Mass Effect Legendary Edition: ME1 Ep 5 – Planetary Exploration – Pt 1

We’re back aboard the Normandy for episode five of Mass Effect Legendary Edition, and this time I’m concentrating on planetary exploration. There’s a lot of the galaxy still to investigate, and with this being a 100% playthrough, I don’t want to leave anything behind.

We’ve got Wrex’s family armor to recover, geth outposts to eliminate, and plenty of minerals and salvage to collect. Of course, getting the Mako across some of these planets is another challenge entirely!

🌌 About the Game

Mass Effect Legendary Edition brings together the remastered single-player campaigns of Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3, including over 40 DLC packs, promotional weapons and armor, all optimized for 4K Ultra HD.

In the first game, we take control of Commander Shepard aboard the Normandy, exploring the galaxy, assembling a crew and investigating the threat posed by Saren and the geth. Alongside the main story, there’s an enormous amount of optional exploration, side missions and discoveries waiting on uncharted worlds.

🧭 Where We Are in the Journey

We’re five episodes into the first Mass Effect, and I’m working towards completing as much as possible on this playthrough. That means visiting every available system, surveying planets, collecting resources and completing the optional assignments before advancing too far into the main story.

I’m also working through the Xbox achievements, including squad abilities and weapon challenges. The plan is to finish everything I can now, then return for a quicker Insanity difficulty playthrough later.

For this episode, we’re heading away from the main story to investigate Argos Rho and the Armstrong Nebula.

🚀 What Happens in This Episode

We started aboard the Normandy, catching up with everyone in chat and trying to remember what day it was after a few changes to the usual streaming schedule. We also had a quick check with Presley to make sure the Xbox audio was behaving itself, which thankfully it was. Once everything was sorted, I spent some time checking our equipment, squad abilities and available upgrades before heading out into the galaxy.

I invested some points in Electronics and Decryption, which means I no longer need to bring Tali along every time there’s something to unlock. I also had a look at Barrier and Stasis, as I’m still working towards the Xbox achievements for using different abilities. The plan is to complete as much as possible during this 100% playthrough, then return for a quicker Insanity difficulty run later. I’d also reset my spreadsheet for tracking the star systems, although I’d managed to lose some of my previous notes in the process!

Our first destination was the Hydra system in Argos Rho. Almost immediately, we received a message from Nasana Dantius, who wanted to arrange a private meeting on the Citadel. We also picked up a distress call involving a medical transport that had been forced into an emergency landing. Both gave us something else to investigate later, but for now, I wanted to concentrate on the planetary exploration.

After scanning the system, we landed on a particularly hot planet and started working through the available survey locations. There were minerals to collect, wreckage to investigate and salvage to recover, along with our first uncharted-world landing achievement. I had reference maps available to help locate everything, although knowing where something is doesn’t always make getting there any easier!

The Mako was already proving entertaining, particularly when the terrain became awkward or we encountered something hostile. Its shields took a bit of punishment along the way, but it kept going. I also spent some time admiring the scenery and comparing the improved textures in Legendary Edition with the original game. The remaster really does make some of these planets look considerably better, and the updated vehicle controls are welcome, even if I still occasionally press the wrong button.

There was plenty happening in chat while we explored. We caught up with Royalty about the weather and whether Chris had been keeping the cups of tea coming, along with some discussion about fans and possibly streaming from the garden. We also ended up talking about the asari and the theory that different species might see them differently. That naturally led to Mass Effect 2, Omega’s Afterlife club, and eventually Chrissy’s plans for a rather unusual Minecraft establishment. As you can imagine, planetary exploration wasn’t the only subject being discussed!

Next came the Phoenix system and Tuntau, where we needed to recover Wrex’s family armor. This was one of the more important stops because completing Wrex’s personal mission should prove useful when we eventually reach Virmire. Wrex obviously needed to come with us, so I let chat help choose our other squad member, and Garrus got the job.

Before heading into the facility, we also had a lovely community moment when JD gifted Royalty a subscription. There was a little confusion over the subscription history, but we got there in the end, and the familiar squeaky bottle made another appearance.

Once we reached the facility, Wrex explained more about his family’s armor and how it had been passed down through generations before being stolen. We needed to recover it from the turian who had taken possession of it, which meant fighting our way through the opposition first. I made sure to save beforehand, then we went inside and started clearing the building.

The fighting gave me another opportunity to work towards some of the combat achievements, although trying to use particular abilities and land melee kills isn’t always as straightforward as simply dealing with the enemies. My pistol wasn’t quite as effective as I would have liked either. Once everything was cleared, we checked the containers and eventually recovered the armor.

Wrex’s reaction was probably my favourite part of the mission. After everything we’d gone through to recover this important family heirloom, he wasn’t particularly impressed by how it looked. Apparently, his ancestors had questionable taste in equipment! He was still pleased to have it back, though, and even admitted that he might be starting to like Shepard. That’s his personal mission completed, and another important job ticked off the list.

