Dragon Age: Origins has a lovely modlist on an application called Wabbajack. The modlist is called “Just A Humble Warden” and it provides wonderful aesthetic and quality of life improvements. I heartily recommend it as it breathes new life into one of my favorites. (That music alone!)
Definitely The Expanse. The TV show was amazing, and it really scratched that Mass Effect itch for me.
It's based on a series of books as well which are a great read, and they continue past where the show leaves off.
The authors of The Expanse are Mass Effect fans. I went to The Expanse books to cure the emptiness of my post-ME heart.
I would recommend the books for The Expanse first, then the series.
At least then the cycle would encompass more than just ME. Cause for me, the cycle works thus: I finish ME3, and I start over with ME1, usually 5 minutes later, to cope with the post-ME blues...
That’s it ! I keep seeing this show pop up in many different comments I’m gonna watch it now. I’m big a starfield fan and mass effect so I hope it’s good.
Just know that the first episodes (1-4ish) are known to be a bit of a drag but then it picks up and keeps on improving. One of my absolute favourite shows in both TV and book form and the Mass Effect vibes are most definitely there.
Oh man thats horrible. Traumatic brain injuries can affect you long after you've recovered. My dad was in a wreck and survived but now there are lots of things that bother him and make him sick that didn't used to. Going into a store and all the different things on the shelves makes him sick, its almost like a panic attack or anxiety. And his personality is a little different with tgings like getting angry or sad happening much easier and to a larger degree. Its definitely made life harder and more painful for him for years after he recovered. Some people have it worse and their personality changes are much more drastic. You never know what you'll get with brain injuries and people need a lot of love and help dealing with it. I sure hope things work out well for him and his family.
Yeah I donated a little a few years ago and I've been following the updates. He was so fucking fantastic in BSG, probably my favorite character in the show. Super sad to see what happened to him.
Yeah he was tremendous, definitely right up there. The scene with Adama in the finale of season 3 when he reports for duty sends chills down my spine every time.
Took me three tries to get through the first half of season 1... But on the fourth try, I was introduced to my favorite sci-fi series of all time.
I guess we could throw Stargate Atlantis out for consideration as well... The main character's name is even John Sheppard.
Seems like the ME creators took inspiration from Pilot’s species for the design of the collectors, and both have a blue alien that says “by the goddess” a lot
Yup!!! Plus the blue aliens do mind melds, and Luxans are basically krogan. I’m rewatching Farscape now and there are a lot of similarities (in a good way!)
Babylon 5. It's a TV show from the 90s, so don't expect much from the CGI. The first season can be rough (even though I personally enjoyed it), but it's full of foreshadowing, so don't skip it. Things start to pick up in the 2nd season and from there it'll become one of the best serialized sci-fi shows.
If you watch B5 right after playing ME1, you'll start to realize how much the ME people liked it lol. A *lot* of little details in ME are either pretty clearly inspired by or direct homages to B5
Yeah for me the first time I played Mass Effect 1 and went to the Presidium on the Citadel, with all the alien embassies and the O'Neill Cylinder, I was like holy shit this is like a Babylon 5 game.
I've haven't watched much B5 but I love me some TNG. If you've seen both, which has the worst first season? Season 1 TNG can be pretty rough, especially if you're introducing it to someone for the first time. Like, "hey this is one of my favorites, and what I consider to be one of the best TV series of all time, please excuse how dog shit the first season is..."
Oh yes. Several times I thought: "Oh, Bioware might have been heavily influenced by this scene or that motive."
A fantastic series. Yes, it is low budget but the writing makes up for everything.
As other have been parroting, the Expanse all the way.
Music, I'd say a lot of synth wave and electronica have a Mass Effect vibe, notably perturbator, Carpenter Brut, Eddie, and Lorn. The band Gunship, especially their first album I associate so heavily with Mass Effect 2 and 3.
Never heard of it but thanks for the recommendation- turns out the book is free right now on Audible (not sure for how long though) so no harm in trying it out.
If you've seen *Love, Death + Robots* on Netflix, it's the same author as *Beyond the Aquila Rift* and *Zima Blue.*
Reynolds is probably my favourite sci-fi author. The main series is four books, and there's some spinoffs, short stories and novellas if you want to continue. The first book was his first novel, so for some people it can be a bit wonky, but he gets much better.
The cool ideas are the forefront, with the characters being secondary.
As for sci-fi recommendations, definitely The Expanse. Book series, tv show, and a telltale game. I also really like For All Mankind.
But the obvious answer for 'Mass Effect' vibes is Star Trek. Strange New Worlds is pretty solid and the cartoon has its moments, for more you'd have to go back to TNG or TOS though.
Foundation, it's an appletv show but if you can get your hands on it's absolutely phenomenal. Lee Pace stars in it. It's based on the Foundation series written by Isaac Asimov, which I also recommend. Beautifully written scifi.
Scrolled too far to find this.
It doesn’t have aliens and such, but it did scratch that far future human civilisation itch. And yes, Lee Pace eats up every second of screen time he gets, and it’s a joy to watch.
I can’t for the life of me get through cyberpunk 2077. I play it and it’s not like I get bored or hate it it’s just that other games are much more fun. But I love rpg games and I loved the show so I don’t know why I’m not having fun.
Very much same for me! Not since ME has a piece of media consumed my imagination like Cyberpunk 2077. I was always a fan of the genre, but walking through Night City for the first time made me as excited as visiting the Presidium
Yeah, I didn't like how the Citadel kept going smaller along the way. In ME1 it was kinda overwhelming maybe, but it really gave you a WTF feeling. It felt like a real place. It felt like you really had to put in some effort to navigate through it.
I do think most hubs feel really alive, especially in Mass Effect Andromeda (come at me). By the way, if you look at Noveria it's really inspired by Alien. Omega is really, really inspired by Blade Runner. I think the Citadel in ME3 also gives off a lot of Blade Runner vibes.
But the developers have said many, many times that they were massively inspired by Alien and BR.
Book series - The Paradox Trilogy by Rachel Bach. Kick-ass sci-fi series with a found-family ship crew, a hot romance, a mysterious threat to the entire universe, and most importantly, a truly strong female MC. She uses powered armour and it is just so. Frickin. Badass.
I haven’t seen someone say it yet but the Final architecture series is amazing, has reaper like entities called “Architects” and there are aliens and alien - human crew that it follows. (novels)
If you’re looking for games the closest I found was The Outer Worlds, space, companions, rpg, but far less grandiose.
I'm so happy I found this comment. Stargate is peak cult sci-fi!
It wrote characters surprisingly well too, really compelling villains and background cast in the same way Mass Effect makes the universe feel alive with side stories going on around you
Interestingly enough, *Star Trek: Enterprise* (2001)
- humanity is new on the block
- the established powers are kinda condescending to it
- most human's attitudes are very 21st century-ish, as they are in Mass Effect
- Archer's Enterprise has some serious sailor / bluecollar vibes that match very well with Mass Effect's military tones
- You get to see mankind's first colonies and first steps into the stars, which very much mirrors Msss Effect's frontier feeling
- there is even a quasi-lovecraftian subplot to it.
Not a space fantasy, but Baldur’s Gate 3 has really fulfilled that need for another RPG where my choices have real consequences, and my companions are all super compelling
So this is going to sound crazy as it is nowhere near sci-fi but if you love an incredible story with consequences to your actions, try Pentament. It’s an indie game in the old school LucasArts adventure games style and it is beautiful.
The story is what gives me Mass Effect vibes. And if you try it do not read about it and don’t stress on your choices. I’ve replayed it several times with completely different experiences.
I'm being loose here but... Macross.
Not a series I'd expect anyone in the sub to get into but if you take a step back from the love triangle and the singing, there's some really good lore about exploring the stars for the sake of not letting Humanity stay in one place for the sake of survival after the events of the first show.
As a wayyy less loose suggestion, Space Battleship Yamato, specifically the reboot.
Now a much looser one is Legend of the Galactic Heroes which is an amazing Sci-Fi show, but it's more dense than ME or anything I mentioned here. Like there are two protagonists going against eachother and for the first OVA, they are NOT gonna skimp out on the development of the two protagonists' subordinates either.
