Mass Effect Legendary Edition Official Comparison Trailer

[TheUnsungHero26]

I honestly prefer the original color of Feros and Noveria.

• The azure blue white and grey sky of Feros was more distinct and felt very alien. Now Feros looks like Tuchanka from ME2 with saturated yellow browns.
• Noveria loses a lot of saturation and looks more like a regular snow map rather than the impenetrable dark blue color before. It also results in losing the visual signification of the different orange lighting beacons because they stand out less.

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Actually, yeah. Now that you mention it, Theros does look a lot like Tuchanka now.

It's funny, in the original ME1, there is a colour I associate with each of the main planets. Red for Eden Prime, Blue for Noveria, Purple for Virmire (mainly the clouds), and Orange for Therum. My mind goes to green for Feels, but that's only because of a certain character at the end. Like you said, the Azure blue white and grey sky is the distinctive feature.

In almost every case, what I thought of as distinctive colours have either been removed or minimized.

I don't think the remaster looks bad by any means--quite the opposite in fact. It's just different.

 

[Jarmel]

I think Virmire looks worse.

 

[Samiya]

Actually, yeah. Now that you mention it, Theros does look a lot like Tuchanka now.

It's funny, in the original ME1, there is a colour I associate with each of the main planets. Red for Eden Prime, Blue for Noveria, Purple for Virmire (mainly the clouds), and Orange for Therum. My mind goes to green for Feels, but that's only because of a certain character at the end. Like you said, the Azure blue white and grey sky is the distinctive feature.

In almost every case, what I thought of as distinctive colours have either been removed or minimized.

I don't think the remaster looks bad by any means--quite the opposite in fact. It's just different.

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yeah it looks like Therum is no longer melted dark-brown rocks and orange but now it's light-brown sand and dirt instead.

I wish they hadn't changed the color styles of the planets.

 

[Mass Effect]

I wonder if they'll bring back Cerberus Daily News for Mass Effect 2? No new entries (unless they wanted to), but put the original stories back on rotation?

 

[Bengraven]

Goddamn, going home soon.

 

[Mass Effect]

yeah it looks like Therum is no longer melted dark-brown rocks and orange but now it's light-brown sand and dirt instead.

I wish they hadn't changed the color styles of the planets.

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For what it's worth, it's quite likely that many of the changes can be reverted (so to speak) on the PC version through mods and Reshade at least.

 

[shinobi602]

my point is that obviously saturation and lighting contributes to atmosphere (just like VFX, ambient occlusion, dof, etc, do), so your post lol'ing at people who find that the changes in saturation and lighting impacts the atmosphere is a very perplexing contribution.

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Many times with remasters, I've seen people just focus on darkness and brightness and completely ignore everything else about the improvements and say the original looks better. I think it's silly but that's all I can say on the matter ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[TheUnsungHero26]

I wonder if they'll bring back Cerberus Daily News for Mass Effect 2? No new entries (unless they wanted to), but put the original stories back on rotation?

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That would be a cool touch.

They mentioned there's going to be a unified launcher for the games. I'm curious to see what it will look like.

 

[SofNascimento]

For what it's worth, it's quite likely that many of the changes can be reverted (so to speak) on the PC version through mods and Reshade at least.

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I wonder if mods can also add back the 5~10 fps you got in many areas of ME1. You know, for the original experience and atmosphere.

I'm joking of course. Mostly.

 

[Jarmel]

Yea I think Virmire and Noveria look worse now in terms of art direction. That's probably not a good sign.

oh well, modders will fix it soon enough.

 

[sabertoothzombie]

Isn't it a bit funny that they first show the remastered version and then the original? Probably has a better effect the other way around. My first instinct was "yep, that's what Thane used to look like, oh wait, that's the remastered version, the original looks much worse"

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Yeah I thought that was weird. Usually you show the old version and then switch to the upgraded looks. It just made me stop a few times to check which was which

 

[Gestault]

OK, the Liara chest change does bother me. Looking at it right next to the original, it really has the feel of a third-party "cinematic" mod.

