O melhor: Um lore que sustenta uma galáxia inteira
O pior: As vezes é difícil prever o tom usado durante uma escolha de diálogo
Diretor do jogo explicando as Asaris pro resto da equipe: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Finalmente iniciei uma das trilogias mais aclamadas da última década. Essa versão da Legendary Edition está muito bem remasterizada, o jogo está com ótimos visuais e performance. Foi curioso começar a jogar e perceber o quão pouco eu conhecia Mass Effect, já que parte da sua jogabilidade e a de um jogo de tiro em terceira pessoa. Nesse aspecto, ele faz pouco além do básico. O que torna seu combate interessante são as habilidades diferentes entre cada classe, mas mesmo com elas não há tanta variedade assim de situações de combate. Como explorei ao máximo e fiz várias sidequests eventualmente evolui minha equipe num ponto que deixou a maioria dos encontros bem fáceis (mas não triviais). Eu gostaria que houvesse um melhor equilibrio entre os poderes tech e biotic, alguns são muito mais úteis do que outros. Mas no geral era sempre divertido levitar um inimigo fora do cover e ver seu esquadrão pulverizar o coitado.

O universo construído em Mass Effect é simplesmente fantástico, e definitivamente o ponto alto da obra. Há muito o que se ler e ouvir sobre cada raça, planeta e tecnologia. Eventos históricos explicam as relações entre diferentes espécies alienígenas, e o papel da humanidade nisso tudo. Considerando que é um jogo de 2007, seu escopo é muito impressionante. Se por um lado os planetas e asteróides que são possíveis de explorar tem todos uma geografia semelhante (apesar de características visuais diferentes) e os ambientes interiores terem quase sempre o mesmo layout, o contexto é robusto o suficiente para engajar com os eventos que ocorrem ali. E é aqui que um dos aspectos mais importantes do jogo se destaca, suas opções de diálogos que permitem resolver mesmo conflitos delicados de maneira pacífica, ou tornar em massacre uma missão simples, dependendo de como o jogador vai querer moldar o seu comandante.

A história principal é surpreendentemente simples, apesar da grandiosidade do lore que à suporta. Outro aspecto que, de certa forma, eu não esperava, é que o jogo tem bastante humor, as vezes intencional (em algumas opções de diálogo) as vezes não (geralmente coisas que envolvem animação facial em cenas mais dramáticas). Os membros da sua equipe são todos bem únicos e interessantes à sua própria maneira, apesar de entender que personagens como Wrex e Liara tem bem mais "bagagem" na história principal. Alguns possuem um mini-arco próprio e são pouco desenvolvidos depois disso. Há opções de romance entre a tripulação, mas acho que o impacto desse aspecto, ao menos nesse primeiro jogo, é mínimo.

Como ponto negativo sinto que a navegação pelos menus, principalmente nas opções de equipamento, poderia ser melhor. É fácil se perder no tanto de loot que é possível adquirir no jogo, e as vezes escolher as melhores armas e modificadores pode levar mais tempo do que o necessário. Um outro ponto é que as vezes é difícil entender como um diálogo vai ser desenvolvido a partir de uma opção, que geralmente contém duas ou três palavras. Não raro o Shepard soava mais ou menos agressivo que imaginava numa situação.

Estou bem curioso em ver como a série evolui, visto que o segundo jogo é muito apreciado. Esse aqui, especialmente nessa versão, já é um ótimo começo.

Eu sinto que ME1 é MUITO mais um RPG do que um jogo de tiro. Não no sentido conceitual. No sentido literal mesmo. O jogo me parece muito mais próximo de algo como KOTOR do que de Gears of War (o 2 e o 3 estão muito mais pra GoW). E isso cria uma porção de pequenos problemas. O tiro do jogo é bem ruim, o cover é ruim, as habilidades serem em tempo real é ruim, tudo é meio lerdo. O inventário é uma bagunça terrível. Mas ele ainda faz algumas coisas que foram um pouco perdidas no resto da trilogia original. O sistema de missões que o 2 implementa torna tudo muito mais rápido e meio artificial. Aqui você tem que explorar os lugares de verdade e por mais que na maior parte do tempo seja chato, ainda dá uma sensação de imersão maior do que só um monte de loading screens. Se eu prefiro a chatice do que a eficiência? Não, mete loading screen aí mané. Mas que eu me senti mais imerso no 1 na maior parte do tempo, eu com certeza me senti.

