The Mass Effect Remastered Trilogyhas been rumored for years, but ever since EA announced an “HD Title” due before the end of the current fiscal year, a remaster has appeared more likely than ever.
There were many aspects of the original trilogy that were intended for retail release but were cut or edited for various reasons beyond the control of the game developers. Here are 5 changes that have been a long time coming for theMass Effect Remastered Trilogy.
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Tali’s Face Reveal
Tali’s face reveal inMass Effect 3was extremely controversial. Only revealed in a nightstand photograph for a Shepherd who romanced the Quarian, the image was quickly discovered to be a lightly edited stock photo of a real-world model. Considering the fact that Tali was one of the best receivedMass Effectcompanions and the fact that this reveal also unveiled the faces of the entire Quarian species for the first time, many fans were underwhelmed.
It is likely this decision was made to save time duringMass Effect 3’s tight production schedule, which has been speculated to have been imposed upon BioWare by EA. Tali’s originalconcept artist Matt Rhodeshas stated before that he considers some of his early art, done before it was decided that Tali’s face would be covered, to be the actual canonical face of the character. These older concepts could be used as the basis in the remaster.
Restoring Javik
Javik from the From Ashes DLCforMass Effect 3was originally intended to be a far more central character to the plot before he was repackaged as a DLC character and had to be made nonessential to the main story. It was the Prothean who was originally the only character able to communicate with the Prothean AI to reveal the true nature of the Citadel.
It is very likely that the remaster will include all DLC at launch, so BioWare should take the opportunity to restore Javik’s relevance and reintegrate the character into the plot so that he feels like a truly essential part of the story. The same can be said for other DLC companion characters like Zaeed fromMass Effect 2who could also do with restoration that makes them feel a little more integrated than they were in the retail release.
Mass Effect 2’s Dossiers
Mass Effect 2involves recruiting Shepherd’s squadmates for the ultimate suicide mission afterThe Illusive Mangives the player a few dossiers at a time and allows them to explore the galaxy and piece together their team. However, it was originally intended that the player would receive every single dossier at once, allowing for a far more customizable and uniquely non-linear experience of the game.
This feature was cut at the last minute when it was realized that, in order to split the game onto two discs to accommodate its release on the Xbox 360, the game would need to have some missions which were not available until the second half of the game. As a result ,characters likeLegion the Gethget less development time as they appear far later in the game, so BioWare should allowMass Effect 2players to approach the dossier missions in any order.
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The Ashley Conversation
Ashley Williamsis not the most beloved of the Mass Effect companions for many fans. Assuming she survived the Virmire mission inMass Effect 1, the character rejects Shepard inMass Effect 2and is hostile for a decent part ofMass Effect 3,although this does make the romance more interesting. However, one cut piece of dialog could be restored to help flesh out Ashley’s character a little more.
In onecutMass Effect 3conversation, Ashley asks Shepard what they saw when they died, and Shepard tells her that they saw nothing. Her wavering faith in Shepard gains a little more thematic resonance when seen in parallel with her own struggle to maintain her faith, and helps make the character more sympathetic. TheMass Effecttrilogy is full of similar cut content and one-off lines that the BioWare team could restore that add a lot of depth to the game.
Mordin and Grunt’s Confrontation
There were several confrontations inMass Effect 2between squadmates which Shepard has to resolve. For example, Legion and Tali, whose species have been at war, will get into an argument that can only be resolved without taking sides if the player has committed fully to Paragon or Renegade dialog options throughout the game so far. Once such cut confrontation is between Mordin and Grunt.
Mordin helped to create the genophage that rendered Grunt’s entire species infertile. If the confrontation was kept in the game, then it would make their relationship far more interesting as well as makeMordin’s sacrificeto end the plague he created, already one of the best moments in theMass Effectseries, even more emotionally resonant.
These confrontations between squadmates would also work better if the dossiers were available in any order, as it would mean players could spend more time with all of the characters, making the decision more complicated than it was in the game’s original retail release. It is harder to side with Legion over Tali, for example, becauseTalireturns early inMass Effect 2while Legion isn’t available as a recruitable companion until relatively late in the game.
BioWare should’t change too much in theMass Effect Trilogy Remaster, but should take the opportunity to restore some of the decisions originally intended for the games’ first retail release. Changes like these are complementary and could help keep theMass Effecttrilogy feeling dynamic and fresh a second time around. Many of the changes are small enough that a lot of fans would be unlikely to notice them right away, but would still experience the narrative improvements these small changes add up to. While fans shouldn’t expect bigger edits to things likeMass Effect 3’s controversial ending, many will be looking forward to N7 Day in hopes of official news about the remaster.
