I'm usually super anal and sensitive towards aesthetic changes in remasters/remakes if it loses the tone of the original direction, but I just don't think I care as much in this case. I think the striking red sunset and arguably implied dust kick up of Eden Prime gives the planet this otherworldly, alien and dangerous feel, which acts as a phenomenal introduction to a game that is all about exploring the galaxy. It's a perfect kickstart, helping convey the idea that you're a stranger in a strange world, and not on Just Another Earth, instantly separates the tone of the game from other scifis, and provides an aggressive tonal backdrop to the introduction of Sovereign. The blast of sequence is big, mean, loud, and aggressive, due in part not just Sovereign's red lightning but the murderous red backdrop. And yes, I think something will be lost by muting or excluding this, and it is a wee bit out of touch with how Eden Prime was initially presented.
But I've also played through ME1 more times than I can count, with and without mods. I've played through ME2 and ME3 multiple times. I've suck hundreds upon hundreds of hours into the trilogy. I've read all the comics, all the books. I've bought and played through every single piece of DLC, from the larger mission arcs to the piecemeal armour skins. And while I should be primed (pun intended) to be upset about aesthetic choices, the fact I'm so intimately familiar with the series makes me happy to make open to whatever aesthetic revisions and changes they want, even if they're not to my preference.
I'm past the point of caring, I guess, because the thing is
these are not remakes. They're remasters with varying degrees of touch ups. I have, in an abstract sense, already played "remastered" versions of these games thanks to the plethora of extremely high quality texture mods and engine tweaks. When I see Thane here with super detailed texture I think it looks fantastic, but I already did a playthrough with this via a fan mod that was
just as impressive. If these
were remakes, as in an intent to elevate all three games up to a truly modern standard from top to bottom, rebuilding and recrafting every asset and environment, I'd probably be significantly more fickle about what might be lost in aesthetic changes since I'd be anticipating such enormous quality updates and anxious about something being lost in translation (as it often is). Like I adore Demon's Souls, I think it's outstandingly beautiful, but I also don't agree with every aesthetic change BluePoint made.
This is really just a souped up riff on games I'm already intimate with. There's no new animations. They haven't totally remodelled everything. They haven't ported the game over to a more modern engine and rebuilt all the lighting, shadows, and shaders for it. It's BioWare riffing on their own game, a game of which I've played through so many times I know like the back of my hand. Despite these changes it's still going to feel like the original I know and love, instead of something vastly different in vision and imagination despite technical upgrades, and so for that reason I don't really find myself fussed about Eden Prime's sky change or other aesthetic and tonal tweaks. It is what it is.
Nice to see the reflections in the Illusive Man's room are much higher resolution. I wonder if they'll add the reflection back in 3? Doubtful, but it would be neat.
The new builds are full of reflections, as the engine and pipeline are so old they were able to get away with a foreword rendering double-the-environment approach to a lot of reflections. Rather than using screen space or ray tracing. The citadel for example has some reflective surfaces that'll appropriately reflect the entire environment.
