Bioware's beloved franchise, Mass Effect, has enthralled gamers with captivating narratives, diverse characters, and breathtaking extraterrestrial landscapes for years. These planets offer a tantalizing glimpse into a future where the indomitable spirit of humanity knows no bounds.
Each world boasts a harmonious fusion of awe-inspiring environments, narrative significance, and unforgettable encounters. From bustling metropolises to desolate frontiers, these mesmerizing planets conceal secrets that resonate throughout the galaxy. It's time for Shepard and their crew to unravel the enigmas that lie beyond the stars. These are the best planets players will visit in the Mass Effect series.
10 Havarl — Mass Effect Andromeda
Havarl, the ancestral home of the Angara in Mass Effect Andromeda was once a lush and promising "golden world," Havarl's current state presents a puzzling transformation. Its surface is now dominated by sprawling jungles with erratic growth patterns, showcasing grotesque mutations and changes in its plant life. These disturbing alterations render the flora hazardous for consumption.
Havarl is a symbolic battleground for the xenophobic Roekaar. Delving into Havarl's mysteries unveils its complex history and ecological shifts, intertwining the fate of the intrepid explorers with the Angara's struggle for survival. An enigmatic planet where lush jungles conceal deep secrets.
9 2181 Despoina — Mass Effect 3
In the depths of uncharted space lies 2181 Despoina, a world that recently captured the attention of human space probes. This mysterious planet, unexplored to date, reveals an ocean of liquid water and a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, providing ideal conditions for photosynthetic life.
2181 Despoina's significance shines through in the memorable Leviathan DLC, where Shepard and their squad mates venture into its submerged depths to confront the formidable Leviathans. Engaging in dialogues with these almost lovecraftian beasts, Commander Shepard uncovers the chilling truth about the Leviathans. Enchanting underwater landscapes and the unsettling presence of the Leviathans, 2181 Despoina promises an extraordinary aquatic odyssey. Which not only features a very different kind of world than has been seen before in the series, but narrative significance towards the origins of the reapers.
8 Sur'Kesh — Mass Effect 3
Sur'Kesh, the Salarian home world, resembles Earth's jungles—stunning yet perilous. Overcoming early pollution challenges, the Salarians embraced social solutions for a sustainable population. Far from dark space, Sur'Kesh evades Reaper invasion but anticipates attacks. Its humid climate and lush vegetation, creates a stunning landscape.
Commander Shepard's mission: secure krogan females holding the key to the genophage cure, demanded by the krogan for war support. Embark on Sur'Kesh's expedition, exploring the harmonious blend of stunning landscapes, rich biodiversity, and salarian resilience. Sur'Kesh boasts a tense and action packed mission for shepard as their encounter on the planet goes awry, causing a full-blown assault on the centre of salarian science.
7 Bekenstein — Mass Effect 2
Bekenstein, Earth's off-planet manufacturing base, quickly emerged as a hub of luxury goods and opulence. Referred to as "the humans' Illium," it epitomizes wealth and status, with its elite flaunting prosperity while socioeconomic disparities remain unspoken. Bekenstein's success as a trading planet is evident in its abundance of millionaires and billionaires per capita. However, beneath the glitz, the planet faces high suicide rates and inflation.
Embark on Kasumi Goto's daring heist on Bekenstein in Mass Effect 2 as she pursues justice and reclaims a stolen neural implant. Amidst the allure and intrigue of this extravagant world, Shepard's joins Kasumi's quest, vying for her loyalty, the quest involves a lot of puzzle solving and charm on the part of Shepard who must use their skills and wiles to break into a vault during a classy party filled with the planets elites.
6 Feros — Mass Effect 1
Feros, a world nestled in the Attican Beta cluster, unveils a haunting tapestry of Prothean ruins across its vast expanse. The remnants of a bygone civilization blanket two-thirds of the habitable surface, a testament to their enigmatic legacy. However, Feros is no ordinary paradise. Its atmosphere, tainted by swirling dust, poses a challenge to terrestrial exploration, impeded by colossal debris strewn across the land.
Despite these obstacles, the resilient ExoGeni Corporation forged a pioneering colony on Feros, ingeniously presupposing intact skyscrapers and Prothean aqueducts to sustain the inhabitants. This ambitious endeavor aimed to unravel the mysteries hidden within the ancient ruins, though marauding looters had already scoured them extensively over the millennia. But Feros is not without peril. A ruthless attack by the synthetic horde known as the geth sent shockwaves through the planet's colonists. The enigmatic Saren, their orchestrator, seeks the Thorian, a parasitic plant creature that has ensnared the unsuspecting residents of Zhu's Hope colony. The colony has an eerie atmosphere on first approach that only begins to grow with time, like something is wrong with the inhabitants, making it one of the most intriguing missions to date.
