MetaCritic metascores: Reviewers: 75 - Users: 4.7

DAI finished with 43 critic reviews. MEA currently stands at 7. So it's too soon to call, even if it does look like it will end up with a lower score. IMHO, DAI would have had a lower score too if released today, simply because other games just raised the bar that much higher since DAI's release.

A lot of people play BW games because of the emotions they used to evoke. Friendships, tough choices, and in the case of ME, Shepard herself. I expect many BW fans of the older games will give MEA a lower user score, because it does seem that BW has not yet found the balance between creating a powerful emotional journey and a vast open world, like TW3 achieved. I personally also would hope that BW would scale back on the open world peppered with icons à la Ubisoft, and go back to what they do best: smaller settings with strong story/interpersonal content. I don't need my games to last 90+ hours, if many of those hours feel like a grind. But that's just me, and I'm willing to accept that I could be in the minority, given that the overall trend in AAA RPG gaming seems to be the bigger the better.

For now, I will most definitely play MEA, judge for myself, keep an open mind and truly hope that I will enjoy it. At the end of the day, gaming is a personal experience. And if SP fails, I'll just be happy to reconnect with the ME3MP bunch of ragtags for MEAMP, as combat does seem to be improved - or at least, provides a new experience based on the familiar.