Characters look better than ever in the Mass Effect Legendary Edition

Lighting, textures, and worlds have all gotten an upgrade.

What you need to know

• Electronic Arts is releasing a remaster of the Mass Effect Trilogy, called the Legendary Edition, on May 14.
• The Legendary Edition is getting a number of quality of life updates to fix problems and improve gameplay.
• It's released a new trailer showing off the visual makeover it's given to the characters and environments.

EA and Bioware today released a new trailer showing off the updates to the Mass Effect Legendary Edition, along with a blog post detailing the visual and graphical overhaul coming with the remaster. From the looks of things, the update is very noticeable, and will make some of the locations and characters look almost unrecognizable.

Naturally, given its age, most of the examples of the improvements are shown with the original Mass Effect for the sake of contrast. And it is a big contrast — the character models from the first game look practically primitive by comparison. You can make out the hex pattern on Tali's environmental suit, the details in Liara's eyes, every one of Ashley's eyelashes.

Most of the character models appear to have been given subtle tweaks to look a little less odd — for example, Liara's aforementioned eyes are less wide and spaced slightly further apart, and her skin is bluer and more consistent with her character model in the third game. Commander Shepard's appearance has also been

There have also been updates to the world and lighting. Scenes are no longer lit so dimly you have to squint to see what's going on. The artists gave the game's environments a new look: "New environmental particle effects were added throughout the trilogy to better enhance the mood and a space's sense of life." Everything's been "beautified," as well — their word, not mine.

The blog post gives full details on how this was done, including how much foundational work had to be done before the actual makeover could begin. Several of the changes were made not just for beauty, but in service to the lore — Eden Prime was reworked in the first game to look more like the "verdant paradise planet" it's intended to be.

The Mass Effect Legendary Edition launches on May 14 for the Xbox One, PS4, and PC. It'll also be available on Xbox Series X/S and PS5 via those consoles' backwards compatibility.

The Reapers are Coming

Mass Effect Legendary Edition on Xbox One

$60 at Amazon

$60 at Best Buy

$60 at Microsoft

Experience Commander Shepard's journey all over again

The Mass Effect trilogy returns with improved graphics, upgraded gameplay, and all the DLC included.