Is Andromeda the beginnings of a Space Opera?

I touched my first ME about after ME2 came out. Funny story is me and my buddy were bored of the games we had (i used to be big in the CoD games and halo franchises before they went to shit and I played a lot of sports games, I also dabbled in mmos and older rpgs) so we went to a little store (mainly a food store but they had a small game rack) and bam! Saw ME1 on the rack and liked what the rear cover said. Played it and omg I just met the best space RPG in my life and had to try ME2, had to get used to the changes cause they were quite different, ME1 wasn't gears of war with choices like ME2 was (seriously, that was my biggest issue, like decalf said, it was to much of a shooter rather than an RPG although I don't pin that to catering to multiplayer but more so at those who disliked or view older mechanics as "outdated" so bioware streamlined, and truthfully it feels more fluid but it's also not natural for ME if you ask me, I can still play origins and ME1 just fine even with said clunky combat), unfortunately ME3 did the same but made it even worse).

So to answer the question: what did I expect out of andromeda? I expected yet another game to be gears of war but with choices, and to my delight it actually isn't like gears of war with those bland corridors and doesn't have emphasis on the gunplay (even if it's improved itself). However (to my dislike)........in the process of andromeda removing that gears of war B.S. and went to the roots of ME1, it lost elements that made the previous games good even if some were bland corridor shooters. The story is so meh to me, isn't this a bioware mass effect game? I looked forward to each iteration after the OT, I still look forward to the next ME game but I'm also optimistic (and I shouldn't have to be optimistic of a bioware game) be because of andromeda issues. The story needs to improve (and personally I think cleaning house with the writers is the way to go, you don't just start writing better once you lose your passion and give out crap), I also think they need to seriously think the character creat...... I mean character preset, inventory, crafting, the powers and abilities more throughly cause as it stands, I don't understand why they even bothered including them if they won't do them correctly in the first place. So many characters looks the same, hell, even once use the same faces, you can't adjust inventory on the fly which defeats the purpose of its inclusion, the crafting can be built better where it's not as disorganized and it won't confuse the hell out of the noobies.

In short: andromeda actually surprised me, it fixed much of my issues I had with ME 2+3, but it also surprises me by removing elements that made those games good. The story is meh, the characters are hit and miss, and it's the first game I simply can't replay at my own will, I've no interest in trying to do multiple play throughs like I did the other three. At best I'll be back to try the DLC, and after that be done and waiting for the next DA game as that franchise is still holding my attention and the inquisition has me giddy for the next. It's unfortunate too, cause the ME franchise was my #1 bioware game that I looked forward to, now it's DA but I'm curious to see their new ip as well. If what I'm hearing is true (that it's following the destiny/tom Clancy the division trend) I have to be honest, it may not hold my attention as I played the games that influenced it, and one sucks that I gave up immediately in beta, and the other got boring after 2k hours(destiny) because it wouldn't do anything new to hold my attention plus it's pvp was atrocious (sad considering they made halo which I hold as my #1 multiplayer game, at least the first 3 anyways, the newer ones have tainted the legacy).

Enough with the rambling, I was surprised at andromeda negatively and positively but ultimately its positives don't outweigh the negatives to where I think it's just a mediocre game that is fun as a one and done deal, but it has no replay for for me.

One last thing: even if people dislike the game, I've never understood the "why call it mass effect?" Argument, as it's still in the same universe and in the end, that's all it takes for it to be a ME game. Not to mention andromeda is free to experiment differently from the OT because it is a spin-off and has no direct ties to the OT. I could see the issue had andromeda been called ME4, but it's not. It's just as bad as those who said halo reach wasn't a "halo" game just cause it didn't feature the chief and had drastic changes to its gameplay, that game was also acknowledged as a spin-off with no ties to the main line games, yet it was still in the halo universe, hence the name "halo" reach. I mean, we could call andromeda a different name, but would people still not buy it? Again, it's still in the same universe, still made by the same guys who made the OT, it'll still carry brand with it just with a different name. I still would've given it a go just because it's made by bioware and it's acknowledged in the same universe as the OT.