O mais curioso de rejogar esse jogo após todos esses anos é ver que Andromeda tá inteirinho aqui. Você tem a exploração chata e inútil num veículo terrível de pilotar (no 1, o veículo no Andromeda é decente), você tem milhões de sidequests pra coletar coisas inúteis que não tem payoff satisfatório, você tem um monte de missão genérica sem graça com npcs genéricos. Tudo. A maior diferença é que no Andromeda esse monte de lixo tá largado no seu caminho enquanto aqui você tem que ir caçar essas coisas em planetas aleatórios. E o Andromeda tem um combate bom de verdade.

Pode parecer que eu odeio esse jogo por falar tantas coisas negativas, mas eu adoro ele. Tem uma puta história boa e aquela magia de fazer você se sentir no comando de tudo que você faz (apesar de como de costume ser só uma ilusão bobinha). Alguns personagens excelentes, alguns extremamente ruins e uns que você nem lembra que existem, assim como na vida real! Até o combate que eu reclamei eu secretamente gosto. Eu acho que todo mundo que fica dizendo que esse é o pior jogo da trilogia tá só maluco. É o terceiro melhor jogo da trilogia!

Recomendo demais, o remaster torna tudo que não é rosto humano tão liiiiiindo, todo lugar que você olha é uma screenshot esperando pra ser tirada. Eu nem sei dizer se as mudanças de gameplay que eles anunciaram fez alguma diferença porque eu não jogava esse jogo fazia uns 12 anos mas ainda recomendo essa versão simplesmente porque tudo funciona em hardware moderno sem necessitar de 1 bilhão de mods, além de que tem suporte nativo à controle (porque a versão original de PC só suportava mouse/teclado). Só diria para não perder um minuto da sua vida sequer tentando explorar planetas aleatórios com o Mako. Confia.

Mass effect explores the vastness of the universe while simultaneously exploring the more inter-personal relationship between player action and reaction
Through mass effect, you're given the role of commander as you designate your Sheppard's background, skills and appearance bad character creator look that lead you down a intergalactic mystery that intertwines that of man and machine.
Being new to an interspecies federation, humankind attempts to assert their place amongst many other species each with their own politics and problems. You play as your own captain kirk, in charge of several crewmates that you order around to varying degrees of competence

You can choose to be a paragon meaning you're a goody two shoes that chooses to be compassionate and acts heroic.
Or you can opt to be a renegade asshole that picks the opposite of a narrative space adventure in favour of playing the game as a gun-ho, that's it just gun ho.
You can also just play how you would in these situations, creating a more nuanced character.

I'm going to be reviewing mass effect 1 and discuss how bioware made a significant impact on narrative driven games back in 2007. For this review I played the game twice and my second playthrough was through the Legendary edition released on ps4, xbox one and PC in 2021.

The prime directive
Before the pains of andromeda
mass effect was a flagship for bioware, being a titular series that would promise synergy between each game in player continuity, ensuring that your choices reflected the narrative that you told through play within the confides of the developers vision.
I think part of the reason that I find myself detached or bored when watching someone else play mass effect is because I want to micro-manage each choice to my vision.
Back seating mass effect is like trying to tell david lynch what to do or tarantino on a set, you just don't do it. In Mass Effect, the person in control is the director of this game flick, customising everything from loadout, spec to dialogue choices.
I remember one evening when having a friend over I decided to show them mass effect 1, the ps3 version I should add that came out long after the game had already been around at this stage and after about 30 mins falling asleep during the opening mission. It's a different experience watching versus playing this series.