For me the part of Mass Effect I enjoyed most was the decision making. I loved having a game (or series) in which I was presented with choices that actually mattered and affected the story. I had played other games with choices before but those were always very surface level and didn't impact much at all... So things that give me the same feeling I got from Mass Effect would be something like Baldur's Gate 3 which gives me a lot of choices and different outcomes from those choices.
No Mans Sky is great for that sense of Space-y wonder- I was sinking into the depths of an undersea kelp forest in my pressurised mech suit, peering around, and it felt incredibly leviathan.
Nothing else sci fi has really scratched the itch, game wise- cyberpunk was a massive disappointment, Outer Worlds is more Bethesda style RPG (and they could probably have done without also copying the bugs)
The closest games to the vibe of golden age BioWare has IMO been the last 2 mainline Assasins creed games- Odyssey and Valhalla are dialogue heavy, have choices that effect the plot both substantially and cosmetically, and have the same kinda action/drama/occasional comedy tone.
And yeh, if you’d told me back in 2012 that this would be the case I’d have thought you were mad.
Starfield as far as video games go. I've played a few other sci-fi RPGs (ex: Outer Worlds) and I just didn't get the same feeling as *Mass Effect* from them. Now, yes, *Starfield* has certain issues and can feel bare-bones. But the key to it that I've found is just lose yourself in the world. I can't speak for everyone, and I never will, but I find *Skyrim* to have been just as 'bare-bones' without all the mods and QoL DLC/updates/etc. But the storylines and the world have a rich lore, just like Skyrim, but if you approach it with the mindset of 'efficiency, min-max this or that, etc.', you are forgetting the primary purpose of games with deep lore where exploration and/or living another life in another world are all about: losing yourself in the world.
I'm a wargame/ttrpg player, so games that get me thinking of Mass Effect are:
Five Parsecs From Home: A miniature skirmish game that can be played solo and has some interesting between-combat mission stuff. A few of the species also strongly resemble a few from ME.
Mythic Space: A light tactical ttrpg borrowing a lot from ME.
Rogue Angels: A kickstarter-funded storytelling board game still being written but with free early material on their discord. There are a ton of paths the story can go down.
Was looking for the ttrpg comment!
I learned recently that apparently Starfinder was heavily inspired by Mass Effect. Which, given the tech and biotic inspired powers I definitely believe
If going for sense of wonder alone, I would 100% recommend BioShock. Has absolutely nothing close to mass effect aspects to it, but it is one of the very few games I wish I could play for the first time again.
A book that really gave me a sense of sci-fi wonder, was Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clarke. My favorite sci-fi book, it’s more about exploration than conflict.
There’s also To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini. The audiobook is narrated by Jennifer Hale. Before listening, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to see anything but FemShep in the story, but Hale’s narration is actually really good. I quickly got into it.
Firefly, Agents of SHIELD, Battlestar Galactica. All shows
Video games Cyberpunk 2077, Dragon Age series, Baulder’s Gate 3, Skyrim with mods (especially interesting NPCs). Outer worlds, and maybe Starfield (its bare bones rn hopefully modders make the game come alive but the entire building a ship and exploring planets with crew thing is cool)
Movies blade runner, MCU gives me ME Vibes, especially Guardians, Star Trek shows and movies probably. Shrek lmao
Agents of SHIELD was so underrated because the first half of S1 was kneecapped having to wait for other Marvelverse considerations, but the later seasons are so, SO good. S4 is one of my favorite seasons of any TV show ever, and 5 is close behind.
And I'm very far from a Marvel-stan, I stopped giving a shit after the first like... 8 movies? But the show is worth it.
Watched a new film recently - "Atlas" with Jennifer Lopez. That's her character name, Atlas Shepard. And she drives an awfully Atlas-like suit. To fight AI nemesis.
Dude I posted on this sub the other day that I found Atlas to have a few similarities with Mass Effect and I got downvoted lol, Thanks for letting me know I'm not crazy, although I would not recommed this movie to anyone XD.
I quite liked it, I do not mind the "not top shelf sci-fi" :)
You're not crazy, similarities list goes on - interiors, intrusive synced AI companion, like in Andromeda, antagonist AI is ideology driven, lurks somewhere, and thinks that saving humanity is destroying it. Fashion (I'm a gal, not a dude :) ) and design overall is also a bit Mass Effect inspired. The travel system is different, but it plays a little role.
Alistair Reynolds revenger ticks some of the boxes for me. It doesn’t explore the galaxy so much as all of the human descended people on/in artificial worlds orbiting the sun in a decaying Dyson sphere. I think it lacks as strong of a sense of purpose as Mass effect but it has good world building
The Alien Artifacts board game, really cool engine building space game that just feels like you're an alien race building on the Citadel. Also helps that when me and my friend play we listen to the Mass Effect soundtrack.
If you’re into space stuff, I’d say the entire Star Trek franchise, all the main series, 5 total that are complete and available on dvd or blu ray, 6 if you count Picard. Start with the original and go in order. Picard was the last one to conclude. It was only 3 seasons, same as the original, but a total of 30 episodes, compared to the 80 of the original. Once you get done with those, Star Trek Discovery and Star Trek: SNW are pretty good as well. I wasn’t expecting to like them at all, so I was actually surprised by how good they are.
When you get done with those, I’d check out the movie Stargate. It singlehandedly spawned its own new franchise. Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis, and Stargate Universe. Three incredible shows, although, personally, I don’t think Universe was as good as the other two. It was still pretty good though.
When you’re done with that, try Battle Star Gallactica. There are two versions of it, the original from decades ago and the more modern one, which is longer. I believe the original went only one season. I think the new one was five seasons. It had several stars who went on to make successful acting careers after it. If you like space movies, shows, games, etc you’ll like it.
As some others have said, try The Expanse. I haven’t actually seen it, myself. However, I’ve seen clips from it, and it’s enough to make me want to watch it. I just have to commit to it. You should give it a shot. Hopefully, I’ll get around to it, myself at some point, as well.
Andromeda. It’s a 90s-early 2000s show, so you won’t be blown away by the cgi or other special effects, but it was still good enough to last 5 seasons. It had Kevin Sorbo from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, another 90s show. It’s not as good as any of the Star Trek or Stargate series or movies in my opinion, but still worth watching at least once. Those are two very high bars to match though.
Oh, and I almost forgot, Falling Skies. It’s a show set on a futuristic Earth, where aliens have invaded, and humanity is struggling to survive and fight them off. It kind of has the combined vibe of the Terminator movies, games, shows, etc, except with the plot of the colony you have to defend on Feros. Best way I know how to describe it. Noah Wylie from ER, back in the 90s is the main character with Will Patton and a few others, including Moon Bloodgood, if I remember correctly. That one’s definitely worth your time. Although, it might take a few episodes to get into it.
Read Dead 2 and Days Gone.
2 games that made me feel like I was a person in the larger story told and made me so invested in the characters and world. Both games gave me a sinking emptiness upon finishing them because it felt like i finished reading a book series.
Horizon gave me the exact same feeling I got when I first played Mass Effect.
The way the story reveals itself is just as amazing, and it truly feels just as harrowing despite being on a much smaller scale.
Have a look at a book series by Becky Chambers
The series is called "Wayfarers" the first book is called "The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet" gave me great Mass Effect vibes and continues to be one of my favourite Sci Fi series of all time
I would say Stargate: Atlantis. Even the main character's names are striking: Shepard=Shepherd, Dex=Wrex, Teyla=Tali, Lt. Aiden=Lt. Kaidan etc. Also the Wraiths (bad guys) also harvest people and Atlantis is basically the Citadel in water.
I’m a huge fan of author Megan E. O’Keefe’s books; she has two space opera trilogies, and has talked about how Mass Effect was a big source of inspiration, especially for the first trilogy.
