We will not insult you by presenting the original trilogy in detail, as its fame is important. From 2007 to 2012, this space soap opera will indeed have delighted many players, Bioware being still a large studio at the time. Among the qualities that have contributed to the franchise's success are the right balance between action and RPG, choices that matter and that reverberate from one episode to another, an iconic hero but that the player is free to replace with the avatar of his choice, diverse and varied extra-terrestrial races, endearing characters, and an atmosphere of space opera ultimately not so common in video games. Naturally, all of these strengths are still valid today and this Legendary Edition has the intelligence not to seek to replace what is already working. On the other hand, this compilation greatly facilitates access to the saga since it brings together the three games under a single launcher. It is possible to launch the episode of your choice directly, but we advise everyone to start (or start over) with the first one.
Not only was the overall experience unified between the different streams, but more importantly, the first stream was the one that saw the biggest and most noticeable/visible changes. The physics of the Mako vehicle, for example, have been reworked in order to be less floating than before. Weapons have been rebalanced and aiming and locking systems improved. The first Mass Effect remains relatively rigid at times, but at least we can't accuse it of distorting the original work. Other balance changes have been applied, such as the removal of aiming penalties based on hero class. Class-based weapon restrictions have also been lifted, which we think is a pretty good thing. In addition, the Legendary Edition offers a new system of levels, which now range from 1 to 30 (instead of 1 to 60), which fortunately does not change the progression scheme in terms of points. experience and talent. Purists can anyway select the old system in the options if they wish.
MASS EFFECT LENS FLARE EDITION
Beyond these gameplay considerations, it is obviously the graphic changes that take the lion's share of this remaster. Even the pre-rendered cinematic scenes have undergone an upgrade, via an increase in resolution and the addition of additional special effects. So yes, these are mostly limited to "lens flare" type luminous halos, as we could already see a little too systematically on the promotional screenshots published in recent months. With this mania the developers tend the stick a little to be beaten but, on closer inspection, the series has always overused this particular effect. This aesthetic choice therefore has at least the merit of consistency, if not that of sobriety. And it would be a bad case to Bioware to remain stuck on this point of detail, because the graphic improvements are numerous, real and visible. Especially for the first episode and its fourteen years of age!
The minimum required for a remaster in 2021 is indeed there: 4K resolution and framerate of 60 frames per second (or more on PC). But that's not all, far from it. If the three components still run under the Unreal Engine 3, just like the original games, many graphic elements have been reworked. Some textures have been completely redone, and all have benefited from an increase in resolution. The modeling of almost all the characters has also been revised, especially at the level of the face, while the clothes now display much more detail. As for the levels, some have been redone or enriched with decorative elements in order to appear less empty. The character creation tool, now common to all three components, has also been enriched with new options. The game even has a nice photo mode, equipped with all the options that go well (depth of field, focal length, aperture, filters, possibility of hiding characters or vehicles, etc.). Finally, the technical assessment can also be proud of significantly shortened loading times, especially on PCs and new generation consoles (thank you SSDs!).
THEY HAVE COME, THEY ARE (ALMOST) ALL THERE
All the graphic improvements of this legendary edition are welcome and relevant (apart from one or two lens flares, you will have understood it), and only those who confuse remake and remaster will have the audacity to find the games ugly. But even if the graphics hadn't changed an inch, this compilation would still be worth it for many players, because it doesn't just bring together the three major parts of the saga. It also embarks for the occasion almost all of the downloadable content that has been offered for sale during the six or seven years of operation of the franchise. Knowing that the latter is published by Electronic Arts, you can imagine that this represents a hell of a lot of additional content! And indeed, we are entitled here to about forty DLC which, in addition, have the good taste to be all directly integrated into the component for which they are intended. The player does not have to navigate through menus to activate this or that content and can directly experience the adventure as a whole. These DLCs contain in particular about fifteen scripted extensions, the rest being essentially made up of weapon and armor packs. You can therefore count on a hundred hours of play in total, or even a hundred and fifty if you decide to turn over each pebble. Faced with this more than respectable lifespan, it would be inappropriate to pester too much about the absence of two specific sections, even if it remains regrettable. Missing are the DLC "Pinnacle Station", excluded for technical reasons (original code corrupted), and the multiplayer mode of Mass Effect 3, the studio having preferred to focus on the whole solo aspect. Finally, the most annoying remains the impossibility (temporary while waiting for a patch?) to marry English voices and French subtitles, the game imposing an "all English" or "all French" from the installation. Not enough to whip a Shepard!
