In short, it's not the original trilogy. The game seems to indicate scale with big maps, loads of planets, and a long run time, but to be fair it's mostly filler. You are told that you have a mission of settling a new galaxy and finding a new home for 100,000 people, but the settlements you create house maybe 15-20 people. You are given dozens of quests, but most are on the level of complexity of Fallout 4 radiant quests (go there, shoot some guys, loot, find info, come back). The morality system is also "expanded" but it ends up stripping you of the agency that was so rich in the binary system of the trilogy. The main story is also not that engaging. The main bad guys are clearly meant to be ominous and mysterious like the reapers, but they lack the Lovecraftian dread that the inevitable destruction of the trilogy offered (I could almost hear the board meeting about the things that they wanted to include that worked in the original games). I was waiting to be intimidated by the Archon but ended up just wanting to tell him to ♥♥♥♥ off, while the Reapers made me want to stand up to them and show what the Citadel races are capable of.

When it comes to the positives, however, I would say that (again) a Mass Effect game shines the most when it focuses on your squadmates. Jaal, Peebee, Drack, Vetra, Cora, Callo, and Suvi (no, not Liam) really add the much-needed heart to the story. Despite the overwhelming Citadel DLC vibe I got from a lot of the interactions, they all are very well presented and would not feel out of place onboard the Normandy. Overall, I would say I had fun, I really liked being on board the Tempest (even though being planetside was tedious after a while), and I would recommend playing Andromeda, if only for the opportunity to meet the new crew. Apart from that, it was definitely one of the games of all time.

In short, it's not the original trilogy. The game seems to indicate scale with big maps, loads of planets, and a long run time, but to be fair it's mostly filler. You are told that you have a mission of settling a new galaxy and finding a new home for 100,000 people, but the settlements you create house maybe 15-20 people. You are given dozens of quests, but most are on the level of complexity of Fallout 4 radiant quests (go there, shoot some guys, loot, find info, come back). The morality system is also "expanded" but it ends up stripping you of the agency that was so rich in the binary system of the trilogy. The main story is also not that engaging. The main bad guys are clearly meant to be ominous and mysterious like the reapers, but they lack the Lovecraftian dread that the inevitable destruction of the trilogy offered (I could almost hear the board meeting about the things that they wanted to include that worked in the original games). I was waiting to be intimidated by the Archon but ended up just wanting to tell him to fuck off, while the Reapers made me want to stand up to them and show what the Citadel races are capable of. When it comes to the positives, however, I would say that (again) a Mass Effect game shines the most when it focuses on your squadmates. Jaal, Peebee, Drack, Vetra, Cora, Callo, and Suvi (no, not Liam) really add the much-needed heart to the story. Despite the overwhelming Citadel DLC vibe I got from a lot of the interactions, they all are very well presented and would not feel out of place onboard the Normandy. Overall, I would say I had fun, I really liked being on board the Tempest (even though being planetside was tedious after a while), and I would recommend playing Andromeda, if only for the opportunity to meet the new crew. Apart from that, it was definitely one of the games of all time.