Mass Effect: Legendary Edition Has One Clear Choice | Game Rant
The confirmation of the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition back in November confirmed years of rumors that BioWare would be remastering the original trilogy. Obviously, such an announcement has many fans excited to get back on the deck of the Normandy and visiting their favorite stores on the Citadel. It will also give players a chance to re-experience some of the most difficult decisions in BioWare RPGs to date.
There is one major decision, however, which now has an option which makes far more sense to choose than it did when the original Mass Effect trilogy finished back in 2012. Even players who chose differently the first time will likely find themselves giving this decision a second look in the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition in light of the recent news.
The Mass Effect: Legendary Edition isn’t the only huge Mass Effect announcement revealed over the last few months. BioWare also released a trailer at The Game Awards 2020 for the next chapter in the Mass Effect series – colloquially known as Mass Effect 4 – which appeared to show fan-favorite companion Liara T’Soni walking past the husk of a ginormous dead Reaper to find a piece of N7 armor which could even hint at Commander Shepard’s survival.
The new Mass Effect 4 trailer points heavily to the Destroy ending being the canonical ending to Mass Effect 3. Its controversial ending saw players choose between three options: Synthesis, Control, and Destroy. Synthesis saw all synthetic and organic life in the galaxy merge, Control saw Shepard give up their human form to take over the Reapers as an AI, and the Destroy ending eliminated all synthetic life in the galaxy.
The Destroy ending is considered the best ending by some Mass Effect fans because it’s the only one that will hint at Shepard’s survival if the player has a high enough Effective Military Strength when they enter the final battle. It’s not as cut and dry as that, however. The Destroy ending also kills all the Geth regardless of whether or not peace way made between them and their creators, the Quarians, as well as killing two companions: Legion the Geth and Normandy AI EDI.
Many fans of Mass Effect will be hoping to replay the remastered original trilogy in preparation for the release of Mass Effect 4, and the seeming reveal that the Destroy ending is canon may see far more players pick it this time around. The Mass Effect 3 ending was controversial at release because it didn’t really factor in the player’s decisions beyond the final choice itself. However, this will also likely make it far easier for players to change their decision.
On the other hand, it also makes Mass Effect 3’s final decision feel even more arbitrary now. Commander Shepard can still choose the Synthesis or Control endings, but since the vast majority of fans will want to continue the story in Mass Effect 4, those choices no longer feel as valid.
The exact nature of Mass Effect 4’s canon has yet to be revealed, though an image of what appears to be a human-built Mass Relay also supports the idea that the Destroy ending was canon and destroyed the Mass Relays, requiring them to be rebuilt after the defeat of the Reapers. There may be other decisions which are also made canonical in order to allow Mass Effect 4’s story to develop from a clear starting point, such as the decision to cure the genophage. Whether or not these are revealed before launch, however, will likely hugely affect many players’ decisions as they dive in to the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition releases for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X in spring 2021.
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