After Shepard's evident indoctrination towards and through the ending of ME3, Galaxy had nobody left to save it. Reapers reaped. Next cycle is around half way through. Player is an archaeologist of some yet-to-be-seen space elf race or another. Beef of the game is exploring ruins and fading echoes of the world that we came to know in first trilogy. Player Character becomes aware of Reapers but game isn't about stopping them. Gameplay borrows more from Last of Usthan it does from MEs.
Indoctrination could have been such an amazing concept. I'm not just taking about IT and the ME3 ending, but as a part of the story. Seeing enemies everywhere, not knowing who to trust, being suspicious of even your own team... instead, it just became a one-way path to stupid-evel. That's no fun.