Comparing Andromeda to the OT as a whole is just silly...

Sure but I can compare ME:A with ME1 and it does not hold a candle.

Alright then. Lets compare mea with me1.

Story advantage: MEA
Character advantage: MEA.
Gameplay advantage:MEA.
Rp advantage:MEA.
side mission advantage:tie
End mission advantage: MEA.
Protagonist advantage:MEA.
Antagonist advantage: ME 1
Presentation: tie.

Honestly last time i played me 1...which was in the run up to MEA... I was so tempted to downgrade it. The gameplay, while not the worse, was very annoying and the RP made Shepard dull most of the time unless of course she randomly decided to beat up a reporter. I have to give Bioware some slack since its a ten year old game and they were trying A LOT new...but still had the game been made today...the exact game...maybe just improve the graphics...it'd be a tier 3 maybe even a 4.

It's an impossible comparison, pitting the first game in a (branched off) series to an entire story arc. ME1 had the same kind of flack when it first came out, but games 2 and 3 brought it all together. Andromeda is the set up, where we go from here is how it will be remembered.

i know humor is considered passe in modern grim stories...but why? A good joke or quip can lighten the mood and relieve tension. Just look at Hawk in DA 2. They faced a way more grim and personally horrible situation yet you almost could have thrown out a humorous line with every breath. Many of them childish.

Story advantage, tie at best
Character advantage ME1, hands off
Gameplay advantage, MEA, I give you that
RP advantage, tie at best
Side missions, agreed
End mission, tie at best. It was just the usual push buttons while fighting through hordes with MEA. I'm not sure if I replayed the Saren confrontation again, ME1 would come up victorious. So tie.
Protagonist, ME1 for me
Anatgonist, agreed
Presentation, agreed.

But one has to keep in mind that ME1 is nearly a decade old by now.

I would also like to add another thing. Issuing specific commands to squadmates, full advantage ME1

have choice to recruit squadmates ME1 - yes  MEA - no
decide the fate of a species - ME1 - yes  MEA - no
choose a squadmate to die  ME1 - yes  MEA - no
let main character or a squadmate kill another squadmate - ME1 - yes  MEA - no
punch reporter  - ME1 - yes  MEA - no
ground transportation has weapons - ME1 - yes  MEA - no
ship has weapons - ME1 - yes  MEA - no
all squadmates have sealed armor - ME1 - yes  MEA - no
able to choose weapons and armor for squadmates - ME1 - yes  MEA - no

and this would go under....?

Only thing i really think is 'better' in me 1 is the sealed armor. For all future games if we are to choose companions weapons and armor is if they have a crafting system similar to inquisitions.

It's too bad that this decision ended up being a mistake to include, and I feel would have been the same here. Frankly, I don't think we should be able to actually decide the fate of an entire species anymore, not unless the devs can actually commit to the resulting world states, which I doubt they could realistically can. I mean, the rachni decision ended up being crap. Killing the queen should have logically resulted in zero ravagers. 

As it is, your companion do whatever they like in MEA, since your orders are confined to go there. In DAI you could customize what spells or skills they used as well as provide them with a simple strategy. You could even directly control them.

But even in ME1, you could order them to strike with a certain skill against a specific target. Customizing at least their weapons is another thing that ME1 has over MEA. Peebee goes out with a frigging pistol. So there's no hope that outside her biotics she's of any use in a fight. One thing MEA has over ME1 is that they at least act in a more intelligent way, if left to their own devices. But that has to be expected one decade later.

First off, you are right, comparing one game to an entire trilogy is unfair. The problem is, for many, it doesn't even compare to any single game from the OT.

This boils down to personal preference. Do you like the Kett? Do you feel the Kett are just re-skinned Collectors with an unoriginal story? Do you like the Angara? Do you feel the Angara are too "normal" and expected something different seeing as we are in a whole new galaxy? Do you like Ryder? Do you feel Ryder is too flippant and not professional enough? Did you enjoy driving around in the Nomad? Did you feel you spent too much time driving around "empty" planets? Did you enjoy the side quests? Did you tire of side quests? Is multiplayer a main focus? Do you never play multiplayer?

This is why some people are adamant MEA is a great game, while others are very disappointed. Neither side is right, neither is wrong.

My issue with MEA is basically it is too small. Not in size of worlds, but in size of companions, races, and enemies. Here, i will compare to ME2 (because i didnt play ME1).
# of companions: ME2-10. MEA-6
# of enemies: ME2-Lots (Vorcha, Batarians, Collectors, Geth, Robots, Humans, etc) MEA-3 (even animals are the same on every planet)
# of alien races: ME2-Lots (Salarians, Krogan, Quarians, etc) MEA-1

If you dislike something in ME2, chances are, there are other things you WILL like....if you dislike something in MEA, you are screwed, because its always just more of the same.

Pretty much hit the nail on the head here. The only thing I would say is that I feel that Ryder is spineless, not overbearingly flippant.

Andromeda isn't a bad game, but it is a bad Mass Effect game in my opinion.