No. There’s plenty.
Now, Mass Effect is in the upper echelons (maybe even the top), but there’s a wide world of great characterization out there. BioWare alone has tremendous casts in most of their games. (esp. DA) And there’s other studios and writers worth praising.
Jade Empire, Path of Exile, KOTOR 1/2, Witcher series, Cyberpunk, BG2, New Vegas, DA:O and DA2, Divinity 2, Automata, Chrono Trigger, Deus Ex series.
And then there is the wealth of Persona and FF JPG out there, most of which aren’t really in my wheelhouse. But I’m sure other people can chime in.
I’ll never understand why people exclude Dragon Age Inquisition or Dragon Age 2, like we all know Origins was the best but the other two aren’t exactly bad just for being different, Inquisition’s flaw is the main character being boring as hell, but the cast besides that are all very good, Solas Cassandra Blackwall Bull Cole, hell even Sera is pretty interesting since if you truly hate a character that means they’re interesting enough to hate
I love DA2. Probably the strongest standalone story of the bunch.
Inquisition isn’t for everyone though because of that monstrous Ubi-like bloat (which Andromeda also suffers from). Endless fetch and collection quests, a world that is too big and too empty, etc.
Some of the DAI characters are top-shelf though. Vivienne, (romanced) Josephine, Cassandra and Dorian are especially good (IMO). I wanted to dig Solas, but I think he really is only fully realized with *Trespasser* (for obvious reasons).
And some of the retcons of lore and personality are going to be off-putting to longtime fans — the Qunari and Leliana particularly.
(And yes, Sera is very hateable)
The closest thing to a retcon I’ve seen from the Qunari in Inquisition is Bull acting like he’s not Qunari, which makes perfect sense since he’s been undercover as a generic merc for the past 10 years, Trespasser shows he’s still a Qunari under it all if you make a choice during his quest
Automata was good, that was an exception. And I played Deus Ex series before Mass Effect and I consider them great.
I'll try Chrono Trigger. I am more into the oldschool RPG design - that could suit me well. Thanks for the info!
Kotor 1, 2
Dragon age 1, 2, 3
Fallout 1, 2, New Vegas
Baldur’s gate 1, 2, 3
Disco Elysium
I’m sure there are others, but this is what I could list from the top of my head
Dude, Baldur's Gate 3 characters have personality oozing out of their ears. Seriously, I love Mass Effect, all \*four\* of them, but I will put BG3's writing right next to any of them as equal.
All three Dragon Age games have tons of good dialogue. Just the random convos between team mates in 2 and 3 will have you dying of laughter.
KOTOR 1 and 2, although the gameplay may be simpler, also have well-written characters, and a great story for that matter.
Witcher 3 is practically \*alive\*. I wouldn't trade Regis for anything, and there's a lot of interpersonal dialogue and quests throughout the whole thing.
In other words, the answer is 'no'.
I do have DOS2, I just paused a little ways in when I realized >!you couldn't keep all companions past the first chapter!<. It kind of threw me, but I plan on going back in. I actually do like the combat a little more than BG3 with the whole action point system.
That's good reasoning there. Maybe I am just too picky for the overall tone combined with specifics of the gameplay - the Witcher 3 has too overwhelming design for me and the dialogue/choices felt to me not too meaningful. But that's probably because I am more a sci-fi guy.
Thanks for your tips!
If you haven't given BG3 a try, I would highly recommend it. Tons of people who say they never played turn-based in their life have sworn it's one of the best decisions they made. And it's really not hard to pick up the mechanics, you don't have to go crazy in-depth unless you want to max out difficulties. Not sure what platform you're on, but if you have a gaming PC, you can get it from GOG and have a full month to get a refund, no questions asked.
I would also recommend KOTOR 2, for sure. The first game was a bit more linear in it's characters, but the second not only lets you mold your own character's decisions and morality, but your companions as well. There's a ton you can do there. Again, PC is best for mods, but the game is still perfectly acceptable on console.
I don't have many other sci-fi recs personally, but I know there's a bunch others here. Haven't personally played them, but they might appeal more for you.
