A short time ago today, BioWare took the time to release a one-two punch of updates that focus on the visual changes coming with Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. This comes about a week after we were introduced to a number of gameplay changes coming to the trilogy.
BioWare says that their goal from the start was to "improve and enhance the visuals while staying true to the original aesthetics of the trilogy." They say that in going the route of a remaster and not a remake allowed them to "build upon the original assets in a way that resembles the polishing phase in a normal development cycle."
Today's blog entry goes into detail about what these changes really entail. Meanwhile, the included comparison trailer is a slightly easier to digest visual feast that will show you what those changes are without going into too many details. For instance, the blog tells us that the team worked to improve over 30,000 textures across the three games. The team also upgraded their version of Unreal Engine 3 to be a "more updated and unified version."
Other features like lighting got near complete overhauls in many cases. They also say that while they aren't using physically based rendering (PBR), they still worked with textures to ensure things like plastics, fabrics, and metals reacted to light in a more convincing way. Shaders are improved. Particle effects have been improved. Even the UI got some massive overhauls in cases due to the change in resolution to 4K.
Cinematics across the entire trilogy have also been improved. BioWare says that when possible they "completely re-rendered the pre-rendered cutscenes in 4K."
Eden Prime is the first location you land on in Mass Effect. It’s described to you as a verdant paradise planet under attack by an unknown alien ship, but the sight that greeted players didn’t always align with that image. Luckily, in the Mass Effect 3: From Ashes DLC (which is, of course, included in the Legendary Edition) we’d already revisited Eden Prime, so we could incorporate its overall atmosphere and specific buildings. We’ve moved the sun’s placement so that the player’s path forward is now illuminated by evening light while the burnt red sky looms behind, punctuated by falling ash and tracer fire. We also improved the planet’s surface with additional fire and battle damage, more foliage, and destroyed structures littering the crater Sovereign leaves behind.
