You think ME Andromeda will be more "childish" than the trilogy?

That's already a thing

I wouldn't say it was the Reapers being stupid it's more that the Reapers no longer had control of the Citadel thanks to what Shepard and Vigil and the protheans did in ME1 in corrupting the controls of the Citadel so the Reapers had to enter the galaxy manually and effectively blast the gates open so to speak. It's also possible they chose to enter through Batarian space as no one really liked or trusted the Batarians all that much as they were largely a rogue state. so had no allies to call for help so the Reapers saw that as a weak point they could exploit.

As for the info gathering and activation of the relay that was Sovereigns job it just didn't realise what the Protheans had done before it was too late.

They didn't have control over distance anymore. Sovereign had to go there to activate the relay itself. The Reapers could have taken the Citadel right in the beginning of ME3 and deactivated the entire mass relay network. 

It was never mentioned or implied that what the Prothean scientists did took the Reapers's control over the relays. It was just over the Citadel, and it could have been easily overridden manually if Shepard hadn't interfered.

Of course, I considered all of this while imagining what could possibly explain their methods in ME3. But there really isn't any explanation that they've given us, and something of this magnitude deserved answers lorewise. 

Obviously, the devs made an impression of an impossibly strong enemy that they had no choice but dumb down for us to stand a chance.

From what we've seen and read, yes. It will be more cartoonish and brighter in tone.

Not a problem, as long as you don't pretend the game is another thing.

yeah but the way I see it is the Citadel effectively controls the relay network which is something that Vigil does actually tell you when you talk to him. My guess as to why they chose not to attack the Citadel first was because they probably felt they had the numbers to take the homeworlds anyway as the Citadel is really mostly used for constructing the reaper that follows each harvest I think. So they probably felt they didn't need the Citadel to begin with and could take it later. Also Harbinger possibly thought attacking the Citadel first directly a second time would be too obvious as it would have probably thought we'd be ready for that. That's probably why they thought we'll attack the homeworlds directly first and while everyone's scrambling trying to protect their homes we can sneak someone in to take the Citadel and do the cycle that way. At least that's what it looked like to me

Agreed.  Never too old for fun.  I hope I never take myself too seriously where I can't enjoy a game because it's too "childish."

You've got the right idea there, buddy.

Well, approaching the Citadel via FTL is said to be difficult because of the nebula, per the Codex.

Also, to some extent I think there is a general problem with the lore. The way space travel and weapon techs are set up, single targets are not really defensible. 

Agree with you on all points. I have no doubt that there will be some dark, sad, frightening moments for our Ryder.

Imagine being 22, still wet behind the ears, and having to fill the role that was meant for your hero father. The her who earned his N7 designation through his own trial by fire. The hero who was in the first human crew to enter the Charon relay. And you have to take that man's job and do well. That alone would cause most people some severe anxiety. No doubt the young pathfinder will make some serious mistakes, maybe even with tragic consequences. Hopefully he/she will have the wisdom to listen to advisors on the crew.

I do think that the pathfinder will still keep a sense of humor and fun, as will the rest of the crew, which will also help keep the tone lighter. 

That makes two of us!

Ok, I get it, Hawke started at 23-24 after all(I think), but they had a timespan to actually mature and become an adult. The way DA2 had addressed the passing time is a different story, and we don't really know how long MEA story is going to take, but it would take years for this 'a daddy's boy\girl becomes a Real Man\Woman in a big new world' concept to work.

Hell, as badass as Shep was - he\she did not become the N7 SPECTRE at 22. Ryder siblings are only about to get to their version of 'Accuze\Elysium' (which should be followed by hard-earned training, losses and victories to actually become a hero).

Though you make some great points here, I'll still cop to feeling like ME3 took me to a very dark place emotionally, at least the first couple of times I played it.  It was difficult for me to justify doing any of the side content, taking time to chat with other characters, etc. because reapers were harvesting millions daily.  Ultimately, the thing that allows me to engage side content is the idea that building the Crucible is a lengthy project, and these other things are things Shepard can do to gain war assets while construction is underway.  Reminders of losses were all over the Citadel - mourners at the Memorial Wall, last messages we'd deliver to widows, crowds of refugees, medical & food supplies threatened, the PTSD soldier's story, and some of the artifacts we recovered via scanning mostly helped to restore hope to people who'd lost it all.  People who'd never held a gun trying to fight, the atrocities at Sanctuary, Cerberus's recruitment and contract termination methods...  I'd suggest that if all of that doesn't set an overall grimdark tone, then someone isn't paying attention to what's going on.

I'll also admit how bummed I was when I first started up ME3 to learn that the reapers invaded straight away.  I guess I'd hoped that Shepard would somehow manage to prevent their arrival en masse.

In the end, I'd expect Earth would be pretty dystopian for quite some time.  Governments and borders may very well change in the aftermath, and I question whether there is enough trained military / law enforcement left to even attempt to invoke martial law.  Yeah, Shepard achieved a victory of sorts - but it certainly didn't feel like much of a victory.

It does seem like they are going for a lighter tone this time around. Which is fine with me to change things up from the original trilogy.

Whether it works or not remains to be seen. I still want it to feel like Mass Effect.