I'm only a few hours into it, but I suspect that Mass Effect: Andromeda is highly underrated. While I understand some bitterness towards EA about Battlefront II, they're certainly capable of publishing good games. DA:I was one of the best post-Skyrim RPGs, not quite as good as The Witcher 3, but a considerable improvement on DAII. I think BioWare really had a future as a developer of the kinds of games that it's good at making.
ME: Andromeda Talk:
I agree - ME:A is severely underrated.
ME:A suffers from a combo of things. It was over-hyped to the moon, just like Dragon Age 2. So, most people that love ME1-3 will probably say "ME:A sucks," when it's really more like that the other games ME1-3 are amazing and this ME:A is just actually solid and good. DA2 had this problem, after coming off DAO; DAO is one of the best & last old-school style CRPG's from the AAA space.
ME:A's first 10-20 hours feels like a tutorial to set you up for how to play the game, gameplay-wise. The combat is fantastic and easily the best in the series, action-wise - but it also lacks the strategy of the earlier ME games b/c you don't have the BioWare stategic-pause and you can't really strategically have your other party members do their special skills at your command; so ME:A feels more action-y. You can't sit forever in cover - as AI will get you out of it by destroying cover, throwing grenades, doing special skills, or whatever.
The story doesn't really kick in and go much of anywhere until you leave Eos, TBH. That's a big problem, as many might not get even past Eos b/c of this. Basically, this is the DA: Inquisition problem w/ you could stay too long in the Hinterlands all over again. Honestly, DA:I doesn't get going until you get out of the Hinterlands.
Also, ME:A lacks the great storytelling, character development, and whatnot that we normally find in BioWare-branded games. This is one of the game's biggest problems, IMHO - as BioWare games usually never mess this up. ME:A isn't horrible, mind you - but it feels like the script was cut majorly and/or they just hit the main important story-beats without much depth...and just moved the hell on to the next thing.
There are also tons of UbiSoft type of questing and it's a huge open-world for all of these maps just like those games - in which you do a lot off one-off quests, collect-a-thons, and not too important side-stuff. It can feel like, if you actually do tons of it, a lot of grind-work and stuff to do - and this for many was a problem w/ DA: Inquisition. It can also feel repetitive, too - if you do tons of this side-stuff.
I've enjoyed my 50 hours w/ ME:A - but I needed to get away from it. It doesn't feel like I'm anywhere close to the end of the story arc; feels like I'm somewhere in the middle. And the game's just got so much quantity-wise to it, especially w/ side-quest city and collect-a-thon city - that I just needed to get away from it. I needed a break from it.
About BioWare as a company:
I think most will say after DA2, it was headed towards a downward slump. Many people were upset w/ DA2, as they felt it was nowhere on DAO's level and really isn't even the same type of game as DAO (DA2 is more action-y and less of a RPG than DAI for many reasons - less decisions; overhead tac-cam removed; smaller scale/not-as-epic story; and the 3 Acts format.
Some people weren't even that fond of DAI, as that also tries to be more Skyrim-like than DAO-esque; DAI tries to combine the best elements of DAO; DA2; and some new stuff in DAI (UbiSoft open-world with one-off side quests and collect-a-thon city) - but, some people weren't fond of that.
A lot of people have certain expectations from a Franchise when it's already great - so when changing a lot of things, which might not be executed to many's liking, it can cause lots of disappointment and many don't want to deal w/ the so-called "growing pains".
BioWare isn't even really the same company these days. With Jennifer Hepler, Trent Oster (another BioWare co-founder that left, who is now leading Beamdog), the two co-founding doctors, David Gaider, Mike Laidlaw, and other key figures that are gone from BioWare - I don't think this new BioWare (after DA2) is really the same BioWare as pre-DA2 BioWare. Other than NWN1 base-game's Single Player Campaign, I think BioWare was pretty much untouchable before DA2.
These days - yeah, BioWare doesn't seem like it's untouchable anymore. It seems like it's putting games of different styles and different levels of quality, which can alienate a lot of its very hardcore and rabid fan-base.
k
