Mass Effect Games in Order: Release Order, Story Order and DLC

There are four main Mass Effect games, and they came out in the same order the story happens: Mass Effect (2007), Mass Effect 2 (2010), Mass Effect 3 (2012) and Mass Effect: Andromeda (2017). The first three follow Commander Shepard from 2183 to 2186, and Andromeda jumps to 2819 in another galaxy. The lists below match the Mass Effect timeline. (Mass Effect; Mass Effect 3; Mass Effect: Andromeda)

Release order#

These are the main games in the order they came out, with their launch platforms.

1. Mass Effect (2007, Xbox 360; Windows followed in 2008). Shepard, the first human Spectre, chases the rogue turian Saren across the galaxy. See the Mass Effect 1 story. (Mass Effect)
2. Mass Effect 2 (2010, Xbox 360 and Windows; PlayStation 3 followed in 2011). Brought back from the dead by Cerberus, Shepard assembles a team for a suicide mission against the Collectors. See the Mass Effect 2 story. (Mass Effect 2)
3. Mass Effect 3 (2012, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows; Wii U followed later in 2012). The Reapers invade and Shepard unites the galaxy to stop them. See Mass Effect 3 ending explained. (Mass Effect 3)
4. Mass Effect: Andromeda (2017, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows). A new Pathfinder, Scott or Sara Ryder, searches for a home for the Andromeda Initiative. See the Andromeda story. (Mass Effect: Andromeda)

Story (chronological) order#

Because the games came out in story order, this list is the same. What changes is where each one sits in the calendar.

1. Mass Effect: 2183, the Eden Prime War and the hunt for Saren. (Mass Effect)
2. Mass Effect 2: 2185, the Collector campaign. (Mass Effect 2)
3. Mass Effect 3: 2186, the Reaper War. (Mass Effect 3)
4. Mass Effect: Andromeda: 2819. The Initiative left in 2185, before the Reaper invasion, and its colonists never learn how the war ended. (Mass Effect: Andromeda)

The story DLC slots in like this:

1. Bring Down the Sky (2008), during Mass Effect. (Mass Effect: Bring Down the Sky)
2. Lair of the Shadow Broker (2010), during Mass Effect 2. (Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker)
3. Arrival (2011), the bridge into Mass Effect 3. (Mass Effect 2: Arrival)
4. From Ashes (2012), during Mass Effect 3. (Mass Effect 3: From Ashes)
5. Leviathan (2012), during Mass Effect 3. (Mass Effect 3: Leviathan)
6. Omega (2012), during Mass Effect 3. (Mass Effect 3: Omega)

Where to start#

Start with the first Mass Effect, through the Legendary Edition if you can. The trilogy's big selling point is that choices carry forward: who lives on Virmire, what you did with the Rachni Queen and who survives the suicide mission all come back later. Starting at Mass Effect 2 or 3 throws most of that away. (Mass Effect Legendary Edition; Mass Effect 2; Mass Effect 3)

The honest warning is that the first game plays the stiffest of the three, with clunkier combat and a lot of empty planets to drive around. The Legendary Edition smooths some of that, and it's worth pushing through, because Mass Effect 2 and 3 lean on it hard. (Mass Effect; Mass Effect Legendary Edition)

Play Andromeda last, if at all. It's a new story with a new cast and doesn't need any of Shepard's story, so it also works as a standalone. (Mass Effect: Andromeda)

Spin-offs, remasters and extras#

All of these are optional. None of them changes how the main games play out.

• Mass Effect Legendary Edition (2021, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows): remasters of all three original games with nearly all of their DLC. A remaster, not new story. (Mass Effect Legendary Edition)
• Mass Effect Galaxy (2009, iOS): a short mobile game starring Jacob Taylor, set between the first two games. It was later removed from sale. (Mass Effect Galaxy)
• Mass Effect Infiltrator (2012, iOS, with Android later that year): a mobile shooter about a Cerberus agent who turns on the organisation. Intel collected in it could raise Mass Effect 3's galactic readiness. (Mass Effect Infiltrator)
• The novels, in story order: Revelation (before Mass Effect), Ascension (after Mass Effect), Retribution (after Mass Effect 2), Deception (before the Reaper invasion), Andromeda: Initiation (before the Initiative launches), Andromeda: Annihilation (on the quarian ark's voyage) and Andromeda: Nexus Uprising (on the Nexus before the Hyperion arrives). Revelation is the best of them, as it introduces Saren and David Anderson. (Mass Effect: Revelation; Mass Effect: Ascension; Mass Effect: Retribution; Mass Effect: Deception; Mass Effect: Andromeda: Initiation; Mass Effect: Andromeda: Annihilation; Mass Effect: Andromeda: Nexus Uprising)
• The comics: Redemption (2010) follows Liara's search for Shepard's body before Mass Effect 2, and Evolution (2011) tells the Illusive Man's origin. (Mass Effect: Redemption; Mass Effect: Evolution)
• Mass Effect: Paragon Lost (2012): an animated film about James Vega's past before Mass Effect 3. (Mass Effect: Paragon Lost)