Last Updated on December 8, 2020 by ThoughtsStained

There is no doubt–not a shadow, not a sliver, not an inkling–surrounding my excitement for the release of Mass Effect: Andromeda. I’ve been ready since it’s announcement. Ever since I bawled my eyes out at the end of playing Mass Effect 3 (very late, granted, compared to the rest of the crowd, but still), I’ve been eagerly waiting. In fact, this is the first video game where I’m not slipping onto the bandwagon years after it started, but instead, am waiting in anticipation for what happens next, with plans to use as much vacation time as necessary after it releases to truly enjoy it in all of its glory.
And I’m not really sure how to respond.
Obviously, I watched the E3 announcement trailer. And the N7 Day Celebratory release trailer. And the official gameplay trailer. Each one has only increased my excitement tenfold, to practically unhealthy levels. This game looks beautiful. When discussions began to arise concerning the evolving romance storylines, I had to read those articles. One of my favorite aspects about Mass Effect (and BioWare’s games in general) is the ability to pursue a romance. The jokes about Dragon Age where the first three games should have actually been titled the “Alistair, Fenris and Cullen Dating Simulators,” respectively, hit the mark perfectly. I’d be lying if I claimed that I didn’t do a replay solely to experience the romances again, for both franchises. So of course I had to read about how the romance is evolving (and I’m so excited about these changes and that BioWare is taking fan comments to heart; not that I expected anything else).

Yet the information about Andromeda just keeps coming.
The discussions over the lack of certain races not returning and the introduction of others. The Ryder twins (speaking of, I really hope my human ((or alien, I’m not picky)) boyfriend can be as attractive as Ryder himself, because hello, I should not have such strong emotional stirrings from a video game character). Your mission as the Pathfinder. Apparently there is also articles being posted describing your confirmed squadmates. Those articles I refuse to read and have sparked my decision to not read any further announcements that don’t include the release date printed on my purchase receipt.
Reminder: this is the first time that I’ve really gotten to play a new game from a franchise that I love that was still in development and hadn’t been released by the time I caught up with the other games. And perhaps I’m not doing this right, but until I have a copy of Andromeda lodged in its home of my brand new PS4, to be bought purposefully (and at the cost of my internal organs) for this game specifically, I’m not reading another article. I’m not watching another trailer. I’m not doing anything but waiting.

Why?
Because I want Andromeda to be as new to me as the world of Mass Effect was when I finally listened to the hype and sat down to play it (translate “sat down to play” into “let it consume my soul, social life and every waking moment for a solid three months). I loved discovering Shepard and her badassery. I loved learning about all the different races and forming opinions about them (I will forever be loyal to the Elcor and their speech patterns, the Krogan and their fierceness, and the Turians and their pick-up-lines). I loved exploring the galaxy, doing every and all quests and never being content, i.e., always wanting more quests so it wouldn’t be over, hating the Mako and being so damned impressed and terrified of the Reapers. Mass Effect was the first game that I ever played in the science fiction genre, always being a fantasy girl myself. And it was the first game that I ever sheathed my sword for a gun, instead. It was a blast. I got addicted to the characters and the world, the lore and the cultures, the chilling dialogue and the fantastic score, and seeing how often I could headshot a husk.
What did I know before I started playing that trilogy?
My friend Leif, a huge advocate for this game, told me: “Commander Shepard is the biggest badass you’ll ever meet. You have to play it.”
That’s it.
That’s it.
With Andromeda, the first game in the Mass Effect realm that I’ll get to experience with a next generation console and amongst the hype instead of years after it, I still want that blissful ignorance, that giddy surprise, that I went into the other games with. Sure, I’m more familiar with the world and the mechanics, but this is an entire different time and an entirely different story. There is so much to discover…including everything that is being revealed to hype everyone up. I’m already hyped. I’m already ready. And even if this isn’t how “real” gamers prepare for their new favorite games, I’m purposefully going into Andromeda as ignorant as I can, even though I could learn so much already. So please, if you can, save the spoilers until after we’ve discovered a new home for humans and then we can rave about it, in detail. Oh, so much detail.
Just have to wait for the game to be released, first.
*goes back to (im)patiently  waiting for Spring 2017*
Cheers.