Were we Too harsh on Mass Effect Andreomda???

^^ this. The story was all over the place and had little relevance to the reaper threat. Plus I dispise ME2 the most for turning the franchise into a GoW corridor shooter.

to get really nitpicky as well, ME1s armor design looked better than 2+3.

Haha...i can respect some of this...especially the Shepard and Ash interaction... . I don't see how anybody can rate Andromeda above ME2 if only in visuals...that's about it. The majority of the game is indeed you building that team, but because of how the game is paced you never realize it and because the loyalty missions and side missions (Overlord/ Lair of the Shadowbroker) are so well done you never really question the threat of the Collectors because you still get a sense of their threat through conversations with the illusive man and squadmates.


ME2 told a more cohesive story...you board a dead Reaper and you board a Collector ship... all elements that tie into the story. In Andromeda the story was uninspired and i really can't think of any defining points in the game. For humans to be travelling to a new galaxy, and for Ryder to be pushed into a position of such importance the game never raised the stakes and it was to the point to where the characters seemed very nonchalant about the entire scenario.....no sense of urgency or  desperation to get established.



Characters have no depth....I went to talk to Cora about five different times throughout the game and everytime she gave me the same conversation about her time with "Asari commandos".....I understand this happens in ME2 to some extent and a trigger sometimes makes characters say different things, but this was more prevalent in Andromeda....this is where some of that criticism in terms of narrative comes into play....whereas in ME2 i could go to the characters on a few different occasions (especially after their loyalty missions) and i could get different and interesting conversations from them...

Still a bit shocked some hated ME2 on this level...i thought it was the best in the franchise...

It's a computer game, a product. Hate is never deserved.

Why are you shocked?
I was fortunate to play all 3 games at once, rather than spaced out over 6 years or whatever it was. That means my first memory of mass effect was not me2, which i dont think is true for a lot of people.
I like to think that means i can look at it without the attendant emotional baggage of it being my entry point.

Strip away all of that and you have what is described above: A series of character moments vaguely tied together with a nonsensical plot.
The combat (remember how useless biotics are), railroading in plot, planet scanning and mini Normandy piloting, lack of inventory and meaningful gun choices, stripped down progression system, binary choice in dialogue to hit the morality checks, ridiculous level design with waist high wall-o-rama.. ugh I can go on.

Still, you get to push that guy out of the window.

Yeah, ME2 started the trend of the Rule of Cool/Sexy taking precedence over logic and lore when it came to the outfits. 

From best to worst considering all factors:
1. ME3
2. MEA
3. ME1
4. ME2

Probably like this? I've fallen through geometry in DA:I, but not near as much like I had with Andromeda where it could be anywhere. I went through the tempest (I've seen NPCs fall through it too), I've fallen through the nexus, elladdon, and anything else I can't remember since I haven't played since launch week. Inquisitions biggest issue was banter bug and conversations just freezing (characters would still move) and having to restart the game to get by, it was almost a guarantee every time I went to the desert to help the warden with the demon army. 

ME2 told a more cohesive story...you board a dead Reaper and you board a Collector ship... all elements that tie into the story.

Completely agree with this, and your other post on ME2. One reason why The Witcher (that's me btw!  ) get's more props is because that instilled an upward trend of improvement in each game. Mass Effect went the exact opposite direction, I like ME2 a lot for it's characters and most of it's mechanics, but the Cerberus railroading and lack of story prevented it becoming a masterpiece.