Mass Effect similar game

So I just finished Mass Effect 1&2&3 back to back, and it was an awesome experience. Looking for a similar game now, and my friend recommended Amalur Reckoning. I bought it used for 4.99 and I just started it, but it seems more like a God of War than Mass Effect. Only played about an hour, but I think it's pretty lame so far.

Is there any other large scale action adventure game like Mass Effect out there? I played Dragon age, Skyrim and Diablo 3 already

Have you played Dragon Age 2?

The Mass Effect-y parts of Alpha Protocol are pretty great.

Journey to the West.

Alpha Protocol is pretty cool, I suggest you play it despite its flaws.

Older Bioware stuff? KOTOR 1 (and perhaps 2), Jade Empire?

@paparoach said:

I bought it used for 4.99 and I just started it, but it seems more like a God of War than Mass Effect. Only played about an hour, but I think it's pretty lame so far.

A whole hour you say. Did you even leave the tutorial area? How about you give that game more then just an hour.

On that note. Go play Demon's Souls and then Dark souls. You'll thank me later.

@phrosen: Played and finished it, that was a great game

How about Fallout 3 and STALKER. Not quite similar but also shooter RPG's

Dragon Age Origins

Fallout 3

Skyrim

Witcher 2

The Witcher 2, maybe?

Granted, I can't say that it really feels like a Bioware game, but it is a semi-linear action-adventure RPG with choices and stuff.

@mordukai said:

@paparoach said:

I bought it used for 4.99 and I just started it, but it seems more like a God of War than Mass Effect. Only played about an hour, but I think it's pretty lame so far.

A whole hour you say. Did you even leave the tutorial area? How about you give that game more then just an hour.

The tutorial area is far more than enough to know how the whole game will be in the case of Amalur. In other words, terrible.

I would suggest the Witcher 1 and 2. I think they are better than Mass effect in many ways.

@phrosen said:

Alpha Protocol is pretty cool, I suggest you play it despite its flaws.

Sadly my friend what you just said is a paradox. It's flaws all lie in the "playing" part; they straight up thwart it. I wish the story was weak, or the narrative, or the visuals, or the atmosphere.. No, they're all pretty exciting. The gameplay is where the flaws accumulate.

Watching Alpha Protocol being played by a really patient and skilled dude on Youtube is how to experience the film masterpiece that is Alpha Protocol IMO!

Star Control 2. Exactly the same, cept in DOS.

If you say large scale action adventure, I'd say Assassin's Creed 1, 2 and Brotherhood. Not really in the same ball park, but they have scale and a good story.

If you're looking for more Sci-fi. Maybe the Dead Space games will interest you.

Edit: but I guess you really mean RPG's, right?

@OfficeGamer said:

@phrosen said:

Alpha Protocol is pretty cool, I suggest you play it despite its flaws.

Sadly my friend what you just said is a paradox. It's flaws all lie in the "playing" part; they straight up thwart it. I wish the story was weak, or the narrative, or the visuals, or the atmosphere.. No, they're all pretty exciting. The gameplay is where the flaws accumulate.

Watching Alpha Protocol being played by a really patient and skilled dude on Youtube is how to experience the film masterpiece that is Alpha Protocol IMO!

Just exploit the stealth system and melee combat. That's how to play it.

And honestly, none of these games are really like Mass Effect. It's a story-centric, action-oriented third-person shooter. I guess I can kinda see The Witcher comparisons 'cause it's story is fucking awesome and the melee combat is rad, or Fallout even though it's an FPS. If you want games that thematically are like Mass Effect, you've got your fair share. If you're looking for awesome RPGs you've got your share. But there aren't many games, that play like Mass Effect and have an RPG element and focus on story. Since Dragon Age is made by the same studio with a similar 'dialogue wheel' style system, it's similar. Dragon Age 2 is ass, but has a more action-y feel. The original's combat is--well, it's rad, but not very action-y.

@OfficeGamer said:

@phrosen said:

Alpha Protocol is pretty cool, I suggest you play it despite its flaws.

Sadly my friend what you just said is a paradox.

That's not a paradox. You probably mean a "contradiction", but even so, it's not one.

Dragon age 2 is pretty much mass effect 3 but with a botched rpg-like combat system, but it's same shit in terms of protagonist, blue and red "paths"... etc, kinda shame for the dragon age series but if you want mass effect like games id recommend it as being the closes to mass effect you might get, identical if you ignore the setting.

Other than that Kotor 1/2 are pretty good SF, rpg's but not in the style of mass effect, and recent very good rpg's that id recommend are the Witcher ( 2 mostly, but 1 was very good as well ) they are years above any other games in terms of both graphic and impact based on decision atm ( like 90% of the game being played in different zones depending on who you side with/follow trough the game and some other more ramified choices that reflect in the end by how the "kingdoms" get arranged... much more in depth than any other rpg out there in terms of choice ).