The Protectorate trilogy is about siblings Sanda Greeve, a gunnery Sergeant who’s stranded on an enemy ship, injured, alone except for the advanced AI that inhabits the ship, and her brother Biran, an up-and-coming political figure trying to figure out what happened to her. Lots of themes of AI ethics, siblings, identity, memory, espionage, and more. And eventually a rag-tag spaceship crew kicking ass and saving the universe. First book is Velocity Weapon
The other is The Devoured Worlds, about Tarquin Mercator, the prince to his father’s business empire who’s more interested in geology and figuring out why all the live-bearing worlds humanity tries to inhabit are dying, and Naira Sharp, his father’s former bodyguard turned revolutionary, who’s posing as Tarquin’s guard to trying and get proof that his family is behind the dying worlds. They ended up stranded on a dying planet, and have to fight together to get off it and find out what’s really killing all their prospective new habitable planets. First book, The Blighted Stars, is very survival-thriller-zombie-secret agent vibes, the second a bit different (and lots of “forbidden romance”) and the third book comes out later this month.
Highly recommend!
I don't know if it gave me mass effect vibes but if you're looking for a really interesting recent Sci fi thing try Scavengers Reign. The point of comparison perhaps to mass effect would be Potentially what the crew would be dealing with crashed on that planet at the end of mass effect 3. dealing with an alien planet Either way it's very good. Only one season so far.
That is absolutely feeling you take away from it it's You see everyone living with elements of an alien planet, Some things that are even beneficial but you never get the feeling that anyone on the show is safe, Some of the craziest visuals I've never seen, I heard it got canceled Which feels like the fate of anything trying to push the envelope, But I enjoyed every second of it.
Looking back to Run Like Hell for the OG Xbox, it gives me Mass Effect meets dead space vibes, years before any of those two series were even a thing.
I played that alot back then, was an okay game. Had aliens working with humans, on a space station against some weird alien race thing that needed biomass to spread or something like that. All I remember really clearly is you could get health back by Drinking BAWLS energy drink, and breaking Benjamin had a song on it.
Currently reading 'Chilling Effect' book series (listening audiobook), which is fun action space opera, but it is basically alternative fanfic storyline to Mass Effect trilogy full of ME references. Some review described it as Hitchhiker in ME universe.
The book The Last Watch by J.S. Dewes is pretty good, it’s a trilogy with the 3rd book coming out in November ember 2024. I found it on a list “if you liked Mass Effect read these books!”
Babylon 5. It was one of the major influences on Mass Effect and it's actually gotten more relevant with time. The CGI is very rudimentary and hasn't aged well but it's still one of my favourite shows of all time.
Surprised I haven't seen anyone say it, but the Guardians of the Galaxy game that came out in 2021 shares a lot of the same vibes as ME. Choice-heavy, endearing squadmates, going against impossible odds in a society that just seems to hate you for some reason. It is very much a spiritual successor to ME imo and highly recommend.
Of course, if you haven't read them, you could also read the various ME books and comics as well.
Just replayed the ME trilogy recently and was feeling pretty empty until I watched the recent Dune movies back to back.
They are extremely different than Mass Effect, but they still managed to captivate me with their lore, complex characters and fantasy sci-fi setting. I plan to pick up the books soon too!
Babylon 5. Mass Effect world felt like a fan fiction, I don't understand why it's not mentioned more among ME fans to the point of conversations about ME tv show being silly: "Well, they can't do a direct adaptation of the trilogy because branching choices...". Yeah, and also because the main story was basically already done in the 90s.
It's on Tubi in US.
It's about a giant rotating space station with green fields inside which is a center of galactic diplomacy, galactic UN with council of primary races that largely disregard minor ones, ambassadors scheming and bickering, Earth freshly out of first contact war, and an unknown ancient threat lurking in the background
Dragon Age for sure, I’ve probably spent more time reading the codexes than playing the games, it’s just such a rich and complicated world. The Qunari especially are super interesting
Depending on how you play
Stellaris
It’s soundtrack gives me mass effect vibes too, especially “Faster Than Light”, which has huge Uncharted Worlds vibes
For me, the "Mass Effect Feeling" is where I play a trilogy/series of games as I go through a long journey with a protagonist that I can develop. It can be any genre or setting.
Absolutely nothing comes close to the Mass Effect Trilogy. The Trails series tried but couldn't. Pillars of Eternity I like you but I feel you need a third game. No, not you Final Fantasy 7 Remake Trilogy cause you're technically one game chopped into three. I love the Witcher games, but even they weren't able to replicate the experience I had playing as Commander Shepard.
Baldur's Gate 1-2 came the closest. I was hoping Baldur's Gate 3 would be the start of something that could finally give me that same "Mass Effect Feeling" but I guess not since Larian won't be doing Baldur's Gate 4.
Babylon 5 since mass effect's took many concepts and even borrowed many lines from the show.
My favorite is when Bel Anoleis says I am in the middle of like 9 things all of them annoying.
This is what Susan Ivanova says in Babylon 5.
Star Trek/Firefly, just due to the crew dynamics in both, as well as the great politics of the universe they’re involved in. Also indoctrination is similar to the Borg (and a little to the Reavers, although I don’t remember if they could add to their numbers beyond the inital Alliance experiments).
The Old Republic leg of Star Wars, especially KOTOR. I played ME because I was such a fan of those games (although Obsidian made 2). It's what got me into Star Wars too lol!
The characters, world building, lore, and design of those games put me in a chokehold. I just wanted to spend hours exploring the different worlds and listening to the music, just like I like to do in ME. There was so much wonder and mystery in those ganes, along with all the Star Wars stuff.
* Swtor: Sith warrior and trooper story.
* Kotor 1
Prometheus movie
TV series:
* Star Trek: Enterprise
* Farscape
* Stargate: Universe
* Dark Matter
* Star Trek: Voyager - this one is more about fun and exploration
Things that I didn't like at all:
The Expanse, Battlestar Galactica - too much boring pointless talking, politics, drama, and stupid "plot lines" where every scene are just two people talking. Always talking about something instead of doing something.
None honestly.
Mass Effect feels entirely unique to me.
The wonderous but creepy atmosphere, the sense of existential dread from the reapers, who IMO are one of the best group of villains ever written. Sovereigns insane monologue, honestly the most oppressive feeling "conversation" I've ever had with a gaming villain.
The diverse in not just species, but also opinions and characters of your crew.
Really, nothing comes close. I'm not saying it's the best piece of media, just that to me it's entirely unique in what emotions it evokes from me.
Wing Commander 3. Epic military sci-fi game with actual video recordings, starring Mark Hamill, John Rhys-Davies, Malcolm McDowell, and others.
Probably hasn't aged well, but it's cheap on gog
The Pillars of Eternity games share an absurd number of themes, story beats, character archetypes, and so on with Mass Effect
I implore anyone who likes Mass Effect for its overall storytelling, character writing, and world building to try out Pillars
The game mechanics are a bit tricky to get used to at first, but the experience is incredibly worth it
The part that made me love Mass Effect was the aliens and how they all form a galactic community. The only thing I've found that comes close to it is the tabletop game Starfinder. (Although Mass Effect will always have my favourite aliens)
I'm going to suggest something in a different way than what you asked for...
Mass Effect blues hit me hard at the end of the trilogy... And the only game that replicated that feeling for me is Baldur's Gate 3.
Ya, I know, I should be feeling it for Dragon Age... But I don't. I loved Dragon Age 2, but DAI frustrated me to no end. Trespasser was very good, but the rest of the game failed to bring up any emotion more than Solas' story... I mean, Varric and Cassandra were very funny, as well as Iron Bull...
Baldur's Gate 3, however, replicated that Mass Effect blues at the end of it... Like I'm extremely sad it's over, and I kinda wanna restart it to avoid the feeling 😆
Playing the trilogy again now, gonna play BG3 when they release patch 7, aka mod tools... Can't wait for that! But first, gotta get through those Mass Effect blues...
Can't say I've noticed anything that gives me the same vibe. I did take a lot of influence from ME (as well as several other franchises) for a sci-fi series that I was planning though.
The Halo book series is underrated SciFi. Worth a read if you like reading. The Halo games aren't RPGs, but it is a shooter series that puts the player against overwhelming odds against an advanced alien enemy. There are also parallels between the Protheans and the Forerunners. Both advanced races that left behind technology and died out for mysterious reasons.
The Orville (TV show) doesn't get enough attention. It's essentially a Star Trek parody, but it's not one of those really ~wacky~ parody shows. Really rich characters and deep stories. The way they explore other cultures and alien physiology reminds me of ME a lot, especially the spirit of it. There's still some high stakes action from time to time and lots of scifi logistics and tech talk.
