Our Mass Effect Legendary Edition review

Even with the staid rhythms typical of Gameplay Cafe's editorial philosophy, we want it too have our say on the remaster of the historic trilogy Bioware. First of all, we will take stock of the reception that the national and international press has reserved for the complete odyssey of Commander Shepard.

Secondly, we will add our observations aimed at underlining what we really appreciated, what we would have liked differently and, above all, what we have left after spending dozens of hours in the company of stories already known but not surprisingly.



Our Mass Effect Legendary Edition review
Mass Effect Legendary Edition collects all main episodes and related DLCs

The verdict of the press

There is unanimous consensus that this remaster is the best thing that the Bioware studio has done in the last 10 years. However, given the lack of competition, Mass Effect Andromeda e Anthem especially, this statement alone does not do justice to what is in every respect an excellent remaster of a sublime and largely well aged material. As also pointed out by local sites such as Multiplayer and Everyeye, the work of cleaning and technical updating has largely benefited from both graphics and gameplay fluidity, removing the virtual veil of dust that would inevitably have covered games over a decade old.

To enjoy this remodeling was above all the first chapter, now considerably more enjoyable in gun play and in combat in general. More incremental are the improvements made by the remaster to chapters 2 and 3, which already at the time of the release had revised many of the gleanings of their progenitor. 

Our Mass Effect Legendary Edition review
The benefits of the remaster understandably improved the first Mass Effect more than its illustrious successors

The Legendary Edition wisely chooses not to retouch the original content anywhere in terms of story, lore and characters. As pointed out in many reviews, including Game Informer and Gamespot, the excellent web of choices and consequences it is still today the best asset of the trilogy. By managing to intertwine the three games into a single great story, the role-playing factor engages the player thanks to the articulation and credibility of the universe he proposes.



Decide the fate of the Queen of the Rachnirather than taking a stand on the issue of genophagia, are morally ambiguous choices that force the player to infuse some of their personality into Commander Shepard. Furthermore, as mentioned on many other occasions, good graphics always age badly, good writing does not.

Our Mass Effect Legendary Edition review
The Illusive Man in Mass Effect 2

Our opinion

Pleasant and exciting for fans of the trilogy, a must for everyone else. This is the conclusion that all the reviewers of the Legendary Edition come to. While fully subscribing to it, our experience with Mass Effect leaves us above all very discrepant sensations with the individual pieces of the trilogy.

Wanting to borrow a metaphor from the plant world, Mass Effect 1 is a bud that has yet to hatch and has not yet shown its colors, Mass Effect 2 is the flower just before full bloom, Mass Effect 3 is the mature flower, bright in color but without potential to undergo a further evolution that is not a slow withering.

Our Mass Effect Legendary Edition review
Mass Effect 3

What struck us more than anything else was undoubtedly the incredible qualitative leap between the first and second chapter. The latter does not simply improve the ideas of his predecessor, but builds castles where only the first bricks were laid. Think of the richness of lore: ME2 provides differentiations for every alien species in the universe, for example Yardat e Justicar for the Poem. secondary missions, true sore point of the progenitor, become overwhelming tales full of crucial choices for the unfolding of the main events. Even the accumulation of mineral resources by scanning the planets, which allows you to develop upgrades of the characters and the new ship N, indirectly affects the outcome of the facts.



In recent memory, only the salto tra Witcher 2 e Witcher 3 is comparable to what Bioware achieved in the space of only 3 years of development, between 2007 and 2010. Geralt's third adventure, even with the necessary distinctions, is also one of the few action-RPG able to rival ME2 in terms of writing quality and richness of the narrative universe created.

USEFUL INFO

We played the Legendary Edition of Mass Effect with code purchased on the Playstation Store

Duration
  • It took us over 60 hours of gameplay to complete the main missions of the trilogy and most of Shepard's travel companions' loyalty missions

The Legendary Edition is a macro-game that can be played with great pleasure even now. Given how powerfully its strengths are able to shine in 2021, it is natural to ask two questions: 1) how Bioware was able to sell off these qualities to acquire only a pinch of dynamics in the unfortunate Andromeda; 2) why we have not seen role-playing games equally inclined to make depth of gameplay and depth of narration coexist within themselves. What more would we want from Mass Effect? Or, what else could this remaster offer and what else could a new episode bring? The answer to the first question is, quite simply, "not very much". We can hope that the work done on this re-edition was a preparatory exercise for Bioware to refresh the memory on what should be the playful pillars with which to re-establish the new course.

The answer to the second question is more complex and brings up the current perception of large role AAAs. The intuition behind the unfortunate Anthem, that is to combine the longevity of a GAAS multiplayer with the care of a single-player RPG, it immediately seemed a huge and sensible ambition. Rethinking this aspiration in the context of a flourishing universe of ideas and suggestions like that of Mass Effect would be an interesting challenge, for which we would all be ready to cheer.



Our Mass Effect Legendary Edition review
What could be a worthy future for Mass Effect?
Review by gmg215
Graphics

Graphics yield much lower than that of the blockbusters released towards the end of the PS4 / Xbox One generation, which however does not compromise a gaming experience worthy of being called modern even from a purely technical point of view

80
SOUNDTRACK AND DOUBLE ROOM

The soundtrack superbly accompanies the disruptive epicness of the trilogy's most exciting traits. The dubbing in Italian, while not perfect, manages to convey the brilliance of the stories and dialogues

90">90
GAMEPLAY

Never has any game found such a precise compromise as that of ME2 and ME3. Tactical pause and variety of ranged attacks manage to offer dynamic and fun gameplay, although not very fluid. The rhythm and alternation of action, dialogue and exploration still manage to keep the player glued to his seat.

88
Total Rating scale
90">90
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