History YMMV / MassEffectAndromeda

* ContestedSequel: To say that the game divided both fans of the ''Mass Effect'' series and gamers in general is a major understatement. Opinions range anywhere from it being a generally decent game that just didn't measure up to the lofty standard set by the original trilogy, to it being one of the absolute worst big-budget games (especially outside of the "games as a service" ones) from [[UsefulNotes/TheEighthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames its console generation]]. Its defenders point to its attempting to expand the scope of the franchise in both gameplay and story terms, while its detractors claim that these new elements bombed on nearly every count, and detracted from what worked in the second and third games.

** One aspect of the game's premise and plot that irked a lot of longtime ''Mass Effect'' fans was the ''reason why'' the Andromeda Initiative existed to begin with, and how it got so many people to enlist into what was a one-way, centuries-long expedition to another galaxy. Nearly all the characters in the game state that they they joined the initiative to start a new life and/or explore the great unknown, which many fans saw as a very flimsy and weak reason to essentially abandon their previous lives and any family & friends altogether.[[note]] Especially since it's been established in the Mass Effect Codex that 99% of the Milky Way is still unexplored/undiscovered [[/note]] The game later on does explain that [[spoiler: the ''real'' reason why the Andromeda Initiative went ahead was because of the imminent arrival of the Reapers, and the need to flee the galaxy to save any-and-all races as a contingency before they arrived]]. However, it is ''also'' established in the game that [[spoiler: only a small handful of the initiative's leaders, like Jien Garson, Alec Ryder, and the Benefactor were aware of this; everyone else was left completely in the dark and left for the previous aforementioned reasons]]. Many fans felt it would have been much better if instead [[spoiler: it was widely known among everyone in the initiative that they had to escape from the Reapers]], since it would have provided solid justification as to why everything in the initiative is so poorly organized. Instead, it makes the people who left the Milky-Way look less like the Galaxy's Best-and-Brightest and more like Morons who were lucky.

*** Mitigated somewhat, when you listen to the angaran logs, and the turian’s side of the story. The turian and his group were kicked out of Kadara Port, and stumbled on the angarans in the middle of the desert. They were in awful condition, starving and thirsty, and the head angaran extorts everything they own from them for clean water, from their weapons, credits, to the clothes on their backs. The Milky Way group were left with nothing, no way to set up their own outpost, no way to hunt for food, and nothing else left to barter with for more clean water. Sabotaging their own filters is definitely beyond the moral event horizon, but after everything they’ve been through (from waking up from cryostasis especially), it’s hard not to be somewhat sympathetic to the groups desire for revenge, and the idea that the head angaran brought his fate on himself by being such a greedy jerk, when even one of his own angaran companions in their base has an audio log, saying they believe that he was being far too harsh, and could have been more generous.

** One aspect of the game's premise and plot that irked a lot of longtime ''Mass Effect'' fans was the ''reason why'' the Andromeda Initiative existed to begin with, and how it got so many people to enlist into what was a one-way, centuries-long expedition to another galaxy. Nearly all the characters in the game state that they they joined the initiative to start a new life and/or explore the great unknown, which many fans saw as a very flimsy reason to essentially abandon their previous lives altogether. [[note]] Especially since it's been established in the Mass Effect Codex that 99% of the Milky Way is still unexplored/undiscovered [[/note]] The game later on does explain that [[spoiler: the ''real'' reason why the Andromeda Initiative went ahead was because of the imminent arrival of the Reapers, and the need to flee the galaxy to save any-and-all races as a contingency before they arrived]]. However, it is ''also'' established in the game that [[spoiler: only a small handful of the initiative's leaders, like Jien Garson, Alec Ryder, and the Benefactor were aware of this; everyone else was left completely in the dark and left for the previous aforementioned reasons]]. Many fans felt it would have been much better if instead [[spoiler: it was widely known among everyone in the initiative that they had to escape from the Reapers]], since it would have provided solid justification as to why everything in the initiative is so poorly organized. Instead, it makes the people who left the Milky-Way look less like the Galaxy's Best-and-Brightest and more like Morons who were lucky.