5 Rannoch — Mass Effect 3
A world in the Tikkun system, Rannoch is an arid planet that boasts sparse oceans and expansive deserts, The name "Rannoch," meaning "walled garden," reflects the importance of plant life in ancient quarian culture. Orbiting Rannoch are countless geth space stations, guardians of a planet once home to the quarians. Driven away by their synthetic creations, the quarians left Rannoch behind. Surprisingly, the geth now tend to the planet, restoring its ecology, nurturing ancient structures, and cultivating small patches of farmland.
Rannoch's unique ecosystem, relies on a symbiotic relationship between pollinating plants and animals. This dynamic, though central to quarian biology, made colonization of other worlds challenging after their exile. For the quarians, reclaiming Rannoch from the geth is both a cultural imperative and a physiological necessity—a quest to regain their lost heritage. the lore of quarians and their quest to return to their homeworld, leaving their patchwork fleet for good is one of the biggest and most interesting pieces of lore in the series, all because of what this shared planet has to offer to its respective inhabitants.
4 Ilos — Mass Effect 1
Once a lush world adorned with magnificent cities, Ilos now stands as a testament to reaper devastation. Its surface wears the color of rust, a stark contrast to its former verdant beauty. Heightened oxygen levels in the atmosphere fuel wildfires that burn on the dark side. Ilos is a planet known only through second-hand accounts and references found in other Prothean ruins.
Located in the remote Terminus Systems, Ilos can only be reached via the fabled Mu Relay, lost after a supernova shifted its position 4,000 years ago. While attempts to explore Ilos persist, the treacherous journey through hostile territories and uncharted systems remains a daunting challenge.. The clock ticks for Shepard as they have to make back to the Citadel in the Mako in one of the best and most exhilarating parts of the game, the drive through Ilos' lost ruins.
3 Virmire — Mass Effect 1
Virmire, within the Attican Traverse, entices with its lush landscapes and untamed allure, ideal for colonization by carbon-based species. Its equatorial belt boasts a humid, tropical paradise, nurtured by vast seas and a strategic orbital position. The neighboring Terminus Systems, plagued by political unrest and relentless pirate raids, shatter hopes of settlement. The Citadel's repeated negotiations with criminal syndicates and power-hungry despots have all crumbled amidst internal conflicts. Regrettably, the Citadel now deems Virmire's colonization impossible without substantial political transformation.
The Terminus powers themselves, lacking the means for sustainable settlement, prioritize theft over creation. Virmire's untapped potential remains overshadowed by their penchant for exploiting neighboring worlds. However, urgent distress signals from a salarian reconnaissance team on Virmire, harboring critical information on the infamous Saren, have ignited Council concerns. Their safety hangs precariously, and the truth they hold may shape the fate of the galaxy. Virmire contains two of the greatest moments in the series, the true introduction of Sovereign, and the big choice between the death of Ashley or Kaiden. These dark and agonizing parts of the series against a background of a paradise like world really contrast.
2 Illium — Mass Effect 2
Illium thrives as a trade nexus bridging the Asari Republics and the Terminus Systems. It offers a haven for transactions that circumvent Council space restrictions. While not officially an Asari planet, Illium operates under Asari corporate interests. Regions house populations in towering arcology skyscrapers, shielding them from the planet's scorching heat.
Despite its darker side of abusive labor practices and legalized indulgences. Illium entices visitors with glamour, luxury, and near-total surveillance, ensuring safety. Celebrities and the wealthy flock to Illium, adorning the capital, Nos Astra, with grand estates. The only drawback is the intricate bureaucracy, endured for the security it provides. Amidst Illium's self-indulgence, the media revels in its arrogance, showcasing "sexiest CEOs" and "ten richest residents" lists that celebrate the region's affluence.
1 Tuchanka — Mass Effect 2 & Mass Effect 3
A desolate world scarred by nuclear devastation, Tuchanka is the krogan homeworld. Once a thriving ecosystem of fierce battles, it now lies in ruins. Extreme temperatures, virulent diseases, and predatory fauna make survival a constant challenge for the krogan. After the krogan discovered atomic power, their planet plunged into a nuclear winter, decimating its population.
Once the salarians had manufactured the genophage, a devastating biological weapon, that has kept the krogan population in check, Tuchanka remained a barren wasteland, a testament to the krogan's tumultuous history and their battle against extinction.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition is available on PC, Xbox One and PS4.