I've played all the other Mass Effect games and I had the same issues with this one as you stated. It was repetitive and the talking began to feel like a waste of time.
I feel that because this one is outside the original trilogy, it lacked a "soul"? Make any sense?
Keep it up with the reviews. I'm looking for a new open-world game for the PS4 myself. I modded Skyrim and ruined the experience....:/