The original xbox 360 release still holds up surprisingly well, although it does tend to show it's age on level geometry anti aliasing as well as enabling film grain by default which is most apparent during cutscenes so I tend to disable this.
As for the changes that legendary edition made to this game wel for one the game runs significantly better at a higher than 30fps with a much higher resolution or you can opt for 4k. There's been adjustments to facial models and textures bumped up in resolution which is neat as well as fixing the mako tank.
A welcome change is having the other gender sheppard visible on the character select screen now instead of being hidden away under several menus.
Action really wasn't the focus for the mass effect series so the combat in 1 while lacking in comparison to other 3rd person shooters was intentionally made for you to command your allies to carry out various bionic abilities and order them to form your own little strike team of sorts. You could order them to blindly rush in to draw enemy fire and snipe geth from a safe distance or take a cautious approach and have them use their powers to overload and unearth enemies from behind cover.

Conclusion

There was a tactical element to the combat even though the shooting wasn't as flashy or accurate as many of it's contemporaries, but it was serviceable for the role playing game genre it inhabited.
It played into it's strengths of story telling and character progression, you commanded you and your team on this space voyage making choices every step of the way. A game is a set of interesting choices, and mass effect presents them in it's gameplay and narrative. Legendary edition made the action more streamlined to coincide with it's sequels but there's no denying that the heart of mass effect is in it's world building and choosing what sort of commander you are.

Through choosing between paragon and renegade, you've been granted a small instance of control, but in reality the creator holds true creative freedom over the illusion.
Kaiden ended up becoming a farmer on eden prime, the locals took him in as one of their own despite his likeness to buzz lightyear.

Whether you prefer chocolate or vanilla, the options presented are finite, just as a game can only hold so many possibilities, the plot will always arrive at it's designated end.

Multiple routes in games aren't a rarity nowaday but the way they're conveyed through their writing and mechanics tend to follow a pattern that mass effect and pen/paper stories followed. A film is up to interpretation from the viewers perspective and it's up to the director to deliver a vision that can be viewed as theirs, the viewers and the critics.
This was the first stepping stone and it's not my favourite of the trilogy but the building blocks are here.
The enemy variety could of been better, the final boss re-using an enemies movement while also looking goofy previously with a hover platform could also have done with refinement.
It's a rare game for it's time but you can appreciate what it had to offer back in 2007

I really wasn't expecting this game to appeal to me so much. I am not really a sci-fi guy but I did like this game's atmosphere and environment a lot. It kinda feels like playing a video game version of The Fifth Element, given, It's probably inspired by it. The world is vastly more detailed and interesting than other immersive sim-esque games I have played in the past. The shooting is nothing crazy, it is pretty standard, but it is not the highlight of the game. The highlight is the story, or rather how interactive it is. I don't mind that every choice I make is not important, what matters is making you feel like your in the game talking with these characters which I think Mass Effect does a great job at.

Some complaints I do have is that the driving segments suck. Like they are just bad, it's mostly monotonous driving down straight paths, sometimes there's some enemies but they never pose a threat which is probably for the better. The car doesn't control the best either, any small slope flips you all over. I wish there was also more options for good or bad choices in dialogue. I almost had to kill one of my teammates, Wrex, cause my intimidate wasn't high enough until I reloaded. The skill tree is pretty bare bones and the little powers you get aren't that useful besides the damage up ones.

The game was a little short but sweet, I hope 2, which people say is better, is just an improved formula of what we have here. For how old this game is, I wasn't expecting it to actually hold up. I really enjoy this structure it has, and hope the 2nd will be better.

