Playing this on the legendary version, with some mods installed, not enough to change up too much, just minor tweaks and re-additions.

It's been a bit since I sat down and replayed the Mass Effect trilogy, it used to be a yearly tradition, and I don't know why I pulled back. I think when they announced that there was going to be more of this shit, I lost interest because being a Mass Effect fan is like being hit with a metal pipe. Now, this shit was a middle-high school obsession of mine. In middle school, I couldn't play it, but I'd watch all these videos and playthroughs of it, and in high school I finally sat down and played them, and I got hooked. These games hit me like crack in the 80's. Mass Effect is a 2007 game that handles like a 2004 game, it plays rough, yet despite any and all issues: this game is fucking incredible. This game is rife with piss poor gameplay, audio issues, and RPG jank, but goddamn it's world building is so fucking incredible, it's all worth it.

Mass Effect's main story is simple, bad guy does a bad thing, you assemble your ragtag team, and try to stop him. But it's the layers of it that make it work. The galaxy you inhabit, the characters and races you meet, the motivations of characters, and the unravelling of the overall plot make Mass Effect something special. Granted, only 4 of your 6 members have a big impact on story beats (ironically, the two outliers end up being my favorite characters in the series, and in period lmfao) but everyone has their motivations, their beliefs, and give background to the groups they represent. I like the cast in this a lot, even Ashley who gets shit on a lot by people who don't pay attention. Wrex is my favorite in this game, the things you learn about the Krogan from him is all interesting, his pessimistic personality towards his race makes him the deepest of the cast in my humble opinion. The game also has some really cool side characters, with some notable VAs sprinkled in, and Seth Green (I do really like Joker tho so good for you, Scotty). The game has some real nice world building too, in codexes, missions, and such. Even something innocuous can give you a piece of worldbuilding that's pretty neat. Granted, a lot of it ends up being a wall of text, but it's neat regardless.

Well, the gameplay sucks. Moving on.

Ok, I guess I should say more.

Mass Effect 1's level design is weak as hell, the gameplay and shooting is clunky as fuck, inventory problems end up being an annoyance, powers feel bland and boring, and the mako. Granted the LE version tweaks gameplay a bit, and it's less miserable, but it's still outdated and clunky. The way 1 plays makes me somewhat appreciate the future streamlining, cuz it makes playing feel more tolerable. Levels will have regular combat and mako sections, and the combat parts feel strung together quickly, and the mako sections tend to be long straight lines. Speaking of the Mako, it handles like shit, and while it handles somewhat better in LE, the lack of gravity defiance can make open world sections feel worse. Oh yeah, there's "open worlds" as in, empty fucking planets devoid of anything fun. The random worlds are poop.

LE makes some graphical changes I either don't mind or don't like. The eden prime mission lost a lot of it's life, and some of the lighting in areas makes characters look like melted wax. But, for a remaster of a 2007 game, it looks fine. In terms of the soundtrack, I dig it. There's a lot of fun energetic electronic pieces, and some fantastic immersive ambient tracks. Issa goodun.

It's nice to go back to this game, this trilogy means so much to me, and I hope to GOD this company goes under before that new one even has a proper gameplay trailer.

Playing this on the legendary version, with some mods installed, not enough to change up too much, just minor tweaks and re-additions.

It's been a bit since I sat down and replayed the Mass Effect trilogy, it used to be a yearly tradition, and I don't know why I pulled back. I think when they announced that there was going to be more of this shit, I lost interest because being a Mass Effect fan is like being hit with a metal pipe. Now, this shit was a middle-high school obsession of mine. In middle school, I couldn't play it, but I'd watch all these videos and playthroughs of it, and in high school I finally sat down and played them, and I got hooked. These games hit me like crack in the 80's. Mass Effect is a 2007 game that handles like a 2004 game, it plays rough, yet despite any and all issues: this game is fucking incredible. This game is rife with piss poor gameplay, audio issues, and RPG jank, but goddamn it's world building is so fucking incredible, it's all worth it.

Mass Effect's main story is simple, bad guy does a bad thing, you assemble your ragtag team, and try to stop him. But it's the layers of it that make it work. The galaxy you inhabit, the characters and races you meet, the motivations of characters, and the unravelling of the overall plot make Mass Effect something special. Granted, only 4 of your 6 members have a big impact on story beats (ironically, the two outliers end up being my favorite characters in the series, and in period lmfao) but everyone has their motivations, their beliefs, and give background to the groups they represent. I like the cast in this a lot, even Ashley who gets shit on a lot by people who don't pay attention. Wrex is my favorite in this game, the things you learn about the Krogan from him is all interesting, his pessimistic personality towards his race makes him the deepest of the cast in my humble opinion. The game also has some really cool side characters, with some notable VAs sprinkled in, and Seth Green (I do really like Joker tho so good for you, Scotty). The game has some real nice world building too, in codexes, missions, and such. Even something innocuous can give you a piece of worldbuilding that's pretty neat. Granted, a lot of it ends up being a wall of text, but it's neat regardless.

Well, the gameplay sucks. Moving on.

Ok, I guess I should say more.

Mass Effect 1's level design is weak as hell, the gameplay and shooting is clunky as fuck, inventory problems end up being an annoyance, powers feel bland and boring, and the mako. Granted the LE version tweaks gameplay a bit, and it's less miserable, but it's still outdated and clunky. The way 1 plays makes me somewhat appreciate the future streamlining, cuz it makes playing feel more tolerable. Levels will have regular combat and mako sections, and the combat parts feel strung together quickly, and the mako sections tend to be long straight lines. Speaking of the Mako, it handles like shit, and while it handles somewhat better in LE, the lack of gravity defiance can make open world sections feel worse. Oh yeah, there's "open worlds" as in, empty fucking planets devoid of anything fun. The random worlds are poop.

LE makes some graphical changes I either don't mind or don't like. The eden prime mission lost a lot of it's life, and some of the lighting in areas makes characters look like melted wax. But, for a remaster of a 2007 game, it looks fine. In terms of the soundtrack, I dig it. There's a lot of fun energetic electronic pieces, and some fantastic immersive ambient tracks. Issa goodun.

It's nice to go back to this game, this trilogy means so much to me, and I hope to GOD this company goes under before that new one even has a proper gameplay trailer.