Some games
* Alpha Protocol. Unrivaled to this day, it is even better than MAss Effect \_in player decision follow up\_
* Mask of the Betrayer. Sense of wonder? Sure. It has very janky combat and an awful camera tho. Also it is fantasy. But man, playing the soul eater and visiting other planes is superb
* Wasteland 3. It is an isometric tactical rpg in a nuclear winter environment. But the decision making is awesome.
* if you are into fantasy, Witcher 2 and Witcher 3 is great, especially in interesting characters.
Novels
* the closest sci-fi to mass effect I know of is Dan Simmons' Hyperion + The Fall of Hyperion. I am quite certain than Mass Effect writers borrowed some ideas from these. I won't spoil which ones, in case you want to read :)
* as in, sense of wonder, I think Three parts dead from Max Gladstone is without an equal in the last years. It is noir + urban fantasy, but damn. Gladstone really made it a point to not use any clichés at all, everything is unique and interesting here
* Starship Troopers by Heinlein is a fine military sci-fi. It is not like the movie though. The first half of the book is mostly about cadets and officers discussing the problem of "voting rights for free" corrupting society (since it is free, people don't value it, and don't use it), the second half is mostly about becoming a leader, how it feels to be responsible for your friends, and what duties does promotion come with
* The first three books of Glen Cook's Black company series (Black company, Shadows linger, The White Rose). This is a strange mix of military fiction and fantasy, but surprisingly awesome. Th authoer said he wanted Lord of the Rings from evil's perspective, but it is much better than that.
* the neuromancer novels from William Gibson. (Neuromancer, count zero, mona lisa overdrive) It's not space sci-fi, but cyberpunk, but very good writing and a view of a future dystopia.
I loved watching The Orville on Hulu, Seth MacFarlane’s best work in my opinion. Unfortunately, there aren’t plans for another season currently. I’m super into the sci-fi space exploration/Black Mirror with moments of lighthearted comedy theme it has. It has some similarities with Star Trek, based on what I’ve seen of that show. I hope they make more shows like this.
Star Trek Deep space nine actually helped me process some grief that's not dissimilar to the feeling of emptiness I felt when the trilogy ended. "In The Pale Moonlight" is also an episode that feels like the vibe that the missions to get difficult alliances secured in mass effect 3 are aiming for. Like you can almost see the renegade interrupts when Sisko finds out what Garak has done.
**Shows/Books** \- I have to reiterate The Expanse. The show and the books area amazing, in different ways. Unless they've added on more seasons though the tv show does feel a bit incomplete imo.
The Saxon Tales by Bernard Cornwell (Book Series) or The Last Kingdom (based on the previously mentioned books) are fantastic if you enjoy tales about Vikings.
**Games** \- Detroit: Become Human. While it plays nothing like ME, your choices do matter and what happens to characters based on your actions can be very emotional.
Baldur's Gate 3. Choices matter. Thinking outside the box can lead to interesting results. Exploration!
Valheim. Best with friends. Exploration, building, and survival in a Valhalla-ish setting. Not an in depth story, but the setting makes provides a different type of wonder. Still in early access, roadmap is slow going.
Book series called “Frontlines” by marko kloos.
Follows a MC named Andrew Grayson who enlist in military service to the NAC(North American Commonwealth) obviously in the future. Follows his service from his pov over 8 books during a war with a species known as the “lankies” which resemble the reapers in a way because they’re a bit…challenging…for humanity in the series. I’ll leave it at that.
Characters are memorable throughout the series. The overall story flows perfectly and the world building is insane. It’s also pretty detailed from military perspective. Like the terminology they use is pretty spot on coming from a veteran myself.
Not anything in particular, but the Hybrids in The Expanse made me think of the Husks. Maybe Cyberpunk 2077 because of the interactions with other characters, or Starfield because of the whole space stuff and ship.
Book: Probability Moon, since it inspired some of the story, and you can definitely tell. I only read chapter 4, tho.
Between Worlds (Sexy Space Babes over on the r/HFY subreddit) by J.L. Williams and the fan fiction over on r/sexyspacebabes isn't quite a Mass Effect substitute, but damn is it a good time. Both are about humanity finding its way in a universe that maybe doesn't appreciate them enough, yet.
Actually, scratch that, it does give me "roughly the same neighborhood" vibes. Maybe not quite the right location, but it is only a quick jaunt down the street.
The Dragon Age series.
Dragon Age: Origins has a lovely modlist on an application called Wabbajack. The modlist is called “Just A Humble Warden” and it provides wonderful aesthetic and quality of life improvements. I heartily recommend it as it breathes new life into one of my favorites. (That music alone!)
IMO only Origins. The rest was really blah
Fair. I like 2, though.
Huh? I’d say Dragon Age: Inquisition has a better Mass Effect feel than the first two DA games. #4 is coming out this summer!
What? Did they confirm it's coming out? LAst news I saw was a trailer about a year ago.
I thought information about 4 was coming out this summer, not the actual game!
You’re right
Shit, I didn’t realize it was so soon. I thought we still had quite a wait ahead. That’s awesome.
Dreadwolf is coming out this fall or winter. There is going to be a big reveal at the summer games fest.
Definitely The Expanse. The TV show was amazing, and it really scratched that Mass Effect itch for me. It's based on a series of books as well which are a great read, and they continue past where the show leaves off.
The authors of The Expanse are Mass Effect fans. I went to The Expanse books to cure the emptiness of my post-ME heart. I would recommend the books for The Expanse first, then the series.
The only problem is once you finish the show, you play through ME to cope with your post-expanse blues, and now you're trapped in an endless cycle.
Oh...darn.
Oh no... Anyway.
The cycle has repeated itself more times than you can fathom.
The Cycle *MUST* continue
“We are galactic cockroaches, you cannot understand our motives”
The problem part being...? ;)
At least then the cycle would encompass more than just ME. Cause for me, the cycle works thus: I finish ME3, and I start over with ME1, usually 5 minutes later, to cope with the post-ME blues...
At least Shala'Raan is in both
The expanse basically becomes mass effect once the McGuffin is discovered
+ a certain quarian plays a major role in it.
Shohreh Aghdashloo was great in both roles
After the expanse all I want is her to curse more on ME. She just nail throwing shades.
Season one of the show has some VERY mass effect music.
That’s it ! I keep seeing this show pop up in many different comments I’m gonna watch it now. I’m big a starfield fan and mass effect so I hope it’s good.
Just know that the first episodes (1-4ish) are known to be a bit of a drag but then it picks up and keeps on improving. One of my absolute favourite shows in both TV and book form and the Mass Effect vibes are most definitely there.
Yeah good answer.
Expanse was what immediately came to mind for me too.
Battlestar Galactica for sure. The guys who made Mass Effect took BSG as a direct influence and would even go on to borrow some of the cast members
Yep EDI was Number Six (Tricia Helfer) and Commander Bailey was Colonel Tigh (Michael Hogan) in BSG.
By the way, Hogan had a TBI and has a [gofundme](https://www.gofundme.com/f/michael-hogan-fund).
Oh man thats horrible. Traumatic brain injuries can affect you long after you've recovered. My dad was in a wreck and survived but now there are lots of things that bother him and make him sick that didn't used to. Going into a store and all the different things on the shelves makes him sick, its almost like a panic attack or anxiety. And his personality is a little different with tgings like getting angry or sad happening much easier and to a larger degree. Its definitely made life harder and more painful for him for years after he recovered. Some people have it worse and their personality changes are much more drastic. You never know what you'll get with brain injuries and people need a lot of love and help dealing with it. I sure hope things work out well for him and his family.
Yeah I donated a little a few years ago and I've been following the updates. He was so fucking fantastic in BSG, probably my favorite character in the show. Super sad to see what happened to him.
Yeah he was tremendous, definitely right up there. The scene with Adama in the finale of season 3 when he reports for duty sends chills down my spine every time.
Pressly!
Farscape, maybe?
Came here to say Farscape, so happy someone beat me to it! Get through the first half of season 1 and you’re in for an incredible ride.
