so fucking good, saw people saying give this a skip before Legendary Edition because it was so dated, so luckily the remaster is fantastic because the series warrants completion from front to back. some aspects like the driving is a little iffy

it feels more like a building block of whats to come, like the one thing Mass Effect does better than any game is have decisions have ramifications later, but the actual story is pretty simple and takes second stage compared to the strength of its characters and worldbuilding. mm the characters goddamn.

best written character is Ashley Williams, solely because on the surface she's just a strong tuff woman who can handle herself on the battlefield, but she's got weird self-centred conservative viewpoints. ive seen her called 'space racist' because she's pretty upfront about her discomfort around alien races, especially in regards to Liara, but at the same time, if you pick her for the salarian Assault on Virmire she's pretty clearly able to set that personal grudge aside for the mission. i totally let ashley die.