My Return to Mass Effect
Welcome back Shepard!
After playing the full experience of the Mass Effect Legendary Edition, I will have to say that I’m very happy and satisfied with being able to play on my PS4. I’ve played the games on PS3 before, but somehow had a problem with the connecting of the original Mass Effect to Mass Effect 2 for some reason. I had owned Mass Effect 2 before getting the Trilogy for PS3, so I wonder if it just wasn’t connecting the information based on using the same game data from the old Mass Effect 2 disc.
For the Legendary Edition, I was able to get the full experience of the connections and all my decisions went from the original to Mass Effect 2 and into Mass Effect 3. Also, the Legendary Edition has improvements to the original and also a Legendary leveling system so you can access practically all of your abilities and do things earlier than you would have otherwise. It felt like you can do more and being able to choose all the different types such as Vanguard and Sentinel, was nice. I kept my female Shepard character throughout all three games.
Changes in Mass Effect
The original Mass Effect was more into the RPG elements but not necessarily the action as much. Here the changes being made are to make it more like Mass Effect 2 in the sense of aiming and fighting mechanics. This change was a good change for those who are into the action and the use of the guns. One that didn’t change that I noticed was that the original Mass Effect only had one button for a quick ability, such as Warp or Overload. You had to pick on the fly on the abilities wheel and use it. A little clumsier compared to being able to do three different in Mass Effect 2 and 3. Also, sometimes your abilities wouldn’t be able to target well the enemy that you are going for. The original was also like this.
The original game’s graphics also had a big overhaul. Now in a more 4K and even in HDR, it felt different than the original, but just a bit. The added areas where you go with the MAKO for side quests and items looked far better than the original. The graphics on the people were better, but due to the original content, it couldn’t go to a point where we’ve seen so much better. Many of the humans didn’t look as good as some of the aliens, such as Garrus or Wrex.
The feeling of moving was better too. Yet, then there are the controls of the MAKO. Keeping with the same controls as the original (same to many games like Halo from what I remember) but seemed less stiff as the original. It might have made it seem easier, but for me, I had a hard time controlling the MAKO. Almost worse than the original in my view, but maybe that could also be because of my driving skills being not as good as I’d like anyway. It just felt at times that things were a bit easier to get confused on why the MAKO was going where it was going, and it wasn’t going where I intended it to go. This might have also been because the FPS went from 30 to 60 and it might have thrown me off a bit with that.
Impressions on Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 2 is considered the best of the series, but there are times where I really love Mass Effect 3 more. So, the decisions I made in the first, made it to Mass Effect 2 and told me what my decisions were with the major decisions like leaving the council, etc. My appearance and being a Sentinel character were still there, although I could choose a different ability set such as Soldier or Adept if I wanted to. Money seemed to have been more than I’m used to too when I first started and I think some of the money I had from the original Mass Effect, was put into Mass Effect 2. The Legendary leveling was not really in this game due to the amount of abilities were much smaller than the original. I did receive a certain extra amount of the Paragon and Renegade points from the original.
For those that don’t know, Paragon and Renegade are which sides are you using, such as Paragon is for doing something that is considered nice and kind hearted, while Renegade is considered more aggressive and destructive. This is similar to Bioware’s systems from Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic (Jedi or Sith) or Jade Empire (Open Palm or Closed Fist).
The actions and RPG like elements in the original Mass Effect 2 are still the same as they were before and felt pretty natural. Using the Hammerhead hovering vehicle was also still good to be able to use, compared to the MAKO from the first game. Those elements felt very familiar, and it was a thrill to do it again, but have my decisions have the consequences from not just the game I was playing, but also from the original Mass Effect.
The graphics didn’t change much besides a brush of extra details and felt a bit better in other areas such as areas where I used the Hammerhead had some improved environments and felt better than the original. This was also in 4K and in HDR so the colors were different, but the default setting seemed like a good setting to me.
