Review: Mass Effect Legendary Edition
A defining trilogy, finally in one launcher
There haven't really been many series that try to do what Mass Effect does. Other games have certainly carried choices across individual entries or even multiple games, but Mass Effect threads the various decisions your Commander makes throughout three full games and their myriad DLC.
It stands out as a major piece of what the PS3-360 generation was, and what hasn't been attempted since, except by other BioWare games like the Dragon Age series--and even then, those games swap their protagonists, rather than carry a single one through. It isn't just a hero, but a Commander Shepard, your Commander Shepard.
The result is a series with divisive takes and differing preferences, ranging from which romance and squadmate is the ultimate best to which choices are the right ones to make. I'm still taken aback when people say they killed Wrex on Virmire, or Mordin on Tuchanka, or escaped the Collector's Base without a perfect run. For some folks, these are their canon playthroughs, preserved in amber as the way they experienced this trilogy for the first time.
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If we're setting off to new horizons and, eventually, a new Mass Effect, then Mass Effect Legendary Edition serves as a solid collection of this trilogy. This is everything these three games were, and still are to many fans, preserved for time. Just like the capsule Liara makes during Mass Effect 3, this is what can hopefully stand the test of time and carry what this trilogy is--its characters, its worlds, and its stories--forward for ages to come.
Score: 9/10
