Booting up Mass Effect, for the first time since finishing it in 2008, was an absolute delight. Playing the first game in the beloved trilogy was my first foray into an RPG since my days of Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy 7 and 9, and within the first thirty seconds of the opening cinematic I was reminded of what drew me in the first time. I was eighteen again.

This series is a masterpiece of character and story.

After creating my character and origin story, I sat back and soaked in the updated graphics and perfect soundtrack. Watching Joker command the Normandy through the Mass Relay for the first time, the crescendo of epic sound building tension, and resounding “BOOM” of shooting the ship millions of miles across the galaxy, my goosebumps had goosebumps. Going through the Mass Relay, to wherever in the Galaxy, make story possibility seem endless. That’s what Mass Effect means to me.

Possibility.

The possibility of whatever I want, meeting whomever I want, and exploring all of deep space. This was the first game that really hammered home how massive our universe was. I could go to other planets, and they felt different. No other game really did that.

The first thirty seconds of this game reminded me of what I loved about it, and I cannot wait to experience this masterful series again.