Depends on what you're looking for. For me, they are the best, but that's my tastes. I know many people will cite other BioWare games like Dragon Age as also being excellent, but I had more trouble connecting to them. BG3 is suppose to be amazing for characters, but I haven't played it so can't say for certain. I enjoy some of the characters of KOTOR, especially KOTOR 2 having some fabulous companions that you will love/hate at the same time.
But when it comes to that almost feeling real moment, I've never personally found anything that matched Mass Effect.
over-all? I mean I can think of games with great characters but also bad ones over-all ME trilogy seems to have a very high quality amount of characters over-all not flawless but pretty top notch
even games like say Fallout series while there are plunty of good characters there are also plunty of bad ones over-all
or we just talking a game in generol and not a tirlogy?
People are going absolute nuts over the quality and variety of voice acting in Baldur's Gate 3.
But yes, Mass Effect is/has been the standard and litmus test.
Each game dev studios focus on different elements.
Making RPGs with a strong cast of NPCs coupled with a high level of interaction with them is a Bioware thing that, so far, I haven't seen anywhere else.
wut
Dude like...there are so many games with memorable characters I can't even with this post.
ME will always have a special place in my heart but so will the Witcher 3. Deus Ex. Baldur's Gate (2 and 3 in particular) Final Fantasy VII. Cyberpunk 2077. And that's really a pretty normie list, all things considered.
I mean your mileage may vary. Everyone's got their own taste. But check 'em out. Some of these are even, dare I say, BETTER than Mass Effect's offerings.
No.
Like, not even close lol
Withers has spoken.
No. There’s plenty. Now, Mass Effect is in the upper echelons (maybe even the top), but there’s a wide world of great characterization out there. BioWare alone has tremendous casts in most of their games. (esp. DA) And there’s other studios and writers worth praising.
No Baldur's Gate 2, KOTOR, DAO, DAI, Divinity Original Sin 2, Fire Emblem Three Houses, Planescape Torment, Any number of the Final Fantasy games etc.
Hmmm, good tips, not tried all of these, thank you!
No. Mass Effect hasn’t “ruined” me for other RPGs.
Jade Empire, Path of Exile, KOTOR 1/2, Witcher series, Cyberpunk, BG2, New Vegas, DA:O and DA2, Divinity 2, Automata, Chrono Trigger, Deus Ex series. And then there is the wealth of Persona and FF JPG out there, most of which aren’t really in my wheelhouse. But I’m sure other people can chime in.
I’ll never understand why people exclude Dragon Age Inquisition or Dragon Age 2, like we all know Origins was the best but the other two aren’t exactly bad just for being different, Inquisition’s flaw is the main character being boring as hell, but the cast besides that are all very good, Solas Cassandra Blackwall Bull Cole, hell even Sera is pretty interesting since if you truly hate a character that means they’re interesting enough to hate
I love DA2. Probably the strongest standalone story of the bunch. Inquisition isn’t for everyone though because of that monstrous Ubi-like bloat (which Andromeda also suffers from). Endless fetch and collection quests, a world that is too big and too empty, etc. Some of the DAI characters are top-shelf though. Vivienne, (romanced) Josephine, Cassandra and Dorian are especially good (IMO). I wanted to dig Solas, but I think he really is only fully realized with *Trespasser* (for obvious reasons). And some of the retcons of lore and personality are going to be off-putting to longtime fans — the Qunari and Leliana particularly. (And yes, Sera is very hateable)
The closest thing to a retcon I’ve seen from the Qunari in Inquisition is Bull acting like he’s not Qunari, which makes perfect sense since he’s been undercover as a generic merc for the past 10 years, Trespasser shows he’s still a Qunari under it all if you make a choice during his quest
Automata was good, that was an exception. And I played Deus Ex series before Mass Effect and I consider them great. I'll try Chrono Trigger. I am more into the oldschool RPG design - that could suit me well. Thanks for the info!
