Parents' Guide to

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition

By Chad Sapieha, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

Fantastic sci-fi trilogy has blood, sex, adult themes.

Game PlayStation 4 , Windows , Xbox One 2021
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

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age 13+

Based on 5 parent reviews

Commander Drugs Shepard
Commander Drugs Shepard Parent of 18+, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6-year-old
September 6, 2022
age 14+

Greatest Game Trilogy Ever / Game-by-Game Run Down

Literally the greatest video game series of all time. I could write a 100+ page essay on the excellency of this game. Not really a hot take or anything, by the second is the best game in the series by far. As for an appropriate age rating, I think people really overestimate the inappropriate themes in it. Here's a run down: 1. The first game is barely rated Mature. Honestly, if they made a movie from every single bit of content in it, it'd be rated PG-13. There are barely any sexual references, curse words, or extreme violence. Yes, shooting is a major part of it. However, there's close to no blood at all. The Ragdoll physics are also very comically unrealistic. 2. Now, the second game is much more mature. There's a significant rise in curse words. It prominently comes from the character Jack. Her outfit is also a little skimpy. But, hey, if that bothers you, she's an optional recruit. There are a few more sexual references in this one. 3. The curse words are.... rampant in the third game. Commander Shepard and Admiral Anderson say "bull***t" like, every five minutes. Jack also exists in this one, too. Again, she's optional. The violence is also uped in this instalment. When you get a headshot, your victim's brains explode. Not the most graphic animation ever, but it still happens. There's also some moderate drinking done by both NPCs and the player character in this one. Anyway, I genuinely think this game trilogy is the greatest of all time. The gameplay, storytelling, characters, and most other things are a serious 10/10 for me.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Too much swearing
1 person found this helpful.
John B.
John B. Adult
July 15, 2023
age 2+
See all 5 parent reviews

What’s It About?

MASS EFFECT: LEGENDARY EDITION collects the original Mass Effect trilogy in a single package and polishes the aging series to a surprisingly high sheen. It tells the story of Shepard, a human space soldier who's assigned to protect a multi-species galactic civilization being threatened on multiple fronts by unknown forces. In each game, Shepard collects a crew of allies -- humans and aliens -- who assist with this mission as the group flies to star systems throughout the galaxy pursuing leads, getting into firefights with aggressive enemies, and becoming involved in various social, economic, and political situations. The choices players make echo down through the following games, meaning that if a key character is provided aid, is rebuffed or insulted, or is saved or left to die, Shepard will eventually experience the consequences of these actions. While a good chunk of time in these games is spent in conversation, which is where you learn not just about other characters but also the galaxy, its history, its people, and various conflicts, players will also spend plenty of time exploring and in combat. Planetary investigation may involve driving around in rovers, sending probes to survey for minerals and artifacts, or carrying out reconnaissance in and around ground-based facilities. Battles are viewed from a third-person perspective, with the player in direct control of Shepard and issuing commands to squad mates. All members of Shepard's team have their own special abilities unlocked by leveling up, and they can be equipped with their own armor and weapons. Upgrades made specifically for this collection feature a host of visual improvements, including new textures for environments, enhanced character models, and support for 4K resolution. Loading times have been drastically reduced, and the user interface has been tweaked to be more consistent across all three games. BioWare has also extensively modified combat to make it feel more balanced and intuitive for players used to modern games. Notably absent, though, is Mass Effect 3's multiplayer mode.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (5 ):
Kids say (3 ):

Some people have called the original trilogy in this franchise the best sci-fi video game saga of all time, and it's hard to disagree. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition presents this huge, intricately connected story in all its original glory, making significant visual improvements that should keep modern players from fretting over dated graphics and altering the feel of combat encounters to bring them more in line with current action games. That's all fine and dandy -- BioWare has clearly put more time and energy into these upgrades than the vast majority of older remastered games released for today's hardware -- but the real reason Mass Effect became a phenomenon in video games is its fleshed out and sympathetic characters, sophisticated themes and narrative (which often double as commentary on our own social problems), and its prodigious world-building…or should we say galaxy-building. These elements are unchanged in this new collection, but, as testament to just how good they were, they've aged exceptionally well, and are just as compelling now as they were when the original game launched in 2007.

Hardcore sci-fi fans will love the scientific details and ethical conundrums scattered throughout all three games. In command of the Normandy -- an iconic ship with nearly as much personality as the Millennium Falcon -- players visit literally hundreds of planets, each with its own surprisingly deep scientific description. And many of the plot threads -- such as a species nearly killed off and made nomadic by their own artificial intelligence technology -- are focused on dilemmas with which our own scientists here on Earth must contend. The heart of the game, though, is Shepard, a protagonist who must constantly make tough choices and live with the results, both good and bad. Shepard feels like an extension of yourself as the player's own feelings and morality inevitably affect their decisions. The relationships Shepard creates (and potentially ruins) with the crew, non-player characters, and even some antagonists feel real, as does the cast of secondary characters, many of whom players will come to view almost as friends. There are plenty of problems that BioWare was unable to fix, including some wonky combat artificial intelligence and rudimentary puzzles for things like decrypting computers and locks, but Mass Effect: Legendary Edition nonetheless stands as an exemplar of what a studio can do to bring a beloved classic to a new audience of players.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about screen time. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is a collection of three big games representing well over 100 hours of play time, so what measures do you take to ensure your play sessions are satisfying without going on too long?

  • Do you believe that we have free will and are capable of making spontaneous choices, or is everything pre-determined and we're just living through it? What are some of the consequences of these two points of view?

Game Details

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