Mass Effect: Legendary Edition – Mass Effect 3’s Galaxy at War Changes Detailed

BioWare has lots of information to share on Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, aside from a new video which compares the performance of the remasters with the original trilogy. In a new PlayStation Blog post, community manager Jay Ingram outlines changes to several systems including the Galaxy at War mechanic in Mass Effect 3. In the third game, completing different activities and acquiring different assets was key to preparing for the fight against the Reapers.

However, you also had to engage in multiplayer for the Galactic Readiness rating (failure to do so would increase the availability of total forces). With multiplayer removed in the Legendary Edition, Galactic Readiness no longer depends on outside factors. But you’ll now have to complete more content throughout the trilogy to be prepared for the final battle.

Of course, as Ingram reveals, “If you only play Mass Effect 3, you’ll have to do just about every option available in the game to be eligible for an ending that doesn’t result in massive galactic losses.” However, to reliably achieve good results, playing the first two games and then carrying over progress is the best option. It was noted, however, that even with the Extended Cut – whose ending is the default conclusion – and its Galactic Readiness rebalancing, “fully preparing for the final fight will be more difficult to achieve in the Legendary Edition.”

Thankfully, numerous bugs have been fixed and improvements made to Mass Effect 2’s Paragon/Renegade system, which should lead to better results in the third game’s finale. “We resolved some legacy issues that inhibited accurate reputation stats from being displayed and outright prevented certain dialogue options from being selectable when they should have been. Because of this, key moments that have been notoriously difficult to achieve in ME2 (and impacted ME3) can now be completed more reliably, leading to better results in the story’s final act.”

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is out on May 14th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.