In case you missed it, BioWare announced that they're bringing the original Mass Effect trilogy to current consoles, along with a couple of changes. Most of those changes, like improved frame rates, fixed Mako controls and character models as well as making ME3's Extended Cut's ending the default instead of the original ending, are being welcomed, but not all.
BioWare environment director Brian Meek spoke to the Metro in an interview about the remaster. He said that the meme-spawning "look-at" system that told characters where to look in cutscenes is being readjusted so characters don't go cross-eyed all of a sudden, but the infamous spinning head glitch is being left in as a little Easter egg. He then spoke about the improvements to FemShep's animations, since she originally used the same animations that were originally created for male Shepard, before revealing that camera angles during certain cutscenes will also be changed to be less fanservice-y.
"But specifically for female Shepherd, I think there was a lot of things that we could do across the trilogy to make that better, so that she’s a bit more on par with male Shepherd. Whether it be just some subtle face shape changes or some wrinkles or support or whatever, so she’s catching the light and the same kind of quality level. And then specifically around the animations, we couldn’t really change a lot of those, but there were times where you could change the camera to not focus on one of those animations. So a male Shepherd animation would have him sitting with his legs quite wide open with a low camera where, if you were wearing a skirt, it would be a bit unflattering. So we can’t necessarily change that animation, but you can raise that camera up slightly to reduce the problem."
FemShep's crotch wasn't the only victim of the new camera angles, as project director Mac Walters went on to say in the same interview:
"Kevin actually called out some camera cuts that were just… why was that focusing on Miranda’s butt? So in some cases we said, ‘Okay, we can make a change there’. But ultimately, to change an entire character model or something like that wasn’t really… it was a decision that was made as part of many creative decisions and just showing it at the best possible fidelity that we could going forward is really the choice for all of the art that we had."
It'll still be there during gameplay, but a booty like hers deserves to be cherished and given new life in 4K HDR, not pushed out of frame like a Simpsons joke on Disney+. The series' signature sex scenes will be left intact for what it's worth, but I feel the decision to change the camera angles is odd and performative. If the sex scene is the reward you're given for following a companion's questline, then dat ass is the motivation to finish it in Miranda's case. Hell, the only Mass Effect I've played is the demo of the second game and Miranda's ass is the first thing I think of when someone mentions the series. But that's probably just because of all the hentai and Ass Effect puns.
M Effect (get it cos they took the ass out lmao) Legendary Edition launches on May 14 for PC, Xbone and PS4, and will be forward compatible for Xbox Series X and PS5. Are you looking forward to replaying the trilogy? Or going through them for the first time? What do you think of these changes? Let us know below!