* ThatOnePuzzle: Remnant [[FanNickname "sudoku"]] puzzles in general can be exhausting, but the optional one in the Elaaden vault ''really'' takes the cake. While the others make it immediately clear which sequences are impossible, this one requires that you think ''several'' moves ahead and decipher which sequences would ''become'' impossible by placing each glyph down in each space. Its difficulty is ''lampshaded'' by your party members if you exit the menu, and it's the only one you can't bypass with a consumable item.

** One aspect of the game's premise & plot that irked a lot of longtime ''Mass Effect'' fans was the ''reason why'' the Andromeda Initiative existed to begin with, and how it got so many people to enlist into what was a one-way, centuries-long expedition to another galaxy. Nearly all the characters in the game state that they they joined the initiative to start a new life and/or explore the great unknown, which many fans saw as a very flimsy reason to essentially abandon their previous lives altogether. [[note]] Especially since it's been established in the Mass Effect Codex that 99% of the Milky Way is still unexplored/undiscovered [[/note]] The game later on does explain that [[spoiler: the ''real'' reason why the Andromeda Initiative went ahead was because of the imminent arrival of the Reapers, and the need to flee the galaxy to save any-&-all races as a contingency before they arrived]]. However, it is ''also'' established in the game that [[spoiler: only a small handful of the initiative's leaders, like Jien Garson, Alec Ryder, and the Benefactor were aware of this; everyone else was left completely in the dark and left for the previous aforementioned reasons]]. Many fans felt it would have been much better if instead [[spoiler: it was widely known among everyone in the initiative that they had to escape from the Reapers]], since it would have provided solid justification as to why everything in the initiative is so poorly organized. Instead, it makes the people who left the Milky-Way look less like the Galaxy's Best-&-Brightest and more like Morons who were lucky.

** One aspect of the game's premise & plot that irked a lot of longtime ''Mass Effect'' fans was the ''reason why'' the Andromeda Initiative existed to begin with, and how it got so many people to enlist into what was a one-way, centuries-long expedition to another galaxy. Nearly all the characters in the game state that they they joined the initiative to start a new life and/or explore the great unknown, which many fans saw as a very flimsy reason to essentially abandon their previous lives altogether. [[note]] Especially since it's been established in the Mass Effect Codex that 99% of the Milky Way is still unexplored/undiscovered [[/note]] The game later on does explain that [[spoiler: the ''real'' reason why the Andromeda Initiative went ahead was because of the imminent arrival of the Reapers, and the need to flee the galaxy to save any-&-all races as a contingency before they arrived]]. However, it is ''also'' established in the game that [[spoiler: only a small handful of the initiative's leaders, like Jien Garson, Alec Ryder, and the Benefactor were aware of this; everyone else was left completely in the dark and left for the previous aforementioned reasons]]. Many fans felt it would have been much better if instead [[spoiler: it was widely known among everyone in the initiative that they had to escape from the Reapers]], since it would have provided solid justification as to why everything in the initiative is so poorly organized. Instead, it makes the people who left the Milky-Way look less like the Galaxy's Best-&-Brightest and more like Morons [[spoiler: who were lucky]].

** The lack of control of squadmates and their abilities was been heavily criticized. One of the hallmarks of the Original Trilogy's combat system was the ability to command your squad to do specific actions (such as the popular biotic detonation, where the player would have one companion summon a Singularity to trap enemies, while another or the player would make it explode with a Warp or Throw attack). And because every companion had different abilities and missions have different types of enemies, it made choosing companions for a mission a careful but fun choice for players. In ''Andromeda'' on the other hand, there is no way to command your companions to use their special abilities, and they frequently do actions on their own without the player's control. At best, the player can only ''occasionally'' order them to specific positions. Even if a companion is the best choice to deal with a specific group of enemies (such as a Tech Expert for Remnant enemies), they are still of little use because they won't even use their powers adequately and to the player's desire.