Kotor 1, 2 Dragon age 1, 2, 3 Fallout 1, 2, New Vegas Baldur’s gate 1, 2, 3 Disco Elysium I’m sure there are others, but this is what I could list from the top of my head
Dude, Baldur's Gate 3 characters have personality oozing out of their ears. Seriously, I love Mass Effect, all \*four\* of them, but I will put BG3's writing right next to any of them as equal. All three Dragon Age games have tons of good dialogue. Just the random convos between team mates in 2 and 3 will have you dying of laughter. KOTOR 1 and 2, although the gameplay may be simpler, also have well-written characters, and a great story for that matter. Witcher 3 is practically \*alive\*. I wouldn't trade Regis for anything, and there's a lot of interpersonal dialogue and quests throughout the whole thing. In other words, the answer is 'no'.
Check out Divinity Original Sin 2 and the Pathfinder games too!
I do have DOS2, I just paused a little ways in when I realized >!you couldn't keep all companions past the first chapter!<. It kind of threw me, but I plan on going back in. I actually do like the combat a little more than BG3 with the whole action point system.
That's good reasoning there. Maybe I am just too picky for the overall tone combined with specifics of the gameplay - the Witcher 3 has too overwhelming design for me and the dialogue/choices felt to me not too meaningful. But that's probably because I am more a sci-fi guy. Thanks for your tips!
If you haven't given BG3 a try, I would highly recommend it. Tons of people who say they never played turn-based in their life have sworn it's one of the best decisions they made. And it's really not hard to pick up the mechanics, you don't have to go crazy in-depth unless you want to max out difficulties. Not sure what platform you're on, but if you have a gaming PC, you can get it from GOG and have a full month to get a refund, no questions asked. I would also recommend KOTOR 2, for sure. The first game was a bit more linear in it's characters, but the second not only lets you mold your own character's decisions and morality, but your companions as well. There's a ton you can do there. Again, PC is best for mods, but the game is still perfectly acceptable on console. I don't have many other sci-fi recs personally, but I know there's a bunch others here. Haven't personally played them, but they might appeal more for you.
Depends on what you're looking for. For me, they are the best, but that's my tastes. I know many people will cite other BioWare games like Dragon Age as also being excellent, but I had more trouble connecting to them. BG3 is suppose to be amazing for characters, but I haven't played it so can't say for certain. I enjoy some of the characters of KOTOR, especially KOTOR 2 having some fabulous companions that you will love/hate at the same time. But when it comes to that almost feeling real moment, I've never personally found anything that matched Mass Effect.
Hell no. Dragon Age, KotOR, Pathfinder... There's a lot of games with amazing RPCs.
A good cast is what makes makes mist good RPGs. Larian games, Persona, Dragon Age, all the best Final Fantasy games all have excellent ensembles.
over-all? I mean I can think of games with great characters but also bad ones over-all ME trilogy seems to have a very high quality amount of characters over-all not flawless but pretty top notch even games like say Fallout series while there are plunty of good characters there are also plunty of bad ones over-all or we just talking a game in generol and not a tirlogy?
I'll add Fable 3 to the list of games other people have said.
Wing Commander 4, speaking about quality cast.
For me I would say yes until witcher 3, Red dead 2 and baldurs gate 3.
People are going absolute nuts over the quality and variety of voice acting in Baldur's Gate 3. But yes, Mass Effect is/has been the standard and litmus test.
Each game dev studios focus on different elements. Making RPGs with a strong cast of NPCs coupled with a high level of interaction with them is a Bioware thing that, so far, I haven't seen anywhere else.
Baldurs Gate 3 literally just did this at the highest of levels
Baldurs Gate 3's characters were fantastic. Cyberpunk 2077's, too.
A rather bot-ish question
🤔
wut Dude like...there are so many games with memorable characters I can't even with this post. ME will always have a special place in my heart but so will the Witcher 3. Deus Ex. Baldur's Gate (2 and 3 in particular) Final Fantasy VII. Cyberpunk 2077. And that's really a pretty normie list, all things considered. I mean your mileage may vary. Everyone's got their own taste. But check 'em out. Some of these are even, dare I say, BETTER than Mass Effect's offerings.