Mass Effect Legendary Edition

Another annoyance. Ran into it hard on Casbin in the first game. The new Mako physics make it a lot harder to scale rock faces, and not every mountain has a nice textured pathway to climb. Despite the boost the tires seem to have a lot less traction, and as a result you are sliding constantly if the angle of the rock face is much greater than 45 degrees. You used to be able to slowly climb up on steep faces like this by going at an angle, but now you just slide down in the same way as if you were trying to go straight up.

Also, can you not unlock the weapon talents for other classes in this version? They would unlock by getting a certain number of kills with those weapons in the original, but I don't see how you could this time around. Must be one of those fantastic side effects of letting every class effectively use every weapon now...
 
I'm only a few hours into the game but so far I'm really liking it. Yeah it doesn't look brand new but we knew that going in. It does look really good tho considering it's a game from 2007.

I haven't ran into any bugs yet but again I'm just a couple hours in.

Overall I'm really liking it and it seems to be $60 well spent.
 
Stupid question, but will this work with original Xbox one? Not the 4k capable one, but the original launch version?
 
Nimisys said:
Stupid question, but will this work with original Xbox one? Not the 4k capable one, but the original launch version?
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Yes.

On another note, the new patch that supposedly fixed the launch menu and cutscenes made them both much worse on the Series X version.
 
I've been thinking about doing another playthrough of the trilogy but after reading up on the remake I think I'm going to stick with the original versions. I always preferred the first game because it was more of rpgish and it sounds like they changed most of what I liked about it and turned into more of a shooter like the others, based on some comments it even sounds like they screwed up the classes and made them basically obsolete.

The updated graphics would be nice and I appreciate that they've made some efforts to accommodate mods but gameplay is king and for my tastes it sounds like they made all the wrong changes. I realize that I'm almost certainly in the minority on this but I think I'll be skipping this remake, at least they aren't forcing people to update to this version like Mafia 3 remake that also somehow managed to be objectively worse than the original.
 
Ebernanut said:
I've been thinking about doing another playthrough of the trilogy but after reading up on the remake I think I'm going to stick with the original versions. I always preferred the first game because it was more of rpgish and it sounds like they changed most of what I liked about it and turned into more of a shooter like the others, based on some comments it even sounds like they screwed up the classes and made them basically obsolete.

The updated graphics would be nice and I appreciate that they've made some efforts to accommodate mods but gameplay is king and for my tastes it sounds like they made all the wrong changes. I realize that I'm almost certainly in the minority on this but I think I'll be skipping this remake, at least they aren't forcing people to update to this version like Mafia 3 remake that also somehow managed to be objectively worse than the original.
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It's still very much a RPG, they just made the gameplay feel a lot better. They didn't remove anything from the original, all the systems are still there and it still feels like ME1. I'd argue every gameplay change they've made has been in service of improving the game. Even with maxed out skills the gunplay in the original felt like garbage. The changes don't make it feel as good as later games, but it does make the act of playing a lot more fun and tolerable.
 
Ebernanut said:
I've been thinking about doing another playthrough of the trilogy but after reading up on the remake I think I'm going to stick with the original versions. I always preferred the first game because it was more of rpgish and it sounds like they changed most of what I liked about it and turned into more of a shooter like the others, based on some comments it even sounds like they screwed up the classes and made them basically obsolete.

The updated graphics would be nice and I appreciate that they've made some efforts to accommodate mods but gameplay is king and for my tastes it sounds like they made all the wrong changes. I realize that I'm almost certainly in the minority on this but I think I'll be skipping this remake, at least they aren't forcing people to update to this version like Mafia 3 remake that also somehow managed to be objectively worse than the original.
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All the story are the same, They only change the combat mechanics and yes you can equip and use any weapon but you don't get the skills for those weapons and if you want to stay within the character class just don't use it. If you have the hardware to run it at max, ME1 never look this glorious even with mods. They also added a new level progression so you get twice the skill points per level so you don't need to replay the game a second time to reach max skills. I'm in for the story so I'm just playing through ME1 at casual to relive the experience as I have not replayed ME1 since launch due to the poor combat mechanics.
 