 

[Samiya]

For what it's worth, it's quite likely that many of the changes can be reverted (so to speak) on the PC version through mods and Reshade at least.

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The problem is that Reshade is global, so that what you change in one area to be aligned with the original's art style won't fit with another area.

I also don't know if modding can fix lighting in UE3. It's mostly just texture mods, which I guess goes a long way, but won't make up for the increased brightness from the new lighting.

 

[Son of Sparda]

I really hope this sells a lot so we can get a new proper ME in the next decade.

 

[AndyD]

Some of those lighting changes seem a bit stark, but those are some dope improvements on the whole.

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That was my first instinct too. The darkness in some of the areas added to the mood, and lighting it all up seems to change that.

 

[ClearMetal]

Looks very good overall, though Virmire seems to have lost some of its atmosphere? I guess the original low lighting was there to mask the graphical shortcomings and they didn't need that anymore for the remaster. But I kinda wish they kept (some of) it.

And geez, Liara's vacuum sealed outfit. I get that they just lifted the one from ME3, but I wish they took this opportunity to fix it. It looked dumb in ME3 and it looks dumb here.

 

[Slim Action]

As far as the Liara costume change goes, it's not that they specifically made her outfit more horny but rather that they swapped in the version of the "scientist outfit" from ME3 which was a hornier game.

 

[Deleted member 17184]

I like most of the changes. They male the trilogy a cohesive package instead of a duology (ME2 and ME3) and an outlier. Still curious to know if the doors will be the same.

That being said, I agree they missed the chance to make the scientist outfit less tight. It really didn't have to be that way.

 

[Khanimus]

So Liara goes from wearing a scientist uniform to this awful vacuum-sealed outfit?

 

[Cats_Schrodinger]

I really really want a native PS5 version.

Why EA why?

 

[Mass Effect]

I wonder if mods can also add back the 5~10 fps you got in many areas of ME1. You know, for the original experience and atmosphere.

I'm joking of course. Mostly.

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No idea what you're talking about. Mass Effect never ran poorly on PC :)

(yeah I know about the terrible performance on 360. I was there)

The problem is that Reshade is global, so that what you change in one area to be aligned with the original's art style won't fit with another area.

I also don't know if modding can fix lighting in UE3. It's mostly just texture mods, which I guess goes a long way, but won't make up for the increased brightness from the new lighting.

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Modding can indeed fix lighting in this case (or at least the static lighting; not sure about dynamic sources). There are lighting mods for the original ME games.

And of course the new "sandy" look to Therum can be fixed since that's just textures.

But yes you're right about Reshade. You'd have to manually toggle between profiles or something based on the area you're in. Up to the user if that's worth the hassle.

 

[Samiya]

Many times with remasters, I've seen people just focus on darkness and brightness and completely ignore everything else about the improvements and say the original looks better. I think it's silly but that's all I can say on the matter ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Who's ignoring everything else about the improvements? People are applauding the massive technical improvements everywhere. There are so many amazing things about this new remaster. People are just also bringing up the fact that there are changes to the actual art style of the game where for instance saturation and increase in brightness impacts the mood and atmosphere to such an extent that it's noticeable, if not jarring.

It's possible to be both appreciative *and* constructively critical about the remaster, both technically and artistically. Just because someone brings up the latter form of feedback does not mean they ignore positive feedback. Like, it's okay to want both improvements *and* staying true to the original's color palette in key story sections, they don't preclude each other.

And just real quick: It's unnecessary to call people silly who say that changes to color palette and lighting impacts the atmosphere of a game. Obviously changing these impacts changes the mood or atmosphere of the game, that's literally what art direction is about.

 

[Hippopuncher12]

Looks good, hoping this remaster can finally get me into the series, I have tried a few times and always stopped playing pretty quickly.

