To say I love and cherish Mass Effect as a series would be a drastic understatement. At time of review, you'd see I have 100% completed the achievements across about 200 hours of gameplay. This is but a fraction of the actual time I've spent with this trilogy, with my playthroughs of each game well into the 20-count across my original Xbox 360 copies, my PC copies on Origin, and here on the Legendary Edition. I've basically mapped each game to the back of my mind, and know each and every corner of them. Mass Effect is one of my favourite series of all time. No questions, no doubts, and the Legendary Collection is, far and beyond, the best way to experience the original trilogy.

Starting with Mass Effect 1, this is where the Legendary changes are the strongest. I've always had a bit of a special appreciation for the original ME1's gameplay, given I had played through it about eight times before ME2 was even released. But it has aged pretty poorly, and my recommendation to play the trilogy always came with the caveat of "please tolerate ME1's gameplay and don't just go into ME2 with Genesis". Legendary Edition not only drastically polishes the game up, but it gently overhauls the gameplay to be more in line with the other two. Cover shooting is much more responsive, training requirements are mostly abolished so all of the weapons you carry are actually usable rather than just what your class specializes in, AI is a bit more responsive and less buggy, targeting with powers is a bit more consistent, weapon equips now have different properties to give them different playstyles... there are a lot of changes, and it does still play like ME1. But it is unquestionably the best way to play ME1, and I can now happily recommend it without caveats.

Mass Effect 2 feels the least touched, which is simultaneously a good thing and a bad thing. ME2 was caught in a visually awkward period between reusing a lot of ME1 assets with minimal improvements to the textures and models, and leaning into a more distinct visual style that would be further cemented by ME3. So while ME2 Legendary has been given visual improvements across the board, it now feels the most noticeably weak visually. Additionally, if you were a fan of ME2's gameplay, it's basically unchanged aside from dispersing DLC weapons into the game's shops. But, personally, I've always felt ME2 was a little flat in terms of its gameplay. It doesn't quite reach the levels of insanity that ME1 gunfights can reach in the later levels, and doesn't have the distinct flow and strength of ME3's gunfights. ME2 could've used a few improvements, but leaving it alone makes the most sense given its enormously venerated social status. I know my quibbles with the game are entirely my own, contrarian that I am.

Mass Effect 3 remains my favourite of the trilogy, and the only thing missing from it here in Legendary Edition is the multiplayer. It's still a genuine shame that it wasn't able to make the jump in a more accessible format, but ME3 stands pretty proudly on its own. Even if you're not a fan of the endings (I am, and always have been), the gameplay, writing, and visual quality all the way through is all aces. Every time I do a trilogy run, getting to ME3 gets me fired up because it's time to have the most fun with the best missions and the best gunplay.

If you haven't tried the trilogy before, this is me telling you it's time. Even at full price, it's absolutely worth the cost of entry. Three of the most incredible modern RPGs, polished up to near-perfection, ready for you to experience them either once again or for the very first time.

Y'ever wait six and a half years for a game to come out, and it's everything you ever wanted when it does? No disappointments, no missed potential, just a perfect grand slam of an experience from front to back that validated that years of desperate thirsting? Not everyone has, but Freedom Planet 2 was exactly that for me. I admit, I was not exactly the most patient person. Especially in the early years, I look back on some of my desperate pleading for the game to come out as kinda cringe, letting my hype get in the way of wanting Galaxy Trail to have all the time they needed to deliver in spades. But as I kept seeing previews, I not only realized that I needed to calm down and be patient, but that I was in for a delicious treat. And boy, was I right.

Freedom Planet 2 exemplifies the idea of what exactly a follow-up can do to truly succeed. Not just copy and paste the original with some fresh paint, not unnecessarily changing everything for the sake of "being different", and certainly not the modern, cynical AAA experience of a minimum-viable skinnerbox with a fancy cosmetic storefront. This is a SEQUEL. It takes what made the first game great, compounded on those strengths, trimmed away the fattier issues, made logical improvements across the board, and did everything it could to validate its existence as a follow-up.

Gameplay is pretty familiar to those who played the original, but improvements are immediately noticeable. Every character's moveset feels fantastic with very little jank or redundancy. The camera's auto-zoom feels fantastic during high-speed sections. The new guard mechanic feels like something that was always meant to be there. The level designs feel just that much more distinct and tightened up. The social spaces in Adventure Mode feel so much better for the game's story than just having Adventure Mode only be a bunch of cutscenes like the first game. Brave Stones and Potions are a brilliant alternative to a conventional difficulty system. It's polished to a mirror sheen, and it's so fantastic to just sit back and enjoy thoroughly.

Another particular strength I have to point out is the art direction. The first game had an interesting art style, but sometimes felt just a little close to the Sonic fan game it started life as, particularly in regards to character design. Not only does Freedom Planet 2 heavily redesign most of its cast to great success, but proportions and details in the character designs truly make them feel as original as they could be. Additionally, with the work that went into the game's social spaces for Adventure Mode, as well as the genuinely fantastic-looking environments for the levels, Avalice feels fully realized as a setting. It's not just a vague mental map of where places could be, wondering how the level environments diegetically fit into the world. Everything fits together and looks organic. Shang Tu's beautiful ivory city among the water, Shang Mu's neon urban sprawl, Shuigang's humble snow-capped village look, Parusa's beautiful tropics... They all come together to make the levels you run through feel just that bit alive.

The story of Freedom Planet 1 was something I struggled with early in. It obviously wasn't the primary thing you were there for, but it often struggled to hold my attention. And in two specific cases, felt like sudden, polarizing tonal shifts that came out of nowhere. While I eventually embraced it for what it was, Adventure Mode was something I never really felt compelled to touch again after doing my first run with each character. Freedom Planet 2, though? Significant improvement. Not only does a vast majority of the voice acting feel much better with less of a Saturday morning cartoon vibe to it, with many actors (particularly Morgan Berry and Edwyn Tiong) being able to fully carry an emotional moment, but there's just significantly better flow to story scenes, better lines for the script across the board, better charm and charisma for a lot of the cast... Better everything! Rather than impatiently waiting for a cutscene to end, I was always thoroughly engaged in seeing what was happening next. Going to the social spaces in Adventure Mode and talking to all the characters I could find was a treat I always relished. And with each new playthrough, I was excited to see the few character-exclusive scenes and moments that I didn't get to see from Lilac's perspective on my initial run. Just such an improvement.

I could keep going, especially on things like the music. Amazing soundtrack, by the way, grab a copy on Bandcamp! But I think my point is thoroughly made. I waited six and a half years to finally play this game. Not only did it come out in time to basically be a belated birthday present to myself, but it completely validated every year, every month, week, day I waited to find out just when I could finally play the sequel to my favourite indie game of all time. Having played it pretty extensively now, and getting VERY close to reaching 100% completion, I know that the sequel succeeds the original as my favourite indie of all time.

Play it. Right now. I'm serious. Open your wallet, pull out your credit card, and throw your money at the faces of Sabrina DiDuro and her team at GalaxyTrail. They deserve it so much, and I guarantee that if you even marginally kinda like platformers, you will love Freedom Planet 2 like I did.