Writing-wise, the pace of the story's introductory hours is very fast in a clunky way. Characters are introduced in passing or in ham-fisted ways (Vetra walking right up to you and giving you bullet points of her personality without you even asking, PeeBee collapsing onto you then being in your party half a minute later, etc.)
Leaning heavily on the fact you're a pathfinder every few sentences or quicker, when that title doesn't seem quite as awe-inspiring as they intended, jars somewhat too. That'll not be a big deal when you've done some major things in the story, however.
The lead writer is the Halo 4 guy, in only his third writing credit after Halo 4 and Destiny: Rise of Iron, and that game also suffered in similar ways. It barely feels like a Halo game from some angles, but the Master Chief/Cortana exchanges were decent. The world-building or extensions he added to Bungie's universe felt off (that weird vampire-looking villain was so out of place), though that's less true in Andromeda. It definitely has Mass Effect-ass stuff in it, but the pacing and, "We got this," shit and less-than-subtle character introductions are my personal bugbears. Once you're out of that rough start and into the swing of things, the writing starts to sink into the background a bit more (in a good way), and the simpler ambient conversations do their work. Once you know everyone, I wouldn't be surprised if it comes together more cohesively and isn't an issue. We'll see.
Compare all that to Mass Effect 1's method of introducing you to people as they interact with others (Wrex fighting in C-Sec, Garrus disagreeing with a superior, Tali's dodgy dealings with some of Fist's lackeys in that alley, Saren and Nilus' weird exchange, etc.) That isn't masterclass shit, but it succeeds in making you think, "Woah, who's that?" in interesting ways without them feeling like they were scripted to land right in your path. I'm confident they will pick it up, however. It's just not the best intro.
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