First-time players and long-time fans alike have the opportunity to experience completing the entire trilogy of games in Mass Effect Legendary Edition, which combines the mainline entries of the series with over 40 DLC. But which conclusion in the Mass Effect franchise feels the most satisfying?
One of many updates provided by Mass Effect Legendary Edition is the change to the controversial ending of Mass Effect 3. The new ending to the game follows the Extended Cut series of events and provides more context and cutscenes for fans who felt disappointed with the vague and ambiguous story shown in the original release of ME3. Another significant change to the third game is the removal of multiplayer mode.
The other endings within the franchise remain largely unchanged, though various gameplay elements have been updated and adjusted with the release of Mass Effect Legendary Edition. Galactic readiness measurements were altered to compensate for the lack of multiplayer mode, placing more emphasis on choices in the first Mass Effect games. Level scaling was also given a new setting in Mass Effect 1 to align it more closely with the gameplay of the latter two games of the series.
The Most Satisfying Mass Effect Game Is ME2
Despite the updated ending provided for Mass Effect 3, the most satisfying conclusion of the franchise comes with the completion of Mass Effect 2. The final mission of the game is considered by the crewmates aboard the Normandy to be a suicide mission - players are warned early on in the game that not everyone might survive the run to the Collector's base. Players are expected to bond with each crewmate on the ship in order to complete their loyalty missions before entering the final stages of the game, and timing plays an important role in keeping various side characters from being killed by the Collectors. Additionally, several essential updates have to be made to the Normandy before travelling to the base. New players who aren't aware of these gameplay mechanics have the potential to be blindsided by the consequences of their actions.
Player choices while within the Collector base also play a large role in keeping everyone alive. Characters each have unique combat strengths and weaknesses, and if a poor choice is made to carry out a specific task, it's very likely that the chosen character can be killed. Characters who die in Mass Effect 2 won't be present in Mass Effect 3, making this a high-stakes quest with severe consequences later on down the line. The satisfaction of completing the run without a single casualty is arguably more significant than that of completing the other two games of the series. Although ME2 opens up more storylines than it concludes - the ending leads in to the invasion of the Reapers, effectively kicking off ME3 - getting the final say against Cerberus after a dangerous but ultimately successful mission can feel great to players who felt invested in the overarching story and characters of Mass Effect 2.