Mass Effect Legendary Edition
Developers | |
---|---|
BioWare | |
Abstraction[1] | |
Blind Squirrel Games[2] | |
Lemon Sky Studios | |
Publishers | |
Electronic Arts | |
Engines | |
Unreal Engine 3[3] | |
Release dates | |
Windows | May 14, 2021 |
Reception | |
Metacritic | 86 |
OpenCritic | 87 |
IGDB | 87 |
Taxonomy | |
Monetization | One-time game purchase |
Microtransactions | None |
Modes | Singleplayer |
Pacing | Real-time |
Perspectives | Third-person |
Controls | Direct control |
Genres | ARPG, Shooter |
Art styles | Realistic |
Themes | Sci-fi, Space |
Series | Mass Effect |
Mass Effect | |
---|---|
Mass Effect | 2008 |
Mass Effect 2 | 2010 |
Mass Effect 3 | 2012 |
Mass Effect: Andromeda | 2017 |
Mass Effect Legendary Edition | 2021 |
Mass Effect Legendary Edition is a third-person ARPG and shooter developed by BioWare, with assistance from Abstraction Games and Blind Squirrel Games.[1][2] It is a compilation of the Mass Effect trilogy, including most of the additional content, and featuring remastered visuals, such as upgraded textures and lighting, support for HDR, and tweaks to game balance.[3][4]
Mass Effect 3's multiplayer is not included due to time constraints, while the Pinnacle Station downloadable content for Mass Effect is not included due to loss of the original source code.[5][6]
The game released on the Origin and Steam platforms for Windows on May 14, 2021, after being announced at the "N7 Day" fan celebration in November 2020.[4]
A number of user reviews following the PC release were critical of some technical aspects of the game, including forced mouse acceleration, poor implementation of the advertised support for ultrawide aspect ratios, and lacking graphical options, including field of view adjustment.[7][8]
General information
Availability
Source | DRM | Notes | Keys | OS |
---|---|---|---|---|
Amazon.com | ||||
Epic Games Store | ||||
Origin | Included with EA Play. | |||
Steam | Included with EA Play (Steam). | |||
Amazon.com (unavailable) | ||||
Amazon.co.uk (unavailable) | ||||
(unavailable) | ||||
Green Man Gaming (unavailable) | Region locked in Latin America. | |||
Humble Store (unavailable) |
- All versions require Origin DRM. Denuvo Anti-Tamper DRM was removed on June 7, 2021.[9]
Essential improvements
Skip intro video
Delete or rename video file[10] |
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|
Skip splash screen
Delete or rename image file[11] |
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|
Unofficial patches
- LE1 Community Patch fixes bugs not resolved by the official patches in Mass Effect 1
- Unofficial LE2 Patch fixes bugs not resolved by the official patches in Mass Effect 2
- LE3 Community Patch fixes bugs not resolved by the official patches in Mass Effect 3
- Pinnacle Station DLC - enhanced port of the original Pinnacle Station DLC from Mass Effect, which was not included in the Legendary Edition due to lost and corrupted source code.
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | <path-to-game>\Game\ME1\BioGame\Config\[Note 1] <path-to-game>\Game\ME2\BioGame\Config\[Note 1] <path-to-game>\Game\ME3\BioGame\Config\[Note 1] |
Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1328670/pfx/[Note 2] |
Save game data location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | %USERPROFILE%\Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect Legendary Edition\Save\ |
Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1328670/pfx/[Note 2] |
- Existing save data from Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 can be used after copying them from their respective locations.[12][13]
Save game cloud syncing
System | Native | Notes |
---|---|---|
Epic Games Launcher | Handled through the cloud sync of Origin. | |
Origin | ||
OneDrive | Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers. | |
Steam Cloud | Handled through the cloud sync of Origin. |
Video
Graphics feature | State | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
Widescreen resolution | |||
Multi-monitor | Use Flawless Widescreen. | ||
Ultra-widescreen | Hor+ from 16:9 in gameplay and menus. Conversation scenes and cutscenes are pillarboxed to 16:9.[14] Use Flawless Widescreen to remove the pillarboxing at 21:9 and 32:9. |
||
4K Ultra HD | |||
Field of view (FOV) | Capped at 75°. See Field of view (FOV) for more. | ||
Windowed | |||
Borderless fullscreen windowed | |||
Anisotropic filtering (AF) | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
Anti-aliasing (AA) | Toggle for post-process antialiasing. | ||
Vertical sync (Vsync) | Double-buffered.[15] | ||
60 FPS and 120+ FPS | Games are capped at 240 FPS. Launcher is capped at 60 FPS. FMVs are at 30 FPS. Framerate is limited to display refresh rate during cutscenes and dialog.[16] |
||
High dynamic range display (HDR) | Options for peak brightness (400 - 10k nits) and contrast. |
Field of view (FOV)
Use Flawless Widescreen to control the cinematic and gameplay FOV.[17] |
