Mass Effect Legendary Edition is out this week, but which one are you going to replay first? There’s a good argument for all three, but in this article, I’m going to discuss why it should be the first game. Most people will probably replay the entire trilogy starting with this entry, but there are those of you out there who didn’t start with this game. You might want to jump straight into your favourite entry, but that could be a mistake given the number of upgrades the first game, in particular, has seen since it first launched.
The original Mass Effect is a masterpiece in both storytelling and gameplay. It’s one of the finest RPGs I’ve ever played, despite its many flaws. The Mako might be terrible to use, and the game did actually kill my PS3, but I still adore it. For me, it was the first game I ever played in the series. It explains everything you need to know about the established universe in a user-friendly way, and you never feel like you’re getting overwhelmed by the story. With that said, the game is definitely the worst for bugs and generally jank.
In the Mass Effect Legendary Edition though, you’ve got a completely new version of the game. It’s been fixed and reworked from the ground up. The sci-fi RPG you remember isn’t there anymore. Instead, this is a shiny new version that has all the bells and whistles of the later two entries, and then some. Getting into the series with this entry first is the only way I can see anyone enjoying it. For me, it doesn’t make sense to drop in at the mid-point, or even the final game. There’s so much to explore and see before then.
The bottom line on why this should be the first game in the new edition that you play is that it’s the natural starting point. It doesn’t make sense to do anything else. The game is a technical masterpiece on top of being the story that brought Mass Effect to life. It also has the least DLC, and will probably, therefore, be the fastest to download and finish.