Mass Effect: Legendary Edition Review: The Paragon of Remasters

After years of fans clamoring for it, Bioware has finally delivered a remaster of not just one Mass Effect, but the whole damn trilogy. Not a full remake, but an update. Bringing the whole franchise to 4K and modernizing some textures and gameplay here and there.

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
Developer: Bioware
Price: $60
Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One
MonsterVine was provided a PS4 code for Review

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: yes, the Mako controls better. You can actually drive in a straight line now, and I only managed to flip it over once in my 22 hours with the game! Mass Effect 1 as a whole plays better. Gone are the days of awkwardly fumbling around with guns and over-relying on your squadmates. You can now shoot straight and actually hit targets regularly without ridiculous kickback and reticles swinging wildly. The abysmal load times between sections are gone making traversing Noveria, The Citadel, and The Normandy way less aggravating. 

That said, Mass Effect 1 is still very much a product of its time. Albeit, a very ambitious product of its time. The quest design leaves a lot to be desired, most of it boils down to: Touch down on planet, drive to base, enter base with the same interior of every other base, kill guy, rinse repeat. Sometimes there’s a dialogue option, sometimes your squadmate will say something, but every time there will be a big room in the middle full of boxes for you to take cover behind. A lot of this is alleviated by the updated controls, but it really does become monotonous, especially if you’re trying to do everything. As the franchise goes on, it simplifies a lot of this. There’s less focus on exploration and gear and more on minute-to-minute gameplay. Mass Effect 2 and 3 basically function as 3rd person cover RPG’s with a focus on squadmate and powers, drastically toning down the skill trees. In most other franchises this would be disappointing, but here it works. The more linear level design allows for far more variety in locations and tighter and quicker levels that focus more on learning about the world over boring rooms full of boxes. As well as giving you more reason to use your squadmates abilities and getting rid of a bit of the power bloat Mass Effect 1 has. 

While it was cool that you could land on a bunch of planets and explore them in 2007, in 2021 the overly mountainous, basically empty worlds are more frustrating than they are impressive. Especially when most of the exploring is just finding collectibles that don’t even do anything in Mass Effect 1. Fighting your way up a mountain in the Mako still sucks. It doesn’t matter how much better it controls. 

But where it really matters, Mass Effect 1 still shines, possibly brighter than before. The world and characters feel so alive. The new character models really pop out and look better than the flatish look of the original, giving their performances that extra bit of life. The Citadel has more people walking around on it, making it feel more like the bustling hub of galactic civilization. Across the board the graphical updates add so much to this game, it’s a shame a lot of them are set against very minimal and boring environments. I wish they put a little more time into that, they did a lot for the planets you explore, by putting in new skyboxes and lighting but the rest of the game still suffers at points. That said it’s still so nice to revisit these places that captured my teenage imagination. 

One of the more interesting places in ME:1

There’s something about the writing of Mass Effect 1 in particular that gets you. In all honesty, about 90% of it is exposition; table setting for a universe that feels fresh even if it’s influences are pretty blatant. But it’s all written so earnestly and you can’t help but be pulled in by it. In most other games learning about an alien species economy would be useless background information, in Mass Effect it’s the reason you play. I cannot stress how interesting it is to just listen to the various races of Citadel space just tell you their history. You could spend hours just asking them about it, and Bioware goes out of their way to deliver on it. And if the races themselves aren’t giving you enough info, don’t worry there’s also a fully voiced compendium of even MORE INFORMATION. I’m usually not the type to be pulled in by stuff like this, but here it’s wonderful, I love it. 

The high point of the game is of course the interactions with your squadmates. Talking to your party is a staple of Bioware RPG’s, and of course, romancing them, but it’s never felt as personal as it does in Mass Effect. You really start to feel for these characters, especially as they grow over the course of the franchise. Characters from 1 in particular change so much, some even based on your dialog choices, it’s pretty impressive that they pulled it off.  They really feel, well, real, and the little moments where they joke on the elevators of the citadel are some of the best moments in the game. While this is present in Mass Effect 1, it mainly takes a backseat to the main plot, Mass Effect 2 is where it really comes into its own. 

