[SPOILERS] My (long) Andromeda final review

I played on Normal too. A well modded dhan shotgun with incendiary ammo + turbocharge takes it down on one shot. Then two more shots + melee attack (asari sword) on ascendant kills it. 

Worse than NWN?

Yes.

I was not an "efficient" player initially in my earlier ME playing days, because I didn't understand the many mechanics and hidden mechanics of the games. Like most people I think, I started off as a soldier.

Paying attention to in-game tips and lore can pay off in these games. ME2 flat out tells you how to make BE's.

Taking advantage of this knowledge in a tactical combat cRPG that has pause and control of squad power usage makes you a more efficient killer, which is satisfying.

Example - after the "git gud" period of ME3MP for me, perhaps coinciding with the Leviathan release, I was ready to start another SP playthrough. I was surprised by how much my efficiency had changed as a player myself, as well as with my squad mates. Insanity was a breeze.

Sure, some of that was based on how my actual game playing had changed due to the influence of MP - I paused much less frequently because I actually used my hotkeys, so when I did pause it was to set up something nasty for the enemy.

That is fun!

Is that an answer?

The perplexing thing is ME has always pretty much been quite terrible at the game play with the team. They have always bordered on useless. If you want a game with good team stuff. Play Dragon Age.

Um, no. Squadmates in ME are pretty awesome and far from useless if you know how to use them. Just a tiny example from my current Insanity run. I can kill 2 enemies at the same time by letting Miranda use Warp on an armored enemy, then sending Kasumi in with her Shadow Strike to finish the guy off while I take out another enemy with a headshot from my Sniper Rifle.

Do you honestly say that squadmates running around doing their thing randomly are more efficient, or just as efficient as squadmates controlled by the player that use their powers for combos in precise moments?
If so, then I don't know what to say anymore. Random attacks and powers can never be as efficient as planned ones.
The only reason the player can be efficient in MEA is because they can combo themselves off, but that doesn't really include squadmates, unless they happen to cast a power to combo with at the right time and when the player's powers are not on cooldown either. And that's a lot of chance.