I think this will be a love it or hate it game.

There's another option, which pretty much sums up my feelings about it atm: meh.

So, basically every BioWare game to come out in the past 7 years really.

Yeah, BioWare games in general have been pretty "love it or hate it" ever since EA.

There are those who like the new directions they've gone in, and those who resent them for having changed their previous formulas. Neither side is inherently right, but it results in very mixed responses from what can only be described as a very passionate fanbase =P

ain't that the truth.

So far we've had two negative impressions from the preview. Peter Brown on the Bombcast, and Rob Walker from RPS. So how will this game review?

Who the hell knows. At this point, it's really anyone's guess.

I do however think it's safe to say that the game will probably score less than ME1-3 and DA:I on Metacritic. By how much, who knows, but based on the jank we've seen, and the fact that we have two negative impressions so far, I don't feel like it's going to get glowing praise like the Trilogy got. And I will say this. If the game is divisive and ends up in the low 80s or god forbid the high 70s, heads are probably going to roll at Bioware. We do know these companies value their game's Metacritic scores to some extent, unless your game is review proof (like Call of Duty). It'll also mean Mass Effect will no longer be looked at as a High Quality franchise. To a lot of people, the series was kinda ruined after ME3's ending. As far as a lot of people are concerned, they've already blown it. I like the look of the game, but there's A LOT of fucking people who don't, and if these two negative impressions are of any indication, I don't think ME:A's chances are as high as I thought they were in terms of critical reception. 

Sorry to sound doom and gloom, because for all I know the game can still sell very well. We'll know for sure what reception to this game is gonna be like this Thursday when Early Access is lifted. 10 hours is plenty of time for people to decide if they'll like the game or not. If reception is mixed on Thursday, the game might be fucked. I've been a Bioware fan since Kotor 1 and I have followed the development of every game since then. I have NEVER seen anything close to the amount of cynicism and negativity this game has been receiving already, compared to the lead up to release for their other games. I thought DA:I had a lot of skeptical people at the time, that shit was nothing compared to what I'm seeing now.

    Two negative reviews out of how many?

I guess in a way I get it and in a way I don't. Some of the criticism for this game is fair, but I swear some of these people act like they don't want to play an RPG space shooter. Not going to lie part of me wishes a ME like game would come out so they would have some competition. 

I doubt Cyberpunk 2077 is going to end up being competition, seeing as CDPR seems so dedicated and tight-lipped about it that they'll likely release it in 2077 at this point. That's not a dig at it, it's admirable really. :S

Oh right, that game is coming out sometime within the next 20 years. I mean it looks cool but it seems more like a Deus Ex type game than Mass Effect. I'm sure it will be good given CDPR's track record. 

I confess that I don't see the point in speculating about what other people will think about the game when we'll be able to experience it for ourselves in 2-7 days! TBH, everything I've seen thus far looks pretty damn awesome. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Yeah, but CDPR isn't really one to put out a game before it's absolutely ready, and all reports say the game's gonna be monstrous. 

I figure we might hear about it in the next year or so, but I don't imagine we'll actually get it for some time. Hell, maybe it'll be going toe to toe with The Elder Scrolls 6 for all I know. 

Some would say its only 1, but i would say its 4. You forgot Obsidian. I do think Bioware and Bethesda has a lot of work to do though going forward.