There were DLCs that I never played even in the Trilogy from PS3 and I was able to play a few that I’ve never played before, such as seeing the remains of the original Normandy. It didn’t feel like much even though there were a few that I found and did.
Impressions on Mass Effect 3
Returning after Mass Effect 2, the decisions from the original and 2, kept in the game and it felt my decisions had made certain impacts in certain ways. I had gained more levels than expected and money was plentiful. The Legendary leveling system seemed to be part of it or some of my levels in Mass Effect 2 was part of 3. My Paragon and Renegade levels were also added from Mass Effect 2. I still was able to keep the same character with the same looks and being a Sentinel again.
The actions and RPG like elements were also the same as the original Mass Effect 3, being more of action than being RPG. It felt good going through the game and seeing what happens with all of it together.
DLCs were a lot more and larger this time around. The taking back Omega seemed a huge aspect and even going to Silversun Strip and having a party with your squad at another part of the Citadel and get attacked by yourself. These showed me that there are new things to do, and the feeling of the game was like playing more than just the game that I used to play on the PS3 since I never did the DLCs originally. The Citadel DLC also put out more personality and a lot of funny bits from time to time that cut away from the seriousness of what needed to be done at the end of the game.
The graphics were about the same due to being the last in the series around the time the PS4 would come out. Sure, it was more in 4K and HDR with 60 fps, but it felt mostly the same except most of the characters had better details and brush-ups.
The ending seemed basically the same from what I can remember, and I wasn’t one of those that felt a bad taste with how the ending was originally. The choice that I picked felt satisfying and I’m wondering if there was an added video afterward to show the feeling of my choice and how others were afterward. It might have been some minor touches, but I felt it was a decent ending.
Are there any bugs?
So, during my gameplay, I heard there were bugs from some of the reviewers that had their first impressions on playing. I will say that at first, I felt like there were none. Yet, in the original Mass Effect, I did have a few times when I was not able to open things or go back on the MAKO. I was able to save and get back in and everything was fine for a while. I think one of the small side missions might have been left incomplete because I couldn’t do it. Otherwise, I didn’t have many visual issues.
In Mass Effect 2, no real visual issues, but I did have something that happened in the PS3 version of the game and that is when my character wasn’t able to move with me as I was looking around. It usually corrects itself, but sometimes I’m in battle and it just gets more confusing. I don’t think this was something they were able to fix originally since I did have it on my PS3.
In Mass Effect 3, I haven’t received many issues with visual or in controlling the character. I did see a couple of visual glitches that didn’t last for more than a second. All I could think of was, “well, that was weird” and I kept going with the game.
As I was nearing the end of the game though, I did get one that I think was a glitch in Silvesun. After adding different furniture to my new apartment during the DLC and before the party, I eventually came back after what I thought was done with the DLC, for being with other characters before the end. The different furniture was gone, and I could not rechoose them back. I’m not sure if this was intended or not, but I would want to consider it a glitch since it changed.
I did have a couple of crashes with the original Mass Effect and Mass Effect 3 but felt like it wasn’t the biggest of deals. To me, most of the issues I had weren’t game breaking or anything like that and I still really enjoyed getting back into the games and fully experiencing this game.
Verdict
All in all, I’m really happy with being able to finally get the full experience of all three games. It is too bad I wasn’t able to do that with the Trilogy on the PS3. This makes me feel that it was about time to do it fully, no matter how many times I tried on my PS3 to have that experience. Being able to play the DLCs that I never played on the PS3 was a great way of having a new experience on a game that I’ve played many times. For those new to the series, this is like an epic story with lots of things to do that will last for many hours and many side quests. Those who love 3rd person cover action and even some RPG elements, would most likely love to play this game if you never did before. The trilogy experience is one of those that really makes the game one of the best.
It was a great run that I’m going to be doing again with a different character with different abilities and decisions. Maybe I should be more Renegade next time!
