As I’m sure will surprise no one, this list of the best moments of the Mass Effect series in the wake of BioWare’s shutdown was originally a lot longer. I strolled into the Kotaku Slack with a list of…one second, let me count…57 moments across all of Mass Effect that I wanted to spotlight. That was after I had made what I thought were tough cuts, but once I plopped that proposed monster into the chat, I was immediately bullied for my hubris and told I was only allowed 12. Frankly, that was rude as hell and a direct attack on my sparkle. But here I am. I killed 45 of my darlings and picked what I consider the 12 best moments across the Mass Effect series, and even now, I may keel over at the thought of not including moments like the Wrex conflict on Virmire, or Tali thinking about where the living room window of her new home will go once she’s reclaimed the Quarian homeworld of Rannoch.

So if you open up this list and wonder where your favorite moment is, do not blame me.…