I decided last night that the primary reason for me trying to complete all of the side quest content… is that it enables me to spend more time screwing around in the Nomad. At this point I am nearing 80 hours into the game, and thanks to Dusty Monk I know how to determine my completion score which is sitting at 63%. I’m level 52 as of last night and have completed the primary colonization arc of I believe all of the inhabitable worlds. There is a huge part of me that is somehow extremely bummed that we could not somehow turn habitat 7 around and at least put some form of a mining outpost. Similarly I am bummed that the game would not allow me to take over and inhabit the asteroid mining base out there with something other than some flavor text stating that the Nexus would begin mining there. However in all of this… doing stupid things in the Nomad has probably been the highlight. Why go around a mountain when you can use your rocket boost to climb it.
The biggest problem with Mass Effect Andromeda is the fact that it has latched on hard enough to make me go through the “just one more objective” problem. I am having hell each night pulling myself away to get some much needed sleep, and that means as a result most every night this week I have been finally hitting bed around 11:30 to midnight-ish which isn’t horrible until you account that I get up for work at 5:30. Thankfully today is my official unofficial Friday since we are off tomorrow, and that means I can in theory catch up on sleep over the three day weekend. I also hope that I can wrap this game up so I can move to one of the other games waiting on me to play it. More than likely I will be returning to Horizon Zero Dawn, because functionally I am on a timer with needing to play whatever it is that I want to play before the launch of Stormblood. So far on that list are Horizon Zero Dawn, Zelda Breath of the Wild, Wrapping up Final Fantasy XV, and Nier Automata. There are of course other games that should probably be on that list, but I am trying to stay at least a little focused right now.
Last night I experienced the best possible line in the game, hands down. Sure the game is full of some zingers, but one of the key problems I have had while playing it is reconciling Tann. I love Kumail Nanjiani as an actor…. but I have come to loath Director Tann with all of my being. I mean no one could have lived up to my love of Mordin Solus, and I am kinda happy that they did not even try. While Kallo Jath is cool enough, the character just doesn’t interact enough with him to make a really meaningful impression. As far as Salarian’s go the one that has left the biggest mark on me this game is Jarun Tann. He is exactly the wrong sort of person that I would want in charge of the Initiative, and I feel fairly frustrated that really there is nothing I can do about it. Granted I am still quite a ways from finishing the game, and largely paused any main quest development until I completed all of the side missions that I wanted. As a result I still have yet to find the Salarian Ark, and maybe that sequence allows me to do some wish fulfillment and expose Tann to be the pompous ass he is. However in the mean time… the game does at least allow me to say one liners like this one. Mass Effect Andromeda… is the Mass Effect the internet needed.