4.5/5 ★ – BEEF_'s review of Mass Effect Legendary Edition.

Spoiler Free -------------------- The remaster itself is one of the more competent ones in recent memory. A lot of games don't do enough, and some games do so much that the soul of the original is lost. This one does it right. Revisiting the trilogy in full for the first time since the games' initial releases has been one of the best game experiences i've had in years. Mass Effect 1 has changed for me as an adult. It is more clear and its design philosophy is tighter and more unique than the rest of the series. It feels like the space fiction of old, like the cover of those small scifi novels with the yellowed pages and weird cover art that you find in the high school library. Its presence in general is more memorable than the rest of the series. The game has aged but from a writing and aesthetic standpoint i'm gonna say its basically perfect. 5/5. I cried. Mass Effect 2 still delivers in spite of the loss of the aforementioned presence the 1st game established. There is an immediate and massive tonal shift from ME1 that never course corrects for the rest of the series. Its jarring initally, but the near perfect plot and writing and improved combat quickly drowns the comparison out and ME2 becomes its own masterpiece. It feels like if HBO suddenly got the rights after ME1, and they did what they do...but what they do is stellar so it really ends up not mattering. This is the ultimate Space Opera and contains the best moments in the trilogy by a lot. It elicited the same emotions from when I first played it in 2011. Still a 5/5 for me. I cried multiple times. The DLC, which I played none of during my first time in 2011, is also as good the base game and at moments better. I'd go as far as saying that the DLC is required, as the decisions you make in them also change Mass Effect 3. The reason I give this remaster a 4.5/5 is because of how Mass Effect 3 was handled. There is yet another tonal shift that is so jarring that it feels weird to play the game coming off of ME2. Its like HBO handed over the rights to the series to Netflix and Marvel at the same time. It goes from gritty, almost noir drama, to an action movie with a bit of cheese sprinkled on top. For the first time in the series the writing takes a hit. The combat is its major saving grace, its the best in the trilogy. However, I don't play Mass Effect for the combat, and this is why I maintain that Mass Effect 3 slightly sours the entire series as it trips like 5 times in 2 hours just before the finish line. It is still worth playing, because you have to see where the incredible cast of characters go. You have to know how it ends for closure. The negatives are heavy negatives for me unfortunately. 3.5/5 I'm excited about Mass Effect 4 (or whatever they are calling the next game that promises to be a continuation of the events of this trilogy) but i'm being cautious. We all know how it turned out with Halo.