Mass Effect: Andromeda - Squadmates
Maxim Trevelyan
June 2017
***General spoilers for Mass Effect: Andromeda and everything pertaining its squadmates.***
If I were to write a comprehensive review of Mass Effect: Andromeda, what Bioware did right, what they did wrong, I would be writing this for days, which is why I decided to focus on main protagonist's squad mates. Overall, though, I really liked the game, despite its faults and cannot wait for the next installment.
Mass Effect: Andromeda is a continuation of previous Mass Effect games, though not of Commander Shepard. Andromeda tells of the story of Andromeda Initiative, which embarked on a voyage to settle Andromeda galaxy in ships they call arks. A group of Milky Way races, human, turian, salarian, asari and krogan, go on a 600-year expedition during which they are placed in stasis. Before the journey, Initiative scouted possible worlds in Heleus cluster, which are highly viable for habitation. Each ark has a team that is tasked with exploring the worlds and ensuring that they are hospitable for the people. The team is led by a Pathfinder, most experienced member of each race.
Depending on the choice, you can play as either of the twins, Scott and Sara Ryder as they help their father, a human Pathfinder, on board the Hyperion, the human ark. However, after the Hyperion arrives in Andromeda galaxy, they come to see that what was once a golden world is now a very inhospitable planet, where almost everything wants to kill you. That is, without the added aliens enemies that wish to convert you to their cause, willing or not.
Pathfinder, as is the nature of Mass Effect, is helped by a team on his or her way to making Andromeda a good home for everybody. I got so used to Shepard's team from the original series and had a hard time accepting new characters. But after a few plays, they grew on me, though not all are my favorites. Here is my short review of each squad mate.
***General spoilers for Mass Effect: Andromeda and everything pertaining its squadmates.***
If I were to write a comprehensive review of Mass Effect: Andromeda, what Bioware did right, what they did wrong, I would be writing this for days, which is why I decided to focus on main protagonist's squad mates. Overall, though, I really liked the game, despite its faults and cannot wait for the next installment.
Mass Effect: Andromeda is a continuation of previous Mass Effect games, though not of Commander Shepard. Andromeda tells of the story of Andromeda Initiative, which embarked on a voyage to settle Andromeda galaxy in ships they call arks. A group of Milky Way races, human, turian, salarian, asari and krogan, go on a 600-year expedition during which they are placed in stasis. Before the journey, Initiative scouted possible worlds in Heleus cluster, which are highly viable for habitation. Each ark has a team that is tasked with exploring the worlds and ensuring that they are hospitable for the people. The team is led by a Pathfinder, most experienced member of each race.
Depending on the choice, you can play as either of the twins, Scott and Sara Ryder as they help their father, a human Pathfinder, on board the Hyperion, the human ark. However, after the Hyperion arrives in Andromeda galaxy, they come to see that what was once a golden world is now a very inhospitable planet, where almost everything wants to kill you. That is, without the added aliens enemies that wish to convert you to their cause, willing or not.
Pathfinder, as is the nature of Mass Effect, is helped by a team on his or her way to making Andromeda a good home for everybody. I got so used to Shepard's team from the original series and had a hard time accepting new characters. But after a few plays, they grew on me, though not all are my favorites. Here is my short review of each squad mate.
Because the main protagonist is a human, on a human ship, we first meet our only two human squad mates, Cora and Liam. They are both members of Andromeda Initiative and members of Pathfinder team. Cora Harper, former asari commando and powerful biotic is the first one we meet and is actually the next pathfinder, but the mantle passes onto the player. She is very professional and by the book, alarmingly so. I rarely take her out on missions, mostly because I play a biotic as well, but her behavior is sometimes really obnoxious. I have a feeling that she thinks she is better than Ryder, never seems to shut up about her being an asari huntress and cannot seem to understand that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, which becomes apparent during her loyalty mission on the asari ark. This is also my main problem with her.
Liam Kosta is the first character we can actually fight with. He is a designated funny guy, which usually does not bother me a lot, if he were not so bland. Every conversation I had with him, I usually forget immediately, though I have to admit that he has an amazingly funny, though infuriating, loyalty mission, especially if you are playing your character with a humorous personality. I have to say, I never enjoyed yelling at someone after a mission like I did with Liam.