Nunca fui muito fã de jogos com temática espacial, não tenho nada contra, mas essa temática não costuma me atrair tanto, sempre preferi uma espada na mão e um ambiente mais medieval, porém, decidi embarcar numa aventura espacial em Mass Effect e para minha surpresa que jogo MARAVILHOSO!
O que mais me pegou em Mass Effect foi o tanto que o universo criado pela Bioware é rico! Temos toda uma história da criação desse universo, várias raças, cada uma com suas personalidades, culturas e costumes próprios, guerras do passado, antigas raças até então extintas, etc... Conteúdo de qualidade é o que não falta, a narrativa principal apesar de seguir uma linha clássica de herói contra vilão é muito bem contada e divertida de se acompanhar. Os personagens são outro grande brilho desse jogo pois em sua grande maioria são bem elaborados e construídos, o jogador fica realmente instigado a conhecer mais sobre cada um deles, suas histórias e motivações, principalmente quando falamos dos que fazem parte da tripulação de nossa nave. Devo dizer que o real brilho do jogo fica na parte das interações e construção de relacionamentos com os personagens, é realmente algo muito incrível.
A gameplay dessa versão remastered é bem legal também, pelos relatos que vi a EA deu uma melhorada nela para ficar algo mais atual, a gameplay mistura elementos de RPG e ação. Andamos por diversos planetas e galáxias enfrentando inimigos e conhecendo personagens e os ajudando em seus dilemas pessoais. Os combates são um tiroteio bem simples, mas que conseguem cumprir bem o seu papel de divertir, todo início de missão escolhemos dois membros da tripulação para nos acompanharem naquela quest ou planeta. A movimentação do personagem é meio travada/robótica, mas estamos falando de um jogo de 2007 né? Da pra relevar esse ponto. Também temos alguns trechos de gameplay com um veículo para andar por planetas e realizar alguns confrontos, novamente é bem simples, mas legal.
A parte gráfica está muito boa nesse remastered, claro que não são gráficos nível nova geração, mas estão bem legais. Vi algumas comparações com a versão original e foi uma grande melhoria nas texturas e cenários, apesar de em alguns momentos os personagens ficarem com umas expressões faciais meios estranhas (um olho arregalado ali e aqui).
Minha única grande crítica é a EA não botar uma LEGENDA em português numa edição remasterizada chamada de lendária lançada em pleno 2021, não faz sentido nenhum, num jogo em que a história e os diálogos são o centro de tudo não ter uma legenda acaba deixando o jogo inacessível para muitas pessoas.
Enfim, o jogo me surpreendeu e me conquistou bastante, ainda mais por ser de uma temática que geralmente não me atraí tanto. Foi uma grande aventura recheada de personagens marcantes e carismáticos, agora estou empolgadíssimo para conhecer e jogar toda a franquia. Detalhe que o jogo está disponível no Xbox Game Pass via EA Play.
Nota: 9,5.

Probably the most "deceptive" 6/10 I've ever given to a game.

I wanted to like Mass Effect more. The universe is very well crafted, the codex texts are fun to read, and the lore as a whole is very interesting. Sometimes the desolate atmosphere of exploring a planet is all I need to switch off my brain, and I find the party interesting enough for the game, with all the characters undergoing some kind of development (and in some cases, like Wrex, their arc ends up having a direct impact on the directions your choices can take).

But I think the game fails too much in certain aspects as a game. The menus are not intuitive to navigate, the amount of places to explore ends up being excessive and extremely repetitive with little variation, and I don't find the integration of sidequests good.

Moreover, the main planets and especially the Citadel are horrible to explore. The Citadel, in particular, is all confusing and has a very strange layout. I genuinely had less trouble exploring and memorizing the layout of certain dungeons in Shin Megami Tensei than navigating the Citadel.

A universe as rich as this one would probably fit better as a TV series or a book, something like that, although the interactive part of Mass Effect 1 isn't all that bad either. And all the mystery behind the Reapers (and THAT cutscene on top of Virmire) makes everything worthwhile and quite interesting in the end.

I think I’m quite ready for another adventure. Let’s dive in to Mass Effect, a series that I’ve been told for the longest time that I would enjoy.

The last few months I’ve played nothing but short-and-sweet indie games. Which is great, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve been craving something big, something epic, a large-scale game to get absolutely absorbed in. I saw that Mass Effect: Legendary Edition was on sale for 85% off and it felt like perfect timing. This is exactly what I’m in the mood for; I love science fiction, I hold high regard for BioWare, and I’m in the mood for a large-scale AAA game. That mixed with the critically acclaimed reception of this series made it a no brainer for me. I’m actually shocked it took me this long to play it considering it checks off all my boxes.

