Let me start by saying that this article needs to be taken with a grain of salt since no official announcements have been made, we’re just going off of data leaks at this point so treat this as conjecture.

The Mass Effect Trilogy has been getting a lot of buzz lately with rumors of a Remaster finally gaining some substance. Since these are some of my favorite games of all time, I’ve been watching the information like a hawk as it comes out. While the Remasters haven’t been officially announced yet, many other sources have already determined that they’re a sure thing and should be releasing some time this fall. Although there is also evidence to the contrary as the biggest leak thus far is claiming that the release date won’t be announced until N7 Day (that’s 11/7 for any normies out there) and that the games have secretly been in development since 2017. Speaking of that biggest leak, the most solid evidence we have to go on right now comes from reddit where someone claiming to be an EA QA tester basically cracked a big old egg of wisdom on us, although they could be lying so once again, bring a few grains of salt to sprinkle on these eggs. Before any of this I was already in the middle of replaying every game in the series for a few articles I wanted to write, so I figured these announcements would make a great starting point for those. So let’s get to the juicy details!

Changes Present in All 3 Games

Graphics - The games will all be receiving updates to graphics and character models, apparently similar to Dragon Age: Inquisition in quality, the first game in the series has the most noticeable improvements, while the 3rd is really only noticeable in side by side comparisons.

Combat - The combat will be more streamlined and consistent across the three games. They say to expect ME: Andromeda levels of combat fluidity (quit your bitching, the combat in that game rocks harder than any other game in the series… when it works anyway) with an equipment and inventory system similar to ME3. There is no mention of which version of the class/skill system we’ll be getting.

Exploration - Planetary Exploration for all three games is more in line with the planet scanning system from ME3. Part 1 still has a few planets you can land on to explore, however they are still small compared to what you would get in ME: Andromeda.

DLC - All DLC will be included as base game content for all three games.

Previously Cut Content - Previously cut content will be added to each game, adding several hours of gameplay.

Changes in Mass Effect 1

Level Designs - Some of the levels and a few of the boss battles have been changed to work better with the new combat gameplay. Notably the Benezia fight no longer occurs in the Rachni Queen room, and the Saren fight occurs in a more expanded environment.

Hubs - Shepard’s Cabin has been added to the Normandy, and the Citadel has been “livened up”. This includes more NPC interactions, ambient conversations, and the clubs/c-sec and certain areas of the presidium are also completely redesigned.

Added Scenes - The "Sacrifice" scene has new cutscenes added to show the fates of the squad member from their perspective. You are also able to start romances earlier and if you are romancing the one who was not left behind there is an added moment after with that particular love interest.

Changes in Mass Effect 2

Hubs - They have added more to the hub worlds instead of giving planets to explore. The Presidium and Wards from ME1 have been added with obvious environmental changes from the aftermath of ME1. Parts of Omega that were cut from the base game have been added to the remaster.

Relationships - they have made the game "more adult" as in certain romance scenes/environments are no longer strategically "non nude".

Added Scenes - After you complete "Arrival" which only activates after you beat the main quests. They have added extra content Where Shepard turns him/herself in to the Alliance. During this "epilogue" you can interact with Kaiden or Ashley briefly.

Changes in Mass Effect 3

Asset System - The War Asset System returns but is easier to manage and you cannot unlock Asset Quests until you reach certain points in the game.

Relationships - If you play as Female Shepard you can also sleep with Aria after the Omega Mission as long as you are not currently in a relationship with anyone else. Apparently Aria doesn't like that. Like the ME2 Remaster they have made the game "more adult", but who cares about that, just show us Tali’s face already!

Added Scenes - You get to play an extremely brief "Prologue" as Admiral Anderson prior to the Reaper Invasion. This allows players to see a little bit of Earth prior to its destruction which was a major complaint from the original release. They have also added a bit more to the ending of the game. Any romance interest you have assuming they are still alive will be able to have a physical in person goodbye with Shepard before the final mission.

Ending - The ending has not been changed in any capacity. However some of the cut content is more towards the end of the game. Fuck you too, Bioware, fuck you too.

Conclusions

All in all I’d be incredibly happy with this list of changes. It delivers about 90% of what I’d be looking for, plus some stuff other people care about that I don’t, and doesn’t seem interested in screwing anything up. My only disappointment is that the somewhat anti climactic ending is being left in tact… though I hope they update the last mission a bit so that you can see how some of your different choices play out. Honestly though, I’m skeptical. As I mentioned in the beginning there has been no official announcement or anything, and maybe I’m being a bit pessimistic, but I’ve found that when it comes to EA and big franchise games “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” definitely applies. I’ll love it if they prove me wrong though. Also it’s probably not in the cards, but a Switch version would be killer. I have way more time for handheld gaming these days. Either way, if/when this drops I might end up blowing through all my banked up vacation and sick time… and then just no-call no-showing, depends how long it takes.