In January 2021, Electronic Arts still hadn’t said when Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, the remastered collection of BioWare’s original trilogy, would reach stores. The official promise was vague: northern hemisphere spring. Then two online stores in Asia, Shopitree in Singapore and GSShop in Indonesia, listed the release for March 12, 2021. Eurogamer, which reported the leak, said it had established that the date was correct at that moment. Without confirmation from EA, though, the information was treated as a rumor.
What stands out about this collection is the promised care. When it announced the Legendary Edition, on November 7, 2020, N7 Day, the day BioWare dedicates to the series, the studio spoke of updated textures, shaders, models, effects and technical features, 4K Ultra HD visuals and all the single-player extra content included. BioWare’s then-head, Casey Hudson, summed up the idea: “Our goal was not to remake or reimagine the original games, but to modernize the experience so that fans and new players can experience the original work at its best.”
The trilogy follows Commander Shepard, an elite soldier who must unite the galaxy against the Reapers, very advanced synthetic-organic machines. Shepard is fully customizable, and the choices made in one game carry over to the next.
What came next
The stores’ date didn’t pan out. Mass Effect Legendary Edition came out on May 14, 2021 for PS4, Xbox One and PC, with even bigger upgrades to the first game, from 2007: combat closer to the sequels, the Mako vehicle with new physics and less time in the famous elevators that hid loading. A nice touch: the default Commander Shepard model from Mass Effect 3 became available across the whole trilogy. Only one pack was left out, Pinnacle Station, because its source code was corrupted. Critics received the collection very well.
Where to buy
Source: Eurogamer.
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