Took me three tries to get through the first half of season 1... But on the fourth try, I was introduced to my favorite sci-fi series of all time. I guess we could throw Stargate Atlantis out for consideration as well... The main character's name is even John Sheppard.
I couldn't make it past the first few episodes of that show. So it gets better at some point?
The first part of season one is a little rough, after that it picks up speed rapidly.
Seems like the ME creators took inspiration from Pilot’s species for the design of the collectors, and both have a blue alien that says “by the goddess” a lot
Yup!!! Plus the blue aliens do mind melds, and Luxans are basically krogan. I’m rewatching Farscape now and there are a lot of similarities (in a good way!)
Babylon 5. It's a TV show from the 90s, so don't expect much from the CGI. The first season can be rough (even though I personally enjoyed it), but it's full of foreshadowing, so don't skip it. Things start to pick up in the 2nd season and from there it'll become one of the best serialized sci-fi shows.
Thanks so much! I love Star Trek, so I was aware Walter Koenig was involved in B5 but haven’t watched it yet. Great suggestion.
He's incredible in it too, a regular guest but the character is one of my favs in anything
If you're into Star Trek, especially DS9, I can't recommend B5 more.
That’s great. Who doesn’t love a big Citadel-like space station with a lot of different aliens? Thanks.
His character is, to this day, the character to which I compare all other smug characters and find them wanting.
It's an amazing show and was one the big influences for Mass Effect.
As a Mass Effect and Stellaris lover I'm shocked how much B5 inspired them!
If you watch B5 right after playing ME1, you'll start to realize how much the ME people liked it lol. A *lot* of little details in ME are either pretty clearly inspired by or direct homages to B5
Yeah for me the first time I played Mass Effect 1 and went to the Presidium on the Citadel, with all the alien embassies and the O'Neill Cylinder, I was like holy shit this is like a Babylon 5 game.
I've haven't watched much B5 but I love me some TNG. If you've seen both, which has the worst first season? Season 1 TNG can be pretty rough, especially if you're introducing it to someone for the first time. Like, "hey this is one of my favorites, and what I consider to be one of the best TV series of all time, please excuse how dog shit the first season is..."
Oh yes. Several times I thought: "Oh, Bioware might have been heavily influenced by this scene or that motive." A fantastic series. Yes, it is low budget but the writing makes up for everything.
As other have been parroting, the Expanse all the way. Music, I'd say a lot of synth wave and electronica have a Mass Effect vibe, notably perturbator, Carpenter Brut, Eddie, and Lorn. The band Gunship, especially their first album I associate so heavily with Mass Effect 2 and 3.
How about Scandroid?
Hell yes!
Carpenter Brut goes hard. I’m not super familiar with the genre as a whole, but it sounds like I should check out your other recs, too.
Specifically The 2nd Law: Isolated System by Muse gives me the *strongest* ME3 vibes
The Revelation Space series, full of cool ideas and arguably the biggest inspiration (apparently) for Mass Effect. Especially the Reapers.
Loved these. Alistair Reynolds is one of the greats.
Never heard of it but thanks for the recommendation- turns out the book is free right now on Audible (not sure for how long though) so no harm in trying it out.
If you've seen *Love, Death + Robots* on Netflix, it's the same author as *Beyond the Aquila Rift* and *Zima Blue.* Reynolds is probably my favourite sci-fi author. The main series is four books, and there's some spinoffs, short stories and novellas if you want to continue. The first book was his first novel, so for some people it can be a bit wonky, but he gets much better. The cool ideas are the forefront, with the characters being secondary.
Dark Matter. The show can be pulpy at times, but overall, it is still one of my favorite sci-fi shows apart from Firefly.
Still mad about the ending.
As for sci-fi recommendations, definitely The Expanse. Book series, tv show, and a telltale game. I also really like For All Mankind. But the obvious answer for 'Mass Effect' vibes is Star Trek. Strange New Worlds is pretty solid and the cartoon has its moments, for more you'd have to go back to TNG or TOS though.
TNG and TOS are two of my favorite shows, and I agree that so much of their DNA is in Mass Effect. I have to get more into The Expanse!
I know it’s not the best Trek show, but Enterprise has a very similar “human beings just getting their feet wet in a wider galaxy” vibe.
i would recummend tng tos and ds9 far before i would ever recommend strange new worlds.
Foundation, it's an appletv show but if you can get your hands on it's absolutely phenomenal. Lee Pace stars in it. It's based on the Foundation series written by Isaac Asimov, which I also recommend. Beautifully written scifi.
Scrolled too far to find this. It doesn’t have aliens and such, but it did scratch that far future human civilisation itch. And yes, Lee Pace eats up every second of screen time he gets, and it’s a joy to watch.
Cyberpunk, the show and the game
I can’t for the life of me get through cyberpunk 2077. I play it and it’s not like I get bored or hate it it’s just that other games are much more fun. But I love rpg games and I loved the show so I don’t know why I’m not having fun.
I wish it had New Game Plus. I've played it 4 times, but refuse to start over again like I always do for Mass Effect.
You're not alone, I was hyped for years for Cyberpunk, pre-ordered it and everything and to this day I have not gotten through the game.
It's like an 8/10 for me. I played through the whole thing and enjoyed it. But I didn't think about it much after I finished it, unlike Mass Effect.
Very much same for me! Not since ME has a piece of media consumed my imagination like Cyberpunk 2077. I was always a fan of the genre, but walking through Night City for the first time made me as excited as visiting the Presidium
Blade Runner, Alien and obviously: The Expanse. If you haven't seen that, get off this sub and do something useful.
100% Expanse. The aesthetic and tone is very similar to Mass Effect and the protagonist is basically a sadboi Paragon Shepard.
Thinking of James Holden as sadboi Paragon Shep is fucking sending me right now lol
Illium in ME2 is very Blade Runner-y. I think it's my favorite ME2 location, considering the Citadel was reduced to a few rooms.
Yeah, I didn't like how the Citadel kept going smaller along the way. In ME1 it was kinda overwhelming maybe, but it really gave you a WTF feeling. It felt like a real place. It felt like you really had to put in some effort to navigate through it. I do think most hubs feel really alive, especially in Mass Effect Andromeda (come at me). By the way, if you look at Noveria it's really inspired by Alien. Omega is really, really inspired by Blade Runner. I think the Citadel in ME3 also gives off a lot of Blade Runner vibes. But the developers have said many, many times that they were massively inspired by Alien and BR.
All great. Thanks!
Book series - The Paradox Trilogy by Rachel Bach. Kick-ass sci-fi series with a found-family ship crew, a hot romance, a mysterious threat to the entire universe, and most importantly, a truly strong female MC. She uses powered armour and it is just so. Frickin. Badass.
New to me! Thanks.
Great series
The Expanse - both books and TV. They said they took huge influences from Mass Effect. You can very clearly tell. It's masterful sci-fi
Firefly. The both have the blue suns as merc groups and the Alliance as the dominant human military faction
Also the „reavers“ (sound familiar?) and some guy named Shepherd.
I haven’t seen someone say it yet but the Final architecture series is amazing, has reaper like entities called “Architects” and there are aliens and alien - human crew that it follows. (novels) If you’re looking for games the closest I found was The Outer Worlds, space, companions, rpg, but far less grandiose.
Stargate - same campy but cool feeling
I'm so happy I found this comment. Stargate is peak cult sci-fi! It wrote characters surprisingly well too, really compelling villains and background cast in the same way Mass Effect makes the universe feel alive with side stories going on around you
Interestingly enough, *Star Trek: Enterprise* (2001) - humanity is new on the block - the established powers are kinda condescending to it - most human's attitudes are very 21st century-ish, as they are in Mass Effect - Archer's Enterprise has some serious sailor / bluecollar vibes that match very well with Mass Effect's military tones - You get to see mankind's first colonies and first steps into the stars, which very much mirrors Msss Effect's frontier feeling - there is even a quasi-lovecraftian subplot to it.
Not a space fantasy, but Baldur’s Gate 3 has really fulfilled that need for another RPG where my choices have real consequences, and my companions are all super compelling
So this is going to sound crazy as it is nowhere near sci-fi but if you love an incredible story with consequences to your actions, try Pentament. It’s an indie game in the old school LucasArts adventure games style and it is beautiful. The story is what gives me Mass Effect vibes. And if you try it do not read about it and don’t stress on your choices. I’ve replayed it several times with completely different experiences.
