>My only complaint is the same thing I've complained about
>with most open world games now. There are too many side
>missions that get in the way of your main goal. I shouldn't
>have to stop to scan some fuckin rocks to inventory them if
>there is a ship out in space that's getting taken hostage and
>I need to save them "right away".
>
>I miss the good ol JRPG games that had a few side quest but
>they fit right in with the main story and I could do them on
>my way to the main quest. Not hop all over the place to
>complete them.

can't you simply ignore this stuff? are you missing out on important story beats or gear if you don't partake in these side missions? i imagine there is some desire to seek that stuff out because of the quality of the side quests in the previous entries in the series but it seems like it's a quantity over quality thing in ME:A and therefore easier to not pay attention to

>With that said I'm one of the biggest Mass Effect fans. The
>combat in this one isn't bad at all. It's smoother than a lot
>of the other games so no idea why anyone would complain about
>it here. The story is there. It may not have been as good as
>the others but I got very into it. At some points I would
>jump up and yell because a decision I made showed me the
>results I wanted and then some.

how is the writing? especially compared to ME 1 & 2. i read that the writing of ME:A is more "bro"-y and/or discount joss whedon

>It has its faults, but I think this game overall is very good
>and because a "meme" victim. Someone complained and everyone
>else ran with it and it went too far.

this is probably it. one person posted the myriad gifs, images, and videos of weird facial animations, stiltled dialogue, and what are generally considered to be unshippable bugs and everyone else on the internet kept reposting and memeing them