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Use the Better Camera mod to permanently change the Exploration and Combat FOV. |
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|
See the How to change the FOV Steam Guide on editing the ADS FOV. |
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Depth of field
Disable depth of field through a config file[citation needed] |
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Notes
|
Use the Disable Depth of Field mod to remove or adjust depth of field in ME1. |
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|
Input
Keyboard and mouse | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Remapping | ||
Mouse acceleration | Mass Effect 1: Negative mouse acceleration is always enabled with no option present. See Mouse Acceleration to fix via mod. Otherwise moving the mouse faster results in a lower overall camera movement than just moving the mouse slowly. Known as Mouse Dampening in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3, it can be disabled natively. | |
Mouse sensitivity | ||
Mouse input in menus | ||
Mouse Y-axis inversion | ||
Controller | ||
Controller support | ||
Full controller support | ||
Controller remapping | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | |
Controller sensitivity | Three sensitivity options under Camera Sensitivity. | |
Controller Y-axis inversion |
Controller types |
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XInput-compatible controllers | ||
---|---|---|
Xbox button prompts | ||
Impulse Trigger vibration |
PlayStation controllers | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. |
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Generic/other controllers | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. |
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Additional information | ||
---|---|---|
Button prompts | For DualShock controllers use the PS4 Controller Icons mod | |
Controller hotplugging | ||
Haptic feedback | ||
Digital movement supported | ||
Simultaneous controller+KB/M |
Steam Input | ||
---|---|---|
Steam Input API support | ||
Hook input (legacy mode) | ||
Steam Controller button prompts |
Mouse acceleration
- Negative mouse acceleration is always enabled with no option present in Mass Effect. Use this mod to fix that.
Use No Mouse Acceleration for ME1[19] |
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|
Audio
Audio feature | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Separate volume controls | Dialog, Sound Effects and Music. | |
Surround sound | 7.1 surround sound in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3.[20] 7.0 in Mass Effect 1 after setting up OpenAL. |
|
Subtitles | Subtitles are locked to audio language. | |
Closed captions | ||
Mute on focus lost | Only Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3.[14] | |
Royalty free audio | Combination of original and licensed music. |
Localizations
Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
English | ||||
Simplified Chinese | Fan translation. | |||
French | ||||
German | ||||
Italian | ||||
Japanese | ||||
Polish | Audio is only available for Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. Mass Effect 2 is missing some voiceover that could not be restored.[21] |
|||
Brazilian Portuguese | Fan translation (Central de Traduções/TriboGamer) — for Steam, Origin or EA Play/PC Game Pass. Download. | |||
Russian | Audio is only available for Mass Effect.[21] | |||
Spanish | ||||
Turkish | Fan translation. |
Issues fixed
Visual glitches at ultra-widescreen resolutions
- The game may sometimes present visual glitches when playing the game on ultrawide resolutions, generally at 32:9 aspect ratio.[22][23]
Disable anti-aliasing in the graphics settings.[22] |
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Shields do not recharge in Mass Effect 3
- Running Mass Effect 3 at uncapped framerates may cause shields to not regenerate.[24]
Cap the frame rate to anything up to the monitor refresh rate or use VSYNC[24] |
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Stuttering or low framerate
Lower mouse polling rate[25][26][27] |
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Misaligned bloom or odd light halos
Disable any kind of forced anti-aliasing[28][29] |
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Cannot toggle squadmate helmets in Mass Effect
- In Mass Effect, opening the Squad menu using the shortcut hotkey (U) can make the helmet toggle for squadmates unable to be used.[30]
Use the LE1 Community Patch mod |
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|
Open the Squad menu via the pause screen[30] |
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Open the Squad menu from the pause screen (press Esc) instead of using the shortcut, allowing to toggle the helmet on all squad members. |
Cannot downsample via DSR/VSR
- Setting a DSR/VSR resolution in any of the games fails to have the game apply the new resolution.