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Wiz33 said:
All the story are the same, They only change the combat mechanics and yes you can equip and use any weapon but you don't get the skills for those weapons and if you want to stay within the character class just don't use it. If you have the hardware to run it at max, ME1 never look this glorious even with mods. They also added a new level progression so you get twice the skill points per level so you don't need to replay the game a second time to reach max skills. I'm in for the story so I'm just playing through ME1 at casual to relive the experience as I have not replayed ME1 since launch due to the poor combat mechanics.
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It's actually impossible to reach level 30 in one playthrough using "Legendary" leveling mode. You can definitely reach level 60 in "Classic" mode now, though. The issue is that you're missing out on the XP boosts from the intermediary levels in Legendary mode. You can feel the level progression more in Legendary mode, but you won't be able to reach max level in one playthrough using it.
 
Armenius said:
It's actually impossible to reach level 30 in one playthrough using "Legendary" leveling mode. You can definitely reach level 60 in "Classic" mode now, though. The issue is that you're missing out on the XP boosts from the intermediary levels in Legendary mode. You can feel the level progression more in Legendary mode, but you won't be able to reach max level in one playthrough using it.
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Actually, you can and you can't. There's a few threads on the EA forum where ppl has gotten to lvl 29 but there is a bug that won't let them get to lvl 30 although they are 10K XP over.
 
Wiz33 said:
Actually, you can and you can't. There's a few threads on the EA forum where ppl has gotten to lvl 29 but there is a bug that won't let them get to lvl 30 although they are 10K XP over.
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Seen that, as well. Seems there is a workaround by switching to Classic leveling. I would just suggest just using Classic leveling, period.
 
Ebernanut said:
I've been thinking about doing another playthrough of the trilogy but after reading up on the remake I think I'm going to stick with the original versions. I always preferred the first game because it was more of rpgish and it sounds like they changed most of what I liked about it and turned into more of a shooter like the others, based on some comments it even sounds like they screwed up the classes and made them basically obsolete.

The updated graphics would be nice and I appreciate that they've made some efforts to accommodate mods but gameplay is king and for my tastes it sounds like they made all the wrong changes. I realize that I'm almost certainly in the minority on this but I think I'll be skipping this remake, at least they aren't forcing people to update to this version like Mafia 3 remake that also somehow managed to be objectively worse than the original.
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They didn't. The game still feels much like it did. The game has much better visuals that exceed anything the modding community did. It also has some nice quality of life improvements which can't be understated. The improvements to combat are nice, but hardly make the game feel like ME2 or ME3.
 
Armenius said:
Seen that, as well. Seems there is a workaround by switching to Classic leveling. I would just suggest just using Classic leveling, period.
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I'm enjoying Legendary leveling. It makes each level feel a bit more special. That bug is dumb and annoying, but personally I don't care if I reach level 30. The level bonuses going into ME2 are decent, but I'm not terribly concerned about getting the top of the scale.

They do really need to get on fixing that bug though, what a weird little thing to not address pre-launch.
 
Derangel said:
I'm enjoying Legendary leveling. It makes each level feel a bit more special. That bug is dumb and annoying, but personally I don't care if I reach level 30. The level bonuses going into ME2 are decent, but I'm not terribly concerned about getting the top of the scale.

They do really need to get on fixing that bug though, what a weird little thing to not address pre-launch.
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I think you get the full starting bonuses in ME2 if you're above level 50/25 on your imported character now, so it doesn't really make a difference in the grand scheme of things. You're just missing out on the last 2 talent points if you don't get to level 30.
 