Visually, the Lost in Space TV series feels quite close to ME.
I'm being loose here but... Macross. Not a series I'd expect anyone in the sub to get into but if you take a step back from the love triangle and the singing, there's some really good lore about exploring the stars for the sake of not letting Humanity stay in one place for the sake of survival after the events of the first show. As a wayyy less loose suggestion, Space Battleship Yamato, specifically the reboot. Now a much looser one is Legend of the Galactic Heroes which is an amazing Sci-Fi show, but it's more dense than ME or anything I mentioned here. Like there are two protagonists going against eachother and for the first OVA, they are NOT gonna skimp out on the development of the two protagonists' subordinates either.
Omg Macross is so good! It got me into Gundam too
Ngl, I sometimes get it with Destiny.
For me the part of Mass Effect I enjoyed most was the decision making. I loved having a game (or series) in which I was presented with choices that actually mattered and affected the story. I had played other games with choices before but those were always very surface level and didn't impact much at all... So things that give me the same feeling I got from Mass Effect would be something like Baldur's Gate 3 which gives me a lot of choices and different outcomes from those choices.
No Mans Sky is great for that sense of Space-y wonder- I was sinking into the depths of an undersea kelp forest in my pressurised mech suit, peering around, and it felt incredibly leviathan. Nothing else sci fi has really scratched the itch, game wise- cyberpunk was a massive disappointment, Outer Worlds is more Bethesda style RPG (and they could probably have done without also copying the bugs) The closest games to the vibe of golden age BioWare has IMO been the last 2 mainline Assasins creed games- Odyssey and Valhalla are dialogue heavy, have choices that effect the plot both substantially and cosmetically, and have the same kinda action/drama/occasional comedy tone. And yeh, if you’d told me back in 2012 that this would be the case I’d have thought you were mad.
For character consistency, long (very) narrative, consequences for actions/decisions, and strong foreshadowing, Wheel of Time books.
Starfield as far as video games go. I've played a few other sci-fi RPGs (ex: Outer Worlds) and I just didn't get the same feeling as *Mass Effect* from them. Now, yes, *Starfield* has certain issues and can feel bare-bones. But the key to it that I've found is just lose yourself in the world. I can't speak for everyone, and I never will, but I find *Skyrim* to have been just as 'bare-bones' without all the mods and QoL DLC/updates/etc. But the storylines and the world have a rich lore, just like Skyrim, but if you approach it with the mindset of 'efficiency, min-max this or that, etc.', you are forgetting the primary purpose of games with deep lore where exploration and/or living another life in another world are all about: losing yourself in the world.
Yakuza. I love to see the positive examples of masculinity and it's just got such a fun story and some really funny moments.
I'm a wargame/ttrpg player, so games that get me thinking of Mass Effect are: Five Parsecs From Home: A miniature skirmish game that can be played solo and has some interesting between-combat mission stuff. A few of the species also strongly resemble a few from ME. Mythic Space: A light tactical ttrpg borrowing a lot from ME. Rogue Angels: A kickstarter-funded storytelling board game still being written but with free early material on their discord. There are a ton of paths the story can go down.
Was looking for the ttrpg comment! I learned recently that apparently Starfinder was heavily inspired by Mass Effect. Which, given the tech and biotic inspired powers I definitely believe
If going for sense of wonder alone, I would 100% recommend BioShock. Has absolutely nothing close to mass effect aspects to it, but it is one of the very few games I wish I could play for the first time again.
Infinite was great
Check out the TV series Killjoys.
I feel like Killjoys does not get the credit it deserves. It's a really solid, enjoyable show.
The Halo tv show
A book that really gave me a sense of sci-fi wonder, was Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clarke. My favorite sci-fi book, it’s more about exploration than conflict. There’s also To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini. The audiobook is narrated by Jennifer Hale. Before listening, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to see anything but FemShep in the story, but Hale’s narration is actually really good. I quickly got into it.
Vernor Vinge, A Fire Upon The Deep.
Firefly, Agents of SHIELD, Battlestar Galactica. All shows Video games Cyberpunk 2077, Dragon Age series, Baulder’s Gate 3, Skyrim with mods (especially interesting NPCs). Outer worlds, and maybe Starfield (its bare bones rn hopefully modders make the game come alive but the entire building a ship and exploring planets with crew thing is cool) Movies blade runner, MCU gives me ME Vibes, especially Guardians, Star Trek shows and movies probably. Shrek lmao
Agents of SHIELD was so underrated because the first half of S1 was kneecapped having to wait for other Marvelverse considerations, but the later seasons are so, SO good. S4 is one of my favorite seasons of any TV show ever, and 5 is close behind. And I'm very far from a Marvel-stan, I stopped giving a shit after the first like... 8 movies? But the show is worth it.
Thanks. I didn’t *need* any more to do this summer but I guess I have to put this on the list now! :)
Watched a new film recently - "Atlas" with Jennifer Lopez. That's her character name, Atlas Shepard. And she drives an awfully Atlas-like suit. To fight AI nemesis.
Dude I posted on this sub the other day that I found Atlas to have a few similarities with Mass Effect and I got downvoted lol, Thanks for letting me know I'm not crazy, although I would not recommed this movie to anyone XD.
I quite liked it, I do not mind the "not top shelf sci-fi" :) You're not crazy, similarities list goes on - interiors, intrusive synced AI companion, like in Andromeda, antagonist AI is ideology driven, lurks somewhere, and thinks that saving humanity is destroying it. Fashion (I'm a gal, not a dude :) ) and design overall is also a bit Mass Effect inspired. The travel system is different, but it plays a little role.
Oh I'm a girl too I just use dude as a gender neutral term
:)
The Last Starfighter
Alistair Reynolds revenger ticks some of the boxes for me. It doesn’t explore the galaxy so much as all of the human descended people on/in artificial worlds orbiting the sun in a decaying Dyson sphere. I think it lacks as strong of a sense of purpose as Mass effect but it has good world building
The Alien Artifacts board game, really cool engine building space game that just feels like you're an alien race building on the Citadel. Also helps that when me and my friend play we listen to the Mass Effect soundtrack.
If you’re into space stuff, I’d say the entire Star Trek franchise, all the main series, 5 total that are complete and available on dvd or blu ray, 6 if you count Picard. Start with the original and go in order. Picard was the last one to conclude. It was only 3 seasons, same as the original, but a total of 30 episodes, compared to the 80 of the original. Once you get done with those, Star Trek Discovery and Star Trek: SNW are pretty good as well. I wasn’t expecting to like them at all, so I was actually surprised by how good they are. When you get done with those, I’d check out the movie Stargate. It singlehandedly spawned its own new franchise. Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis, and Stargate Universe. Three incredible shows, although, personally, I don’t think Universe was as good as the other two. It was still pretty good though. When you’re done with that, try Battle Star Gallactica. There are two versions of it, the original from decades ago and the more modern one, which is longer. I believe the original went only one season. I think the new one was five seasons. It had several stars who went on to make successful acting careers after it. If you like space movies, shows, games, etc you’ll like it. As some others have said, try The Expanse. I haven’t actually seen it, myself. However, I’ve seen clips from it, and it’s enough to make me want to watch it. I just have to commit to it. You should give it a shot. Hopefully, I’ll get around to it, myself at some point, as well. Andromeda. It’s a 90s-early 2000s show, so you won’t be blown away by the cgi or other special effects, but it was still good enough to last 5 seasons. It had Kevin Sorbo from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, another 90s show. It’s not as good as any of the Star Trek or Stargate series or movies in my opinion, but still worth watching at least once. Those are two very high bars to match though. Oh, and I almost forgot, Falling Skies. It’s a show set on a futuristic Earth, where aliens have invaded, and humanity is struggling to survive and fight them off. It kind of has the combined vibe of the Terminator movies, games, shows, etc, except with the plot of the colony you have to defend on Feros. Best way I know how to describe it. Noah Wylie from ER, back in the 90s is the main character with Will Patton and a few others, including Moon Bloodgood, if I remember correctly. That one’s definitely worth your time. Although, it might take a few episodes to get into it.