Open the appropriate game's GamerSettings.ini file (see Configuration file(s) location) and edit the ResX and ResY cvars as needed.[31] Going into the Options menu will revert the change. While keeping GamerSettings.ini as "Read Only" will not prevent it getting changed, it will revert to your new resolution the next time you launch the game. |
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Dynamic Range audio option is missing in Mass Effect 3
- Audio dynamic range is the volume difference between the loudest and quietest sound. You could choose between low and high dynamic range in the original ME3, but the option is absent in the Legendary Edition.
Use Audio Dynamic Range option fix for ME3LE mod[citation needed] |
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Other information
API
Technical specs | Supported | Notes |
---|---|---|
Direct3D | 11 |
Executable | 32-bit | 64-bit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Windows |
Middleware
Middleware | Notes | |
---|---|---|
Physics | PhysX | 2.8.4.6 |
Audio | ISACT, Wwise | [32] |
Interface | Scaleform | [33] |
Cutscenes | Bink Video | 2.7s |
Mods
Conrad No Apology
- Fixes another well-known bug related to the character Conrad Verner.
Corpses Stay
- Makes corpses stay. Only works for the first game.
Asari makeup fix for MELE1
- Fixes the makeup of some of the asari NPCs.
Teeth fix for new hairstyles (ME3)
- Fixes a teeth visual bug when certain new hairstyles are used.
Early Recruitment (LE2)
- Fixes some bugs, also adds the option to recruit some of the characters sooner, making more sense lorewise.
Overlord Morality Fix
- Adds a morality reward for a certain mission that lacked it originally.
Oriana looks like Miranda's Twin (ME2LE)
- Changes the face of a certain female character to look like her twin in ME2LE, to better fit the game lorewise.
Oriana looks like Miranda's Twin (ME3LE)
- Changes the face of a certain female character to look like her twin in ME3LE, to better fit the game lorewise.
Liara Consistency Mod (ME1LE)
- Makes Liara's facial appearance fully consistent within Mass Effect, by either choosing her Lair of the Shadow Broker (ME2) or Mass Effect 3 appearance.
Liara Consistency Mod (ME2LE)
- Makes Liara's facial appearance fully consistent within Mass Effect 2, by either choosing her Mass Effect 1, Lair of the Shadow Broker or her Mass Effect 3 appearance.
Tali Consistency Mod (ME1LE)
- Replaces Tali's Mass Effect 1 model with her model from Mass Effect 2. It also includes an edited squad select image from ME2, an altered combat icon, and a main menu image replacement for more consistency within the game.
Respec Javik
- Adds the option to respec the character Javik, option that originally is present for all other crewmates, other than Javik.
Miranda Butt Shot Restoration (LE2)
- Restores the camera position to how it used to be in the original game in certain scenes with the character Miranda Lawson in LE2.
Miranda Butt Shot Restoration (LE3)
- Restores the camera position to how it used to be in the original game in certain scenes with the character Miranda Lawson in LE3.
More Gay Romances
- Adds the option for same-gender romance for certain characters, using files already present but not used.
A Lot Of Textures (ALOT)
- A vanilla-friendly and significant visual upgrade for the game.
A Lot Of Videos (ALOV)
- An exhaustive and comprehensive 4K 60fps video overhaul project powered by AI and augmented with faithful in-game remakes, error corrections and other misc improvements.