 

[MJForum Poster]

I am so torn on how to play this. Series X or PC? And if PC, KB+M or controller? I remember playing the original versions on PC and being frustrated at not having controller support, but now I'm more open to using a mouse on third person shooters for accuracy.

 

[Hey Please]

It's like the original game can finally breath.

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I lost hours upon hours of my life at the Citadel, listening to the music and just loitering. I feel like a second helping is required.

Isn't it a bit funny that they first show the remastered version and then the original? Probably has a better effect the other way around. My first instinct was "yep, that's what Thane used to look like, oh wait, that's the remastered version, the original looks much worse"

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Kind of like when in comparison videos, the video editor puts the After on the left panel and Before on the Right.

They backported ME3's meshes for the science outfit

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Ooo! Appreciate the clarification.

 

[canderous]

I think for ME1 they probably chose the areas with the most dramatic differences when it comes to lighting to show off in these comparisons. They said from the beginning their goal was to add some consistency to the art between all 3 games, and also go back to original concept art.

I don't agree with every change but on the whole this is a massive improvement to me. It might have been nice if they included a toggle to use the old post processing style (less volumetrics, high contrast, harsher lighting). On PC you'll probably be able to use reshade to do just that.

If you want the original style but high resolution textures (and even some AO) you can do this on a pretty low end PC with mods and nvidia inspector tweaking. I also wouldn't be surprised to see a mod that adds the LE models and textures to the original game, depending how moddable the LE is. Speaking of mods I am really hoping EGM can be ported. It is a game changer.

 

[Cranster]

Many times with remasters, I've seen people just focus on darkness and brightness and completely ignore everything else about the improvements and say the original looks better. I think it's silly but that's all I can say on the matter ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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There are also examples like Halo CE Anniversary where so much was changed that it impacted the experience and overall atmosphere of alot of missions.

 

[Quinton]

Some of the planetary reductions in saturation strike me as... unfortunate.

Everything else looks good.

 

[JusDoIt]

Black FemShep with the cornrow fade, let's go.

 

[Deleted member 24021]

For the people that want the original saturation and darkness, just get the game on PC and install reshade

 

[AwShucks]

I'm excited to finally play this series! The only reason I didn't before was because when I tried the first game, it made me motion sick. But I use Sea Bands now (Doom 2016 being awesome forced me to find a solution) and they actually work for me (placebo or not, whatever) so no worries about that this time around.

 

[Mivey]

Hope the Mako controls are as floaty and imprecise as the original. Would be bizarre to make that feel different. I loved the terrible driving in that thing.

 

[Deleted member 6263]

I like hearing about tiny changes like walls being removed to make movement more streamlined.

 

[Samiya]

There are lighting mods for the original ME games.

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Wow, really? which? I've never seen one. Could you link me?

 

[Blade30]

Many times with remasters, I've seen people just focus on darkness and brightness and completely ignore everything else about the improvements and say the original looks better. I think it's silly but that's all I can say on the matter ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Which is kinda funny because when you go to nexusmods and look up some reshade profiles, most of them make the image just darker.

 

[Mass Effect]

Wow, really? which? I've never seen one. Could you link me?

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A Lot Of Textures (ALOT) for ME1

Vanilla-friendly, exhaustive and easy to install graphical overhaul mod for the Mass Effect Trilogy. Designed to work with MEUITM.

www.nexusmods.com

A Lot Of Textures (ALOT) for ME2

Vanilla-friendly, exhaustive and easy to install graphical overhaul mod for the Mass Effect Trilogy.

www.nexusmods.com

A Lot Of Textures (ALOT) for ME3

Vanilla-friendly, exhaustive and easy to install graphical overhaul mod for the Mass Effect Trilogy.

www.nexusmods.com

They're a part of the ALOT (A lot of textures) overhaul mod.