Where most of the talking gets done in Mass Effect 1

Mass Effect 2, is solely based on building a team and gaining their trust. How do you do that you ask? Well talking to them of course! For years I’ve always joked that the game is a dating sim with 3rd person shooter mechanics. In reality, it’s more of a friendship simulator, you’re spending most of your time just shooting the shit with your crew and helping them out with their issues and the main plot takes a backseat. Sure the collectors are abducting human colonies, but Grunt is telling me about old Krogan warlords, and honestly, that’s way more interesting. 

This separation from the overarching plot and straight focus on characters and the universe is what really separates Mass Effect 2 from either game in the series. Setting itself in the terminus systems allows itself to tell smaller more personal stories in this world over the threat of the Reapers. It gives the franchise time to really breathe and allow you to sink your teeth into it. It lets you see what living in this universe is like, and how everyone survives in the less glamorous parts. It’s more interested in showing it to you, than telling you like Mass Effect 1. 

My favorite quest in the franchise is a simple one in 2 on a planet called Illium. An Asari is getting cold feet about her Krogan boyfriend. Both races are extraordinarily long-lived, and this is the first time this Asari is faced with something that feels permanent and real. A few feet over, an older Salarian talks to his Asari daughter about getting something for her mother to remember him by before he passes. She consoles him and tells him that she’ll never forget him. Mass Effect 2 is filled with little stories like this, and it’s what makes it special. 

In a way, that’s a summation of the entire franchise, it’s an incredible world with an interesting lore and wonderful characters. Some of the absolute best in gaming, and a shame that the overarching main plot falls apart in the end.

The reality though, is that was never what the series was truly about. Mass Effect 2, the peak of the series. One of the greatest games ever made earns its renown not by gameplay, not by its plot, but by it’s characters. Wonderful, well realized characters that you learn to love and squeeze every little detail out of. Characters you sometimes think about wistfully like an old friend in passing. It’s special. It’s the true legacy of the franchise. 

Sure, hunting down the collectors or stopping the Reapers is cool. But it’s those little moments on the Normandy that shine. Like, when Thane tells you about his son, when Wrex waxes on about the future of the Krogan race when Mordin sings Gilbert and Sullivan. Those are the moments that will always stick with you. 

I could spend the rest of this review talking about the disappointments of 3, so much has been said in other places so I’ll keep it short. It’s not the greatest game in the franchise. It plays the best, but the plot sucks and you can clearly tell a lot of it was rushed in production. There’s a lot of frustrating choices that were made around a few characters, and the choices you make throughout the franchise don’t always come to a satisfying conclusion. A lot was fixed with the DLC’s and the extended cut ending DLC. Making it a much more rounded experience (Javik is a delight, make sure he never leaves your party.) So it’s easy to see it as a more complete package then it was on release, and I’m sure that most newcomers to the franchise won’t be as upset with that infamous ending this time around. But that’s really all that needs to be said. 

For a long part of my life, I let that Mass Effect 3 tarnish what was at one time my absolute favorite things in the world. A nasty bit of fan ownership and frustration from “What could’ve been.” But now, after playing the franchise again, I felt myself letting it go. I found myself lost in a world I cherish with all of my heart for what felt like the first time all over again. 

From the exhilaration of that final battle of Mass Effect 1 to the understated melancholy that hangs over Thane like a storm cloud. It all came rushing back. Memories of seeing Mass Effect 1 for the first time at a friend’s house. Begging my parents to get it for me for Christmas. Staying up all night replaying 1 just before the midnight release of 2. The absolute thrill of seeing that little loading screen tip “Your choices will carry over to Mass Effect 3.” Finding people who actually shared a love for a silly little space game when it felt so much harder to make friends. 

There are seldom a few times in life that you find something that truly resonates with you. Something you can confidently call “Your favorite thing.” Halfway through playing Mass Effect 2, I found myself saying to my girlfriend in a hushed tone: “I think this is my favorite video game.” The triumph and heartache of this franchise washed over me and I felt like a teen again. Looking over that slow-moving image of the earth with a press start hanging in the center of the frame, just imagining what kind of adventures me and my crew would get up to today. 

It feels nice to be home. 

Sadie Shepard out.

The Final Word
It’s rare that a game from your youth doesn’t just meet your nostalgic expectations, but completely surpasses them. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is exactly what the title says “Legendary.”

– MonsterVine Rating: 5 out of 5 – Excellent