Mass Effect Legendary Edition Replaces Tali's Infamous Stock Photo

Prior to launch, it was known that Mass Effect Legendary Edition would make some pretty major changes to the three video games included within in, and the announced updates were largely about bringing the original Mass Effect more in line with the video games that followed alongside some DLC integration and other odds and ends. Now that folks have had the opportunity to play for themselves, however, an unexpected but most welcome change has become apparent: Tali'Zorah's much-mocked stock photo that was edited to make it look more alien has been swapped for what appears to be some kind of in-game model itself.

If you are somehow not familiar, Tali'Zorah is part of the quarian race in the franchise, and they all wear special suits to keep them from getting sick. This means that interactions with quarians are never directly face-to-face but instead through largely opaque helmets. If you follow through Tali's romance, however, there is a moment in Mass Effect 3 that offers a look at her without the suit. Well, there was, anyway. Mass Effect Legendary Edition seems to include the same scene and the aforementioned infamous photo, but now it simply has the face shield of the helmet off. You can check it out for yourself below:

Given the fact that the developers had previously explicitly stated that the controversial ending to Mass Effect 3 would not be changed for Mass Effect Legendary Edition, it seemed unlikely that any other critically maligned piece of content would get an upgrade. The fact that Mass Effect Legendary Edition does, in fact, swap out Tali's photo for something a bit nicer is thoughtful despite the fact that not everyone is likely to be thrilled. If nothing else, everyone can likely agree that it is better than what was there before, at least.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition is now available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The PS4 and Xbox One versions include forward compatibility -- as in, you can play them on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, respectively. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the recently released remastered collection right here.

What do you think about the changes included in Mass Effect Legendary Edition? What do you think about Tali's new photo? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk about all things gaming!

[H/T Rock Paper Shotgun]