Armenius said:
I think you get the full starting bonuses in ME2 if you're above level 50/25 on your imported character now, so it doesn't really make a difference in the grand scheme of things. You're just missing out on the last 2 talent points if you don't get to level 30.
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Without the fix for it, using the new save editor might help.
 
i decided to just power through me1 so i have my own save to import into me2, and overall i think it's a very good remaster. my biggest beef by far is the stuttering on the planetside Mako side missions if your framerate is above 60 (the higher the framerate the worse the stuttering.) for example if i just use vsync to cap the frames (at 165) the stuttering is damn near unbearable on some planets.

capping to 60 fixes most of it although there are still framepacing problems that can be seen with a good frame pacing graph like RivaTuner has. what's strange is that some of the side mission planets are fine or 99% fine. asteroid x57 for example is totally fine. wonder if it's a specific shader that screws with things with fps > 60. hope they can patch it some day... i'm sure i'll be done with me1 (probably for the last time) by the time they do though.
 
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I appreciate the input. I'm sure I'll pick it up and check it out at some point but I really don't think I'll make it very far into the remake of the first game which is my favorite and the one most in need of a graphics update.

I might like the remakes for the second and third game but it also sounds like they've had less changes, if nothing else I guess it's worth something to get the dlc for those games that I missed due to that bioware points nonsense.
 
Armenius said:
Seen that, as well. Seems there is a workaround by switching to Classic leveling. I would just suggest just using Classic leveling, period.
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So as someone who never gave ME1 the time day of day back in 2007 (I bought it for 360 and barely touched it)....

I should start my game with it set to Classic leveling instead of Legendary??

Thanks man
 
Colonel Sanders said:
i decided to just power through me1 so i have my own save to import into me2, and overall i think it's a very good remaster. my biggest beef by far is the stuttering on the planetside Mako side missions if your framerate is above 60 (the higher the framerate the worse the stuttering.) for example if i just use vsync to cap the frames (at 165) the stuttering is damn near unbearable on some planets.

capping to 60 fixes most of it although there are still framepacing problems that can be seen with a good frame pacing graph like RivaTuner has. what's strange is that some of the side mission planets are fine or 99% fine. asteroid x57 for example is totally fine. wonder if it's a specific shader that screws with things with fps > 60. hope they can patch it some day... i'm sure i'll be done with me1 (probably for the last time) by the time they do though.
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The stuttering doesn't surprise me. UE3 always seems have issues when going above 60. There are maybe a handful of UE3 games that work flawlessly at high frame rates.
 
Derangel said:
The stuttering doesn't surprise me. UE3 always seems have issues when going above 60. There are maybe a handful of UE3 games that work flawlessly at high frame rates.
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really seems to depend on the developer. bioshock infinite is silky smooth at 165 fps for example, while arkham knight was and is a stutter fest. also i think the original version of ME1 runs well at any FPS, but i don't remember if i played it myself on a high refresh rate monitor the last time i played it
 
So I finished ME 1 as an Engineer specialized as a Medic and overall its still an awesome game, I felt that it was too easy on normal difficulty and I prefer the classic Mako controls with the classic leveling I made it to around level 58. I’ll be play it again with a different class after I finish the current run as Engineer. I elected to kill the council and since starting ME2 and just finishing the Horizon mission where I ran into Ashley, since I killed Kaidan Alenko and I had forgotten how much of a pain in the ass she was. I literally chose the conversation option asking her to join me and she literally walked away because of Cerberus and with Garrus currently on my team literally standing next to my character.

I’ll probably elect to kill her on my next ME 1 play through.
 
polydiol said:
I literally chose the conversation option asking her to join me and she literally walked away because of Cerberus and with Garrus currently on my team literally standing next to my character.

I’ll probably elect to kill her on my next ME 1 play through.
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kaidan does the same thing if you saved him instead.
 
polydiol said:
So I finished ME 1 as an Engineer specialized as a Medic and overall its still an awesome game, I felt that it was too easy on normal difficulty and I prefer the classic Mako controls with the classic leveling I made it to around level 58. I’ll be play it again with a different class after I finish the current run as Engineer. I elected to kill the council and since starting ME2 and just finishing the Horizon mission where I ran into Ashley, since I killed Kaidan Alenko and I had forgotten how much of a pain in the ass she was. I literally chose the conversation option asking her to join me and she literally walked away because of Cerberus and with Garrus currently on my team literally standing next to my character.

