Tali's face as it originally appears in Mass Effect 3 has been changed as part of the recently released Mass Effect Legendary Edition. Though developer Bioware has made many alterations in the remaster of its original sci-fi trilogy, this recently discovered change addresses a long-standing complaint.
Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, commonly referred to as Tali, is a quarian companion of Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect series. Quarians are a nomadic species who are exceptionally prone to infection and disease. Because of their incredibly weak immune systems, the quarians (including Tali) must wear specialized enviro-suits in order to survive outside of highly sterilized environments. This created a lot of intrigue around Tali during the Mass Effect trilogy's original run a decade ago, as her face was always shrouded behind her iconic purple mask. The only way to view Tali's face is by romancing her in Mass Effect 3. This will spawn an unmasked photo of her next to Commander Shepard's bedside.
In the original Mass Effect 3, Tali's face caused consternation among fans who were disappointed that the picture was a simple edit of a real woman's stock photo. However, Reddit user Maxgoods has posted an image on the r/masseffect subreddit that shows Tali's new and improved portrait in Mass Effect Legendary Edition. Unlike the original picture, Tali's face in the remaster doesn't appear to be a simple stock photo. Below is the image of Tali's original face in ME 3, as well as Maxgoods' post of her new photo in ME Legendary Edition.
There are more changes to Tali's photo, besides her picture no longer being an edit of a stock image. Her skin appears less pale, though her eyes are still white, and there isn't a glare from the sun obscuring part of her face. Her hand is no longer displayed on her shoulder, and her mouth isn't open anymore to reveal her teeth. Most importantly, however, is the fact that Tali is now wearing her suit in the photo, except for the mask. As a result, the majority of Tali's upper-body - including her hair, shoulders, and neck - are obscured, leaving the player to wonder what the rest of her remastered person now looks like.
The changes made to Tali's appearance via her photo in Mass Effect Legendary Edition are welcome. It was disappointing to see how little care and design was put into such a big reveal in the original Mass Effect 3. Many thought she appeared too humanoid and unimaginative relative to what players had built up in their minds over years. While it would have been nice to see a reimagined photo of Tali outside of her suit instead of an improved photo that obscures everything but her face, the remastered photo still feels more appropriate. Changes like this one help justify the need for an entire Mass Effect trilogy remaster. Given that Mass Effect Legendary Edition has only been out for a day at this point, it's likely that more changes will be spotted soon enough.
Source: Maxgoods/Reddit