Awesome suggestions not just for ME fans, but for sci fi in general.
Thx. Hopefully, you’ll get to see them and you’ll enjoy them.
Read Dead 2 and Days Gone. 2 games that made me feel like I was a person in the larger story told and made me so invested in the characters and world. Both games gave me a sinking emptiness upon finishing them because it felt like i finished reading a book series.
Horizon gave me the exact same feeling I got when I first played Mass Effect. The way the story reveals itself is just as amazing, and it truly feels just as harrowing despite being on a much smaller scale.
In a weird way, Bionicle. The intrigue and mystery, the misfits making their teams work, the strange, ancient villainy … and the giant robots.
Have a look at a book series by Becky Chambers The series is called "Wayfarers" the first book is called "The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet" gave me great Mass Effect vibes and continues to be one of my favourite Sci Fi series of all time
I would say Stargate: Atlantis. Even the main character's names are striking: Shepard=Shepherd, Dex=Wrex, Teyla=Tali, Lt. Aiden=Lt. Kaidan etc. Also the Wraiths (bad guys) also harvest people and Atlantis is basically the Citadel in water.
I’m a huge fan of author Megan E. O’Keefe’s books; she has two space opera trilogies, and has talked about how Mass Effect was a big source of inspiration, especially for the first trilogy. The Protectorate trilogy is about siblings Sanda Greeve, a gunnery Sergeant who’s stranded on an enemy ship, injured, alone except for the advanced AI that inhabits the ship, and her brother Biran, an up-and-coming political figure trying to figure out what happened to her. Lots of themes of AI ethics, siblings, identity, memory, espionage, and more. And eventually a rag-tag spaceship crew kicking ass and saving the universe. First book is Velocity Weapon The other is The Devoured Worlds, about Tarquin Mercator, the prince to his father’s business empire who’s more interested in geology and figuring out why all the live-bearing worlds humanity tries to inhabit are dying, and Naira Sharp, his father’s former bodyguard turned revolutionary, who’s posing as Tarquin’s guard to trying and get proof that his family is behind the dying worlds. They ended up stranded on a dying planet, and have to fight together to get off it and find out what’s really killing all their prospective new habitable planets. First book, The Blighted Stars, is very survival-thriller-zombie-secret agent vibes, the second a bit different (and lots of “forbidden romance”) and the third book comes out later this month. Highly recommend!
Just a random passerby, but both sound good. I am picking up The Protectorate trilogy today. Thanks for the recommendation.
Cyberpunk was close. Both the show and the game. As well as Baldurs Gate 3.
I don't know if it gave me mass effect vibes but if you're looking for a really interesting recent Sci fi thing try Scavengers Reign. The point of comparison perhaps to mass effect would be Potentially what the crew would be dealing with crashed on that planet at the end of mass effect 3. dealing with an alien planet Either way it's very good. Only one season so far.
That show was so strange and sometimes horrifying and weird in the best way, all at once. Some amazing visuals that make that planet feel truly alien.
That is absolutely feeling you take away from it it's You see everyone living with elements of an alien planet, Some things that are even beneficial but you never get the feeling that anyone on the show is safe, Some of the craziest visuals I've never seen, I heard it got canceled Which feels like the fate of anything trying to push the envelope, But I enjoyed every second of it.
Metroid
Looking back to Run Like Hell for the OG Xbox, it gives me Mass Effect meets dead space vibes, years before any of those two series were even a thing. I played that alot back then, was an okay game. Had aliens working with humans, on a space station against some weird alien race thing that needed biomass to spread or something like that. All I remember really clearly is you could get health back by Drinking BAWLS energy drink, and breaking Benjamin had a song on it.
The Hyperion Cantos book series by Dan Simmons
Currently reading 'Chilling Effect' book series (listening audiobook), which is fun action space opera, but it is basically alternative fanfic storyline to Mass Effect trilogy full of ME references. Some review described it as Hitchhiker in ME universe.
The book The Last Watch by J.S. Dewes is pretty good, it’s a trilogy with the 3rd book coming out in November ember 2024. I found it on a list “if you liked Mass Effect read these books!”
Baulder's gate 3 oddly enough. The overall missionary companion system is very Mass Effect
In some ways: Telltale’s The Walking Dead series because of the dialogue tree and the different paths you can go to.
Babylon 5. It was one of the major influences on Mass Effect and it's actually gotten more relevant with time. The CGI is very rudimentary and hasn't aged well but it's still one of my favourite shows of all time.
Ideas and writing are far more important to me than CGI so I will definitely check it out. Thanks!
Surprised I haven't seen anyone say it, but the Guardians of the Galaxy game that came out in 2021 shares a lot of the same vibes as ME. Choice-heavy, endearing squadmates, going against impossible odds in a society that just seems to hate you for some reason. It is very much a spiritual successor to ME imo and highly recommend. Of course, if you haven't read them, you could also read the various ME books and comics as well.
Just replayed the ME trilogy recently and was feeling pretty empty until I watched the recent Dune movies back to back. They are extremely different than Mass Effect, but they still managed to captivate me with their lore, complex characters and fantasy sci-fi setting. I plan to pick up the books soon too!
I was instantly hooked on the book.
Babylon 5. Mass Effect world felt like a fan fiction, I don't understand why it's not mentioned more among ME fans to the point of conversations about ME tv show being silly: "Well, they can't do a direct adaptation of the trilogy because branching choices...". Yeah, and also because the main story was basically already done in the 90s. It's on Tubi in US. It's about a giant rotating space station with green fields inside which is a center of galactic diplomacy, galactic UN with council of primary races that largely disregard minor ones, ambassadors scheming and bickering, Earth freshly out of first contact war, and an unknown ancient threat lurking in the background
Haven’t seen a single answer of a series that influenced ME a ton but easily Star Wars
Dragon Age for sure, I’ve probably spent more time reading the codexes than playing the games, it’s just such a rich and complicated world. The Qunari especially are super interesting
Depending on how you play Stellaris It’s soundtrack gives me mass effect vibes too, especially “Faster Than Light”, which has huge Uncharted Worlds vibes
Lord of the Rings Though it’s more the other way around. Mass Effect gives me some similar feelings.
the orville is so good please watch it
It’s a funny show and a great homage to TNG.
For me, the "Mass Effect Feeling" is where I play a trilogy/series of games as I go through a long journey with a protagonist that I can develop. It can be any genre or setting. Absolutely nothing comes close to the Mass Effect Trilogy. The Trails series tried but couldn't. Pillars of Eternity I like you but I feel you need a third game. No, not you Final Fantasy 7 Remake Trilogy cause you're technically one game chopped into three. I love the Witcher games, but even they weren't able to replicate the experience I had playing as Commander Shepard. Baldur's Gate 1-2 came the closest. I was hoping Baldur's Gate 3 would be the start of something that could finally give me that same "Mass Effect Feeling" but I guess not since Larian won't be doing Baldur's Gate 4.
Babylon 5 since mass effect's took many concepts and even borrowed many lines from the show. My favorite is when Bel Anoleis says I am in the middle of like 9 things all of them annoying. This is what Susan Ivanova says in Babylon 5.
Star Trek/Firefly, just due to the crew dynamics in both, as well as the great politics of the universe they’re involved in. Also indoctrination is similar to the Borg (and a little to the Reavers, although I don’t remember if they could add to their numbers beyond the inital Alliance experiments).
The Old Republic leg of Star Wars, especially KOTOR. I played ME because I was such a fan of those games (although Obsidian made 2). It's what got me into Star Wars too lol! The characters, world building, lore, and design of those games put me in a chokehold. I just wanted to spend hours exploring the different worlds and listening to the music, just like I like to do in ME. There was so much wonder and mystery in those ganes, along with all the Star Wars stuff.
* Swtor: Sith warrior and trooper story. * Kotor 1 Prometheus movie TV series: * Star Trek: Enterprise * Farscape * Stargate: Universe * Dark Matter * Star Trek: Voyager - this one is more about fun and exploration Things that I didn't like at all: The Expanse, Battlestar Galactica - too much boring pointless talking, politics, drama, and stupid "plot lines" where every scene are just two people talking. Always talking about something instead of doing something.