I’ll probably elect to kill her on my next ME 1 play through.
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The gameplay changes and rebalancing definitely make the game much easier. I wouldn't play on anything less than Insanity now to get the most out of the game.
Colonel Sanders said:
if only we had a "no, you BOTH have to stay and defend the bomb!" option in me1.
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They should have implemented some sort of mechanic that would make it so you just make it in time to see Saren kill the one you decided to save, and it's too late to try and save the other one. Kind of like the loyalty mechanic for the ME2 ending.
 
polydiol said:
So I finished ME 1 as an Engineer specialized as a Medic and overall its still an awesome game, I felt that it was too easy on normal difficulty and I prefer the classic Mako controls with the classic leveling I made it to around level 58. I’ll be play it again with a different class after I finish the current run as Engineer. I elected to kill the council and since starting ME2 and just finishing the Horizon mission where I ran into Ashley, since I killed Kaidan Alenko and I had forgotten how much of a pain in the ass she was. I literally chose the conversation option asking her to join me and she literally walked away because of Cerberus and with Garrus currently on my team literally standing next to my character.

I’ll probably elect to kill her on my next ME 1 play through.
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Kaiden and Ashley are almost identical in Mass Effect 2. Ashley's voice actor sounds a bit angrier, but for the most part you get the same negative treatment from both of them. Their dialog is almost the same. Nearly word for word. However, their apology E-Mails later on in the game are very different, and better reflect each character's differences. In Mass Effect 3, the two are in the same situations and often give similar dialog, although its not as glaringly identical in ME3. One difference though is that Kaiden will hit on a male Shepard out of the blue while Ashley never does anything of the sort.
 
you guys are so right, both are not interesting and picking either of them is an exercise in selecting the best of the worst choice available. Too bad theres not an option to allow the collectors to take either of them on Horizon.
 
polydiol said:
you guys are so right, both are not interesting and picking either of them is an exercise in selecting the best of the worst choice available. Too bad theres not an option to allow the collectors to take either of them on Horizon.
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I'd rather just go the Alien or The Expanse route with flushing them out of an airlock for good measure.
 
Anyone notice that Cutscene got messed up with the graphic "Improment" on the recent patch, Seem they high the contrast and saturation and there are a lot of black crush now.
 
Dan_D said:
Kaiden and Ashley are almost identical in Mass Effect 2. Ashley's voice actor sounds a bit angrier, but for the most part you get the same negative treatment from both of them. Their dialog is almost the same. Nearly word for word. However, their apology E-Mails later on in the game are very different, and better reflect each character's differences. In Mass Effect 3, the two are in the same situations and often give similar dialog, although its not as glaringly identical in ME3. One difference though is that Kaiden will hit on a male Shepard out of the blue while Ashley never does anything of the sort.
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Yea, those two have the least interesting progression next to the ship doctor. About the only original ship crew that get just as good a background as the other NPC is Joker.
 
finished me1. so much of the game hasn't aged well. i never understood why people often say "i like the RPG elements in me1 compared to me2 and me3", the "rpg" elements in me1 amount to finding the same version of weapons, armor, mods and ammo types over.. and over.. and over again, making selling or reducing to omni gel a constant chore, and having to constantly look through your list of gear to make sure each squadmate is using what they should. aside from that the gameplay is exactly the same as the later games, just with clunkier combat and worse graphic.

anyhoo, onto me2 and ahhhh, it's so nice to be back. the legendary edition changes are minor but still noticeable and very welcome (lighting, textures, UI resolution, controller support.) the storytelling, combat, music, sound design, tight controls... what a masterpiece of a game.
 
