Mass Effect: Andromeda

BioWare’s fourth foray into its science fiction universe had its name written in the stars as a buggy, awkward, open-world RPG with a tumultuous development cycle. But it was also an interesting, subversive look at the Mass Effect universe as it introduced a group of outcasts who were all outliers in their various cultures. That’s why they choose to travel through dark space and found a new life in the Andromeda galaxy. Once you’ve pushed the colonialism narrative away from your mind with all your might, Andromeda explores what the Mass Effect universe can be when there’s not a giant Reaper descending upon it and Shepard’s not putting everyone in a Get Along shirt. It also has the series’ best combat, bringing an effortless verticality and mobility to what was originally a much more grounded (literally) third-person cover shooter. It’s still buggy despite the patches, it’s still an incredibly bloated open-world game that’s in desperate need of culling its content. But somewhere in all that expanse is a BioWare RPG with a lot of heart. You just, unfortunately, have to go looking for it.

Read more: The Best And Worst Parts Of Every Mass Effect Game