[quote=@Dynamo Frokane]

And Ryder wasn't unlikable because he/she wasn't an unstoppable badass like shepard, Ryder was unlikable because he/she was a bland person thrown into a neutered version of the ME world surrounded by a bunch of mostly bland characters and the absolute worst sub-star trek villains you could think of. You cant blame all of this on MRA backlash.[/quote]

Ryder was inherently more likable than Shepard because Shepard didn't develop much of a personality until the sequels largely because Shepard was a blank slate self-insert type of protagonist. The characters were on par with the crew of any Mass Effect game complete with the black one being the most absolutely dull one. And at least the new alien partner was more than just a Wikipedia article for his species like Tali was in the first game. The crew in Andromenda wound up feeling more like an actual crew than any of the cast of the first three games apart from Garrus and that's basically a cheat because he was there for everything. 

I can think of worse villains. I just have to put in Mass Effect 2 for them. BioWare hasn't done compelling villains since Jade Empire and any character that might make for a nuanced, interesting villain wound up being ruined as soon as they put on their villain hat a la Illusive Man. The kett and The Archon were decent enough secondary motivations since they weren't the larger point until they actually involved themselves. 

I'm not blaming it all on MRA backlash. I can place part of the blame on there being some rose colored glasses for large parts of the Mass Effect trilogy that only got smudged because Mass Effect 3 dropped the ball so absolutely but the more glaring problems with Andromeda as a game are more in its game design choices than its writing. But it's way easier to simply say "Cora got an SJW haircut and Peebee so randumb" than point out the actual bland, boring, and simply unfun design of the open world and moment to moment gameplay and the quest loop. 

[quote]I get that the main character is supposed to be a blank canvas, but when the game gives you nothing to paint on that canvas apart from a small selection of poorly written rookie tropes, it will reflect badly on the big picture.
[/quote]

Ryder isn't really a blank canvas though. Unlike Shepard whose past was intentionally vague, Ryder is coming in with an unchanged occupation, background, and slew of family issues. Ryder is a painting that's three quarters finished and you're just slapping colors on there because it's due tomorrow.