The huge gulf between fem Ryder and Male Ryder [quality of acting]

I genuinely don't understand people's complaints about his voice acting. He's up there with my favourite VAs in a video game. 

Everything has to be bad. This game cannot be allowed to have anything positive said about it. The internet has demanded it.

Hi, I'm slightly late to the party so apologies if this has been discussed umpteen dozen times.

Anyway, I began playing this game last week and after initially rolling a male Ryder, I found the entire experience off putting. He sounds like a complete douche as the Americans like to say. Virtually every moment of those initial 3 hours were painful to sit through. So much so, I considered binning the game and moving on.  But it's Mass Effect, so decided to re roll a fem Ryder and wow, the jump in quality is night and day.  She doesn't come off as being a douche, she's actually funny when it comes to delivering her sarcastic and satire lines. Some genuine laugh out loud moments.

Kind of reminds me of the dilemma I had when I first played Sunset Overdrive on the xbone.  The male protagonist sounded like he had jumped straight from an 80's/90's Bill and Ted film.  It was awful.  Hated it then, hate it now.  Then I switched over to the female protagonist and like this game, the difference was night and day.  Turned out to be one of the most enjoyable games I've played on any platform this gen.

So yeah, I'm I overreacting here?  I prefer rolling male protagonists given the option, but sometimes the quality of the acting simply doesn't make it a viable choice.  Other than that, currently liking the game.

I played as male Ryder and I thought he was the wrong voice actor choice and performance. Most of the time he sounds and delivers his like some cast member from Scooby Doo cartoon. Once I made that revelation, I couldn't un-hear it.

Don't like how male Ryder looks too. He looks like some dude from the 50s, definitely not the future. Unless we're talking Fallout series future. ... I miss Commander Bro Shepard.

I think both Ryder VA's did a lovely job overall, especially considering the occasional cringe-worthy lines they had to deliver.

There were definitely moments of bad voice acting in other characters.
- Drack's introduction was bad, but it honestly sounded like a bad take was used. The rest of his voice-work was fine.
- In contrast, every single word outta Morda's mouth made me wanna scream (a krogan valley-girl...seriously, Bioware?). But I am not sure if that is the fault of the voice actor or bad direction.
- Peebee's voice was too Disney-ish for me, but again, I think this was bad direction, not bad-quality voice work.
- I really did not like Suvi's voice, but I have very strong dislike for raspy, whispery voices (as well as vocal frying, lisping, thick-tongued ickiness, and folks who let the saliva build up in their lower lip when they talk). Those types of sounds are like nails on a chalkboard to me in real life. I just wanna scream at them to speak up, speak clearly, speak like you give a shit that you are speaking!

The best voice in the ME series will always be Meer's Shepherd for me (although I loved femShep's VA as well). He spoke clearly, didn't overdo it on the emotional beats (ie, he was understated and subtle, which I really admired), and he had just enough of the Canadian accent to make his voice unique (ie compared to British and American accents, which tend to dominate those roles).

Occasionally, the Ryder VAs sound like they are trying too hard (if that makes any sense). Ie, a bit of overacting. But other than that, I thought they were fine.

I do, however, understand how bad voice acting (or simply a voice you don't like) can ruin an experience, so I am glad you were able to play the game as Sara, OP. Being a hillbilly, I've watched so many movies where actors butcher the Appalachian accent (I'm looking at you Beautiful Mind), and I have never understood how paid actors could be that terrible at their job!

Funny, Tom Taylorson currently is my favorite voice for a Bioware protagonist; however, I am often told I am reminiscent of a feminine hygiene product...

YMMV