Colonel Sanders said:
finished me1. so much of the game hasn't aged well. i never understood why people often say "i like the RPG elements in me1 compared to me2 and me3", the "rpg" elements in me1 amount to finding the same version of weapons, armor, mods and ammo types over.. and over.. and over again, making selling or reducing to omni gel a constant chore, and having to constantly look through your list of weapon to make sure each squadmate is using what they should. aside from that the gameplay is exactly the same as the later games, just with clunkier combat and worse graphic.

anyhoo, onto me2 and ahhhh, it's so nice to be back. the legendary edition changes are minor but still noticeable and very welcome (lighting, textures, UI resolution, controller support.)
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First off, I'll preface this by stating that I have an almost unhealthy amount of hours in the Mass Effect series. All together, they are my favorite games of all time. While I do favor specific entries in the series, I do like them all. Even Mass Effect Andromeda. That being said, there are elements of their design in all three titles that are reminiscent of anything else in the RPG genre. Mass Effect 1 is by far the most egregious of the bunch with some of the game's design being carried over from earlier D&D style RPG games which themselves have a basis in table top gaming. In some respects, this made a certain amount of sense earlier on as the rules gave a foundation for games to be based on mathematically, but serve no purpose today. Turn based games like KOTOR are really bad about this as your attack succes or fail comes down to an artificial die roll (RNG) than player skill. Fortunately, even ME1 dispenses with a lot of this but still bases its format on those earlier RPG games to some degree.

However, skills in ME1, even for the soldier tighten up the shot patterns and you use "gear" to increase weapon effectiveness, etc. which never really makes sense. I don't level up my AR-15 or my Glock 19x so they'll be more effective against intruders. Even if I install better parts, most of them will have very little impact on my ability to use the gun. A better trigger, better barrel, etc. won't really be a game changer as far as close quarters combat goes. Which, in games is 99% of the combat we engage in. Game mechanics tend to artificially limit ranges to very short distances due to rendering limitations. There is no reason to stick to this behavior in games like Mass Effect, and there really never was. It's just busy work for the player to pad the game's overall completion time.

Mass Effect 1's cycle of exploration, looting every crate, every barrel, and every locker only to find the same loot over and over and over again is a prime example of this. You are constantly comparing stats, saving gear for your companions and checking to see if what you just got is better than what you have. You end up spending a ton of time managing this inventory and you continue to do it on the hopes of looting that rare armor or mod that's the best in the game. It's not about playing a role or experiencing a story. If anything, these mechanics detract from that. In the Mass Effect universe (just using it as an example), weapons and equipment can be fabricated on ships like the Normandy so long as you have a license to do so. Weapons and equipment actually have a DRM of sorts to prevent being scanned and copied without this license. Of course, this can be defeated which is addressed in Andromeda. But, that's getting off topic. The point is that these game mechanics are sometimes in conflict with the narrative as opening every box and crate like a Jawa at a junkyard takes away a sense of urgency from what you are doing and only serves to distract the player. It does nothing to contribute to the story or even the player's experience.

ME2 and ME3 rightfully dispensed with this nonsense. Once I have a weapon, I have it and can make as many as I need (in a lore sense) for my crew. As it should be. You don't manage inventory at all in those games. You choose weapons and armor, or equipment based on their advantages or bonuses to compliment your play style. Again, this was a massive improvement as far as I am concerned. ME1's great narratively speaking, but it falls apart in the gameplay as it felt dated to me back when I first played it. For some odd reason, Andromeda brought a lot of ME1's bad mechanics back and I think it hurt that game more than it helped it. The only side effect of this inventory system that made it at all worth while was the crafting system which allowed you to make your own version of the weapons.

