Mass Effect Legendary Edition changed a character's race, fixing a decade-old bug
Cleaning blitz.
BioWare has changed a Mass Effect character's race from human to turian - fixing a long-standing issue many (correctly) assumed was a bug.
THERE MAY BE MASS EFFECT 1 SPOILERS AHEAD.
Elanos Haliat, a human-hating pirate and previous leader of the Terminus Systems, appears in Mass Effect 1 on the world of Agebinium. Shepard encounters him when investigating a mysterious nuclear probe which needs to be defused.
Haliat has a history - he organised the attack on the human colony named Elysium prior to the events of the trilogy. This attack, named the Skyllian Blitz, is frequently referenced in the series.
But Haliat appears in the original Mass Effect 1 as a human, which doesn't really make sense. Why would a human attack a human colony? Why would other Terminus races rally behind him as their leader? And how did he rise to power so quickly, considering humanity was still young on the galactic scene?
Fans have long assumed Haliat's depiction as human was a slip-up by BioWare - especially as his name references two turian weapons manufacturers (Elanus Risk Control and Haliat Armory).
Haliat's dialogue even includes a line mentioning those of "Shepard's species", further suggesting he is not human himself.
Now, in Mass Effect Legendary Edition, Haliat is a turian. Which, as fans have now said, seems to make a lot more sense. Here's a before and after picture:
Elanos Haliat is a Turian now, which makes WAY more sense from r/masseffect
I played through this mission last night and Haliat is indeed now a turian. BioWare has also updated the sound of his audio file, so Haliat also sounds turian now too.
Mass Effect writer and Legendary Edition producer Mac Walters had previously hinted a fix would be included in this new edition of the game:
Over the weekend, Legendary Edition players noticed BioWare had also replaced the terrible stock photo previously used to reveal Tali's helmet-less face. At last!
For more Mass Effect, I recently sat down with lead writer Mac Walters to discuss how BioWare began planning ME3 - read on for details of a cut Reaper boss, switched missions and more.