We weren’t finished with Tuntau just yet. There were still survey points to investigate, more difficult terrain to cross and an interesting pyramid-like discovery along the way. I also talked about another planetary discovery involving an orb and the gift we received from the asari Consort, which can reveal an additional piece of story.

That brought back memories of the monkey-like creatures we’d encountered previously, including the unfortunate incident where I’d accidentally run some of them over and earned Renegade points. Perhaps parking outside the village would be a better idea next time!

With Argos Rho explored, we moved into the Armstrong Nebula, where Admiral Hackett had another assignment waiting for us. Reports indicated geth activity across four planets, and we needed to eliminate their outposts before investigating the command base in a fifth system. It’s a fairly substantial assignment, but one worth completing while we’re exploring this part of the galaxy.

We began in the Gagarin system, taking Garrus and Liara along as we worked towards their squad-related achievements. There was more driving across rough terrain, more survey locations to investigate and, of course, plenty of geth waiting for us.

At one facility, the metal spikes outside gave us a good indication that husks were going to be involved. Sure enough, once we entered the building, we found ourselves dealing with them at close range. These enemies can be particularly unpleasant when they get too close, especially when I’m also trying to work towards melee and ability achievements rather than simply using whatever gets the job done fastest.

I was also reminded how much I miss my ridiculously powerful pistol from previous playthroughs. The equipment we’re using now isn’t quite at that level yet, so some encounters require a little more effort. I also noticed how often the optional facilities reuse the same interior layout, with different arrangements of crates and equipment. Once you’ve visited a few, they start looking rather familiar.

Outside, the Mako continued taking punishment from geth defenses while we worked through the remaining locations. Chat suggested it must be built from old Nokia phones, which would certainly explain how it survives everything I put it through! We also found time to discuss Minecraft again, including plans for two blaze farms and how everyone was getting on with their building and decorating projects.

Eventually, we moved on to the Hong system, where the planetary exploration became rather more challenging than I’d expected. Not because of the enemies, but because of the mountains.

We spent a considerable amount of time trying to find routes across the landscape, climbing steep slopes, backing down when the Mako refused to cooperate and finding alternative ways around enormous valleys. Some of the places we needed to reach looked reasonably straightforward on the map, but actually getting there was another matter entirely.

At least the scenery made up for some of the frustration. The sunsets and distant landscapes looked fantastic, and I stopped occasionally just to appreciate the improvements in Legendary Edition. We also earned another achievement for landing on four uncharted worlds, which was a nice reward for all that driving.

When Chris returned to chat, I was able to explain that we’d spent much of the time crossing a valley and struggling to get up a hill. Not exactly the most exciting description of Commander Shepard’s adventures, but it was a fairly accurate account of what had happened!

We eventually reached the geth outpost, where I remembered there being an encounter involving a dropship. Thankfully, my memory was correct, and we ended up dealing with additional geth reinforcements as the fighting continued. Once the enemies were cleared, we returned to investigating the remaining survey locations and collecting anything useful before leaving the planet.

By the end of the evening, we’d completed four star systems, recovered Wrex’s family armor, collected several achievements and made good progress with Admiral Hackett’s geth assignment. There’s still more to finish in the Armstrong Nebula, including the remaining outposts and the command base. I also want to investigate why the Gorgon system isn’t available yet, as that’s another location we need to explore.

We finished back aboard the Normandy, where I saved our progress before finding someone to raid. Most of the usual channels weren’t live, but we eventually found a Farming Simulator streamer to send everyone over to.

Thanks to everyone who joined us, chatted, helped with squad decisions and supported the stream. We also talked about the possibility of an additional afternoon stream, depending on the weather.

Next time, we’ll continue working through the remaining geth outposts and whatever else the galaxy has waiting for us. Hopefully, there won’t be quite so many mountains to climb, although I’m not making any promises!

📺 Watch the Episode

You can catch all the exploration, combat and questionable Mako driving in Mass Effect Legendary Edition: ME1 Episode 5.

You can also follow the whole journey through the Mass Effect Legendary Edition Playlist or visit my YouTube channel.

If you enjoy the episode, please consider leaving a like, sharing your thoughts in the comments and subscribing for more.

🔴 Join the Adventure Live

The Normandy still has plenty of unexplored destinations, and it’s always more entertaining with everyone along for the journey.

You can join us live on Twitch and YouTube, help with squad decisions, share advice, or simply enjoy watching me attempt another impossible-looking Mako climb.

🌐 Community & Links

There’s plenty happening beyond the Normandy. Whether you want to catch another livestream, join the community or explore my other projects, you’ll find everything here.

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🛰️ Four Systems Down, More Geth to Go!

We finished back aboard the Normandy, saved our progress and wrapped up with a raid to a Farming Simulator streamer.

Next time, we’ll continue clearing the remaining geth outposts and hopefully discover why the Gorgon system isn’t available yet. There’s still plenty to explore, and I’m sure the Mako has more mountains waiting for us.

Thanks to everyone who joined the stream, chatted and supported the channel. See you next time!

— Dr Ravenholm