The first big Mass Effect: Andromeda patch is live, and brings a selection of features and bug fixes. Rejoice, for we can now skip the space travel scenes! The most immediately noticeable change in the update, though, is the eyes. They look much better, if slightly cuter and more cartoonish at times.
It's easy to see the improvement when the old eyes are compared side-by-side with the new ones. The upper eyelid now seems to cast a shadow over the sclera and iris, and the corners of the eyeball are a little darker. As a result, the highlights pop while the whites of the eyes no longer appear to glow. Here's new Suvi compared to old Suvi, followed by new Gil compared to old Gil:
The change is positive in every scene I've tested so far, though in that particular shot Gil looks a little younger and maybe even a bit tearful with his new eyes.
Over on YouTube, a side-by-side comparison of the waking up from hibernation scene gives us another look at the more natural, and not-glowy new orbs:
Reddit is stocked with comparison shots as well. Here's a side-by-side comparison of Suvi and Addison's changed eyes.
There's more to the patch than just eyeballs, of course. The update has also, somewhat sloppily, added number key prompts next to dialogue options, and as I mentioned, hitting Tab now skips the bulk of space transition scenes, which is very good. (I'm not sure why it's not Space, the key used to skip every other cutscene.)
Some of the dialogue scenes have had another scripting pass, as well, though I'm not certain how many. The first scene with Addison, in which she delivers her too-easy-to-mock "my face is tired" line, for instance, is looking much better. Here it is before the patch, and after.
Many of the changes will be subtler, such as balance changes to singleplayer and multiplayer, bug fixes, and "improved logic, timing, and continuity for relationships and story arcs." If you've already put 80 hours into Andromeda like me, these aren't much help, but hopefully newcomers get fewer time anomalies and glitched dialogue. You can read the full patch notes here.
In the coming months, BioWare plans to make deeper changes, including improvements to the character creator, cutscenes, and romance options.
