Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is finally here, and the modding community has already come together to deliver some more graphical fixes, shortcuts, and cheats that are all available to download right now.
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Judging from both critical and fan reactions, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition offers the best way to play the original trilogy by boasting updated textures and higher resolution, as well as increased frame rate on up-to-date systems and the option to play as female Shepard in the older titles. This is all together in one cohesive, albeit hefty 80-120 GB package (depending on your system of choice).
Although the Legendary Edition hasn't been out for too long, NexusMods supports and offers several mods that can greatly impact your playthrough. The community releases new mods almost every day, but here are eight of the best mods for Mass Effect: Legendary Edition that you can download and install right now.
8Better Colors and Lighting Reshade Preset
The original Mass Effect game had a very flat and grey color scheme that would be altered for the Legendary Edition. The Better Colors and Lighting Reshade Preset mod by Devinite adds additional grading and effects with the goal of keeping more in line with the original titles as a priority. The Legendary Edition drew some criticism from its brighter colors and noticeable saturation, which in turn spawned this and similar mods to restore the original games' overall tone.
Players will be happy to know that this mod is compatible for all three games, and has a list of all the added visual effects before downloading. These effects include adjusted brightness levels (darker blacks, brighter whites), adjusted contrast and saturation curves, and additional tonemapping, bloom effects, and lens flares. Keep in mind that this all comes at a cost of a 5-10 FPS drop.
THEGAMER VIDEO OF THE DAY7Toggle HUD
This mod from dukeofkiewit might turn off players looking for more of a casual experience. The HUD from the original games slowly improved as the next entries released, but it's still fair to claim that it remains rather busy.
Though offering a more cinematic and hardcore feel to gameplay, some necessary information from the HUD like player health and objective locations are not displayed. The ability to toggle the HUD with just the click of the F11 key does diminish some of the concerns, however.
6Higher FOV
The default FOV included in the Legendary Edition and in the original games is rather tight, giving off that stuck-to-the-back of the character feeling. The Higher FOV mod from JadeBarker aims to include some breathing room by adding a slider for FOV that goes up to 100.
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At first, it might not seem like such a noticeable difference, but when you crank that sucker up to max FOV, visibility drastically increases. Additional accessibility options are never a bad thing.
5Same Sex Mod For Default Shepards
The Same Sex mod from Biganimefan2 allows players of the first Mass Effect game to partake in a same sex relationship for either of the two default Shepards. If it's offered in the following installments, it makes more sense to add back into the original.
The Mass Effect series is all about player choice and how those choices inevitably impact later events in the game. Having more options, whether or not it pertains to romance, is always welcomed with open arms.
4Perfect Cinematic Lighting
Though this entry is another reshader, it offers a much different vibe than the other. Created and shared by modder detran, the Perfect Cinematic Lighting mod includes a complete overhaul in the graphics department with realistic lighting and sharpened textures.
It definitely is an acquired taste, considering the stark differences from the vanilla version, but it's yet another example of a harmless mod that would be interesting to apply for following playthroughs. At first glance, this resembles a big summer sci-fi blockbuster release, and it's great!
3Extra Keybinds
ACVIPERpro brings us extra keybinds to make Mass Effect 2 better for people using a keyboard and mouse. Mouse Smoothing is disabled, FOV can be cranked up to 100, there are now separate keys for interaction, sprinting and cover, players can now toggle off lens flare and fog, and additionally, shortcut keys to the journal, skills, and codex have been implemented.
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This mod stays in line among the majority of mods available for Legendary Edition right now, as most aim to alter FOV and lighting. Players love accessibility, and this mod includes a ton of useful options. It isn't explicitly stated whether or not it's compatible with all three games, so make note of that before downloading.
2Custom Launcher (AVX Bypass)
If your CPU isn't as up-to-date as it should be, there's a chance the launcher won't run. An older CPU might not support the AVX instruction set, and the launcher itself does require AVX support, even though the games themselves do not.
This Custom Launcher developed by dvidebyzero bypasses the Legendary Edition launcher's AVX instruction set requirement so that older CPUs can now run the three games. It's not exactly the most exciting mod available for the game currently, but it's one that can definitely help a significant amount of people run all three.
1LEME1 Cheats And Utilities
Aside from the litany of technical mods available, the LEME1 Cheat and Utilities mods by lozzer22 creates console cheats activated via function keys. Like others on this list, it also includes fixes for the FOV for your convenience.
The cheats and utilities offered within this package are XP boosts, plus or minus 100,000 credits, squad talent points, Electronic and Decryption talent points, FOV fix at 90, and Max Paragon and Renegade. Not everyone is exactly privy to the idea of adding cheats to their game, but they are there if you ever want a quick and easy advantage over your extraterrestrial foes.
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