quarians etc. It just feels so weaksauce and screams fear to me. I think they've learned the wrong lesson from the ME 3 endings and have decided to basically remove choice from the main narrative so people don't get mad, as opposed to rising to that challenge. I think that's a conservative decisions, and I think MEA is full of decisions like it. Agree its not a bad game and there's clearly an element of pile on bullying going on, but the storytelling was just so bland in this game. So few moments where they were bold or really went for it no holds barred.

[@Davanthall]

To be fair, the first Mass Effect was released when the era of having a bajillion DLC planned for AAA games after initial release was just barely starting. And tolerate or despise it, the fact is we're in the prime of that mindset now. I think most, if not all of your "unanswered plot threads" will be addressed in future DLC.

[@AaronHill4]

Hey Minius! Always appreciate your videos -- keep them coming :) I enjoyed hearing your thoughts on ME:A. While I often find myself agreeing with you in other videos, I only partially agree with you in these two areas. Regarding the story's many open threads, I don't see this as a major issue. To me, the story of ME:A is primarily about the Pathfinder establishing a home base for humanity. To accomplish this, you negate the largest short-term threat (the Archon) and find a home base (Meridian). Knowing more about the Jardaan, the Scourge, and "the Opponent" is all very interesting (and I can't wait to learn more), but I don't think it's necessary. I do, however, completely agree on some things -- the Pathfinder finding out about the Reapers in the Milky Way, and your mother being alive -- were definitely missed opportunities. For me, the biggest missing piece is understanding the kett and Archon... it didn't feel as fleshed out as it could have been. I also thought exploration made sense given the Pathfinder's role. I enjoyed the open world exploration, though I would like some faster ways to travel. Most of the sidequests pleasantly surprised me and went in directions I would not have predicted. I'm really hoping the series continues. Would love to return as Ryder in ME:A2. And I'm so ready for them to announce DLC :)

[@notsosmartguy6254]

I thought that the twist in Andromeda was that Humanity was somehow connected to the Remnant tech. Like maybe Humanity was originally from the Andromeda Galaxy or descend from the Remnant or something but left for some reason and the Andromeda Iniciative was secretly about Humanity discovering a lost culture that only a super select few know about.

[@destr0lockk]

I'm not sure whether it's fanboy-ism but I think Andromeda stacks up well. The exploration aspect was the one thing I always found missing in the trilogy (even in ME1); I hope they don't revert back to the ME2/3 design

[@LH-eu8yf]

I totally agree with you. On a review of mine, I've written "This game feels like an introduction." I think you may agree with that. Well actually I almost agree with everything you said. I thought the same about Ryder's dad: "where's the body??" Being a fan of the franchise for its story, lore and characters, I was disappointed I really hope Bioware will see that video. I would love MEA:2 being like ME2. A focus on story and characters, with the new good combat and maybe the multiplayer to make us wait for the next episode :p

[@ABusFullOfNuns9]

I'm so glad someone else thinks the same thing about the open world aspect of the game. Everyone always just assumes open world=a better game. But personally, I would've genuinely little-to-no exploration and just jump from mission to mission. Also those god awful chase quests have really put me off playing this game again any time soon. I can't believe I'm saying this as a negative, but the game takes too damn long to complete. Which would easily be solved by cutting out the open world environments. Seriously I could play the entire OT on insanity faster than this one game.

[@ronaldgrantjr3873]

I am on my second play through right now on insanity. The pacing is fine if you ask me. I love the fact that I get to explore large worlds. Plus there are kett to fight when driving from place to place. I love how their ships fly in and drop off foes for me to kill. I find my self driving towards their ships when I hear them above.

[@ronaldgrantjr3873]

Also playing the game on insanity provides some great long epic battles sometimes.

[@mrreasonable7461]

I feel that the unfinished storylines will probably be part of a future dlc.

[@I.am.gnarlyCrone]

I played for 123 hours and I loved most of them. Yes, some plot lines are not explained. That's what dlc/sequels are for. But the open worlds were wonderful and I loved just exploring. Not all of us play for the combat. This game allowed me to experience another galaxy, albeit in a limited fashion, but hey, I am a 68 year old woman and it is the only way I can travel through space. I loved the travelling through space parts, the many worlds I could explore, etc. etc. If asked for what would have made the game better for me personally, I would respond that replacing Peebee, whom I disliked, would have helped, and allowing me to explore the dyson sphere after the ending would have added something. Other than that I loved it! Phoibles

[@devonlaporte9801]

what if you never left the milky way and you just woke up 600 years after the reapers killed everything, and you are in the outskirts

[@Andrew_Waples]

Sure there is no body (in regards to Alec), but you have your father's N7 Armor and his broken helmet. So unless they just completely forgot to get the body, I'm assuming that he is retrieved. Also, regarding the"benefactor" I'm 99.9% certain that it was TIM. Cerberus was the only organization that took the Reapers seriously, his interest in AI research, and advancement of humanity etc, etc. Plus, ex-Cerberus scientists made the jump to Andromeda and I can't get over the fact how the AI logo looks almost exactly the the Cerberus logo. Regarding the plot line I agree with you, to a certain point. We know there is going to be DLC. I think nowadays people are more open to it. I mean just look at Inquisition with Solas and the Tresspasser DLC.

