Where to Start · Mass Effect
Where to Start with Mass Effect
Mass Effect is BioWare's sci-fi RPG trilogy following Commander Shepard — a character you define — across three games and hundreds of hours of decisions that carry forward from one game to the next. The trilogy is one of the most ambitious narrative projects in gaming: your choices in Mass Effect 1 affect Mass Effect 2, your choices in 2 affect Mass Effect 3, and who lives and dies across the trilogy is largely up to you. It is the definitive example of a video game that rewards playing all three entries as a continuous experience rather than standalone games.
There is also Mass Effect: Andromeda (2017), set in a different galaxy with a new cast — it is optional and stands alone.
Where to start
Start with Mass Effect 1. There is no other answer. The trilogy is designed as a continuous story and starting at 2 or 3 means inheriting decisions you did not make, missing the relationships that give ME2 and ME3 their emotional weight, and playing a story whose first act you skipped. Mass Effect Legendary Edition on PS4/PS5/Xbox/PC includes all three games with updated visuals and gameplay improvements — it is the definitive way to play the trilogy and the only version you need.
Mass Effect 1 — what to expect
Mass Effect 1 is the roughest of the three games mechanically — inventory management is clunky, the Mako vehicle sections are divisive, and the gunplay is less polished than ME2 and ME3. None of this matters. ME1 is where you meet the crew of the Normandy, where you understand what the Reapers are, and where the relationships that make ME2 devastating are built. Push through the mechanical roughness. The Legendary Edition improves ME1 more than the other two entries — it is significantly more playable than the original.
Mass Effect 2 — the peak
Mass Effect 2 is widely considered the best game in the trilogy and one of the best RPGs ever made. Its structure — recruit a team of specialists, build their loyalty, execute a suicide mission — is perfectly designed. Every crew member has a loyalty mission. Everyone can die in the finale if you make the wrong decisions. The emotional stakes depend entirely on how much you care about the crew, and you will care about them because you spent ME1 and the first half of ME2 getting to know them. Mass Effect 2 is the reason to play Mass Effect 1.
Mass Effect 3 — the conclusion
Mass Effect 3 brings the trilogy to a close — Earth is under attack, the Reapers are everywhere, and every decision across three games comes to bear. ME3's ending is the most debated in gaming history. Ignore the controversy. The journey to the ending is extraordinary — the war asset system, the returning characters, the missions that pay off threads from ME1 — and the Citadel DLC is among the best DLC ever made, serving as a genuine love letter to the trilogy. Play the Extended Cut ending, which addresses the original criticisms.
Mass Effect: Andromeda
Andromeda (2017) is set 600 years after the original trilogy in a new galaxy with a new protagonist. It does not require any knowledge of Shepard's story. Andromeda had a troubled launch and mixed reception but is a competent Mass Effect game with solid gunplay — it simply lacks the narrative weight of the trilogy because you have no history with any of its characters. Play it after the trilogy if you want more Mass Effect. It is not essential.
What platforms you need
Mass Effect Legendary Edition — PS4/PS5/Xbox/PC. Includes ME1, ME2, ME3, and almost all DLC. Mass Effect Andromeda — PS4/Xbox/PC, available cheaply. The original trilogy on PS3/Xbox 360 is superseded by the Legendary Edition in every way.
DLC priority
The Legendary Edition includes most DLC. The essential pieces: ME2 — Lair of the Shadow Broker, Arrival, Kasumi, Overlord. ME3 — Leviathan, Omega, Citadel (the most important), Extended Cut ending. All included in the Legendary Edition.