Gamers are happy for those who are starting Mass Effect for the first time, and chose the most memorable moments from the game

Playing through a cult trilogy for the first time is a rare kind of luck, and longtime fans openly envy it. When someone sits down with the original Mass Effect without knowing a single plot twist, series veterans react predictably – with a flood of references the newcomer won't understand until dozens of hours later.

That's exactly what happened when a player who'd had the Legendary Edition sitting in their backlog finally booted up the first game and asked people to tell them something they "won't understand until later."

The response was an avalanche of quotes, each one meaning far more to series veterans than just a string of words. The Legendary Edition, released in 2021, bundled all three games in the trilogy with upgraded graphics and nearly all the DLC, giving first-time players the full route from start to finish.

The first thing any newcomer hears:

Can it wait for a bit? I'm in the middle of some calibrations.

That line belongs to Garrus Vakarian, a turian who practically lives at the main gun battery on the Normandy in the second and third games and answers everyone with the same remark about calibrations.

The irony is that the character only seems quiet at first because players always recruit him first and burn through all his dialogue early in the game.

Another headache from the trilogy is the fish tank in Shepard's cabin in the second game. The fish die if nobody feeds them, and half the players either ignore they exist or flirt with Yeoman Kelly Chambers until she offers to take care of them instead.

Someone in the community also brought up the famous speech from Harbinger, leader of the Reapers:

You exist because we allow it and you will end because we demand it.

There's no shortage of smaller details either, like Mordin Solus saying "Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong," scanning planets for resources, and Shepard's endless "I should go." Everyone agreed on one piece of advice – stay off every forum and any thread about the game until the credits roll, since the trilogy plot twists are the kind worth experiencing blind.