Very mild spoilers below. I am maybe a quarter in.
I like - and am growing to like - this game more than the GAF/press freak out made me expect to. But it's not without its flaws, and there are a couple of things which I really dislike though. The endless fetch quests. I am not completely OCD so I can skip a fair amount, but it still takes me some mental processing to avoid doing them - and I generally still waste time going around and listening to people treating me like their errand girl. My second, and biggest, gripe is with the remnant. In general I think the 'ancient civilization that is gone but was incredibly advanced' is a pretty tired trope, but it can be well done. But the whole visual concept behind them is this incredibly boring, lame, and done-to-death - pillars of stone with lines of light running through them. The technology is always essentially magic light. Large blocks of stone move thanks to magical light-powere-computer terminals. It reminds me of Assassin's creed aliens, Destiny last level, or about a million other games with that trope. And in general it's derivative, but here it feels incredibly soulless. The fact that the game is making me expect to go through obelisks of light, then subterranean-vaults-of-moving-stone for every planet I want to terraform is already making me want to stab myself, and I have only done two. Way to recycle assets, too.
I just finished the mission where you save the Moshae and my god it was a breath of fresh air compared to those boring vaults. It was tropey too (hell I could think of three very similar missions in the ME universe) - but it was well done. More of that, less picking up fruits please
(I played Mass Effect I when I was extremely busy and took the decision to 'rush' through the game- only doing the main missions (side-dialog as well, but no side mission at all). It remains one of my favorite experiences because of how tight the whole game ended up being. Maybe I should play more RPG like that. Or maybe, on top of having a difficulty level at the beginning of the game, RPGs should have a 'side quest density' meter as well. I think it improves a ton of games).
My last gripe is that there is too much dialogue which is decidedly average. Write less, focus more. I don't need to read countless boring messages that were not even addressed to me. World building is important, but when it's done poorly it's like reading an encyclopedia article about your least favorite topic.
On the positive side: I actually like the squad mates (not as good as ME2, but they are like able overall). The combat is great. And I think this might put me at odds with others, but I love the lighter, more optimistic tone, and Ryder in general. I love she is not the somewhat pompous, tired person of the ME trilogy (I played ME trilogy as maleShep, Andromeda as Sara). It's possible to make her a very kind and empathic person - not just someone saving the world and being everyone's personal hero. I like that whole 'Ryders love to make jokes but they are painfully not funny' (it's easier than to write actually funny jokes, but better than writing shitty jokes and keep them straight). And (again potentially controversial), I really like her VA. It's very soothing without being dull.