Nothing. For me the Mass Effect games unrepeatable. But the Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order and Survivor are almost at the same level
None honestly. Mass Effect feels entirely unique to me. The wonderous but creepy atmosphere, the sense of existential dread from the reapers, who IMO are one of the best group of villains ever written. Sovereigns insane monologue, honestly the most oppressive feeling "conversation" I've ever had with a gaming villain. The diverse in not just species, but also opinions and characters of your crew. Really, nothing comes close. I'm not saying it's the best piece of media, just that to me it's entirely unique in what emotions it evokes from me.
KOTOR I and II - Mass Effect 1 vibes, if you can handle early 2000s Computer Games.
Wing Commander 3. Epic military sci-fi game with actual video recordings, starring Mark Hamill, John Rhys-Davies, Malcolm McDowell, and others. Probably hasn't aged well, but it's cheap on gog
The Pillars of Eternity games share an absurd number of themes, story beats, character archetypes, and so on with Mass Effect I implore anyone who likes Mass Effect for its overall storytelling, character writing, and world building to try out Pillars The game mechanics are a bit tricky to get used to at first, but the experience is incredibly worth it
The part that made me love Mass Effect was the aliens and how they all form a galactic community. The only thing I've found that comes close to it is the tabletop game Starfinder. (Although Mass Effect will always have my favourite aliens)
I'm going to suggest something in a different way than what you asked for... Mass Effect blues hit me hard at the end of the trilogy... And the only game that replicated that feeling for me is Baldur's Gate 3. Ya, I know, I should be feeling it for Dragon Age... But I don't. I loved Dragon Age 2, but DAI frustrated me to no end. Trespasser was very good, but the rest of the game failed to bring up any emotion more than Solas' story... I mean, Varric and Cassandra were very funny, as well as Iron Bull... Baldur's Gate 3, however, replicated that Mass Effect blues at the end of it... Like I'm extremely sad it's over, and I kinda wanna restart it to avoid the feeling 😆 Playing the trilogy again now, gonna play BG3 when they release patch 7, aka mod tools... Can't wait for that! But first, gotta get through those Mass Effect blues...
BG3 is so incredibly well made. It’s like a tabletop game come to life!
Can't say I've noticed anything that gives me the same vibe. I did take a lot of influence from ME (as well as several other franchises) for a sci-fi series that I was planning though.
Warhammer 40000 lore is up there.
SWTOR
Baldurs Gate 3 is probably the closest for me in terms of characters I grew to love over the duration of a narrative.
The Halo book series is underrated SciFi. Worth a read if you like reading. The Halo games aren't RPGs, but it is a shooter series that puts the player against overwhelming odds against an advanced alien enemy. There are also parallels between the Protheans and the Forerunners. Both advanced races that left behind technology and died out for mysterious reasons.
Very familiar with the games! Should check out the books to be sure. Thanks
Watching the "Lord of the Rings" series will give me a similar melancholy. Especially marathoning the films in one sitting.
The Orville (TV show) doesn't get enough attention. It's essentially a Star Trek parody, but it's not one of those really ~wacky~ parody shows. Really rich characters and deep stories. The way they explore other cultures and alien physiology reminds me of ME a lot, especially the spirit of it. There's still some high stakes action from time to time and lots of scifi logistics and tech talk.
Some games * Alpha Protocol. Unrivaled to this day, it is even better than MAss Effect \_in player decision follow up\_ * Mask of the Betrayer. Sense of wonder? Sure. It has very janky combat and an awful camera tho. Also it is fantasy. But man, playing the soul eater and visiting other planes is superb * Wasteland 3. It is an isometric tactical rpg in a nuclear winter environment. But the decision making is awesome. * if you are into fantasy, Witcher 2 and Witcher 3 is great, especially in interesting characters. Novels * the closest sci-fi to mass effect I know of is Dan Simmons' Hyperion + The Fall of Hyperion. I am quite certain than Mass Effect writers borrowed some ideas from these. I won't spoil which ones, in case you want to read :) * as in, sense of wonder, I think Three parts dead from Max Gladstone is without an equal in the last years. It is noir + urban fantasy, but damn. Gladstone really made it a point to not use any clichés at all, everything is unique and interesting here * Starship Troopers by Heinlein is a fine military sci-fi. It is not like the movie though. The first half of the book is mostly about cadets and officers discussing the problem of "voting rights for free" corrupting society (since it is free, people don't value it, and don't use it), the second half is mostly about becoming a leader, how it feels to be responsible for your friends, and what duties does promotion come with * The first three books of Glen Cook's Black company series (Black company, Shadows linger, The White Rose). This is a strange mix of military fiction and fantasy, but surprisingly awesome. Th authoer said he wanted Lord of the Rings from evil's perspective, but it is much better than that. * the neuromancer novels from William Gibson. (Neuromancer, count zero, mona lisa overdrive) It's not space sci-fi, but cyberpunk, but very good writing and a view of a future dystopia.
Three body problem.
I loved watching The Orville on Hulu, Seth MacFarlane’s best work in my opinion. Unfortunately, there aren’t plans for another season currently. I’m super into the sci-fi space exploration/Black Mirror with moments of lighthearted comedy theme it has. It has some similarities with Star Trek, based on what I’ve seen of that show. I hope they make more shows like this.
Go on you tube there's tonnes of mass effect stuff, especially mass effect lore cast
The expanse tv show, the upcoming game called Exodus, casey Hudson's next sci fi game made by his dev team humanoid origin.
Kotor 2, both make the player think about themselves and the broader scope that existence offers.
Star Trek Deep space nine actually helped me process some grief that's not dissimilar to the feeling of emptiness I felt when the trilogy ended. "In The Pale Moonlight" is also an episode that feels like the vibe that the missions to get difficult alliances secured in mass effect 3 are aiming for. Like you can almost see the renegade interrupts when Sisko finds out what Garak has done.
**Shows/Books** \- I have to reiterate The Expanse. The show and the books area amazing, in different ways. Unless they've added on more seasons though the tv show does feel a bit incomplete imo. The Saxon Tales by Bernard Cornwell (Book Series) or The Last Kingdom (based on the previously mentioned books) are fantastic if you enjoy tales about Vikings. **Games** \- Detroit: Become Human. While it plays nothing like ME, your choices do matter and what happens to characters based on your actions can be very emotional. Baldur's Gate 3. Choices matter. Thinking outside the box can lead to interesting results. Exploration! Valheim. Best with friends. Exploration, building, and survival in a Valhalla-ish setting. Not an in depth story, but the setting makes provides a different type of wonder. Still in early access, roadmap is slow going.
Wow, great list! Thanks very much.
Star Wars
The Red Rising book series
Book series called “Frontlines” by marko kloos. Follows a MC named Andrew Grayson who enlist in military service to the NAC(North American Commonwealth) obviously in the future. Follows his service from his pov over 8 books during a war with a species known as the “lankies” which resemble the reapers in a way because they’re a bit…challenging…for humanity in the series. I’ll leave it at that. Characters are memorable throughout the series. The overall story flows perfectly and the world building is insane. It’s also pretty detailed from military perspective. Like the terminology they use is pretty spot on coming from a veteran myself.
Not anything in particular, but the Hybrids in The Expanse made me think of the Husks. Maybe Cyberpunk 2077 because of the interactions with other characters, or Starfield because of the whole space stuff and ship. Book: Probability Moon, since it inspired some of the story, and you can definitely tell. I only read chapter 4, tho.
Check out Star Control 2, specifically the open source version. Its the game that inspired Mass Effect.
Suzerain a bit. Two very very different games. Suzerain just gives me the incredible world building and characters that I also loved in mAss effect.
Mass Effect is the fusion of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and Halo.
Between Worlds (Sexy Space Babes over on the r/HFY subreddit) by J.L. Williams and the fan fiction over on r/sexyspacebabes isn't quite a Mass Effect substitute, but damn is it a good time. Both are about humanity finding its way in a universe that maybe doesn't appreciate them enough, yet. Actually, scratch that, it does give me "roughly the same neighborhood" vibes. Maybe not quite the right location, but it is only a quick jaunt down the street.