Players have been returning the Normandy in droves to enjoyMass Effect: Legendary Edition, which remastered the first three games in stunning 4k with new textures and tweaks to deliver the definitive experience of the original trilogy. Nearly two weeks later, however, many fans are finishing the adventure for a second time, and some are hungry for more.
Fans ofMass Effect: Legendary Editionare in luck, however. There are plenty of space-set indie games with similar themes and RPG elements forMass Effectfans to experience that find experimental ways to tell their own stories. Here are five of the indie games fans can check out after finishingMass Effect Legendary Edition.
RELATED:Mass Effect: Legendary Edition Review
FTL: Faster Than Light
Most sci-fi and indie fans will have heard ofFTL: Faster Than Light, the roguelike that took indie gaming by storm when it released back n 2012. While the originalMass Effecttrilogy has an immense story spanning three games,FTLmanages to tell what feels like a full story every time the player boots it up. Viewing their ship from above, the player must complete their goals, gather scrap, and avoid the rebel armadas hunting them down.
Starpoint Gemini 2
Rebel Galaxy Outlaw
Between flying, players can visit bars, get drinks, gamble, and get the kind of up close and personal roleplaying experience rarely seen in space sims, even those with some RPG aspects. Players who want a high-octane tongue-in-cheek space adventurer are sure to get a kick out ofRebel Galaxy Outlaw,especially if they love the world-building and roleplaying inMass Effectand the fast-paced combat of 3D space sims.
RELATED:Every LGBTQ Romance in Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
Starsector
Starsectoris a self-described “in-development open-world single-player space-combat, roleplaying, exploration, and economic game.” The game’s top-down 2D combat and the immense freedom it affords the player are both highly reminiscent ofFTL. Players can fall in and out of the favor of various factions, strip wrecks and ruined worlds for salvage, or head straight to the galaxy’s warzones for intense combat. They can disrupt supply lines to make ships easier to pick off for piracy, recovering ancient banned tech and exploring ahuge in-game worldin the form ofStarsector’s procedurally generated galaxy.
The story has many similarities to the originalMass Effecttrilogy’s “Destroy Ending,” which it has been heavily hinted will provide the canonical backdrop to the next chapter in theMass Effectseries. While the Destroy Ending saw the destruction of the Mass Relays,Starsectortakes place in a galaxy that was once connected by an interstellar “Gate System” which suddenly collapsed. This left dystopian pockets of an interstellar society to duke it out over the remaining resources in their isolated sectors. Fans ofMass Effect’s setting, the Destroy Ending, andFTLwill likely enjoy this game, even though it is still only available in development builds.
Everspace
Everspaceis a 3D space shooter roguelike with a twist. Each death allows the play to spend some of the points they accumulated in their last run to gain new perks which can help them as they set out - and die - once again. As with recentroguelikes likeHades,Everspace’s story only begins to full reveal itself as the player makes progress over multiple runs, pushing out to new and increasingly difficult frontiers and meeting characters who will give them new objectives.
Everspaceis a particularly beautiful game, combining the roguelike elements ofFTLwith the huge 3D space of a game likeStartpoint Gemini 2. Fans who enjoyEverspaceare in luck as well, with the successful funding ofEverspace 2, which is already available in early access.
Not all of these games will appeal to fans ofMass Effect Legendary Edition, and the financial constraints of the indie game market certainly errs more on the side of space sims and roguelikes rather than the third-person shooter aspects ofMass Effect. What these games show, however, is that one doesn’t always need aBioWare-sized budget to bring an ambitious space-set story to life.
Mass Effect: Legendary Editionis out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
MORE:Mass Effect: Legendary Edition - Are Biotic or Tech Powers Stronger In-Universe?
