User blog comment:The Milkman/The Next Effect/@comment-26906867-20121127162638/@comment-4237253-20121129013053

I think the problem here isn't that the action exists at all, but rather that the role playing and depth has been removed. I'm okay with having both, just like I was OK with Resident Evil 4 blending both horror and action. It wasn't as scary as other horror titles, and the action wasn't as thrilling as pure action titles, but it brought its own unique experience to the table, and at the end of the day, it was damn fun. Then, Resident Evil 6 came along and couldn't do either.

One could say that Mass Effect has progressively leaned towards an action game. I'm fine with it being an Action-RPG. I don't expect it to be as deep as say, Dragon Age, but that's OK. However, I do think they started stripping away features that never needed to be. Inventory systems and different armour suits could have stayed. I would have preferred improvement in some areas, whilst the third person cover based shooter did as well. I don't have a problem with the improvements they made to the action side of it, I just don't think the RPG elements had to be sacrificed for it. There's plenty of room for both.