Should I play this now?

No.

Agree with this as well.  It was enjoyable enough to get through the game once with it's DLC expansion, I doubt I'll revisit it, while I've fired up ME:A again recently.

As for the OP question:  yes, now is a great time.  The cost of the game is ridiculously low and all the patches have been done since August of last year.  It's as good as it's going to get.

Yeah you almost have to think of MEA as a separate franchise with some ties to the Mass Effect universe.  There is fun to be had in MEA but ultimately the overall experiences pales when compared to the MET if anything you have to resist comparing it to the MET when going in but that is hard to do.

It really isn't worth the time or money. But if you're bored then go ahead and play it but on PC with mods. Consider it a Mass effect OVA.

You can play the SWTOR class stories for free and most of them are better stories than this game.

The point is that there are plenty of other games worth playing for free. If you need it to be ME related. Just replay the MET.  Hell, read MET fan fiction. All a better use of free time. 

For me while it will never be as good as the trilogy and some design made me scratch my head MEA still has enough Mass Effect in it to make me want to play it.

I think people would have been more forgiving of the game if it didn't have to try to live up to the Mass Effect name.  I have said this before if all the ME references were removed from the game (meaning other MW races and references to the alliance etc...) and it had simply been a generic space exploration/colonization game called Andromeda it would not have gotten nearly as much flak as it got.

I agree with you but most people won't look at it that way.  At least most opinionated people on the internet.

I think this pretty much nails it!  For me two things hit MEA hard; (1) the condition of the game on release, and (2) the high expectations of the ME community, comparing it to the trilogy.  Both produced significant backlash that pushed allot of potential players away and definitely out of contention on any podium at award time.  But I agree with a number of you, that it is a better game than most that made it there in the end.

I believe, if I were a first time ME player picking up MEA today in its current condition, it would be a complete blast for any true RPG player.  As for me, I really enjoyed the game (post-patch), as I just do not try to compare it to the trilogy and I have played through twice.  I am certain I have another one or two plays before dust gathers on the disk.

One of the things that I wonder is, if what we see in MEA's lack of depth is not a symptom of the greater gaming industry, where we see sacrifice in depth and detail, for our new 4K monsters?  I am also playing Fallout 4 and as much as I love that game, the characters and story are not FO3 of NV.  Are these signs of the future for role playing games?  Graphics and multiplayer over story does not bode well for the future of true RPG.  Just a thought.

Yep, just don't go in expecting MET and ignore most of the side crap.  The combat is fun and accommodates any playstyle.  Aside from the main story (which isn't very long so be careful not burn through it too fast,) focus on activating vaults to stabilize worlds and establish settlements, finding lost arks, and companion quests (Drack is awesome.)  As far as crafting and upgrades mostly just focus on the Nomad (because otherwise it's damned near unusable.)  It has a few remaining bugs, but nothing game killing.  It's imperfect but I still consider it vastly superior to, well, any Bethesda game ever made (of course that ultimately depends what your after in a gaming experience).