The Mass Effect trilogy is celebrated for its expansive narrative, impactful choices, and the deeply personal relationships players forge with their crew. While Commander Shepard’s galactic adventures are unique, many other games offer similar experiences, blending epic storytelling with engaging companion dynamics and high-stakes decision-making. If you find yourself missing the crew of the Normandy and the thrill of saving the galaxy, these ten titles provide a compelling alternative.
Whether it's navigating complex faction politics, embarking on vast exploration missions, or simply enjoying the camaraderie (and occasional dissent) among a diverse cast, these games capture the essence of what makes Mass Effect so beloved. From BioWare's own early works to modern sci-fi epics, your next unforgettable journey awaits.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
This BioWare RPG predates Mass Effect and laid the groundwork for many of its core mechanics. Players are thrust into a Star Wars narrative, tasked with saving the Republic from the Sith. It features a robust companion system, moral choices that impact the story, and a galaxy-spanning quest that will feel familiar to Mass Effect fans. While its combat is real-time with pause rather than cover-based shooting, the choice-driven narrative and memorable characters make it a worthy successor.
- Why you’ll like it: Choices, companions, romance, and morality meters developed by BioWare years before Mass Effect.
- Why you might not: Combat is real-time-with-pause, not cover shooting.
- Where to play: Android, iOS, Mac, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC.
The Outer Worlds
Obsidian Entertainment’s The Outer Worlds offers a distinct take on the spacefaring RPG. Set in a colony dominated by corporations, players awaken from cryosleep to a desperate situation. The game excels in its dark, satirical humor and the consequences of player choices, mirroring Mass Effect's emphasis on narrative impact. Although it features a smaller scale and budget compared to BioWare's epic, its spaceship hub, planetary exploration, and quirky companions provide a similar sense of adventure.
- Why you’ll like it: Choice-heavy RPG set in space with significant corporate satire.
- Why you might not: Lower budget and smaller scale; no Normandy-sized ship.
- Where to play: Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.
Fallout: New Vegas
While not set in space, Fallout: New Vegas shares Mass Effect's dedication to player agency and meaningful choices. The game places players in the post-apocalyptic Mojave Wasteland, caught between warring factions like the New California Republic and Caesar’s Legion. Its deep RPG systems allow for significant story divergence, ensuring that player decisions have palpable consequences, much like in Mass Effect’s narrative arcs.
- Why you’ll like it: Choices with consequences and factions that remember your actions.
- Why you might not: You’re in irradiated Nevada, not space.
- Where to play: PS3, Windows PC, and Xbox 360.
Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077 immerses players in the dystopian Night City, following the story of V, a mercenary grappling with a biochip that threatens to overwrite their identity. While it lacks a traditional squad system, the game offers a reactive world, compelling narrative branches with irreversible consequences, and romanceable companions. Its focus on a deeply personal, high-stakes narrative and futuristic combat echoes Mass Effect's strengths, albeit within a single, densely packed city.
- Why you’ll like it: A reactive world, intriguing narrative branches with no takebacks, and romanceable companions.
- Why you might not: You don’t have a squad; this is a solo-character game.
- Where to play: PS4, PS5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X.
XCOM 2
In XCOM 2, players lead a resistance against alien occupiers twenty years after Earth’s surrender. While its gameplay is centered on turn-based tactical combat and base management rather than real-time shooting, the game captures the feeling of commanding a crew and making difficult choices with permanent consequences. The high stakes of losing soldiers and the strategic depth of its gameplay offer a different, yet equally engaging, experience for those who appreciate squad management and tough decisions.
- Why you’ll like it: The stakes are permanent, and losing a squad member truly hurts.
- Why you might not: Minimal character writing and relationships; this is a mechanics-heavy alternative.
- Where to play: Nintendo Switch, PS4, Windows PC, and Xbox One.
Starfield
Starfield offers a vast open-world space exploration experience. Players begin as artifact hunters, drawn into a larger quest to uncover cosmic mysteries. Like Mass Effect, it features spaceship travel, companion recruitment, faction politics, and fast-paced shooting combat. However, Starfield leans more towards a sandbox experience, allowing players to chart their own course across numerous planets, providing a different flavor of grand space adventure.
- Why you’ll like it: There’s a crew to recruit and get to know, and you’ll get to do space exploration at a similar Mass Effect scale.
- Why you might not: The companion writing isn’t quite up to Mass Effect’s.
- Where to play: PS5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Set in a near-future world grappling with human augmentation, Deus Ex: Human Revolution follows Adam Jensen, a security chief investigating a conspiracy. This title emphasizes stealth, exploration, and player choice, offering a different gameplay style than Mass Effect's squad-based combat. However, its narrative depth, exploration of complex themes like transhumanism, and morally ambiguous decisions provide a similarly gripping experience.
- Why you’ll like it: Hefty political choices to make, a protagonist wrestling with their own changing identity.
- Why you might not: You don’t get a squad; this is a solo stealth-action game.
- Where to play: PS3, Windows PC, Wii U, and Xbox 360.
Jagged Alliance 3
Jagged Alliance 3 puts players in charge of a mercenary squad tasked with rescuing a kidnapped president. It combines turn-based tactical combat with deep squad management and engaging character interactions. The banter between squad members and the significant impact of player choices, such as deciding the fate of captured enemies, evoke the feeling of managing a cohesive, albeit sometimes argumentative, unit, reminiscent of Mass Effect's crew dynamics.
- Why you’ll like it: The squad banter! (Think: Garrus and Wrex bickering, but…everyone does it).
- Why you might not: There’s not an overarching sci-fi narrative; the focus here is on tactics and relationships with non-romanceable companions.
- Where to play: PS4, PS5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.
Star Traders: Frontiers
Star Traders: Frontiers places you at the helm of a starship, managing your crew and undertaking various contracts across a procedurally generated galaxy. This game excels in its deep simulation of spacefaring life, including crew management, faction diplomacy, and survival. Players who enjoyed the deep-space setting and the highs and lows of working with a loyal crew in Mass Effect will find a familiar, albeit more simulation-focused, experience here.
- Why you’ll like it: It’s a space-opera RPG with crew management where you’ll balance opposing factions and allies to accomplish your goals.
- Why you might not: It’s a much, much, much smaller production than Mass Effect with a minuscule budget.
- Where to play: Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows PC.
No Man’s Sky
No Man’s Sky offers an immense procedurally generated universe for players to explore. As a Traveler with amnesia, you'll navigate survival, resource management, and unravel the mystery of the universe’s simulated nature. While it focuses more on solo exploration and survival than explicit narrative and companion relationships, the core experience of traveling the galaxy, interacting with alien species, and upgrading your starship resonates with the grand scale of Mass Effect.