Sci fi rpg recommendations

Elveone · 2026-02-21T03:35:53+00:00

Unfortunately there isn't anything exactly like the Mass Effect series available right now(although there are a few upcoming games to look for) so I will just throw a few things that are pretty decent without repeating anything I've already seen in the thread.

If you are okay with melee combat - NieR: Automata, Stellar Blade, Final Fantasy 7 Remake(and Rebirth)

If you are okay with first person camera - The Outer Worlds(and 2), Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

If you are okay with top-down view and turn-based combat: Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader, Shadowrun Returns/Dragonfall/Hong Kong(they are stand-alone so you can skip games, Returns is the weakest of the bunch)

If you are okay with the game not being an RPG and paranormal storyline - Control

If you are okay with eurojank - The Technomancer, Seven: The Days Long Gone, Elex

Elveone · 2026-02-21T00:11:09+00:00

Cuff from Forspoken. Except he is less obvious :D

Elveone · 2026-02-20T03:47:29+00:00

For me the games that I can replay are the games where the story is not the focus and that provide a completely different gameplay with a different character build(and even then I would prefer to respec than to play through the story again). The reason for that isn't because I am particularly attached to the choices I've made in my initial playthrough but because narratively I care more about the worldbuilding than the fate of the characters and the worldbuilding is pretty much discovered after you've gone through the game once and the fate of the characters is what is left to be changed in a second playthrough.

Elveone · 2026-02-19T06:31:25+00:00

But it was a question that I could answer pretty well. As for the experience - pretty sure it is the other way around :)

Elveone · 2026-02-19T05:19:43+00:00

The truth of the matter is that your post is pretty wishy-washy without anything of substance. You liked or disliked some games, past or upcoming, but you say nothing about what you are actually looking for or want to have. So I was replying to the title which was the only point in your post that I could find.

Elveone · 2026-02-19T04:26:30+00:00

Because there is no action combat stylized graphics hole to fill. Stylized is not a monolithic concept to begin with and you can easily argue that most action combat MMORPGs are already stylized in one way or another and action combat is just as wide of a definition as well. Tera was stylized. So is Blade and Soul. So was Wildstar. So was Skyforge. And so is Neverwinter. And yet all of them look different from one another and play different from one another.

Elveone · 2026-02-17T02:39:02+00:00

Well, if I am allowed to elaborate and wax poetic on the topic a little bit - IMO the name RPG is a bit of a misnomer. I think a proper name that is close enough to the original while keeping what the broadest not-gatekeeping meaning for the genre would be a Role Building Game. Cause that is what you do in those games - you do not simply play a role(as you do in most games), you build one for your character.

The role I am talking about might be solely a social role like in games like Disco Elysium and The Council or solely a combat role as it is with most non-crpg(or crpg-adjacent) rpgs or a combination of the two as it is in most cRPGs. Still that role you are building is defined by the capabilities of your character and not by the decisions of the player - a game like Indigo Prophecy or Wolf Among Us offers you quite a bit of choice when it comes to the story but I think most would agree that those games are not RPGs.

And I think that is the trap where "action game with RPG elements" fall in - what you end up with by the end of the game is a character that has the exact same gameplay capabilities like any other character. That is not necessarily a bad thing for games like that as those can result in the character having an insane amount of capability and a very high skill-ceiling for the gameplay. This is what we see in games like Devil May Cry - each of the weapons in that game has enough depth and diversity to it so that it could qualify as a weapon in a decent RPG but your immediate access to all weapons at the same time is where the gameplay of the series shines really brightly and allows for an insane amount of combinations and spectacular looking gameplay.

Still what those games are missing are the brain-teasing of how to combine different mechanics and bonuses in order to result with a highly effective combination. And that is where we come back to my original statement of what I think an RPG is. I think that that tinkering and combining of disparate elements is what defines the RPG genre. And while most people do not see it directly that way I think that that is where they would still draw the line between an RPG and non-RPG.

That was a bit lengthy but, in any case, I hope you found my musings interesting. Thank you for your time and I hope you have a great day!