For whatever reason, Mass Effect didn’t appeal to me in its hay day. I have a foggy memory of trying it out when I was younger but all I remember was not getting into it. The main culprit was probably Halo, which satisfied my sci-fi cravings; its fast paced combat was better suited for young PapaJaeger and the multiplayer is what all my friends were in to. I was in middle school when Mass Effect originally came out and I guess the slower paced, story-focused game just wasn’t what I was in the mood for (which is bizarre because I was a huge KOTOR stan a few years prior, but we’ll get to that later). I have no memory of my short stint with Mass Effect, so I was essentially going into this series completely blind, just the way I like it.

I am so freakin’ glad I played this. The biggest compliment I can give to this game is that the world building is so incredibly in-depth and creative and was what carried the majority of my gratification of the game. Learning about the cultures, species, the politics, and the history or this universe was quite enjoyable. I am a huge science-fiction fan from movies, to books, to TTRPGs, to video games. I love how science-fiction can warp traditional story-telling tropes to twist trope-y narratives, introduce new perspectives, and challenge our beliefs as human beings. Mass Effect is damn good sci-fi. This is masterclass world building. When you have a world so rich with fascinating lore, it makes it that much easier to write a compelling narrative and introduce interesting characters.

The message of the story was all about what it means to be human. This is a common storytelling theme, but I think science-fiction is the best host for such a tale. In science-fiction, we can be shown different ways of thinking which can challenge the way we as humans inherently think. Instead of asking ourselves “why do these aliens think differently than we do?” we can ask ourselves “why don’t we think more like these aliens?” In this game humans are presented as overly emotional compared to other races. Is that a good thing, or a bad thing? That’s up to the viewer to interpret. It’s not the storytellers job to tell you what to think, rather it’s their job to unbiasedly offer different perspectives and let the viewer come to their own opinion. I really like when a storyteller can find this balance and, in this area, Mass Effect did a great job.

I have many friends who are ultra-fans of this series. A few of them lamented to me that classic “I wish I could experience it again for the first time” sentiment. It’s a feeling we can all relate to about our favorite stories. This feels like a series I will have similar thoughts about in the future, so I am trying to absorb it in all right now.

Now, there are a few things that may not have aged so well in this game. For example, the inventory managing and equipment upgrading systems did not feel very good – the UI was weird to navigate at best and convoluted at worst. The combat had a bit of clumsiness to it, and the controls for the Mako were not good (it’s easy to compare it to the Warthog in Halo, which was a very similar control system but felt so much better in Halo). Overall the remastered graphics look good (although I don’t have the OG to compare them to) but one thing that stuck out was how bad the human facial expressions looked, especially when a character was talking. I do hope a few of these systems are updated in the 2nd game.

One last anecdote before I wrap up: one of my favorite games ever made is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003), developed by BioWare only a few years before Mass Effect (2007). The influence KOTOR had on this game is clear. From the space exploration, to its sci-fi setting, to its signature RPG elements, even to using the same voice actors (shout to my boys Carth and Kaiden both being voiced by the legendary Raphael Sbarge). KOTOR has influenced many other games I’ve played, but this one even more so than the others. It was so, so cool seeing this much of KOTOR baked into the DNA of Mass Effect. It felt like BioWare took everything they learned from KOTOR and applied it here and it’s awesome seeing how the studio progressed itself. For the record: I do think KOTOR is the better game, but in certain areas Mass Effect does outpace it.

Overall, HELL yeah, I loved this game. I could definitely see how it could improve in certain areas and I’m hoping these are addressed in the sequel. But in a world with this much depth, I can only imagine what kind of stories there are left to tell. I’ve been told the second and third games are even better than this one, so I need to make sure to keep my expectations in check. I’m glad middle-school PapaJaeger did not play this game – it would’ve robbed adult PapaJaeger of the pleasure.

Esse foi meu primeiro contato com a trilogia e devo admitir que me arrependo de não ter jogado antes.

