Mass Effect is one of the most well-received and influential action role-playing video games of our time. Even though the recent sequel Andromeda was less than fruitful – it has not caused a stain on the franchise’s overall reputation and fans still have hopes for a more worthy revival in the years to come.
With a great focus on character development, choice-drive narrative, expansive world-building, voice acting, and customization, Mass Effect is a franchise hard to match.
And whether you love it and wish to play more games like it, or didn’t quite like it but still want to play something similar – we’ve got you covered.
We’ve created our list of the top 10 best action RPG games like Mass Effect, carefully hand picking every game so that you can get busy for hundreds of hours enjoying them!
So, let’s get started right away.
Related read: 10 Best Action RPG Games Like Cyberpunk 2077
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1. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Available On: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Linux, macOS
The Deus Ex series is the first choice that comes to mind when talking about immersive RPG games where your choices make a difference – and it’s only fair because of how great the entire franchise is and the fact it laid the groundwork for the future games to come.
While every Deus Ex game fits the memo, Mankind Divided is the most recent one and has hundreds of story and side missions to play through.
It also implements a dialogue system similar to Mass Effect in which there are often only a few options available but then they branch out to a larger tree. It’s a very rewarding experience that would satisfy most fans of the Mass Effect series.
2. Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic
Available On: PC, Xbox, Mac OS X, iOS, Android
It’s impossible to not know of the Star Wars franchise, especially since it received a new trilogy of movies and a couple of spin-offs for the newer generations as well.
But Knights of The Old Republic is an older, very well-received game that people who don’t like Star Wars will still enjoy.
This game is made by the same developers as the Mass Effect series and has the same focus on a choice-driven narrative that keeps the story exciting at every turn that you would come to expect from a great action RPG. It’s considered nothing less than a classic by the video game community.
3. Outer Worlds
Available On: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Outer Worlds is a recently released role-playing action-adventure game that comes from the developers of the first two Fallout games.
It focuses on bringing back the classic freedom of RPG games that let you play and travel through the different worlds as you please while making a narrative where your choices and actions affect everything around you.
It can occasionally try to be funnier than it is, but it’s still a fun experience that lets gamers have a hybrid between old RPG design and the necessary modern touches – and it has the same space atmosphere that Mass Effect did.
4. No Man’s Sky
Available On: PS4, PC, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
No Man’s Sky is not a traditional single-player action RPG video game, but it is a substitute for Mass Effect for a couple of reasons.
The first one is that no matter how much freedom within the story is presented to a player – at the end of the day, they’re still playing a story written for them by someone else.
That’s where No Man’s Sky comes in, as it lets you write your own space adventure with or without your friends accompanying you.
You can travel to many different planets and most of them are very unique to each other, and you can choose to build shelter, mine resources, loot, kill space creatures or real players, and traverse in your unique ship. It’s a great game that guarantees hundreds of hours’ worth of fun.
5. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Available On: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox X/S, Nintendo Switch
The Witcher 3 is considered one of the greatest action-adventure RPG video games of all time, and some even consider it better than Mass Effect.
After two divisive games in the series, the developers finally perfected the formula by the third attempt and created one of the most well-received and highest-selling games in recent years.
The world is massive and full of diversity, there are hundreds of hours of story and side quests available, you can customize your characters and pick your own playstyles as you go, and your choices make a fair deal of differences in the story as well.
6. Greedfall
Available On: PC, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox X/S
Greedfall is an interesting action RPG that has a unique sea-based theme unlike most of the games that it can be compared to. The game starts normally with you trying to find a cure to an illness within a continent, but eventually the story branches out to a world bigger than you and even incorporates some supernatural elements.
It’s a great breath of fresh air and features a dialogue system similar to Mass Effect, as well as the focus on narrative. And with the lack of good choice-driven RPG games coming out recently, it’s a pretty good way to scratch that itch.
7. Dragon Age: Inquisition
Available On: PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Dragon Age is a classic and something that hardcore fans of the RPG genre know and love. It has the same developers as Mass Effect and focuses heavily on world-building and narrative-based choices that truly make a difference in the things around you.
The previous Dragon Age games would fit this list too, and thankfully Inquisition utilizes your save files from them to show a little reference to it here and there.
Something that most other games cannot pride in, Dragon Age features remarkably well-designed levels and challenges that you will face as you progress onwards – which is something that adds to the experience immensely.
8. Alpha Protocol
Available On: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Alpha Protocol is not a game that sold heavily or branched into a franchise – but in retrospect, it is now appreciated as one of the best action RPG experiences around.
The game has an even higher focus on your choices and dialogue decisions within the game causing differences in the storyline, and the unique setting of the player character being a spy in the real world is a nice change of scenery from the usual post-apocalyptic or space environments.
It’s certainly not going to be everyone’s cup of tea due to its aging graphics and some occasionally cheesy writing – but it’s a solid RPG experience nonetheless and should be given a chance by the fans of the genre.
9. Fallout: New Vegas
Available On: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
The Fallout franchise is massive and has many different video games out by now, including a spin-off MMO and a mobile game. However, New Vegas continues to be the game that gamers consider ages the best in the series despite the rocky launch in the original days.
With a hardcore approach on a choice-driven narrative and pure RPG gameplay mechanics – it is something that people who generally don’t enjoy the Fallout games still appreciate a lot.
It’s still quite clunky despite the fixes it received, so fans usually prefer using a bunch of mods to enhance the experience. But if you’re not turned off by the flaws, you will still enjoy the raw experience quite a lot too.
10. Cyberpunk 2077
Available On: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the worst launches in the history of the video game industry after nearly a decade of hype. However, beneath the issues, there is still a very solid action RPG experience with three unique gameplay paths, tons of story-changing choices in-between, and many different endings to achieve.
It will take the developers a few months to get to the point of ideal functionality in the game, but when it does, the experience will be very rewarding.
Even the players who managed to beat it in the currently bug-ridden state love the way it handles the story, characters, and RPG aspects of the gameplay. And of course, the customization is insane!
That’s it for our list of the 10 best action RPG games like Mass Effect. We hope you found the ideal game for yourself in this list, and don’t forget to let us know of any games that we may have missed out on! And while you’re here, make sure to check out some of our other helpful lists too.
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