@JoeyRavn said:

@OfficeGamer said:

@phrosen said:

Alpha Protocol is pretty cool, I suggest you play it despite its flaws.

Sadly my friend what you just said is a paradox.

That's not a paradox. You probably mean a "contradiction", but even so, it's not one.

I like the words "paradox" and "oxymoron" so much that I'm willing to use them not-so-accurately sometimes.

But how is it not a contradiction? Asking a man to watch a movie despite the fact that it, for example, has no image but only audio, doesn't make sense. I realize this example is extreme, but it's an example. Alpha Protocol's biggest most blatant weakness is trying to control the protagonist and have him move and do things, therefore you can't ask someone to ignore those flaws and "play" it, it's atrocious to play out of all things.

@OfficeGamer said:

@JoeyRavn said:

@OfficeGamer said:

@phrosen said:

Alpha Protocol is pretty cool, I suggest you play it despite its flaws.

Sadly my friend what you just said is a paradox.

That's not a paradox. You probably mean a "contradiction", but even so, it's not one.

I like the words "paradox" and "oxymoron" so much that I'm willing to use them not-so-accurately sometimes.

But how is it not a contradiction? Asking a man to watch a movie despite the fact that it, for example, has no image but only audio, doesn't make sense. I realize this example is extreme, but it's an example. Alpha Protocol's biggest most blatant weakness is trying to control the protagonist and have him move and do things, therefore you can't ask someone to ignore those flaws and "play" it, it's atrocious to play out of all things.

I dunno, I played through it (PS3 version, if that makes a difference. maybe you played the PC version and the controls sucked? just throwing that out there) with a stealth/pistol build and had a great time. I know the shooting of the heavier weapons is janky, which is why I went that way. The story and dialogue options are a big part of playing it, too, I would argue (and definitely the best part). I would also argue that it makes the player feel as though they have a legitimate impact on the story, even more so than Mass Effect. My favorite Nolan North performance is present as well, with him as Steven Heck.

So I gotta back the original recommendation, but that's just me. It's unfortunate that you had a bad time with the game.

I would say Knights of the old Republic. It probably doesn't hold up as well these days, but in my opinion, mass effect was the spiritual successor to KOTOR in a lot of ways. KOTOR is still one of my favorite games maybe ever. Just know that I've got a bit of rosed colored glasses on when I go back to it, but your mileage may vary.

Law of the West, obviously.

@paparoach: Sadly you will be hard pressed to find another game like Mass Effect. Despite all the hate that's been floating around the internet, this game was a landmark. It was the first game that allowed me to carry over my save between games thereby deepening the connection to the characters. The ending disappointed me but I still recognize that it was amazing feat in storytelling and gameplay.

Amalur isn't a bad recommendation, but its more of a hack and slash game (ala Warcraft) with deep character customization. The story/mythology has quantity if you want it but I couldn't get into the game like yourself since it all felt similar.

Your best options for finding something like ME is to play a 3rd person squad based game, or a western-style RPG. For a 3rd person game, maybe Binary Domain although the story if the gonzo Japanese action type. If you want an RPG with deep lore maybe Witcher or Skyrim? Deus Ex is kinda similiar in a scifi way, but stealth gameplay. Two games that you horizon that I think may fill my desire for a ME-like game are Cyperpunk 2077 and Remember Me.

Strangely when I finished ME3 the only game I could find to fill the gap was Borderlands 1+2. Its not the same type of game but it had deep action oriented gameplay. I spent hours speccing my character like I did with ME and the story was fun and fast but had coherent lore if I wanted to look into it.

Grow a beard then play Alpha Protocol.

@djou: Yes I might go back to Borderlands 2. That is a pretty fun game. Completely forgot about Deus Ex, might look that up.

After reading these comments I've realized that there's nothing like Mass Effect out there, really.

@beard_of_zeus said:

there) with a stealth/pistol build and had a great time. I know the shooting of the heavier weapons is janky, which is why I went that way. The story and dialogue options are a big part of playing it, too, I would argue (and definitely the best part). I would also argue that it makes the player feel as though they have a legitimate impact on the story, even more so than Mass Effect. My favorite Nolan North performance is present as well, with him as Steven Heck.

So I gotta back the original recommendation, but that's just me. It's unfortunate that you had a bad time with the game.

I concur with this, I've played it an embarrassing amount of times over and its one of my beloved games now. It's kind of unwieldy to play and the boss fights can be jarringly different from the game at items (especially if you've specialised wrong) but the whole "illusion of choice" really shines in these games. Even the order in which you approach missions changes some dialogue, even if its minuscule its nice to see arbitrary game choices get acknowledged. Also once you've completed it, you get a form of newgame plus which is fantastic if you play through as a bearded sadist, we named him the bearded menace and the wake of destruction he left was brilliant, bond would weep.

