my specific Legendary Edition vs Originals ?
Hi LE players! I own the original trilogy with just From Ashes & Leviathan as expansions, back then had to buy them with the Bioware points system, but felt they were both essential to the story...turned out they were!
Loved that first playthrough...about 5-6 years ago now. Very rarely do I want to play a game (or series of games) through twice...but i'm already itching to do the trilogy again.
You'd think i got lucky with the timing of LE, and it being on sale now. But after watching some comparisons & reading some reviews, a few things bug me:
1) several players report the enemy & squad Ai has been altered: ostensibly to appear more realistic (taking cover etc) but this had the net result in making the combat much easier, even on Insanity. i finished the original ME3 on insanity and enjoyed the tactical, almost chess-like, combat. But many report this feeling missing in the LE editions. Now combats feel more like an action cover-shooter, are more hectic and quicker to complete...with rarely any casualties or sense of danger.
Is this a real change or are players' memories playing tricks with them?
2) unlike i guess most, i really enjoyed original ME1's loose gameplay: the slow build-up of steady sniping (felt like a reward to finally get it steady), even the Mako was enjoyable. The cleaner tighter ME2 was fine, tho' not necessarily better. ME3 on insanity was perfect.
I wonder if i'd enjoy ME1 LE's gameplay as much, as it's supposed to be more like ME2 now.
3) Eden Prime, and the first encounter with a Reaper, looked moody, mysterious and, crucially, alien. But on LE (going by youtube) the planet looks like Earth, and the flying-away Reaper i almost missed because of a distracting sun flare effect. I appreciate the (much) better resolution, but the rest was less impactful. Looking at the rest of LE, it seems there's a more even brighter lighting...which might impact mood & atmosphere.
The feeling of mystery is important in immersion - ala suspension of disbelief - and i wonder if too bright & even lighting may hinder this feeling.
4) like revisiting a favourite movie, book or record, i will likely replay the trilogy with the same default male Shepherd...as otherwise it will feel like replacing Luke Skywalker in the original SW trilogy with someone else. Default Male Shep is iconic to me, just can't imagine it without him. I also really enjoyed the voice actor's development: from a stoic monotone in ME1, to a weary wounded hero in ME3. And that EPIC threeway-dialogue near the end of ME3 is probably my favourite scene in all of gaming. So no female Shep option. According to some LE footage i've seen, default male Shep has weirdly open eyes (sanpaku-like), this isn't something I remember from the originals.
Does this happen often with the weird eyes or is it only sometimes? How distracted were you by it?
The LE has its advantages too: resolution detail, improved load times and all the expansions...
So i'm faced with a choice:
a) spend €22 (current sale price of ME2/3 DLC packages) to secure the two acclaimed expansions i missed first time round: Shadow Broker and Citadel. And replay the original games.
or
b) spend €30 (current sale price) to get LE.
The €8 difference is essentially meaningless. Based on what I've posted above, are there other reasons for choosing LE over the originals that I missed? Because at the moment i'm more inclined to spend the €22 and replay the originals.
Sale ends in 2 days 🙂