A squad mate no one really expected in-game was Jaal, a member of newly discovered Andromeda native species called Angara. You get him in your squad after you crash land on Aya, their planet. Angara are hard to trust aliens, which humans definitely are and Jaal is on a mission to see if Ryder is really trustworthy enough for Angara's help. I like Jaal, he is funny, sensitive, emotional, heartbreaking in his loyalty mission, and a very good fighter. Only problem I have with him is that if you really want to have Angara to like you, he kind of needs to be in your squad when you deal with them, which is all of the time. I like him, he is in my top three Andromeda characters, but I would like him better if he did not feel forced. Similarly how Liara was forced on us in the original trilogy.
Peebee, our asari squad mate, (almost) literally falls into our lap early in the game, while we are looking for technology to make planets hospitable. She is quirky, young girl and an expert in the technology we are looking at. Or so she claims. I have mixed feelings towards her. Peebee has that kind of personality that you kind of like, but you know it is so annoying. She does have her reasons for her actions throughout the game, but they are so petty and selfish, I cannot sympathize with her, no matter how hard I try. Her loyalty mission really takes the cake. She lures Ryder and a companion of choice, into her room (which happens to be an escape pod) and without a warning, ejects them from the ship, onto the planet, filled with lava. They also do not have an exit plan, so basically, she doomed them to die. After I told her off back on the ship, I never took her out again, I was so angry.
Lastly come my two favorite characters, Vetra Nyx, a turian and Drack, a krogan. They are my main make up for a squad, since Drack does good close up damage, and Vetra is great for mid-close combat, leaving me as a sniper. Vetra came to Andromeda with her sister, who she had to raise after their father left them. While Drack is here with his granddaughter, who is a superintendent of the space station where you parked your ark. Drack and Vetra are hilarious, either separately or together as squad mates. Their missions are great as well, teaching you a lot of important lessons, while being mixed together with humor.
Andromeda has its faults, yes, but it is an amazing game everyone should try, especially if they are a fan of space RPG genre.
Liam Kosta is the first character we can actually fight with. He is a designated funny guy, which usually does not bother me a lot, if he were not so bland. Every conversation I had with him, I usually forget immediately, though I have to admit that he has an amazingly funny, though infuriating, loyalty mission, especially if you are playing your character with a humorous personality. I have to say, I never enjoyed yelling at someone after a mission like I did with Liam.
A squad mate no one really expected in-game was Jaal, a member of newly discovered Andromeda native species called Angara. You get him in your squad after you crash land on Aya, their planet. Angara are hard to trust aliens, which humans definitely are and Jaal is on a mission to see if Ryder is really trustworthy enough for Angara's help. I like Jaal, he is funny, sensitive, emotional, heartbreaking in his loyalty mission, and a very good fighter. Only problem I have with him is that if you really want to have Angara to like you, he kind of needs to be in your squad when you deal with them, which is all of the time. I like him, he is in my top three Andromeda characters, but I would like him better if he did not feel forced. Similarly how Liara was forced on us in the original trilogy.
Peebee, our asari squad mate, (almost) literally falls into our lap early in the game, while we are looking for technology to make planets hospitable. She is quirky, young girl and an expert in the technology we are looking at. Or so she claims. I have mixed feelings towards her. Peebee has that kind of personality that you kind of like, but you know it is so annoying. She does have her reasons for her actions throughout the game, but they are so petty and selfish, I cannot sympathize with her, no matter how hard I try. Her loyalty mission really takes the cake. She lures Ryder and a companion of choice, into her room (which happens to be an escape pod) and without a warning, ejects them from the ship, onto the planet, filled with lava. They also do not have an exit plan, so basically, she doomed them to die. After I told her off back on the ship, I never took her out again, I was so angry.
Lastly come my two favorite characters, Vetra Nyx, a turian and Drack, a krogan. They are my main make up for a squad, since Drack does good close up damage, and Vetra is great for mid-close combat, leaving me as a sniper. Vetra came to Andromeda with her sister, who she had to raise after their father left them. While Drack is here with his granddaughter, who is a superintendent of the space station where you parked your ark. Drack and Vetra are hilarious, either separately or together as squad mates. Their missions are great as well, teaching you a lot of important lessons, while being mixed together with humor.
Andromeda has its faults, yes, but it is an amazing game everyone should try, especially if they are a fan of space RPG genre.