Mass Effect Legendary Edition Review (Everxion)
The Mass Effect Trilogy is a...strange series. There are many great moments and characters, but also a considerable amount of baffling design choices. It's a great RPG and having the same Shepard throughout all three feels not only like an achievement, but like I've bonded with the crew. The Mass Effect Universe is a great backdrop with memorable races and histories that actually feel alien . And then there's the quite lackluster side content.
My Playthrough: All three games were done on one Shepard, as an Infiltrator (sniper/assassin class) on Insanity, attempting a mainly Paragon (honorable) character, also doing ALL side objectives and DLC. For reference, Legendary Edition is my introduction to Mass Effect.
Mass Effect 1: A Rough but Still Intriguing Story (22 hours) - My first impressions were very positive; being put quite quickly into the action and having the world roll out the lore quite elegantly is great. It introduces the player to fundamentals of the universe and society step by step, and having choices that actually control the future of not only this game, but the next two is kind of crazy. The antagonist, Saren, is relatively pretty well built up and the darker secrets being hinted at is intriguing and made me excited for the sequels. The crew (except the humans) is great. Though they aren't very complex, they are just enjoyable to be around. The missions were very varied, with Noveria being my personal favorite and then Virmire, and the gameplay is... serviceable? It's alright.
The very worst part of Mass Effect 1 is the side content. You're given a Mako, an all-terrain vehicle that controls...very poorly. And then add awfully hilly landscapes, and it's like skating on ice, but worse. On top of that, if you're trying to get everything (which I would recommend anyone to NOT do), you're driving to random locations just to press accept to get x resource, and then leave.
Mass Effect 2: The Crew (36 hours) - This is honestly the best game in the series. The gameplay reaches its peak (atleast when it comes to controlling and managing your allies), and the characters, which are really the best part of all of Mass Effect, are so heavily focused on that there are more missions related to the companions than the main story (14 vs 21), which may seem lacking, but almost every character is so fantastic that it's fine. Thane and Mordin are by far the greatest, with Mordin having one of the most interesting moral dilemmas in any video game I've ever played. Cerberus? The Collectors? Ehh... kind of lackluster, but just talking to everyone and meeting the characters from ME1 again is just a treat.
The gameplay was actually extremely enjoyable for me in ME2, especially early game. There are remnants of the awful side quests, but they've been reduced to mobile game quality, so it's at least a hell of a lot faster to get through. Not enjoyable though. An interesting way to end the game, and while I do have some quarrels with how it works, it's a cool way of doing it.
Mass Effect 3: No Stone Unturned (34 hours) - Initially, I really disliked this one. I then realized it was much more a celebration of the past games, it all coming together and colliding on one event, and they really went all out on having so many ME1/2 choices have good impacts, and even the side characters come back. The Citadel DLC is probably the best content of ME3 because it places the most important thing in Mass Effect in the spotlight — the characters. The story is partially disappointing due to how 'final' it feels. Every single issue gets resolved, and it makes me wonder if it ever needed to be.
In my opinion, the villains are awful. Kai Leng, who just shows up out of nowhere, feels like such a missed mark. I know there's comics surrounding him, but hell, all of Cerberus feels so half baked that I barely care about one of the major threats of the game.
Spoilers on the ending: I chose the synthesize ending, and...just...why? It's such an irreversible action that makes me doubt that any future Mass Effect game will ever be set post-ME3. I loved Legion and Geth sentience, but extending it to Reapers and having everyone live in harmony just feels way too grandiose. The scope of the last conversation is way way way too high compared to everything else and it makes me sad, because I really wanted to come out absolutely adoring Mass Effect, but it made me feel lukewarm to its universe, even if I still enjoy many parts of it.
Final Words: I really enjoyed my time with Mass Effect, and I think most anyone else would too. The story and rpg elements are strong, and the gameplay is not amazing, but it's enjoyable. Just temper your expectations when it comes to its finale. Thanks for reading if you've gotten this far.