Mass Effect Modder Restores Some Questionable Content
Over the years, the "Mass Effect" series has drawn multiple criticisms. Everything from the third game's controversial ending to the ill-controlled Mako in the first "Mass Effect" have been documented as flaws throughout the franchise — but some of those mistakes have been corrected. For instance, the developers thought better of a series of camera angles that placed a heavy emphasis on the character Miranda Lawson's bottom.
These more titillating moments hadn't aged particularly well in the years since the games were released, and so the dev team removed or altered them when the "Legendary Edition" of the trilogy was released. However, one fan has taken matters into their own hands, reinstating those infamous shots in "Mass Effect: Legendary Edition."
The original mod published in 2018 by Scottina123, "No More Butt Shots," sought to remove the gratuitous camera angles positioned at the rear of Miranda, which Scottina123 said was "disrespectful to Miranda's character." This was especially evident during a "Mass Effect 2" scene in which where Miranda intimately shares some of her family's backstory with Commander Shepard. As seen in a clip posted to Scottina Tran's YouTube channel, these out of place shots have been tastefully trimmed. You may be surprised, then, to learn that Scottina123 is also the person responsible for the mod that returns the butt shots to the game.
A restoration, more or less
With "Mass Effect: Legendary Edition," it seemed that BioWare agreed with the thought process behind Scottina123's mod. In an interview with Metro, project director Mac Walters stated that environment director Kevin Meek called the angles to the development team's attention, leaving them to question why there were so many of them throughout the "Mass Effect" sequels. A comparison video also demonstrates the prominence of Miranda's buttocks in 2010's "Mass Effect 2," versus the changes seen in "Mass Effect: Legendary Edition."
However, while the development team did their best to see that Miranda's rear wouldn't be so prominent in a few of the cutscenes throughout the series, Scottina123 has surprisingly decided to create a mod that adds those shots back in, bringing the story full circle. Players of the "Legendary Edition" can get mods for "Mass Effect 2" and "3" that will restore the scenes to their original weird gaze. As Scottina explains on the mod listings, "This is a very simple mod that restores the butt shots that Bioware removed[.]"
For those without a PC, "Mass Effect: Legendary Edition" is also available on Xbox One and PlayStation 4, where players will only have access to the bum-less Miranda scenes. And while you may still have to put up with the disappointing ending of "Mass Effect 3," the collection's aggregate score of 86 on Metacritic suggests it may be worth picking up.