@Miketakon said:

Grow a beard then play Alpha Protocol.

Kindred spirits brotha'

_____________________

If you can get it cheap its really worth going through, the story is a pretty fun hash of secret agent man tropes and the variations in the endings feel logical.

Also having just played and finished binary domain I'd recommend that, it has similar game play (though there is very little in the terms of character building beyond improving accuracy and damage) and admittedly its not really a choice based rpg, though there are very minute instances where you can respond to your squad mates and there's an interesting "trust" mechanic that influences your ending a small amount, I'd say go in blind to binary domain like I did and you'll be pleasantly surprised. Also as a pastiche of all great 80's action sci-fi's its pretty good coming off ME that was initially designed in the same thematic vein.

Try Jade Empire (if you have an Xbox or PC). It's by Bioware in their old days. I'd say it's still amazing.

Other than that, I would recomend The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings by CD Project Red (the original Witcher is probably also great, but I haven't played it).

Alpha Protocol is somewhat like ME but sadly it has lots of flaws, I personally didn't like it too, much. You should Try the Dragon Age games as they are both made by BioWare, Jade Empire is also awesome. What I recommend, and I know its not exactly like ME, but it is a Sci Fi RPG that has choices and is awesome, is Deus Ex: Human Revolution. It is an extremely awesome game.

Alpha Protocol lost me when I was fighting a little punk/goth girl on a boat with a shotgun. Game's story was really bad. Some people hold it up in some high regard past its flaws but to me, all it does well is player choice.

Already been recommended but Witcher 2. I also highly recommend Bioware's back catalog. KOTOR is a classic of course and I have a soft spot for Jade Empire.

Otherwise there isn't much like it. Rise of the Argonauts is totally a Bioware game set in Greek Mythology but it's really not very good.

Closest game I can think of to Mass Effect is Alpha Protocol which is a lot of fun.

I saw S.T.A.L.K.E.R. mentioned, not really an RPG by any means, although it does have a couple RPG elements. They're some of the best games of all time as far as I'm concerned, would definitely recommend them if you're looking for something more action based.

I just played The Witcher 1 and I can only recommend it if you have a love for older WRPGs, it's really not that good and way too long.

And yes, there is pretty much nothing like Mass Effect out there.

I went straight into the Witcher 2 after finishing ME3. The characters and setting of ME3 is just so engraved in my head I found it really hard to dive my head into W2. It wasn't until Act III that I started enjoying W2.

Moral of the story is, let the ME universe linger a bit before you dig deep into another immersive RPG such as W2.

The closest thing to Mass Effect is probably Alpha Protocol, and while I think that game is a poorly-made curiosity at best, it's cheap enough that you may get something out of it that I did not.

@mnzy said:

I just played The Witcher 1 and I can only recommend it if you have a love for older WRPGs, it's really not that good and way too long.

And yes, there is pretty much nothing like Mass Effect out there.

Have you played Witcher 2 yet? If so, is it worthwhile to play the first one before going into that?

I keep trying to get through it but keep losing interest. Maybe it's just that the story hasn't quite picked up yet, as I've only just finished the first real area (with the witch and ghost dogs). The combat is ok, but the little I've played of the Witcher 2 felt leaps and bounds better.

@TheHT: I only started Witcher 2. Apparently it helps to understand the world better.

@phrosen: Alpha Protocol was plenty good, just buggy. I really enjoyed it.

Try playing Dragon Age, Witcher 2, or Binary Domain if you would consider it, since it has choices and consequences.

@paparoach: I played Deus Ex: Human Revolution shortly after finishing the ME trilogy last year and came away really impressed with it. I love ME with all my heart but Deus Ex is a superb game.

Maybe it's got an annoyance or two, but things you can live with.

@OfficeGamer said:

Watching Alpha Protocol being played by a really patient and skilled dude on Youtube is how to experience the film masterpiece that is Alpha Protocol IMO!

That would be the worst way to experience Alpha Protocol. The way your choices impact the game is what makes it so great.

@mordukai said:

On that note. Go play Demon's Souls and then Dark souls. You'll thank me later.

Demon's Souls and Dark Souls are nothing like Mass Effect. Quality notwithstanding, what this have anything to do with this thread?

Jade Empire.

@ll_Exile_ll said:

Law of the West, obviously.

HA!

• Knights of the Old Republic
• Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
• Jade Empire
• Dragon Age: Origins
• Dragon Age 2
• The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
• Alpha Protocol
• Fallout 3
• Fallout: New Vegas
• Binary Domain
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution