Mass Effect has always been one of my favorite games. The remastered Mass Effect Legendary Edition takes you back to the good old days of Bioware’s RPGs. This time, though, with upgraded graphics and gameplay. I’ve played all three games for over 200 hours, and they’re definitely worth buying. As far as gameplay is concerned, the Legendary Edition makes all three games look the same. It’s good, since you don’t have to wait years between games. That way, you don’t have to re-learn the UI if you jump from Mass Effect 1 to Mass Effect 2. In the first game, you get everything from a finicky Mako ground vehicle to faster leveling (like ME2) to 4K visuals.
The game looks amazing. But you’ll have to forgive the stiff facial animations during the cutscenes. You feel alive, whether you’re in a futuristic space fortress or a dank creepy spaceship. You walk on your ship and crew mates salute you, and aliens talk to each other, giving you a glimpse into this fictional world. Particularly the aliens feel real. Mass Effect 2’s boss design is striking, especially when you meet it at the end.
You can turn the difficulty up or down if you’re just into the plot or want a challenge. There’s a lot at stake, your morality, and sometimes you have to give things up for the greater good. However, the first and second games have better story telling. It’s more like a quick recap of the first two games. It can be a slog in Mass Effect 3, but it’s fun in the first two.
