Every replay of the Mass Effect games tends to start with a promise: this time, you’ll do things differently. Then Shepard makes the same speech, you bring the same squad, and you’re right back where you started. BioWare’s Mass Effect Legendary Edition, the remastered trilogy released in May 2021, makes starting over easy. But the best replay value is in changing the rules. Swap the class you always play, tank a choice on purpose, or finish the whole thing with one gun. These eight runs each come with their own mission parameters. And this time, maybe you’ll really do things differently.
Spoilers for major plot points throughout the Mass Effect trilogy.
8
Let Cerberus rebuild you as a Vanguard
Mission parameters: Come back from the dead as a biotic
Commander Shepard dies in the opening minutes of Mass Effect 2. On the first playthrough of the trilogy, this is earth-shattering. On a replay, it’s more of an opportunity. As Shepard gets a new body, you get a chance at a new playstyle. Interested in skipping the first game and its slower exploration vibe entirely? You can: Import your last Mass Effect 1 save, keep your major choices, and swap your class on the way in. (Or start fresh at the second game in the Legendary Edition, which lets you skip the first installment entirely.) The Vanguard, a biotic class built around the Charge, a power that launches you into the middle of a fight, is a good option. Pick a class you’ve never played, and let Cerberus take the blame.
7
Go Renegade, with three exceptions
Mission parameters: Red options everywhere — except to save Wrex, the Rachni Queen, and the Council
The Renegade path is an uneven one in this trilogy. Your dialogue options are color-coded: You get a blue, diplomatic Paragon option and a red, ruthless Renegade one. The red options mean different things at different times. In Mass Effect 1, they swing between prejudice, efficiency, and plain rudeness. By the time you get to Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3, the Renegade options settle on one primary idea: Getting the job done at any cost. One effective approach, is to take the red option nearly every time, and go Paragon only for the choices the sequels depend upon. Be ruthless, but leave a few people alive. Like Wrex, at least. For the story’s sake.
6
Write an unexpected headcanon Shepard
Mission parameters: Pick a less-expected combo of one of Mass Effect 1’s three histories and one of its three profiles. Then answer every dialogue wheel in full character
Mass Effect 1 asks you to pick a pre-service history (Spacer, Colonist, or Earthborn) and a psychological profile (Sole Survivor, War Hero, or Ruthless). Each history and profile unlocks its own mission, like “Old Friends” for Earthborn Shepards, where a former gang member asks you for a favor.
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