[@EitherProductions]

It also doesn't help that it was made by Bioware's youngest and least-experienced sub-studio whose only real prior credits are the ME3 multiplayer (and they somehow also botched MEA's multiplayer despite doing so well with ME3's). While I like MEA, these are the exact same two main points of issue I had with it, with the broken, poorly designed multiplayer as a contending third significant issue.

[@jmsnrs716]

How do you know they didn't recover Alec Ryder's body? Because you don't get to see it after Scott/Sara awakens? This seems pretty obvious to me, they of course recovered his body while rescuing Scott/Sara, because they would have been in the same location. It's not like they would have just left his body to rot, again, seems pretty obvious and doesn't require one to be bludgeoned over the skull with it in order to connect the dots. Doesn't mean there can't be some shady plot down the way via the Initiative, but I doubt it and I highly doubt that there will be some Kett/Remnant/Jaardan plot with Alec Ryder either.

[@MustafarG]

I agree with the fact that there are too many unsolved plots, it's clearly intended as DLC and sequel bait. But the pacing part I disagree with, fact is all games with open worlds will suffer from slow pacing, because there are so many things to do part from the main story, and whether or not you like a fast paced story or a slow paced one is purely a matter of taste. The Mass Effect Trilogy did not have a open world therefore it was fast paced, Andromeda is open world therefore it is slow paced, personally I like both.

[@eglantineinandromeda8639]

Thank you for this video, Minius!

[@mikeyd2888]

I kinda like the missing plot lines. Leaves a lot of room for theorizing (my favorite lore activity) until the next bit of content drops. But I appreciate your honest criticisms and the quality of the discussion here. Another great video, as always!

[@javeronh.3996]

I appreciate you waiting on the video. just finished the game Monday night, was definitely tired for work. ha ha. I am hoping that the loose plot threads are because they intend to have DLC, but doubt it. the Jardaan is using clusters of Andromeda as a evolution experiment or something of the like. similar to Stargate Antlantis having that episode where people thought they were playing an RTS but were actually directing real people. I agree with you that a few, like 2 or 3, is understandable. but 5 big threads going no where is too much. 6:15 that would be a neat and impressive twist, I like it. 9:30 I found that odd too, and that it seems the backer is still alive, most likely. 11:00 agreed. one of the reasons I really loved ME1 was that it felt like it could be a complete game but could be continued easily. 11:40 I also thought it was weird his remains were just simply left period. more than 1 person would have bene there so they could have grabbed both Ryders without issues 14:00 the terrain was nice that it was so much to explore, but more stuff to do in that openness would have been nice. and not just simply more baddess to kill but little side quests or more information about the universe. it was an awesome game and if it wasn't for the glitches (like quests not starting or finishing) I would start on my second playthrough. I will wait for a couple more patches to happen first, which bites to have to wait for that. I definitely want to play through again and try to choose things better, as I would see it

[@jacothechosenone]

Holy shit you are back!!!!!!!

[@God_Forger]

I see no issue with the unfinished story lines, I like what happened in this games plot and I'm curious to see where unfinished story lines go. There is no need to have all of the answers about everything in the game(it's unrealistic to know everything about every alien/lost civilization in the first game, humans had a while to study the Prothians before Mass Effect 1). Maybe this is just me, but needing to know every detail of a film, game or other fiction leads to a dumbed down final product, which would be disappointing. As long as the creator has fleshed out everything and all of the content makes sense, it will hold my interest and be enjoyable. I do agree that the pacing is off though.

[@volkanhto]

About your first point, I see it as a problem because of how it hurts the game by not having a real intrigue or a grip for you to want to continue playing before you get to the Angara. The game before meeting with the Angara might as well be a 10 hour long prologue because from a narrative standpoint that's what it ends up being. Because of this, other than the Angara plot the game feels empty with no real hook to get you invested in. I also really like your scourge twist. About the second point what they could've done is create linear mission setups for the story mission in the open world but have it secluded from the main open world map. Have it be on the side, like an extension of the map, that's where you go to do the mission, which is one lengthy mission which you push through. This type of set design is what makes vaults and hunting the archon mission so interesting and fun to play. They are more linear and you can see a clear beginning and an end, rather than going back and forth between mission areas. I would add the third major mistake of Andromeda characters not having more diverse character. Meaning in this game other races don't feel different from the humans, they almost act and talk like humans. A krogan does not give you the feeling of a krogan, just a human who talks a lot about genophage. An Asari does not have the mystique and intrigue of an Asari from OT. You really should be able to distinguish different races from their actions and stories they have. They shouldn't be humans that look different.