System requirements
Windows | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | Recommended | |
Operating system (OS) | 10 | |
Processor (CPU) | Intel Core i5-3570 AMD FX-8350 |
Intel Core i7-7700 AMD Ryzen 7 3700X |
System memory (RAM) | 8 GB | 16 GB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 120 GB | |
Video card (GPU) | Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 AMD Radeon HD 7970 AMD Radeon R9 280X 2 GB of VRAM DirectX 11 compatible | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 4 GB of VRAM |
- A 64-bit operating system is required.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below
%PROGRAMFILES%
,%PROGRAMDATA%
, or%WINDIR%
might be redirected to%LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore
on Windows Vista and later (more details). - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (1328670) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Settings are identical across all three games.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Abstraction Games - Mass Effect Legendary Edition - last accessed on 2021-05-01
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Blind Squirrel Entertainment Inc. - Our Games - last accessed on 2021-05-01
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 IGN - Mass Effect: Legendary Edition First Impressions: Less Than a Remake, but Much More Than a Basic Remaster - last accessed on 2021-05-01
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 BioWare - Happy N7 Day! - last accessed on 2021-05-01
- ↑ Game Informer - BioWare Explains Why It Didn't Bring Back Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer In Legendary Edition - last accessed on 2021-05-01
- ↑ Game Informer - BioWare Explains Pinnacle Station DLC Exclusion From Mass Effect Legendary Edition, "Heartbreaking" - last accessed on 2021-05-01
- ↑ PC Gamer - Here's why Mass Effect Legendary Edition launched to mixed Steam reviews - last accessed on 2021-05-16
- ↑ Mass Effect Legendary Edition causing crashes, players unhappy about certain features - last accessed on 2021-05-16
- ↑ Denuvo Has Been Removed From Mass Effect Legendary Edition - TheGamer - last accessed on 2021-06-17
- ↑ Verified by User:Shadowstealer7 on 2021-05-16
- ↑ Verified by User:136.37.8.19 on 2021-06-12
- ↑ Verified by User:Shadowstealer7 on 2021-05-14
- Copied my existing Mass Effect 2 and 3 save files over to the MELE saves folder and they showed up in game and could be loaded. Mass Effect 1 does not work as the save format has changed from the original version.
- ↑ Mass Effect Legendary Edition: Tests, thoughts, three hours of gameplay [Updated] | Ars Technica
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Verified by User:Shadowstealer7 on 2021-05-14
- ↑ The 3 main issues I've found with PC Performance in ME: Legendary : masseffect - Reddit
- ↑ Verified by User:Shadowstealer7 on 2021-05-14
- Testing after a report by Fayaine on the PCGW Discord that the cutscenes were locked to 60 FPS, where I hadn't noticed it happening on my end. Disabled Vsync and observed that entering any affected scenes capped my framerate not to 60 (which is their monitor's refresh), but to 144 (which is my monitor's refresh rate), leading me to believe these scenes might be forcing Vsync and not a specific framerate.
- ↑ PSA: Mass Effect Legendary Edition now fixed by Flawless Widescreen - last accessed on 2021-05-16
- ↑ Imgur album comparing settings screens
- ↑ No Mouse Acceleration for ME1 LE at Mass Effect Legendary Edition Nexus - Mods and community
- ↑ Verified by User:Shadowstealer7 on 2021-05-14
- Tested using Razer Surround 7.1 virtualisation and confirmed using Special K. Mass Effect 1 did not show any channel activity other than left and right stereo channels.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 EA - Mass Effect™ Legendary Edition - What languages are supported in the Legendary Edition? - last accessed on 2021-05-06
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 /r/WidescreenGamingForum Subreddit - Mass effect legendary edition Antialiasing glitch multi-monitor - last accessed on 2021-05-17
- ↑ Steam Community - Please update the game so 3440x1440 is an option for super ultra wide monitors. - last accessed on 2021-05-17
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 /r/MassEffect Subreddit - PSA: High Framerates breaking shield regeneration wasn't fixed in the LE edition. - last accessed on 2021-05-20
- ↑ I seem to have fixed my stuttering issues in ME:LE ME1 by... reducing my mouse's polling rate? : masseffect - Reddit
- ↑ [PC] ME1:L Reduce your mouse polling rate if you are getting fps stutter and nothing else works : masseffect - Reddit
- ↑ If mouse is plugged into a hub or switch, plugging the mouse in directly may reduce stuttering when Mouse Polling rate changes have no effect.
- ↑ Can anyone please tell me how to get rid of these ugly lighting shadows happening in ME3L? I'm on PC... is this a bug or something? : masseffect - Reddit
- ↑ [Mass Effect 3] How to fix misaligned bloom? : masseffect
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 /r/MassEffect Subreddit - ME Legendary Edition Toggle Helmets question - last accessed on 2021-05-23
- ↑ Verified by User:ChaosBahamut on 2021-05-27
- ↑ Eric Vervaet on Twitter - last accessed on 2021-05-01
- "Due to a number of reasons, we needed to stick with ISACT it for ME1. Naturally that has brought its own challenges. 2&3 are with Wwise as they were previous."
- ↑ Scaleform Editing: The Basics · ME3Tweaks/LegendaryExplorer Wiki
- ↑ 7 June Update
- ↑ Windows 7 Fix Workaround - The Nexus Forums