Been playing for about 15-20 hours or so, at a guess. I've gotten Eos and Voeld to 100% viability and have taken care of most sidequests in those planets. I've also advanced a few loyalty missions to the point where I need to progress further in the game before I can continue them.
I have...very mixed feelings so far. The overall game design feels extremely muddled, as though BioWare decided to throw in practically every design concept they could think of until the game became this gigantic, dizzyingly amorphous mass of AAA design choices. There are so many aspects of the game that feel bloated, excessive and, occasionally, unnecessary. As though they are present just for the sake of it, rather than to enrich or enliven the experience.
Like...why is there so much stuff in this game? Stuff to do, stuff to see and stuff to micromanage? Why is there such a big, sprawling inventory of items and resources? Why is there so much crafting and so many weapons and armor to research and develop? Why are there so many fetch quests and sidemissions where you go from one place and then to another place and then to another place (so you can activate a console)? Why are the planets so big and boring-looking and filled with mostly monotous things to do? Why are there so many random encounters with kett and Remnants? It all can honestly feel overbearing at times, and the fact that so much of it feels so bland is just terribly unfortunate.
The thing I'm finding most enjoyable at the moment are the dialogue and characterization of Ryder and Tempest crew, and I appreciate that the game seems to have a slightly more lighthearted tone than the original trilogy (I can't tell if this a deliberate tone shift or the result of BioWare becoming more self-aware and embracing that aspect of their development style more). I was originally having some trouble adjusting to the revamped combat, but I think I'm rolling with it a bit better now, and I found the combat sequence vs the giant Remnant robot on Eos genuinely exciting.
I'll keep playing. There are times when you get a definite sense of the spirit of the original trilogy at the core of this game, but it's often hidden away behind weird/questionable design decisions and the feeling that the game was developed to checkmark a bunch of AAA game requirements put together by committee. Hopefully the unnecessarily bloated design won't tire me out before I can finish the story.
PS: I will also say that I really like Ryder, even though I sometimes find myself thinking of Shepard while I'm playing as him. That's by design, I'm sure, as it seems Ryder's more easygoing demeanor and slight air of insecurity were deliberately conceived to contrast with Shepard's more self-assured comport. I also never cease to be freaked out by the male Ryder's voice and the fact that he sounds so much like Nolan North, even down to the cadence and inflection. There are times when I legitimately forget it's not actually him voicing the character.
