I saw on Origin you can buy the "Mass Effect Trilogy" and that it comes with DLC from Mass Effect 1. I remember (on console at least) you could buy all the DLC for Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 in the games themselves. If I buy the Mass Effect trilogy from Origin can I access all the DLC for ME2 & ME3? I never played all of ME3's DLC and without the ability to do that I wouldn't be motivated to purchase.

If not, is there a way to enjoy all the DLC (relatively) hassle-free? I know the first two are available on Steam but the third isn't, and I understand that even if separate games on separate accounts still carry over the story decision you made and whatnot, but I'm wondering if anyone has any knowledge of the cheapest/easiest way to do this?

Thanks.

Mass Effect 2 is still a bit of a nightmare on PC for DLC. The only way to get access to the DLC (I believe this is still the case) is to visit a very old and rarely used site (http://social.bioware.com/page/me2-dlc) and buy it all through there. Then, you have to download each piece individually and run them to add the new content to the game. Even as someone who has all of it, it's a huge pain to get it all ready to go if I want to play ME2 again.

Plus, as Teddie mentioned, I don't think any of the newer editions such as the Steam release or the Trilogy, come with all of it either, at least not on PC. According to the wiki I checked, you get the ME1 DLC and the Cerberus Network stuff for 2, which isn't great. By comparison, the PS3 version seems to come with the big DLC from 2 (Kasumi, Overlord, Shadow Broker) but is missing one piece of ME1 content. It's kind of a mess and there isn't really a good way to get around it.

The Trilogy comes with a random smattering of the DLC, but not all of it because they were still releasing DLC for 3 at the time, and uh... I guess they didn't put any of the good ME2 DLC in because they want you to pay for that too.

If I were you, I'd get a list of what is considered the best, or essential, and then pick those up. If nothing's changed, they'll all be full-price, never go on sale, and require you to buy Bioware Bucks (!?) to even purchase them.

So short answer, no, it's a fucking hassle.

@wemibelle: @teddie: Thanks for letting me know. I was excited to go back and run through the games again but so much content (a decent amount of it practically essential) being difficult to access has dampened my enthusiasm. Maybe I'll just pass for now.

Don't know if this will help either way, but if you get the trilogy on Origin (GameStop is currently selling keys for $15 plus tax), you can buy the story DLC for Mass Effects 2 and 3 through the Origin client so you can easily see the story DLCs and ignore the gun and appearance packs. You'll still have to do the real money to BioWare points conversion thing like in the ye old days of Microsoft points, and you'll still have to spend around $50 for the essential story DLCs for ME2 and 3 if my math is correct, but at least you won't have to jump though as many hoops for getting the DLC that way. The process that Wemibelle was describing was for getting the DLC for the Steam version of Mass Effect 2, which is totally new to me and looks like a pain in the ass.

Still, can't blame you for being put off by Mass Effect's DLC thing, which is why I've only played Mass Effect 1, granted for more than six times across 360, PS3 and PC...

This is the reason I never finished playing ME2. I wasn't about to pay like 45 bucks for the DLC for a game I paid 8 bucks for. I've never seen it go on sale on PC and it's criminal that they never put out GOTY editions that have all of the DLC included.

I really like the Mass Effect series, 2 in particular, and I wanted to replay 2 and 3 a few weeks ago. I've never played the DLC and I don't own the PC version of 3, so I sat down to buy all of the DLC and decided not to after realizing how much of a hassle it would be. I was even ready to spend the money, but if it's going to be that much of a problem, I'm just not going to do it.

I'd definitely buy an updated re-release on modern consoles that smooths out the framerate and comes with every last piece of DLC (and also isn't a buggy piece of shit). I'd even pay full price for it. But EA doesn't seem willing to do that either.

@facelessvixen said:

I just investigated this and it seems that you're right. I hadn't ever tied my copy of ME2 (a physical disc) to Origin. For whatever reason, you cannot see the DLC for ME2 unless you already have the game in your library, which is why I assumed it wasn't available. Once I added the game, I could then see the full list of DLC to download or purchase. Surprisingly, it even knows that bought pretty much all of it already and I can just download it through Origin instead of through that weird Bioware site. It's actually a lot easier than I thought. Sadly, this only really benefits someone like me who bought it all already; anyone else would still have to buy all of the DLC if they never owned it.

Was in the same boat. I thought I'd give Mass Effect 3 another chance and reinstalled it on Origin. Before I fired it up, I figured I'd pick up all the DLC. I would have even purchased it again if it was a game of the year, all DLC included sort of deal.

But, nope. You have to buy it piece by piece. I went from gung-ho, ready to throw money at EA to uninstalling Mass Effect 3 before launching it.

the DLC nightmare that is the Mass Effect trilogy is the only reason I want them to do a remastered version complete version. I've wanted to play those games again for a while but I own them for PS3 and don't have access to a PS3 anymore. It is a mess

Today I discovered that Origin finally bundled the DLC and made it easy to buy as Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 DLC bundles. I've been holding out to buy it and finally pulled the trigger.

Mass Effect 2 DLC bundle

Mass Effect 3 DLC bundle