Avery K. Tingle, The Gamer Author

It happened! EA and BioWare dropped the trailer and release date for Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. Expect improved graphics and major improvements across all three titles, including their DLC, we get some major improvements to the overall experience. Here’s what we know, and what I’m hoping for as we start the countdown to our return to our beloved Normandy;

Simplified Inventory Management and No Weapon Restriction In Mass Effect 1.

Mass Effect 1’s inventory management system worked for its time, but wouldn’t age well. Expect a new, streamlined way to manage the many weapons and armor you’ll accrue throughout your ventures. I’d prefer they ditch the armor management system of part one and run with two and three’s style. You didn’t worry about carrying around stuff you’d never use, and the sliding system made things quick and easy.

Also gone are Mass Effect 1’s weapon restrictions. I played a soldier who upgraded to vanguard for the last two games, and it always bugged me that I couldn’t use a sniper rifle in part one. You know, for the times you want to sit back, relax, and headshot from extensive range. In the Legendary edition, you can’t train in these weapons, but you can still use them.

There will be many headshots.

Improved Combat, Especially in Mass Effect 1

Anyone else remember how… dumb the AI could be in Mass Effect 1? Even on the harder difficulty settings, it wasn’t so much about strategy as it was about getting overwhelmed. Hordes of geth just decimating your shields. Expect tighter aiming, better help from your squadmates and more thinking from the AI. Which is better. I still have nightmares about Pinnacle Station.

Unified Minigames

Remember the Tower of Hanoi puzzle in Mass Effect 1? Did anyone else know it was a ring-like puzzle on the PC? Cause I didn’t. The Mini-games across all three titles will now be the same. I’m a little mixed on this. I want to see how PC gamers had it but I’m not looking forward to feeling stupid again on some of these puzzles.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition drops for PC, Xbox One, and PS4 with backwards compatibility on May 14th, 2021. I will probably be unreachable for a few weeks after that.

Thanks for reading.

Mass Effect is a registered trademark of Electronic Arts.

Avery K. Tingle is a gamer, scifi and fantasy author living in the Pacific Northwest. His current anthology, Era of the Scourge: Embers is currently on sale. Find him on social media here.