If there was one major thing you could change about this game, what would it be?

The Crucible would've only mattered if the game were set after ME3, though. I was sort of hoping for an "in other news" type of plot; something taking place in an uncharted region of space, unrelated to the Reapers. It could've been within the same, or similar, timeframe as the OT. They'd have had a bit more time to decide on the future of the IP, but it wouldn't have been easy to build an ongoing story with such a plot and setting. This was all just my musings at that time. I really didn't want the Andromeda rumors to be true; so I tried to come up with other possibilities.

As to the latter point, canon would be whatever BioWare chose it to be. I don't see a problem. My picking Destroy doesn't mean I wouldn't enjoy a future game/trilogy that assumed Synthesis. I know others feel differently; but I'll never understand the hang up with personal game saves. Within a trilogy? Sure. Into the next trilogy, though? No way. Obviously, BioWare believed it was important enough not to mess with it, so here we are. I do like the new setting okay, though I'll always miss the Milky Way.

Let me punch that Asari looter on Kadara in the face.

And then make it a reoccurring thing in any sequels.

Even being able to clear them out would be preferable, regardless of whether it's intimidation or simply shooting them both in an interrupt. Not like Sloane would do jack about it (though I wish a bitch would try). She didn't even try to do anything to Ryder after releasing the angaran prisoner. 

Post Game content. The end of the game tells you there's so much more to explore, and sets up teasers, but all you can do is finish up the same quests you had access to before. Some extra content for NG+ would have been nice, and a couple of questlines for post would have been great.

The game could definitely benefit from monthly updates that added new quests to the post-game map that lead into the DLC.

No question for me - improved side content/environments. I know those are technically two things, but a majority of the side content in this game is underwhelming and the environments play a role in this. Several of the loyalty missions are forgettable, many of the Heleus Assignments have no cinematics and anti-climatic endings, the Additional Tasks are almost entirely useless and many of the planets feature large swatches of land that function better as roads than worthwhile scenery.

I could've gotten over some of the technical issues, the poor facial features and even some of the slow galaxy travel/planet hopping if the side content felt more important.

They certainly missed an opportunity with their "open-world" design, I agree, but I'm not sold on being back in The Milky Way.  I was having this discussion with another poster the other day.  I think we hit a peak in that galaxy.  Any antagonist in The Milky Way would've felt underwhelming in comparison to The Reapers.  Even the Kett are underwhelming by comparison.

I think the Milky Way had enough crap dumped on it to last at least a few hundred thousand years.

Just one? Oh, but there are so many. Ideally, far better writing with a better final battle and the archon not being a terrible mustache twirling joke of a villain. Failing that I would be immensely satisfied if I can kick Peebee and  Liam off  the crew. In fact, I see no reason why that cannot be added with an update. Make it a short animation for both. Update the dialogue with some line that is used somewhere else in the story. I am sure Ryder has something that will work. Does ryder ever say 'I should go.'   Because if yeah, then change that I to you and be very matter of  fact about it. Of course, I would much rather it be more like how you kicked the quarian admiral off your ship for endangering lives in ME3. God, that was beautiful.  How did they not do that in both cases with these nitwits?

Please include option to kick these shits off the ship in DLC. PLEASE. PLEASE. PLEASE.

I'd change the overall premise and narrative of the game.

The biggest issue I have with Andromeda is that the game completely gives up trying to explore the whole concept of being a pathfinder and all the struggles that the job entails. I feel like the Eos vault was the turning point that made me not enjoy the plot and the premise anymore. I don't like that seemingly magical super technology from the Remnant is the only reason we could have had success in Andromeda. It also does not help that Ryder him/herself does not actually do much past a couple of choices and being a body for SAM to function in. Your character should feel like they have an impact especially in games such as this. Both SAM and the Remnant were doing the work, I simply gunned down the things trying to stop that and cracked jokes here and there.

You hardly make any difficult choices throughout the game and you as a person cannot physically activate Remnant technology without SAM. It feels way too unnatural, way too coincidental, and I would have greatly preferred a more realistic approach. I am not necessarily saying that the Remnant or SAM should be removed. I only think that they should have less impact in the narrative.

Making Andromeda viable should have been a cruel struggle. The game should have been about struggling and surviving, all while making choices. The introduction mission set it up perfectly. None of the golden worlds panned out. A revolt broke out among the chaos and anxiety of not knowing if the other arks made it. The most respected and best pathfinder who also pretty much leaded the Initiative along with being your father dies after an accident, leaving his newbie son or daughter to take his job. The other sibling is in a medically induced coma. Everything was screwed up and there did not seem to be a positive way forward. This was such a good set up. But like any deus ex machina, you oh so happen to find and operate super technology that can terraform and correct entire planets. That felt like one giant cop-out. Almost like they had no idea what to do with the premise they set up.

The whole plot points of the Remnant are nowhere near as interesting as what we could have had. Imagine if your outposts could fail if you neglected them. The Kett, Outlaws, Remnant, and local wildlife should have actually posed a threat to your outposts. You'd need to either send supplies, personally deal with the problem, or send a strike team to sort it out. And the planets themselves should be borderline inhospitable. This would make scientific and research advances more critical. Running out of raw materials or supplies should be a concern as well. You should have multiple choices on even where to place your settlement on a planet. I could go on, but hopefully you get the idea.

The main story could have been about first contact with the Angara. Managing relations with them. Dealing with outlaws and possibly either achieving peace with them or taking them out completely. Dealing with Kett forces at almost every corner. All while exploring and making areas viable for the Initiative to make outposts. Not all that different from what we have now but this way involves less space magic.

For a game that was supposed to be focused on being a pathfinder and exploring, it feels awfully too familiar to the original trilogy. It suffers worse though because it only goes half-way into this new direction. There are elements here and there, but the story revolves around the same type of premise of the other games but with characters, environments, and gameplay systems that do not work as well for that style of game.

-EDIT- Grammar and some spelling.

I can agree with some of this.  In particular, the character development.  This hits at my biggest gripe with the game.  Mass Effect 2 had way less stuff to do, but it was far more engaging and entertaining.  ME:A doesn't have the same kind of story depth.  Look no further than the Andromeda squad mates - many of them are forgettable or they feel like a chore to get to know.

However, I personally don't think the fact that it's an open world is the problem.  I think that's too much of a blanket statement.  I think their open world is the problem.  There aren't enough compelling story elements or environments.  Games like Red Dead Redemption and The Witcher 3 find ways to make you give a damn about the game world.  ME:A falls short here.

Now, if someone just flat out dislikes all open world games, I understand that.  They're not for everyone.  But, I think people would have had less to gripe about (and may have found themselves enjoying it) if it had been executed differently.  Adding more depth and cinematics to the side quest lines, cutting the size of the environment, removing some of the planet hopping and removing a significant portion of the fetch quests would've helped dramatically.

Ryder's dialog system, for me. I knew as soon as they told us we'd be moving away from paragon/renegade that it was going to effect replay for me, but I didn't realize how set Ryder's character development would end up being. I miss Hawke's approach to everything, be nice, ridiculous, or an ass.

When encountering Reyes ex-girlfriend, Zia Cordier, have an option for Ryder to side with Zia which leads to Reyes being killed. Zia becomes the leader of the collective and once Sloane is killed, Zia is put in charge of Kadara port