#debmeaplaythrough

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The journey to Mithrava on Havarl is probably what I love most about Andromeda and what it does best:

it's immersive. I always genuinely feel like I'm on an alien planet when I'm playing Andromeda and you can't take that away from me lol But with Havarl it's like witnessing an entire ecosystem living and breathing near you. Creatures move around, you hear them. You hear water as well. The environmental sounds on Havarl are the best imho

it's beautiful

it's poetic. Genuinely a lot of Andromeda is poetic, the angara have a knack for it. I especially LOVE this one:

History is breath. It moves through us, gives us life. Like breath, it cannot be caught in a glass.

I mean. HJOFDHGFJKHGJKFG. Genuinely such a beautiful description of history.

it's kinda funny - like it knows what this quest is about and is meta about it, especially if you have Liam with you:

and then the LORE!!! Soul transfer. Handling of Remnants by an entire community of scholars. A hero who needs to be found and who remembers the ancient scrolls...

<3

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me facing any minor inconvenience

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Can I sign up? Can I join? CAN I BE THERE WITH YOU GUYS?!

I love when things are fun and interesting and this sounds like it

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honestly, while I reeaaally reaaaally love MEA, I wish the game spent a bit more time on the Ryder family and the situation Ryder's in.

Father: gone and leaving all his responsibilities without training Ryder.

Brother/Sister: in Cryo Bay, last member of the family Ryder has, desperately hoping he or she will wake up but having to go on regardless

Memories: Mom is alive in them and it feels so real it's like Ryder can touch her. Dad confirmed as absent father, hopelessly trying to make Mom immortal.

Audio logs: Mom and Dad (both dead) bantering, as if they were still alive, right here with Ryder

SAM: new, strange, in head

Nexus: "we are counting on YOU to make this right"

I have so much love for Ryder. I wish the game showed how difficult it must be for them, because that's a lot of trauma. a LOT

(makes me look at Drack and his "hey kid" with even more fondness)

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This sentence from Spender's report on New Tuchanka explains how I feel about how others in-game see the colony pretty well:

And that's the thing about this colony that even Ryder seems to be missing, as they asks why not go and stay on the Nexus who seems like paradise compared to New Tuchanka:

IT IS THRIVING BY KROGAN STANDARDS. THE ONLY STANDARDS THAT MATTER TO THE PEOPLE LIVING IN THIS COLONY MADE BY AND FOR KROGAN.

The krogan don't need to live like other species. They need to live like they want to live, and that's what they have done. It's incredible and very specific to them. Just like humans shouldn't drink Ryncol, they're not made to live and stay on that colony and that's okay.

In a short amount of time, the krogan also build something for themselves. They have plants. Water. They're willing to learn many things like mating, fatherhood, new forms of friendship, etc.

I always feel glee when I go there and see what they're up to. It's not perfect but yes, by krogan standards, it is thriving.

AND GOOD FOR THEM.

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From the moment I arrived at the Turian Ark until the very end of the mission when Avitus becomes Pathfinder, I couldn't stop crying. Of course I knew what would happen but sometimes it's just worse when you know. The first time I played the mission, I was shocked and a bit sad, but this time I was just plain sad and waiting for the bad news.

Avitus pretends he's not a very emotional guy but his despair trying to find Macen is just striking. He waited, he was hopeful to find him again. And the entire time Macen himself was trying to find Avitus, his pod, to make the transfer. But it wasn't just about that, was it? Macen was not just the Pathfinder to Avitus, and Avitus was not just the next in line. They were in love.

The haunting way the traumatized SAM is repeating Avi Avi Avi over and over again and Macen's final words are devastating.

I need you to go on for the both of us.

One of the most moving stories from the Mass Effect universe.

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Did Cora's loyalty mission this evening for the second time and honestly I've always been a bit in love with Cora and I'm reminded of why here.

The game makes Cora's flaws quite obvious and clear: she relies too much on mentors/authority figures, she doesn't trust herself, she doesn't always know where she belongs and how to really belong and she worships the asari huntresses in a way that can be quite unhealthy.

But the game also treats her well, gives her exactly what she needs: a mission where she faces her demons and takes a hard look at herself and her beliefs.

We end up with a truly self-aware queen at the end:

The fact that she looks for the mentor was made obvious when she learned about what Sarissa did and turned to Ryder to say:

Always warning bells when characters do that: they should not ask others how to behave and what to do. But Cora now knows she does this, and that's the most important part.

During this conversation with her, I picked an answer that felt true to me: that she doesn't look for applause and wouldn't cover her mistakes like Sarissa.

But I also think the mission shows Cora as a potential leader, it's obvious how she acts with Vederia: helping her in this difficult situation, reminding her of her training, giving orders when needed, being reassuring when she should, understanding and not condescending.

Cora has it all, she just needs to believe in herself.

And I also think, gosh, isn't Cora and Ryder's relationship so moving? Genuinely the love and support between those two. And it's not easy: Alec Ryder stands as a ghost between them: training one to have a bigger role but eventually letting Ryder get it. No real explanation, which hurt her so much at first.

I also find Cora's faith in the asari and in Sarissa before the loyalty mission quite moving as well. It's so human to want answers and to hope or have faith that others will help, others who seem more wise. And in the end, it takes a lot of bravery to face someone you looked up to and confront them. Cora uses Sarissa's own words against her:

A huntress without the trust of her team stands alone: she is a tree in the desert, bearing only defiance.

This is probably why she has to reassure Ryder again and again: I'll be there when you need me. You won't be a tree in the desert.

What a character <3

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don't you love it when scifi scifi???