The door to Shepard’s cabin opens with the all too familiar rush of air and sliding metal framework. Liara enters and shares the details of a device that is collecting a record of the galaxy, its inhabitants, and crucial information that could affect the outcome of future life when discovered. A digital collection of known history and its players meant to exist in secret for tens of thousands of years until unearthed by the inheritors of the galaxy. One final detail remains before her work is complete- how should history remember Shepard and their actions?
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The Legendary Edition manages to assemble all of the parts and pieces one could want from the original trilogy (with the exception of a minor DLC for ME1). The additional work put into the first game’s visuals and gentle massaging to mechanics and behavior in gameplay modernize things just enough that it feels comfortable to return to without losing the charm of the original design. Aside from the actual UI design changes that make for a more clean, simple interface but loses a bit of personality in the process.
They are minor issues for the expansiveness of the collection. All DLC has been included, the refinements to the ending of 3 are present from the beginning, and the ease of having everything in one place makes carrying one character’s story from the start to finish across all three titles painless. Even game crashing bugs in the original versions of the PC ports were ironed out in my experience. This is the way to play these games.
————————————————————
Shepard rubs their hands together and draws a deep breath as memories flicker in their mind. The journey to this moment has been fraught with difficult situations that did not always resolve as desired. Shepard had seen civilians, soldiers, and friends succumb to the harsh realities of a cold and indifferent universe. Generational hurt had broken some and damned others into repeating the mistakes of their ancestors. They had made calls that had directly resulted in death, despite it being for the greater good. And now, an opportunity to bury those painful feelings had presented itself.
————————————————————
But is it fair that this is how future players coming to these games are able to experience them on their first encounters? The quirky Mako is less prone to disaster, characters locked behind additional requisite payment are readily available, and the controversies of how ME3 concluded and handled characters (like a notorious photo from a romance-able squadmate) have been paved over for a ride much smoother than any planet surface the Mako would traverse.
Perhaps “fair” is too juvenile. Is it right? Is it right that many of the things that made the original playthroughs, warts and all, have been given a chance to bury past choices as they are able to tread further into the future and leave a few mistakes behind?
Is this how Mass Effect should be remembered?
It only seems right that it should.
If opposing sides of botched first encounters mutually design advanced spacecraft, experimenters and subjects joining forces, creators and rogue creations reach understanding, or an entire galaxy banding together when they need each other most why can’t a series of games as meaningful and influential as Mass Effect be given the chance to make things right when all is said and done?
It doesn’t change the past or remove the memories of those missteps and problems from those that originally dealt with them, but it does make for a better, more approachable endeavor that anyone wishing to revisit the Mass Effect galaxy or come to it for the first time can manage.
————————————————————
It would be simple enough for Shepard to neglect the partnership with Cerberus or even the shortcomings before their N7 service. Focus on the accomplishments and what they stood for but not what the costs had been. It would be so far in the past when these bullet points were deciphered and read, what would it matter? Why get bogged down in the messier parts of what mattered? The people that understood those sacrifices were here now and fighting alongside Shepard and they would want their efforts to be valued. Shepard’s mistakes shouldn’t tarnish what everyone had done.
————————————————————
Symbols are a core part of Mass Effect. Representations of something greater. The most important and obvious being the player character. Shepard is burdened with being an icon of humanity as the first human Spectre, a force to be trusted and followed into certain death, and a unifier capable of finding balance. The Illusive Man knows that Shepard represents stands for more. An essence that inspires and draws others to them to accomplish what others are unable.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is a symbol of Mass Effect. A series of games that left a deep mark on so many people across numerous years and continues to draw more in. It is how people want to remember their time with each game, and how others would want to experience it. That is not to say it is without issues, but the warts that remain are the kind that retain the charm of the series and not as much the frustrations or missteps that caused outcries in the past.
This collection is the essence of Mass Effect being sent into the future for those fortunate enough to discover it to enjoy in the best possible way. It has sanded down some rougher edges but keeps that delight in driving across alien landscapes, interacting with telepathic jellyfish creatures, coordinating biotic powers with startlingly precise technological forces, and exploring a galaxy with an assortment of unforgettable faces and personalities that influence your understanding of your place in this universe as you affect theirs. It is a love letter to fans that have been there from the start and for those that are just beginning. It’s not perfect, but it’s exactly how you would want it to be and you wouldn’t change a thing.
