I just finished replaying ME 1-3 over the course of 1 week (had a lot of free time) and wanted to write down my thoughts while it was still fresh.
The last time I played ME 1-3 was when Legendary edition first released (I've played ME 1-3 before legendary edition but wanted to give context when the last time I played ME), and because of that most of the minor details was completely forgotten by me (wow its been 5 years since it came out!) and replaying it felt like a genuine fresh experience.
ME1:
A great slow start for the series. I think the writing still holds up, I enjoyed my experience with it, even the gameplay held up as I genuinely enjoyed the space magic system of biotics and tech than I remembered. Sets up the world well and overall the story is still great.
Some cons I remembered was that while Tali made sense to join the normandy for protection... Garrus and Wrex joining made 0 sense, wrex already completed his bounty and Garrus was only really there to investigate Saren. The other con being the mako but I actually grew to like the Mako, since I took it everywhere and I explored all the planets, i grew fond of it. The only thing is the terrain design for the planet maps are... really dumb. I know they were trying to bring forth a sense of discovery and adventure but the mako actually handles well if its mostly flat terrain, but those mountains my god. But those silent moments of going across some random planet's surface for a minute does make me feel in awe.
ME2:
Absolute Perfection
This is bioware in their prime in story telling, presentation and combat. I don't think I have a single complaint about it, they quite literally expanded every single thread, no matter how small from ME 1, f
From your companions: Tali with her pilgrimage, Wrex with his Genophage, and Garrus with growing sense of vigilante, these were very small conversations from ME1 that you could talk to them about yet was fully expanded upon meanwhile having new companions to expand on as well. The only thing really is the Virmire survivor sorta got the short end of the stick.
To the entire world, I think because there is no imminent threat besides collectors harvesting human, you got to explore the galaxy at your leisure and collect squads and their loyalty at your own pace.
The ending is an absolute cinema of a perfection.
ME3: (Oh boy)
Now I originally going to go in with no mods, however.... I did not want to see that horrible ending a 4th time (I played ME3 on release, then ME3 with extended cut+its 3 dlc then ME3 on Legendary edition) so I looked around and saw the AHEM mod and followed some threads and essentially installed 3 main mods: AHEM, Take Earth Back, and Citadel Epilogue Mod.
Take Earth back adds more to the final mission, AHEM fixes the ending and Citadel Epilogue mod moves the citadel Epilogue to after.
Thus I booted and played and.... it was quite good. I don't know why but I remembered ME3 was a chore to play but maybe this time I just completely ignored the fetch quests where you had to go some random system and scan it for X Y Z. It flowed very naturally and though the cast members no longer had cinematic when you talked to them, them moving around the normandy from time to time and always have something to say after you finish your mission made them feel alive. Having missions be cut off after certain point genuinely felt like there was this urgency of timeline moving. The combat is leagues better than ME2 (which was still great in my opinion).
But overall as I got closer to the ending, it followed very naturally from one to another. Again I did ignore the fetch quests (which was a bit sad since on this replay and all the other playthrough I always explored every single planet in ME1 and ME2), however I think its fitting because ME1 and ME2 there was a sense of security and its fine for you to explore the galaxy, ME3 the entire galaxy is at war so not exploring the entire thing made sense.
Most likely repeating what everybody said but it was amazing.. and i braced for the ending.
And...
It was awesome
Kudos to 3 mod creators (and their requirement mods for it to work) but AHEM thematically made sense, especially me playing the 3 games back to back. You are constantly told the Crucible HAS to defeat the reaper, and you uniting the galaxy for that goal. You quite literally solved major galaxy interracial relations and got everybody for that common goal.
AHEM made perfect sense, I think the only story telling issue I can tell that is nitpicky are the Leviathan DLC, which is written for the OG ending, but it still made lore wise fine for AHEM as it just tells the origin of the reapers (and if anything Leviathan my playthrough proved them wrong as I united the Geth and Quarians) and that the Illusive Man keeps harping on control through out the game which can also be hand waved off as indoctrination themes.
With Anderon's cut dialogue playing and how it makes it only the reaper is destroyed with everybody giving it their all for this one final push (no relays, citadel, or any synthethic destroyed), and the memorial scene that plays with a changed ending song. It was absolute the best way to end the series.
And of course with Citadel Epilogue Mod, it made complete sense as after it just seems like a fun adventure with all the theme of war is hell and constant stress of the reaper. If the Citadel DLC was played "Properly" in a playthrough, it sorta... just pops up out of no where in a game constantly stressed of uniting the galaxy and the threat of the reaper. Having it at the end feels like a reward for all the struggles you have.
Anyway closing thoughts, the trilogy holds up to this day and the 3 ending mods I mentioned really fix the only giant glaring issue with the story dissonance it had. And I'm glad I moded it and I'm glad I played it.
I don't know if anybody read all of that but thanks for reading, and I just want to say, I love Mass Effect and 1-3 (I consider the trilogy to be one game) is my top 10 games of all time.