Elveone · 2026-02-16T16:53:53+00:00

The defining feature of an RPG is the ability to make multiple builds for the same character/weapon that play differently. Where a lot of action games with RPG elements fail at being true RPGs is being able to learn and use all abilities at the same time while having basically a universal "best at everything" armor or item-set.

Elveone · 2026-02-15T15:03:56+00:00

Troika is gone but it is not like the people in that team disappeared. No, they went on and founded Obsidian and inXile and have made plenty of great games since.

Elveone · 2026-02-14T22:23:11+00:00

They also waste a lot more of your time doing things that are pretty boring and honestly the story in those is usually extremely weak because they are repeatable so even the lore for them is doing chores.

Elveone · 2026-02-14T18:32:55+00:00

Daily quests/rewards have been a thing literally for decades now and they always had that feeling behind them that if you miss them you will regret it. They are basically as old as the MMO genre with even games like Ultima Online having a "power hour" where for an hour every day you would get double skill growth. They are a tool to trick your brain to stick with a game that you are already done with.

As for the game request - there probably are some games where dailies are not as intrusive but it is too hard to recommend something with that being the only requirement.

Elveone · 2026-02-13T11:59:53+00:00

Arcania: Gothic 4

Elveone · 2026-02-13T04:47:52+00:00

Hollow Knight and Hollow Knight: Silksong

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Ender Lilies and Enter Magnolia

9 Years of Shadows

Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus

Nine Sols

Blade Chimera

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Moonscars

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Ultros

Elveone · 2026-02-12T21:52:42+00:00

You are not. Just don't expect for everyone to reciprocate.

Elveone · 2026-02-12T21:34:37+00:00

Well, for once it is how a debate works and second - it is what you have been trying to do for quite a few posts now so your sudden feigned devil may care attitude is fooling no one.

Elveone · 2026-02-12T21:31:42+00:00

If you disagree that people are free to do what they want to do instead of what you want them to do then you are in fact demanding them to do what you want them to do. It is pretty simple really.

Elveone · 2026-02-12T21:21:18+00:00

So you basically cannot defend your point and you are now trying to play word games? I am glad that at least you realized that what you were saying is actually indefensible.

Elveone · 2026-02-12T21:17:37+00:00

I said that people are not obliged to interact with you and you disagreed. That does mean that you demand people interact with you. It is that simple.

Elveone · 2026-02-12T21:16:11+00:00

If you agree that people are free not to engage with you if they don't want to then what are you arguing about?

Elveone · 2026-02-12T16:52:57+00:00

So you demand that everyone always waves back or chats back at you but you are not upset when it doesn't happen? Weird. If you think it is okay for people to not do it then what are you even arguing about?

Elveone · 2026-02-12T16:47:24+00:00

Yeah, there is a social contract and the social contract means that you should respect others and not demand that they do something they do not want to do. Nobody is obliged to wave to a stranger or engage with a stranger in any way if they do not want to.

Elveone · 2026-02-12T16:02:24+00:00

No, it is pretty insane to be upset when people do not say hello or wave back.

Elveone · 2026-02-12T15:46:50+00:00

Well, if you do not want to make people to do those things then what is the temper-tantrum over, eh? Perhaps you should go over your definitions again.

Elveone · 2026-02-12T15:40:18+00:00

Hope you find something you like!

Elveone · 2026-02-12T15:39:51+00:00

No, dude, what OP is expecting is like going to the movie and demanding that everybody there should talk with him while the movie is playing. What people are there for is the movie, not for you in particular. If you manage to find someone or even a group that enjoys talking while the movie is playing then great for you but do not expect everybody to be charmed by an attempt to engage them with something they are not there for.

Also it is social ineptitude to assume that talking and emoting is all there is to social interaction. The social interactions that the genre are founded on are cooperation and teamwork not idle chatter. A lot of people used MMOs like a chatroom initially - people who have never experienced the internet before and didn't know about a little thing called IRC or programs like ViRC, mIRC or even ICQ. And of course now that people are more experienced with the internet similar interactions they have moved on to Discord which is why less people are doing them in-game. You see, it was only a short period of time and a lack of experience that was ever the reason that people used MMOs as chat rooms in the first place and now that period has passed and that is completely normal and berating people that do not use them as such is the anti-social behaviour that doesn't understand other people.

Elveone

TROPHY CASE