Mass Effect: Andromeda begins in the year 2185, when you set out on a journey in large ships with the goal of settling the Andromeda galaxy. A coalition of Milky Way races - human, asari, turian, salarian and krogan join the 600 year journey and are placed in deep sleep machines to ensure they don't age during the journey. Prior to the voyage, worlds in Andromeda's Heleus Cluster had been identified as highly suitable for settlement. Each ship consists of a crew led by a pathfinder tasked with exploring these worlds and other potential locations and making sure they are safe before settlement begins.
Depending on your initial choice, the game can start with one of the Ryder twins, Scott or Sara Ryder, and then you follow their father, pathfinder Alec Ryder, as he tries to assist in his endeavors. Alec and his children are traveling aboard the Hyperion, one of the ships with mostly human passengers. Unlike the familiar Shepard from previous games, the Ryder brothers do not have a respected status in the past, instead the protagonist's character and reputation grows as the story progresses. Since the events in Andromeda take place in the future, characters from the original trilogy are not present, and decisions made in past installments have no impact during the events in this game. This has been done to ensure that the game is understandable for new players. However, references to some of the characters from the original trilogy games can also be found for older players during exploration and interaction with various people.
The morality system of Paragon and Renegade choices from previous games has been changed. Tone of speech choices are used instead. Tone choices no longer fully affect gameplay as they did in the previous games, so Ryder is free to speak as harshly as he wants without affecting gameplay. As in the original trilogy, there's a Galaxy Map for navigating space, but it's different from its predecessors. The map is located at the helm and uses an overlay over the actual view of space. There is still the scanning of valuable minerals on planets that was in the previous games. This time the resource scanning is done on planetary surfaces using the ND1 Nomad. The main starship Tempest does not require refueling when traveling through space, unlike the Normandy SR-2.
The game features side quests similar to those in the Witcher series. Producer Mike Gamble has emphasized that Andromeda is not an open world game, but rather an exploration-based game. Either way, it is not linear. Ryder can learn any skill and is not locked into a single progression tree. In a given game, Ryder can have combat, tech and biotic abilities, while Shepard, the protagonist of the previous games, was limited to a maximum of two skill categories. However, Ryder's teammates do not have such flexibility and follow more typical classes. Ryder's abilities can be optionally reset on a regular basis as the situation dictates.
Ryder can unlock profiles by investing skill points in certain ways. For example, players who focus on combat and biotic powers can unlock the Vanguard profile. Each profile comes with bonuses tailored to the player's style. Six of the profiles correspond to existing Mass Effect classes. The seventh profile is called the Explorer and is obtained by investing skill points in combat, biotic and technology powers. Combat is faster than in previous games. Power wheel pausing and aiming have been removed. The game can still be paused, but it is no longer part of strategies. Characters automatically take cover when heading towards an object and leave it just as quickly.
Two types of vitality are gained by the player during the game. The first type is the AVP icon. These points are earned just by playing the game. Completing missions, interacting with the team, exploring and pretty much everything Ryder does can potentially earn points. These points increase his Nexus rank and allow him to awaken more of his expedition members who are still in Cryo sleep. The second type of points is known as vitality and is earned directly on specific planets, which unlocks more activity on that planet. Mass Effect: Andromeda also introduces a crafting system where Ryder can acquire blueprints for armor and weapons throughout the campaign. Weapons can be given custom names, and there is also a slot reserved for a new class of weapon now known as melee weapons. Six teammates are available to choose from during gameplay. Mass Effect Andromeda offers over 60 hours of gameplay.