Mass Effect 1 tem um dos melhores worldbuildings que já vi dentro de um jogo. É tudo tão natural e fluído que me fez ter vontade de conhecer mais e mais sobre as raças, os planetas, as tecnologias, etc.

Há um codex no jogo que é organizado como uma enciclopédia pra consultar os variados tópicos abordados no mundo, atualizado continuamente ao longo da jornada. Uma boa sacada pra quem esquece das coisas como eu.

A gameplay travada não é das melhores e já mostra sua idade, parecendo um shooter de qualidade duvidável. E tudo fica pior quando você dirige o Mako, veículo de exploração e combate de Shepard.

O fator RPG é excelente e cada escolha nos diálogos realmente importam. Algumas ações têm consequências durante a trilogia toda e isso é muito imersivo.

Gostei muito dos personagens do esquadrão, são bem escritos e te dá motivação de conhecer cada um, podendo até ter um romance com alguns deles (infelizmente em Mass Effect 1 não há romances gays).

Outro elemento narrativo que me despertou interesse foi a política do jogo. O protagonista é constantemente exposto à questões sociais complexas como racismo intergalático, genocídio, ganância corporativa, corrupção, etc. Todas as suas escolhas e intervenções (ou omissões) podem ter resultados bons ou ruins mas que não é necessariamente um karma, pois o jogo te deixa impune seja você do bem (Paragon) ou do mal (Renegade).

Sem dúvidas um jogo incrível mas que precisa de um remake urgente.

Sy-Fy Channel original movie meets mediocre seventh-gen shooter. Mass Effect is a game that's largely carried by the strength of its worldbuilding, atmosphere, and cast of characters, though the latter still feels like a step down from the game's spiritual predecessor, Knights of the Old Republic (complete with a carbon copy knockoff of Carth, right down to the same voice actor, only with a far less interesting backstory). Having recently gone back and played a bit of KOTOR before this, it was interesting to see that despite how far BioWare managed to come in four years, there were still many details lacking. For example, even with the wider variety of much-improved animations available during conversations, Mass Effect's character interactions still feel far more robotic. This certainly wasn't helped by the creepy crazy-eyes everyone possesses.

From a gameplay perspective, Mass Effect shrines brightest during its downtimes. Immersing yourself in the Citadel, walking around learning all about these weird aliens and the society they've constructed, vibing to the fantastic soundtrack - these were all things I felt most at home doing. But then you head off on a mission and you're either shooting the same four aliens in cramped corridors over and over or exploring barren, rocky planets (only differentiated by their shade of color) in 2007's most mandated feature: the vehicle section. I can almost appreciate how bold and innovative they were trying to be here, but the exploration completely breaks down when the only thing you have to find are rocks, probes, and the same copy-pasted bunkers that all feature the exact same layout. In-between you're playing a thousand games of Simon to get loot you probably already have five copies of. It's a real bummer.

Also, despite claims I've heard over the years the first Mass Effect was the strongest from a role-playing perspective, even that side of the game comes off more than a little shallow. I didn't feel like my class or its abilities added much to the experience when every problem was so easily solved with the gunplay. The morality system - a holdover from Knight of the Old Republic - feels extraneous in a world that largely wants to play in shades of grey. In a Star Wars setting, it makes perfect sense - good and evil are tangible things thanks to the Force. But here, despite their attempt to rebrand it with different names, you often feel like you're punished for making sensible choices. Renegade can run the gamut of "cold but logical" decisions to "bloodthirsty and psychotic."

A decent game but one that's ultimately a product of its time.

Mass effect certamente é um mundo rico, bem construído e com uma riqueza de detalhes narrativos gigante, porém tudo isso está escondido atrás de um jogo que envelheceu muito mal, com muitas questões que me direcionaram a abandonar o game. Os elementos de jogo em si são confusos, o jogo parece estar numa crise de identidade em ser um rpg ou um shooter, onde os elementos acabam não se mesclando de maneira agradável. Os elementos da interface são confusos, o mapa é terrível, a customização segue um padrão fraco, onde os benefícios em sua grande maioria são bônus numéricos genéricos. Esse certamente é um jogo que se beneficiaria imensamente de um remake total, adicionando elementos mais modernos de gameplay, mudanças de qualidade de vida e polimentos que tornariam uma experiência imaculada. Existem muitas decisões de game design questionáveis, como a forma de movimentação do tanque na exploração espacial e o uso de estamina para correr nas seções de exploração onde não há combate.

