@Lurch - same here, would have preferred to play as her dad though. He seemed more of an ass kicker than a name taker

@Scottie I think they wanted the player to feel new to everything, the galaxy is new (even though, IMO, the story is hitting some very close to original trilogy tropes) and Ryder's skills and introduction to SAM and the role of Pathfinder is also one of exploration and discovery. This is one aspect of the story that I like, mirroring the sense of excitement and discovery not only in your character but in the game world itself

@KF500 - Detailed review and in line with some of my thoughts. Combat is fun (once you've levelled a few powers) and as one of the people who put a lot of time in ME3 online coop, the inclusion is well worth it to me. I also found Ryder and co. have grown on me. That said, she has nothing on Shepard and there is often little meaningful variation in dialogue.

Outside of some excellent loyalty missions and a few exciting main quests, dull, repetitive design, a lack of respect for your time and bad writing persists. Scores between 6/10 and 7/10 seem fair based on my experience and expectations.

@Lurch I was not a big fan of the first one, loved the second one & the 3rd one was okay.
The 4th one though, I will pick up at a much later stage.
Good looking game, if you don't count the facial animations lol But the characters & story seem to be a bit boring.
Plus standards have risen quite high, after the release of some REALLY good games this year so far!

@Lurch - isn't that what you gave Technomancer? Now that's a slippery slope

@Scottie - how's this for a box art quote then:

"I'd sooner replay the full 25 hours of The Technomancer rather than the opening 25 hours of Andromeda!"

A special thanks to Lurch and all the other beta testers

Patch 1.05 Notes

Improved tutorial placement

Single player balance changes: Ammo crates, armor, weapons, nomad, profiles, attacks, and progression

Multiplayer balance changes: Weapons, cover, and enemies (check back for detailed notes on balance changes)

Added option to skip autopilot sequences in the galaxy map

Improved logic, timing, and continuity for relationships and story arcs

Improved lip-sync and facial acting during conversations, including localized VO

Fixed various collision issues

Fixed bugs where music or VO wouldn’t play or wasn’t correct

Fixed issue where global squad mate banter sometimes wasn’t firing on UNCs

Fixed issue where player was unable to access the Remnant Console Interface after failing decryption multiple times

Fixed issue where fast travel is sometimes disabled after recruiting Drack until the player reloads a save

Fixed issue where Ryder can become stuck in the start of Biotic Charge Pose

Fixes issues related to some saves

Fixed issue where objective sometimes becomes un-interactable for players in multiplayer

Streaming and stability improvements

Out Thursday 6th

http://blog.bioware.com/2017/04/04/mass-effect-andromeda-patch-1-05-notes/

After the massive sci-fi opera that was the ME trilogy. Andromeda feels like straight to dvd.