No one will care about this comment I'm sure, but the response to this game is disheartening.

The comparisons to the original series, or the first game in that series in particular, are ridiculous. Mass Effect became "Mass Effect" because that story was incredible. It was one of the best Sci-Fi stories ever told, in any medium, period.

Expecting that sort of genius to just be replicated is, quite frankly, pathetic. What Andromeda has done is introduced a solid Sci-Fi game that is somewhat formulaic, but certainly far better than average.

What further dismays me about the responses is the fact that games like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, etc are almost always invariably better when the second game in the series releases. Why? Because that is when your big decisions from prior games start to have impact. When you begin to see the world you are shaping, and for those with active imaginations, begin to get sucked more into the experience as a whole.

Maybe it's because I am an older gamer that I appreciate the work and effort that goes into a game like Andromeda. I appreciate that in reality, there are so few "great" games in any given year and even fewer in genres you or I might enjoy. Maybe my age also made me more realistic about expectations, because I never expected Andromeda to be able to compete with the original series. Not for a second.

Hell, name me a game story in the past ten years, in Sci-Fi or out of it, that really gives the original Mass Effect first game a run for it's money. Expecting them to be able to reproduce that miracle? Just silly.