 

[Dreamwriter]

I'm underwhelmed - it's like they took the sci-fi art aesthetic and replaced it with a more realistic aesthetic. Sometimes it looked better, other times it just looked different. Combined with them changing the gameplay of the first (best) game to make it more of a cover-shooter (and thus less of an RPG), I'm left with doubts. I'll still probably get it though, and at least it gives it a more cohesive look.

 

[Deleted member 16876]

I am really liking what I am seeing. Well aside from Liara's outfit that is.

I gotta think if I should get it before the PS5 or later.

 

[SirNinja]

Isn't it a bit funny that they first show the remastered version and then the original? Probably has a better effect the other way around. My first instinct was "yep, that's what Thane used to look like, oh wait, that's the remastered version, the original looks much worse"

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I actually really like that they did that, and for basically the reason you described. Good remasters look like how the originals appeared in our memory; by showing that version first, we get the shock of how it actually looked back then.

 

[Delusibeta]

Honestly? I'm unimpressed. They've brought the first game graphically in line with the sequels, but aside from that I think it looks like a sidegrade at best, and there's a couple of scenes in the trailer where they've clearly flubbed the lighting. Still, the main point is to have a single all-the-DLC release, and in that front it will do. Roll on the inevitable Switch version.

 

[Schlorgan]

I love that the trailer ends on a shot of Zaeed and the change is noticeable but not dramatic.

 

[Leo-Tyrant]

Thankfully the lighting system has been improved enough to show properly lit black characters. Also nice post-processing fx:

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Yeah this is a good improvement. I'm overall very pleased with most of the decisions they made.

This was a great read as well, the process itself they followed for the remaster seems very professional-coherent:

Visual Improvements

Details on the visual improvements, changes, and additions we made.

www.ea.com

.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

At some point I was ready to jump into this trilogy on PS3... but something happened and I didn't.

Oh how happy I am now I'm jumping into this Trilogy with this Edition ^_^

And I have a full FOUR WEEKS only for this till FFVIIR:Int and R&C since Deathloop was delayed, perfect timing.

 

[Samiya]

A Lot Of Textures (ALOT) for ME1

Vanilla-friendly, exhaustive and easy to install graphical overhaul mod for the Mass Effect Trilogy. Designed to work with MEUITM.

www.nexusmods.com

A Lot Of Textures (ALOT) for ME2

Vanilla-friendly, exhaustive and easy to install graphical overhaul mod for the Mass Effect Trilogy.

www.nexusmods.com

A Lot Of Textures (ALOT) for ME3

Vanilla-friendly, exhaustive and easy to install graphical overhaul mod for the Mass Effect Trilogy.

www.nexusmods.com

They're a part of the ALOT (A lot of textures) overhaul mod.

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oh I am aware of these, apologies for misreading your post then, you obviously meant the static lighting in the textures in the post I quoted. I guess i got too excited. Sorry, but thanks for sharing.

 

[Rover_]

double post

 

[Rover_]

I honestly prefer the original color of Feros and Noveria.

• The azure blue white and grey sky of Feros was more distinct and felt very alien. Now Feros looks like Tuchanka from ME2 with saturated yellow browns.
• Noveria loses a lot of saturation and looks more like a regular snow map rather than the impenetrable dark blue color before. It also results in losing the visual signification of the different orange lighting beacons because they stand out less.

and

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i'm very happy with the remaster but i agree 100% with you.

 

[rafox]

I really hope this sells a lot so we can get a new proper ME in the next decade.

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You know there's a proper sequel to ME 3 in development, right?

 

[Kaeden]

Bought the original 3 games in full (all dlcs) on Origin about a month before this was first announced. Completely stopped as I knew I'd buy this. I NEED this so bad so I can continue from where I left off which wasn't very far. The end of all this waiting is getting closer and it looks great!

 

[Son of Sparda]

You know there's a proper sequel to ME 3 in development, right?

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I know they have a CG and some concept arts atm. Hopefully if this does well they get to fully develop that without being rushed or forced to add GaaS elements to it.

 

[Schlorgan]

Wow, 20 months?