I originally beat the first Mass Effect game about a decade ago, and to be honest I don't think I really appreciated it then. My poor laptop wasn't well suited to running the game, and my inexperience with shooters made for a cumbersome experience. Returning to it now, via the Legendary Edition remasters, my greatest impression is how good the world building is. You play as Cmd. Shepard, the first human soldier to join an elite arm of the galactic special services. You find yourself embroiled in a plot to continue a cyclical pattern of galactic genocide taking place over the course of millennia, and you have to make allies of various unique and interesting species to stop the threat. It's a game where your choices really do matter, both in how other characters treat you, but even towards who lives and dies and how the ending plays out. These choices can directly carry over to the sequel titles, giving a level of storytelling that even now hasn't really been surpassed. I really enjoyed the look of the future presented in this game, not just with the technology and alien races, but even things like how human fashion will evolve. It's a well thought out and cohesive vision. There are a variety of different combat methods, but those are somewhat locked depending on what class you choose at the beginning of the game, which is a bit of a shame. I ended up going pure third person shooter, which is rather enjoyable, if not terribly original. Any complaint I have towards this game is pretty minor. It's surprisingly shorter than I recall for one. I did nearly all the side quests available to me, but I think there's only five or six stages in the main campaign. The side quests have interest premises, but all take place in one of two copy pasted enemy bases, which can feel a bit silly. Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable replay, and I'm looking forward to continuing on to the rest of the series, which I never got around to finishing back in the day.

Mass Effect is a series I never really was interested in, which just seems wild to me in retrospect. It's made by Bioware, who made KOTOR, (which are games I love) it's a sci-fi setting with lore and worldbuilding (much like Star Wars), and it has a branching story where your decisions feel like they impact the world around you. It seemed tailor-made for me. However, when the Legendary Edition was announced, I didn't really care for some reason. It wasn't on my list of games I wanted to play. When it got added to PS Plus as a monthly game however, I realised that I really should give it a try, and I'm so glad I did.

The game is far from perfect. It feels underdevelopped in many ways : it's a bit short, simplistic, it feels like it doesn't get all it could out of the companion command system, it doesn't really encourage you to forge relationships with your crew, the pacing can be off (Noveria was the first mission I did, and I do not recomend it, as it take a while to get going).
However, if you do make the effort of interacting with your crew, the conversations are really interesting and deliver the lore in a more digestable way than the codex does. The lore is on point by the way, at least in my amateur opinion. I'm rarely into video-game lore, but sci-fi worlds do usually interest me more than most other genres, and this one didn't disapoint. As for the combat, it's not anything special, but it does the job. It can be quite methodical, but sometimes enemies will rush you, requiring you to adapt quickly and go for headshots to neutralise them before they get into shotgun range, as those tend to quickly kill you.

Mass Effect feels like what it is: a starting point, which deserved to be expanded upon so much. I can't wait to dive into the second game in a few weeks/months time, after I'm done with Spider-Man 2.

Hey gamers


Mass Effect is a good video game. As a narratively-focused game, it's pretty solid; as an open world-ish game, it's alright; but Mass Effect stands firm on its unique world and strong characters.


This is one of the best video game universes I've experienced, or at least an original universe. It feels well thought-out, and I can't imagine how long it must've taken to flesh out the ideas into a cohesive world. You can feel the pressure put onto your character to represent humanity's capabilities, and you feel like you're changing the course of history through your actions.


The dialogue and characters were another highlight of this game. Oddly enough, the best moments of this game for me were speaking to my crew members and squad mates after completing a mission; gaining insights to their culture and backgrounds, gathering their thoughts on how the prior mission went, and hearing them out on their concerns for the future. It was a similar experience as Horizon Forbidden West - The quests were fun, but I loved returning to the base, checking in on my allies, who are all of different backgrounds and have different perspectives on the events unfolding around them, and seeing what they've been up to during my time away.


