Mass Effect Legendary Edition Review for Xbox

Are you feeling nostalgic? Would you like to go back more than a decade and relive BioWare’s glory days with Mass Effect? As my personal favorite series by BioWare, I am excited to play the series again after a long hiatus since Mass Effect 3 in 2012 (and of course, Andromeda in 2017). Even if you have never even heard of Mass Effect, then this remaster is for you. 

As a returning fanboy, I will quickly say that Mass Effect Legendary Edition is the exact same as the original. I even see the same bugs from the original Mass Effect, like when Kaiden’s weapon disappears in one of the Eden Prime cutscenes. An original Mass Effect with Mass Effect 3 graphics sounds great on paper, but that is not entirely the case here. The visuals are better, but you can still see the animations are stiff like back in 2007. That being said, do not expect Mass Effect 3 gameplay in the original title either. You newcomers get to experience the evolution of this series’ gameplay like the rest of us. That is not a criticism, in fact it makes me feel even more nostalgic since I haven’t played the original title in many years. 

So what is the gameplay? I actually forgot that weapons do not use magazines in the original Mass Effect, but it relies on a cooldown. Mass Effect 2 introduced us to using thermal clips and elemental effects on the fly, and then Mass Effect 3 just expanded that even further. Another stranger aspect is cover. You can hug a wall or a barrier in all of the games, but you might remember that you can only crouch in the open in Mass Effect 1; the other titles motivate you to hug cover and maneuver with caution, like Gears of War did back in the day. I hope this gives someone who has never picked up Mass Effect some idea of what they will experience. 

Dialogue and storytelling are still king in this remaster. You can’t fight the fundamentals, especially when they don’t depend on graphics. The exposition on Normandy in the first 20 minutes of gameplay reminded me just how good the writers could integrate lore, personality, and story progression into dialogue. There was a reason BioWare was famous for so long, and these titles are the living proof. Not only is the writing good, but the voice acting is spot on and full of life. 

If you pay really close attention, you can see that there are some asset improvements that make the scenery better, like on Novaria or around the Citadel. I don’t think anyone called the exterminators, because I do find bugs every now and then. The soundtracks are the same iconic soundtracks. I don’t think I’ve heard anything new while playing around. The swapping between titles is as easy as any other remaster of a franchise. Nothing really stands out to me. 

Overall, if you have never played Mass Effect, I would highly recommend picking up the remaster/legendary edition. That way, you can see why so many people were crazy about the franchise and the characters. People still talk about this series in anticipation of newer titles to follow. If I had to rate this remaster, I would give is a 9 out of 10. The game is the same game that I fell in love with more than a decade ago, but I don’t see any crazy improvements that change how I see the series.  

Note: Players will also have the option to run the game in modes that favor quality or framerate on all consoles depending on their preference.

Check Out the Mass Effect Legendary Edition Gameplay Part #1 Trailer:

Mass Effect Legendary Edition is rated M (Mature) by the ESRB and is available now on PC via EA Desktop, Origin and Steam, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One with optimized backward compatibility on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

For more information, please visit: https://www.ea.com/games/mass-effect/mass-effect-legendary-edition

John Pruitt

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I like to think of myself as the average Joe who grew up alongside video games. I have fun playing strategy games, RPGs, shooters, sandboxes, the whole shebang! Every game provides an experience whether it strikes you as profound, mundane, or someplace in between. I'd like to weigh in my two cents before you spend a single penny.

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