————————————————————
Resolved, Shepard turns to Liara and stops themself before the words can leave their mouth. Who deserves to decide how you will be remembered? You will have departed and only those you have affected remain to pass on your memory. Shepard asks Liara to be the one to decide how history will remember them, knowing that she might embellish a detail or two, but confident that it would be a more true representation of their character. And one that they could be proud to send out into the future to be discovered again.
————————————————————
The Legendary Edition manages to assemble all of the parts and pieces one could want from the original trilogy (with the exception of a minor DLC for ME1). The additional work put into the first game’s visuals and gentle massaging to mechanics and behavior in gameplay modernize things just enough that it feels comfortable to return to without losing the charm of the original design. Aside from the actual UI design changes that make for a more clean, simple interface but loses a bit of personality in the process.
They are minor issues for the expansiveness of the collection. All DLC has been included, the refinements to the ending of 3 are present from the beginning, and the ease of having everything in one place makes carrying one character’s story from the start to finish across all three titles painless. Even game crashing bugs in the original versions of the PC ports were ironed out in my experience. This is the way to play these games.
————————————————————
Shepard rubs their hands together and draws a deep breath as memories flicker in their mind. The journey to this moment has been fraught with difficult situations that did not always resolve as desired. Shepard had seen civilians, soldiers, and friends succumb to the harsh realities of a cold and indifferent universe. Generational hurt had broken some and damned others into repeating the mistakes of their ancestors. They had made calls that had directly resulted in death, despite it being for the greater good. And now, an opportunity to bury those painful feelings had presented itself.
————————————————————
But is it fair that this is how future players coming to these games are able to experience them on their first encounters? The quirky Mako is less prone to disaster, characters locked behind additional requisite payment are readily available, and the controversies of how ME3 concluded and handled characters (like a notorious photo from a romance-able squadmate) have been paved over for a ride much smoother than any planet surface the Mako would traverse.
Perhaps “fair” is too juvenile. Is it right? Is it right that many of the things that made the original playthroughs, warts and all, have been given a chance to bury past choices as they are able to tread further into the future and leave a few mistakes behind?
Is this how Mass Effect should be remembered?
It only seems right that it should.
If opposing sides of botched first encounters mutually design advanced spacecraft, experimenters and subjects joining forces, creators and rogue creations reach understanding, or an entire galaxy banding together when they need each other most why can’t a series of games as meaningful and influential as Mass Effect be given the chance to make things right when all is said and done?
It doesn’t change the past or remove the memories of those missteps and problems from those that originally dealt with them, but it does make for a better, more approachable endeavor that anyone wishing to revisit the Mass Effect galaxy or come to it for the first time can manage.
————————————————————
It would be simple enough for Shepard to neglect the partnership with Cerberus or even the shortcomings before their N7 service. Focus on the accomplishments and what they stood for but not what the costs had been. It would be so far in the past when these bullet points were deciphered and read, what would it matter? Why get bogged down in the messier parts of what mattered? The people that understood those sacrifices were here now and fighting alongside Shepard and they would want their efforts to be valued. Shepard’s mistakes shouldn’t tarnish what everyone had done.
————————————————————
Symbols are a core part of Mass Effect. Representations of something greater. The most important and obvious being the player character. Shepard is burdened with being an icon of humanity as the first human Spectre, a force to be trusted and followed into certain death, and a unifier capable of finding balance. The Illusive Man knows that Shepard represents stands for more. An essence that inspires and draws others to them to accomplish what others are unable.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is a symbol of Mass Effect. A series of games that left a deep mark on so many people across numerous years and continues to draw more in. It is how people want to remember their time with each game, and how others would want to experience it. That is not to say it is without issues, but the warts that remain are the kind that retain the charm of the series and not as much the frustrations or missteps that caused outcries in the past.
This collection is the essence of Mass Effect being sent into the future for those fortunate enough to discover it to enjoy in the best possible way. It has sanded down some rougher edges but keeps that delight in driving across alien landscapes, interacting with telepathic jellyfish creatures, coordinating biotic powers with startlingly precise technological forces, and exploring a galaxy with an assortment of unforgettable faces and personalities that influence your understanding of your place in this universe as you affect theirs. It is a love letter to fans that have been there from the start and for those that are just beginning. It’s not perfect, but it’s exactly how you would want it to be and you wouldn’t change a thing.
————————————————————
Resolved, Shepard turns to Liara and stops themself before the words can leave their mouth. Who deserves to decide how you will be remembered? You will have departed and only those you have affected remain to pass on your memory. Shepard asks Liara to be the one to decide how history will remember them, knowing that she might embellish a detail or two, but confident that it would be a more true representation of their character. And one that they could be proud to send out into the future to be discovered again.