Mass Effect 1 - Legendary Edition

Mass Relays look like swords from Halo.

Commander Sheppard

            It has been a while since my last entry here. I recently found out how correct every single person was about not having any free time once you have a baby. So my game time has taken a nose dive. Having said that, I was always going to make some time to visit the Mass Effect universe once the Legendary Edition was out. I do try to finish the games I have started before moving on to a new one, but often that is an exercise in futility. There are usually about five games I am in the middle of any given time. I have been meaning to revisit the Mass Effect trilogy for a while now. When the Legendary Edition was announced, I put it off so I could do it on the enhanced version of the games instead. Once the trilogy came out, I thought to hold off on it until I had cleared my plate a little so I could jump into it. That plan lasted all of two hours. I ended up buying the game on Steam the day it was released and started the first one soon after. Mass Effect has been one of the few series where I played through all the games (notwithstanding Andromeda).

This is the second Joker in my games and none from Batman.

            I was a little apprehensive how well a new game would work on my system, but I need not have worried. That is the perk of building (or buying) a new pc. You can buy and run modern games with minimal troubleshooting. Granted this is a remaster, but there is a serious overhaul of graphics which could be taxing on an older system. I don’t think I have played a brand-new game on pc before. Certainly cannot remember buying one at full price and playing it.

            The first thing I noticed was how big the total download is. It takes a 120 GB of hard drive space to install this thing. That is almost as big as a COD update. I don’t think I can pick and choose which ones I want to install either. It also connects to Origin before I can play. This has been an annoying trend in EA games. If I buy it on Steam, I have to have two instances of DRMs running to play it. Origin itself seems to have completely stagnated. Epic’s gamestore, which launched after Origin seems to have progressed further. Origin is barely a store and even less of a game delivery platform. EA is too busy counting money from Ultimate Team microtransactions to pay attention to anything else. Even Origin opens up with a FIFA flash screen, just to remind us where the priorities are for EA.

Nihlus is here to judge Sheppard

            This time around I started with Jane Sheppard. I did not mess around with anything in my hurry to jump into the game. I think I will regret that decision for the whole of the trilogy. Since I did not mess with the character creation at all, I have gone in as a soldier class. This means Sheppard has no biotic capabilities. I am going to be missing out on a whole system of battle mechanics. I don’t want to start again, and I plan on carrying this character through the three games. Lets see how that pans out.

            As much nostalgia as I do have for this series, I can not remember what system I played this on originally. This came out back when I was in school. Since I could not find enough time to play it during my semesters, I would play through each game whenever I visited my family on vacation. I might have played it on multiple different systems. There are vague memories of wishing to carry my character over to the next game but not having the ability to do so. Joker’s voice was enough to give me a nostalgia rush. Seth Green voice acted the Normandy pilot perfectly.

            Joker brings Normandy up to the Mass Relay and I am once more in awe of the size of the construct. Normandy is on its way to Eden Prime. Seems like any other mission, but something is off. For one, there is a turian Spectre on board with us today. Nihlus seems like a friendly enough guy, but you never know with the Spectres. All suspicions come true as Jane is called into the briefing room to talk to Nihlus and Commander Anderson.

Lens flares were all the rage when this game out.

            A Prothean beacon has been found on Eden Prime. It may help us understand the technology of long extinct race better. Last time something like this happened, humanity went from living on Earth to travelling though mass relays. Protheans were the most technologically advanced race in the universe who went mysteriously extinct, leaving all their technology behind. Every single sentient race that is travelling though space now is only able to do so with partial understanding of the Prothean tech. No wonder the Council is so keen on protecting and studying this beacon. Who know what knowledge it holds. Humanity gets to share in the spoils not because of any important place we hold in the Council, but just because human colony was lucky enough to discover the beacon.

            Nihlus is travelling with Alliance crew not only to oversee the interests of Council, but also to observe Sheppard. The Alliance have been making a push to be included on the Galactic Council but the higher races are reluctant to include the hot-headed humans in governance of the whole of Milky Way. As a compromise they have conceded to allowing a human on the Spectre force. The Alliance sees this as the first step to gaining enough clout to become leaders in galactic politics. The Spectres are the enforcement arm of the Council, and they have complete authority in conducting their own missions. They are only answerable to the Council, but historically it has stayed out of Spectre business for the most part. Sheppard has been recommended to become the next Spectre, but all will depend on how she conducts the mission on Eden Prime.