Mass Effect Legendary Edition was announced on N7 Day earlier this month, confirming long-standing rumors that EA and BioWare had plans to release a remastered version of the original Mass Effect trilogy at some point over the next year. The teaser trailer showed some of the fan-favorite companions that players got to know and love over the original trilogy and gave fans a hint at the sort of graphical upgrades they might be able to expect from the remaster.
Some of the companions shown look better than others, and there are a few key principles which can be used to figure out how and why. The teaser trailer makes it likely that BioWare is focusing on some key areas when upgrading the Mass Effect trilogy’s graphics for Mass Effect Legendary Edition, and this complements the designs of certain characters more than others.
Garrus Vakarian
Fans didn't get to see much of beloved turian companion Garrus Vakarian head-on in the trailer, though he was the only character to get two spots in the trailer's opening. Both shots focused on the character looking away from the camera. However, a few things already appear likely regarding the graphical upgrade Garrus will undergo for the remaster.
Though it could be exaggerated for the sake of the N7 Day announcement trailer, the lighting and the way that Garrus' model interacts with that lighting seems to be far more complex in the Mass Effect Legendary Edition. Lighting appears to be one major focus on the graphical upgrades which are being applied to the remaster, which has some big implications for some of the other characters and unique implications for a sci-fi series like Mass Effect where character designs vary greatly.
Liara and Miranda
The focus on textures and lighting could mean that the characters who have less human features will be more positively affected by the graphical enhancements of the Legendary Edition than those who more closely resemble humans. This leaves characters like Liara and Miranda with the short end of the stick. While their graphics have certainly been improved, there's something about them which looks strangely smoother in the new trailer.
Perhaps it's a side-effect of the way the lighting works, which might help create more detailed surfaces on the shiny, hard exoskeletons of characters like Garrus. For Miranda and Liara, however, the graphical leap forward doesn't seem to be nearly as great as some of the more alien companions in Mass Effect. Without parts of their faces to particularly catch the new light, it's hard for the graphical upgrades to shine through with these characters.
Indeed, the fact that Liara is a long-lived asari while Miranda is genetically modified to appear young doesn't help matters, and the lack of wrinkles or details on their faces to catch the light or show the new level of textural detail means that these two characters appear to be effected the least by the new graphics of the characters seen so far.
Mordin Solus
To see this opposite in effect, fans need only look to the new model being shown off for salarian scientist Mordin Solus. Mordin's huge, reflective eyes, metal neck-gear, and intensely wrinkled, textured face makes him stand out among the upgraded companions. It isn't that Mordin's design has necessarily been focused on more, but rather that the large graphical changes like improvements to light physics and textural detail have a greater effect on a character like Mordin whose design allows those upgrades to be most easily shown off.
The fact that his face isn't human helps as well, as while there's still a long way to go before human faces like Miranda's look totally photo-realistic in video games, the standard for less recognizable kinds of faces falls far lower. Fans of Mordin, who is involved in some of the most difficult decisions in the Mass Effect trilogy, will be happy to see how the graphical enhancements appear to be affecting him in the upcoming remaster.
Tali
Tali is another character whose design complements the graphical upgrades well. Her face is, for the vast majority of the trilogy, simply a reflective surface. This gives the light upgrades a fantastic chance to shine, and if BioWare is able to nail reflective surfaces in the Mass Effect Legendary Edition, the effect on Tali's design will be very noticeable.
For now, however, that remains unclear, with the trailer not showing the character with enough surroundings to judge. Tali's textured clothing also helps show off the textural upgrades being made in the Legendary Edition, making her model likely to be among those most complemented by the enhancements. Whether or not her controversial face reveal from Mass Effect 3 will be edited remains to be seen.
Thane
Thane is somewhere between the more alien and more human characters. In the trailer not much is seen of Thane head-on, which makes judging just how much he's been upgraded more difficult. However, there are reasons to think Thane's design could be among those most complemented by the new graphics. First, he has large, reflective eyes which could benefit from any updates to light physics.
Second, his skin is not only intensely textured with scales, but has a reptilian sheen to it which could show off both textural and lighting upgrades. Though the structure of his face remains relatively human compared to some of the other aliens featured in the series, it also has strange features like division lines and gill-like protrusions which could help the character's design shine through in the Mass Effect remaster.
Wrex
Finally, Wrex helps show off just how much the most alien companions in Mass Effect have to gain from the graphical enhancements of the Mass Effect Legendary Edition. The Krogan's plated head allows for the light physics to be shown off, his scales and wrinkled skin allow for textures and further light interaction to shine through, and the amount of small details from scars to armor scuffs will likely help make Wrex's graphical leap forward among the best the remaster has to offer.
However, fans only have these few images from the teaser trailer to go by. It's possible that the companions will look very different under a different light that more accurately reflects most of the lighting across the original trilogy. For now, however, it appears that the more alien the Mass Effect companion - the more scaly, shiny, bug-eyed - the more their design is able to take advantage of the graphical upgrades of the Mass Effect Legendary Edition.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition releases spring 2021 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with compatibility on the PS5 and Xbox Series X.