IN THE NEWS: Mass Effect Legendary Edition
Mass Effect Legendary Edition, one of 2021’s most anticipated releases, has finally arrived.
Science fiction and space drama gamers can finally rejoice as Mass Effect Legendary Edition is finally available on the PC, Xbox One, and the PlayStation 4. The remastered trilogy can also be played on the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X/S through backward compatibility, but Mass Effect Legendary Edition was specifically developed for the previous generation consoles. Unfortunately, Nintendo Switch owners were not invited to this Mass Effect party. At the time of this post, the game hasn’t been out for 48 hours yet. So it will be interesting to see how this remastered Mass Effect saga is received over the next couple of weeks or even a month after release.
According to all of the previews for the game, Mass Effect Legendary Edition is supposed to be the upgraded version of the series that brings it to 2021. There are plenty of graphical upgrades and the ability to naturally play the trilogy in 4K. Certain gameplay elements, such as the use of the Mako vehicle in the first Mass Effect and shooting mechanics, are touted to be improved. All three games can be accessed through one launcher. And most of the DLC from the original versions of the games have been implemented. It seems like it has the potential to be an excellent package, especially for newcomers to the series.
Graphical upgrades are one of the key features of Mass Effect Legendary Edition.
My first experience with Bioware developed games started with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Sure the developer already had produced the Baldur’s Gate series and Neverwinter Nights, but I never played those games because I didn’t have a capable PC at the time. To this day, I still haven’t played those two games. But I digress. The Star Wars RPG was truly something special with all of its dialogue choices that influenced the direction of the story, the ability to be virtuous or nefarious, and an expansive experience that involved numerous planets and characters. It was through this game on the original Xbox that I came to know that a company named Bioware even existed.
Two new series were introduced after the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic games that came to define Bioware. The first was Mass Effect in 2007 and the latter was Dragon Age in 2009. They are both fantastic, but in my opinion, the Mass Effect series represents the developer’s best work. For any gamer who loved science fiction and a virtual universe with different planets housing various species, Mass Effect was a dream. Its balance of action, exploration, and character interaction/development was unmatched by anything I had seen at the time and still holds its own to this day. It was like video game Star Trek, but much cooler.
The universe of Mass Effect is vast and impressive.
I started the series out of order with Mass Effect 2 on the Xbox 360. I missed out on a lot of context by starting with the second game, but it did not take away from the experience one bit. As I played the game, I just found myself overwhelmed in a good way at the detail of the playable planets, the sheer amount of dialogue in the game, how my choices actually affected my relationships with the other main characters, the awesome feeling of commanding a ship while exploring the galaxy, and how fun the third-person shooter action sequences were to play. Commander Shepard is one of my favorite all-time video game characters. It’s nice that you are given the option for Shepard to be either male or female. Garrus and Liara are also favorites of mine. The game was and is phenomenal with many gamers considering Mass Effect 2 the best in the series.
After playing Mass Effect 2, I eventually went back and played the first game to see how some of the series’ main characters were first introduced. This is where I discovered more about Ashley Williams, a very strong-willed female soldier who is passionate about what she believes in. She ended up joining Garrus and Liara as my treasured Mass Effect characters by the time I finished the first game.
From what I’ve played of Mass Effect 3 so far, I know I’m going to enjoy the ride just as I did with the other two. The third game of the trilogy is still one that I need to finish and I’m looking forward to seeing how everything is wrapped up. I have the extended cut version so I plan on seeing the full ending that Bioware later released after the negative feedback the company received for the Mass Effect 3’s original ending. When Mass Effect 3 was first released, it wasn’t on my playlist so I couldn’t attest to what gamers were upset about. I do know that there was a significant backlash. The Legendary Edition will have the extended ending as well.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition seems like it can be a great starting point for gamers new to the series or for the Mass Effect veterans wanting to check out the remastered version. At this point, I am fully satisfied with the original trilogy. I enjoy the games as they already are and the graphics don’t bother me. There are tons of mods available for all of the original three games on PC. The two best sites to check out are Nexus Mods and ME3Tweaks. Mod support is a big deal to me as a gamer and factors in my decision to stick with the original version of the trilogy.
Some other benefits of the older trilogy also include being able to play the all three games as they were originally developed with all of the DLC and content, being able to run the game on a computer with lower specs, less hard drive space being used, and the original three games being $29.99 altogether instead of $59.99. Yet, either way you go, you can’t go wrong with this series.
-TVGA
admin@videogamersadvocate.com
(P.S. – Parents, please be advised that Mass Effect games are not meant for children. They carry a “Mature” rating and contain strong language and sexual content.)
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The Video Gamer's Advocate 
I’ve never played a Mass Effect game before so I was really looking forward to playing the Legendary Edition. Been have a great time checking it all out (starting with the first game of course), and I’m really enjoying it. 🙂