Mass Effect Legendary Edition – How to Import Save Files

One of the big innovations of the ME series was the ability to import save files between the games that are now housed in Mass Effect Legendary Edition. Choices made in the first game were saved to your character and imported into Mass Effect 2, with its save file then importing into the third game in the franchise. All your actions and decisions then came to factor into the conclusion in some way, though some players found it a bit of a let down. Still, you can replicate this with the new upgraded re-release but it has some sticking points. Here’s how to import save files in Mass Effect Legendary Edition.

How to Import and Transfer Save Files in Mass Effect Legendary Edition

Transferring your save file from Mass Effect into Mass Effect 2 and then into Mass Efffect 3 works pretty similar in Legendary Edition to have it always has. One big sticking point is that you need to complete the previous game before you are able to import the save file. You don’t have to finish all of the DLC or optional content, but you need to have finished the final mission to see the end credits. This will mark your save file as importable into the next game in the series.

Once you complete one of the games and are ready to start the next one all you need to do is load it up and choose New Game. There you will see the option to import the previous game’s save file. If you don’t see the file once you choose this then it likely means that you haven’t completed the game and created the final save file that is compatible with the process.

One thing to keep in mind with this is that Sony and Microsoft are handling inter-generational saves differently. Playing on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S should be pretty seamless. You can play on the older generation, then move to the new one and the game will just pick up where you left off. However, PS4 and PS5 have a hard wall between them. So even if you have completed one game on PS4 it won’t transfer over to PS5 for you to import it into the later games.

And that’s how to import save files in Mass Effect Legendary Edition.