Sadly, however, I found that this game feels outdated in a few aspects, despite the remaster. The animation is stiff, the progression systems don't feel fully realized, and there are a lot of developmental oversights. My least favourite part of the game would have to be the combat. It feels stagnant, imprecise, and unreliable. I felt a sense of annoyance and dread every time I came across a pack of enemies. If anything, this game made me more appreciative of The Division 2's combat. I could sit here and compare them all day, and I know it's not fair to do so with two games that released over a decade apart, but two particular examples I want to talk about are your weapons and abilities:


What's interesting is that both Mass Effect and The Division 2 allow you to carry 4 firearms on your character. What really bugs me about Mass Effect's weaponry is how unbalanced it feels. I pretty much just stuck with the assault rifle and sniper rifle. I never touched the pistol and only pulled out the shotgun on a handful of occasions because they were so weak in comparison, especially considering the size of the environments that most combat encounters take place. Now, granted, there are more weapon varieties in The Division 2, but I always find a use for each of the 4 weapons that my agent can carry, even my pistol. Plus, in Mass Effect, you have to pause the game to swap weapons using a weapon wheel, which just destroys the flow of combat. In The Division 2, which, again, has the same amount of firearms that your character can carry, one button controls your weapon selection. Yes, one single button (in general, tap for secondary, double tap for sidearm, hold for specialization weapon [grenade launcher, flamethrower, etc.]). This keeps the momentum of combat in motion and improves ease of use if, heaven forbid, you would like to change your gun.


The other thing was the weak abilities. In The Division 2, your abilities, or skills, can change the flow of combat. They can suppress enemies, force them out of cover, draw their fire, prevent flanking, provide meaningful support to you and your squad, and apply significant debuffs/status effects to your enemies. When used at the right time, a well-placed skill could be, and often is, the difference between life and death. However in Mass Effect, your abilities, which, again, are controlled by a selection wheel that pauses the game, are just lame. They either provide you with a momentary buff or net you a free kill. There's no strategy in using them at all. I mean, you can recharge your shield when it's depleted, but that's as strategic as your abilities get. Like, in The Division 2, I can't tell you the amount of times that a turret nestled in an elevated position, a quick scan pulse when I lost track of a few enemies, a stinger hive placed in a chokepoint, or deploying my ballistic shield when overwhelmed saved me from dying, and I never got anything close to that in Mass Effect.


There are also a ton of minor issues that were easy to ignore individually, but, when piled up and prolonged throughout the entire game, they really got on my nerves by the end of my playthrough: terrible autosave system, recycled environments, repetitive and cryptic mission design that forced me to use a quest guide, annoying trophy grind, driving the Mako up the sides of cliffs, tedious interplanetary travel, and the list goes on.


All in all, the foundation of this game is undeniably strong; possibly the strongest of any series-starter I've played, but I'd be lying if I didn't feel a little relieved when it was over. If I ever play Mass Effect again, I'll probably just engage in conversations and streamline the main missions while avoiding the side assignments as much as possible.


I'm looking forward to seeing what the second and third games have to offer, and I hope that they improve on this game's shortcomings.


(I'm sorry this review turned into a novella.)

The remaster of this game looks so good. This is always been my least fav of the trilogy, but it’s growing more and more on me every time I replay it. The only big thing that’s brings it down from the rest of the empty barren planets you explore. There’s nothing really to do on them unfortunately and they’re all busy work, even tho I would’ve like them to just, tweak it and make it better to explore, I understand why they got rid of the feature in the later 2 games. This game has the best rpg elements tho with the skills trees and customization of armor and weapons. It’s really a shame that they dumbed it down in later entries cuz it’s really nice to have in this one. This is a perfect start to a great series.

Gameplay - 7
Story - 9
Graphics - 8
Soundtrack - 10
Level Design - 8
World Building - 10
Character Development - 10
Immersion - 10
Longevity - 9
Innovation - 10

Overall - 9.1