But, ME2 and ME3 still hold up well for me as I find myself just enjoying the game in the sense that I can concentrate on the story and the combat. I'm not as worried about skill trees, nor am I managing inventory, weapons or liquidating useless crap in my inventory or pointlessly driving around on some barren shithole of a planet to survey minerals. Something someone in Shepard's position wouldn't ever do given the circumstances. For all you guys that prop up ME1 as being better than the rest, I can only agree with this from a story perspective. Character interactions, gameplay, and in every other way, ME2 and ME3 are vastly superior games. The Legendary Edition does a little to help make ME1 more tolerable in terms of combat, but don't worry, the dated RPG elements and busy work some of you crave are 100% intact.
 
i couldn't have said it better myself! it's nice to hear a mass effect fanatic like you be honest about the flaws in me1. a lot of mass effect purists like to pretend those aspects are actually strengths rather than weaknesses, which is so strange to me. thankfully moments like virmire and ilos make up for all that.
 
Colonel Sanders said:
i couldn't have said it better myself! it's nice to hear a mass effect fanatic like you be honest about the flaws in me1. a lot of mass effect purists like to pretend those aspects are actually strengths rather than weaknesses, which is so strange to me. thankfully moments like virmire and ilos make up for all that.
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I think the original Mass Effect is great in spite of it's flaws. It's narrative, characters and unique atmosphere are the reasons for this.

But if I'm honest, the game does have it's flaws and those flaws are why I haven't played it half as much as 2 & 3.
 
Dan_D said:
I think the original Mass Effect is great in spite of it's flaws. It's narrative, characters and unique atmosphere are the reasons for this.

But if I'm honest, the game does have it's flaws and those flaws are why I haven't played it half as much as 2 & 3.
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Yeah it's not a perfect game and I also spend more time in ME2 and 3 but it's still superb and I'm with you in that Mass Effect (I consider 1-3 to be 1 game) is my all time favorite game.

I still replay ME1 annually and even tho it is flawed, the story, characters, universe and atmosphere more than make up for it. I just think of it not so much an action game but rather a 34 hour long interactive movie.
 
Dan_D said:
I think the original Mass Effect is great in spite of it's flaws. It's narrative, characters and unique atmosphere are the reasons for this.

But if I'm honest, the game does have it's flaws and those flaws are why I haven't played it half as much as 2 & 3.
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Exactly. ME1 had the best story, narrative flow and focus. Problem is once you memorize the story anything becomes stale. So what holds up for repeated playthroughs is the game that has better gameplay. ME1 was the worst for combat and inventory. Though I did like the disc grenades.
 
Colonel Sanders said:
finished me1. so much of the game hasn't aged well. i never understood why people often say "i like the RPG elements in me1 compared to me2 and me3", the "rpg" elements in me1 amount to finding the same version of weapons, armor, mods and ammo types over.. and over.. and over again, making selling or reducing to omni gel a constant chore, and having to constantly look through your list of gear to make sure each squadmate is using what they should. aside from that the gameplay is exactly the same as the later games, just with clunkier combat and worse graphic.

anyhoo, onto me2 and ahhhh, it's so nice to be back. the legendary edition changes are minor but still noticeable and very welcome (lighting, textures, UI resolution, controller support.) the storytelling, combat, music, sound design, tight controls... what a masterpiece of a game.
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I'll take a stab at this. For me I like that skills and classes actually matter both in terms of creating a sense of character progression and in this case making squad choices more important. The progression changes up gameplay as you go along and creates variety because it forces you to adapt to your current skillset, for instance in the first game sniper rifles are actually useful since you encounter enemies in big open areas but early on you're unlikely to hit the side a barn from any distance so you can't use the same tactics that you would later in the game. Games that are more reliant on skill progression and classes also tend to have more replayabilty because there tends to be more differences between classes and even builds within a class that can fundamentally change how you approach the same task.

For me shooters tend to get repetitive because gameplay is more static with the only sense of progression coming from unlocking new weapons which is hard to balance properly and less interesting IMO. I also find that there's less variety between shooters and they often end up feeling like I've played the same game before with a different skin.

Don't get me wrong I can enjoy a well done shooter but I much prefer a good rpg so in these days of mashups I prefer them to be more rpg than shooter, unfortunately I'm clearly in the minority on that.
 
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