10 Video Game Sequels That Made Everything Worse

As much as Mass Effect 3's release was met with a fierce fan backlash, that had little to do with the core gameplay, but rather BioWare's inability to provide fans with a satisfyingly fluid, branching ending as originally promised.

And so, the inevitable fourth game didn't really need to give the series a major makeover or readjustment, but that didn't stop BioWare from making Mass Effect: Andromeda a bold step away from the existing formula.

Though distancing itself from the events and characters in the prior trilogy wasn't an inherently bad thing, BioWare ultimately failed to populate Andromeda with a cast of characters nearly as interesting as Commander Shepard and co.

The most radical change from the first three games, however, was the addition of open world-style gameplay, while while a natural fit for the expansive Mass Effect universe, ended up feeling more blandly generic than truly lived-in.

Elsewhere many players were frustrated with the myriad bugs, and of course, the infamously terrible facial animations apparent upon launch.

Andromeda isn't a bad game all things considered - the combat is pretty solid, for one - but it is a solid step down from its three predecessors, smacking of another developer basically trying to create an imitation Mass Effect game.

Given that BioWare tapped their Montreal outfit to lead development - rather than the Edmonton team who made the original trilogy - it's not terribly surprising that it made players feel this way, or that its production was massively troubled.