"Choose which way you agree with your squad"

Mass Effect Andromeda is an overall enjoyable game but the enjoyment, for me anyway, never comes without a tinge of tedium, a sense of draining generality that makes it seemingly impossible for this game to ever impress or truly excite me. There's loads of issues in it that are obvious such as the horrible animations, but that aside there's other really fundamental issues such as a mediocre plot that jumps whenever it pleases... but the next best thing would be hanging out with the squad or getting to know the characters.

While ME2 did not exactly have a great plot, it did have a good sense of drama and impact and it all came from the cast because basically all ME2 had going for itself was the characters when the main plot was as paper thin as it was (and the lore and backing context for the thin plot remained as substantial as ever) so what is wrong with MEA since even the characters don't allow for the sense of catharsis that ME2 or even 3 could, now that its plot is kind of weak?

It's the design of the dialogue choices and the writing regarding Ryder and his crew. BioWare has fallen for a sort of "over-focus" on what their fans liked. "The story is about the characters", "Our fans love the romances", "Fans love the banter!". So, let's put all of that in the game and focus on that, right? The problem is, unlike Inquisition's roleplaying, Scott and Sara only get to decide what manner of tone they address their squad in but the specific tones that BioWare chose never truly allows for disagreement or conflict. We're always going through the pre-set path of Ryder's character whenever we're not outright making a "choice that matters" decision. Since the design is this way, it should follow that it's up to BioWare to also pre-design a character-arc or "companion arc" between Ryder and the squad, but all we get are loyalty missions where Ryder tag along while his team-mate deals with their personal stuff as we cheer them up or pat them on the back along the way.

EVERYTHING WE DO INVOLVING THE SQUAD IN THIS GAME IS TOO FRIENDLY.

See, there? In capital letters? That's the problem of why Andromeda never peaks. It's a saying, if everybody's special, nobody is special. If Ryder is always just getting along with his crew and everyone on the tempest are Bros the only conflict has to come from elsewhere. Since the plot is a stinker, there is no conflict, where the closest I ever feel is the subplot of Sara and Scott and their family mystery but that's just a mystery. Not much of a conflict except it makes them feel uneasy not knowing something about people they cared about, and it doesn't help that neither of them give a shit when something happens to Daddy in the beginning.

But basically, this game had a chance of redeeming itself with a meh plot and meh companions if Ryder was at least allowed to disagree with his squad or if the pre-set path for the companions had not always been to befriend them right away or press the flirt-option.

It's just bad narrative design, really. I actually like some of the companions but their company cannot erase this sense of generality that keeps me from ever truly caring, because I can tell that nothing is truly ever at stake, on an emotional level.