@stopthatgirl7 But so too was it the case that BioWare themselves contributed to their downfall. The leadership were very open around the time of ME3's release about their desire to focus more on gameplay than story. I also cannot forget that crazy interview where the creator of ME said that they procrastinated on Tali's appearance, simply because they didn't want to make people upset, which is bonkers considering how unhappy pretty much everyone was with ME3 upon release.

@stopthatgirl7 The rough transition from ME2 to ME3 is a direct consequence of a failure in leadership at BioWare, full stop. ME2 doesn't mesh well with ME3, because it was not BioWare and EA's priority during ME3's development to make it as such. ME3 is gameplay over story, profits over creativity, and a harbinger of everything that was wrong within BioWare that culminated in the utter failure of Anthem. ME2 as an art piece is in opposition of everything that BioWare would for a time become.