8 Best RPGs For Fans Of Mass Effect 2

Published Sep 27, 2026, 7:00 PM EDT

Jared is a writer, editor, and Communications Studies graduate who loves popular nerd culture (almost anything to do with Marvel, DC, Star Wars, or The Lord of the Rings) and the interactive storytelling medium. Jared's first console was the PS1, wherein he fell for Spider-Man, Spyro the Dragon, and Crash Bandicoot.

Mass Effect prevails as one of the best sci-fi RPG franchises ever, and deservedly so. While not every BioWare game has been a hit with fans, the studio has earned its glowing reputation and goodwill due to the Mass Effect trilogy alone, much less Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Dragon Age. The common denominator in BioWare’s best games is that they tend to have excellent companion/party characters, as is perhaps most evident in Mass Effect 2.

Unless BioWare’s upcoming Mass Effect game is sensational beyond fans’ wildest dreams, it’ll be tough for it to compete with Mass Effect 2, in particular. The only way Mass Effect 2’s iconic suicide mission could ever be as phenomenal as it is, of course, is if the game’s companion characters were written well enough to actually make you terrified about the thought of possibly losing them. Few games could ever hope to ascend to this richness in their companion/party systems, quests, progression, and writing, but there are plenty of RPGs that Mass Effect 2 fans can appreciate.

8 Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic predates Mass Effect and, as there's a high likelihood that fans of narrative-driven games with meaningful choices have played this one even if they haven’t played Mass Effect. There's a lot to appreciate in this Star Wars narrative, especially the twist surrounding the iconic character of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic’s Darth Revan.

Plus, even if the game doesn’t technically have a suicide mission of its own, players’ light-side or dark-side Force alignment will affect the endings for a handful of your companions. Knights of the Old Republic 2's Influence system kicks it up another notch, taking what was achieved in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and running with it.

The Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake has ridiculously high standards to meet or exceed, but we already have the original nonetheless. The game to legitimately be excited about is Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, helmed by Knights of the Old Republic director Casey Hudson.

7 Persona 5 Royal

Persona games are literally all about the connections between companion characters, with players having to decide how to most efficiently maximize bonds with their preferred companions and/or supporting Arcana characters in the span of a day. Any Persona game from Persona 3 onward is applicable in this regard, but Persona 5 Royal is the most recent of the mainline games.

This polished installment in the series has had an undeniable effect on how gameplay was redesigned or reinterpreted for Persona 3 Reload, as well as the upcoming Persona 4 Revival. With Persona 6 now on the horizon, it’s almost guaranteed that P-Studio will be able to deliver another lovable batch of Persona-wielding party members.

6 Dragon’s Dogma 2

Dragon’s Dogma’s Pawns are highly unique. Unlike RPGs that have scripted NPC companions whose stories are told by the games themselves, Pawns are much more personal to the player.

Whether that’s because players recruit or create Pawns themselves, or because of their unique responses to highly specific situations, Pawns can feel more like a family than most scripted characters players will interact with in an RPG. Players are likely to spend a lot more time with them, too, based on how much time is spent traveling on foot with Pawns at your side.

5 Final Fantasy 7 Remake

Like Persona, Final Fantasy’s rich anthology series boasts many incredible party members unique to their own games, with the party in Final Fantasy 7 easily being one of the most beloved in the franchise. Anyone who adores this party will probably be thrilled that they have a full remake trilogy to look forward to that fleshes them out far more than the original game had or could, especially since these remakes are deliberately taking liberties with the predetermined continuity.

It might not be too spicy a hot take to say that the combat in Final Fantasy 7’s remakes is leagues better than the combat in any Mass Effect game to date, seeing as they all boil down to elementary gunplay and cover-shooter mechanics. Still, Mass Effect compensates for that with some of the most stunning writing and character work in any video game franchise.

4 Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn

While Baldur’s Gate 3 is definitely an RPG that crests the list of those with party members who are special, adding to the narrative and gameplay experience immeasurably, there’s an argument to be made that you should be pointed toward Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn first.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is fairly universally adored, and you’ll probably have a wonderful time with it, but it’s sadly eclipsing Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn now, in the same way that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has eclipsed its own predecessors—for better or worse. Baldur’s Gate was previously developed by BioWare, and Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn is demonstrative of the studio’s greatest strengths in an isometric, real-time CRPG, Dungeons & Dragons-style game with up to six party members.

3 Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 doesn’t have a selectable squad of companion characters that players can add to their party, so there are no followers to tag along or receive commands on the battlefield, like in Mass Effect 2. That said, the role that Red Dead Redemption 2’s Van der Linde gang plays is vital to the heart of the story, and they’re the group that protagonist Arthur Morgan returns to after a day or night of open-world exploits.

Red Dead Redemption 2’s camps give players mobile hubs where they can sip stew, play dominoes, or simply acknowledge that these are characters worth sticking to the outlaw life and fending for, even if Dutch Van der Linde’s decision-making skills are dubious at best.

2 Dragon Age: Origins

Dragon Age: Origins followed the first Mass Effect game and, while the Dragon Age and Mass Effect franchises share little in common regarding combat gameplay, they both feature a terrific story and companion characters. Not every RPG with exceptional companion characters has a quest where they can all perish based on your choices, and the Mass Effect trilogy also has the luxury of the consequences of players’ choices rippling throughout all three games.

Mass Effect laid the brickwork for Dragon Age and will scratch any itch imaginable for Mass Effect and BioWare fans who prefer fantasy to sci-fi. Unfortunately, it’s unclear whether a new Dragon Age will be in BioWare’s near future. The hype for a new Mass Effect game rises exponentially with each new tease, too, and only time may tell if its quality will match players’ expectations.

1 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 might be the best RPG in recent memory, and its success is evident in how devastatingly heartbreaking and/or heartwarming its endings are. The party never has an overwhelming number of characters to choose from, but experiencing a character death relatively early on establishes high stakes and adds a dramatic twist that is integral to Maelle’s story in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Each character is either surprisingly hilarious or deeply nuanced, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 reflects how hard it is to say goodbye to them in Alicia’s refusal to say goodbye to her brother, Verso. If you love the emotional character work of Mass Effect 2, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a perfect alternative.

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