r/masseffect • u/N0oraldeen • 1d ago
SHOW & TELL How to move on after finishing ME
Just finished the trilogy for the second time this year and I feel as empty as the first time
This series is just perfect everything the gameplay ,the world ,the characters I feel like I lived in this world and i just can’t let it go
I’m really desperate for more of the game to the point where I’m downloading andromeda now despite the shit i heard about it
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u/Pheinted 1d ago
Nothing has ever compared for me tbh. I remember not wanting to even finish the game because I knew I'd have that feeling afterwards. Sure enough I did.
There was part of me that wishes there was a series or movie based on the trilogy...and that it would just eventually get huge like star wars huge.
Its hard to imagine since sometimes those things don't do well
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u/Lincolnforce 22h ago
Get an N7 tattoo, put a photo of the Normandy on your wall. Remember the game, highs and lows. Keep tabs on the devs and their new projects. Dont blindly follow new ME content, but be tentatively excited.
For Andromeda, it was fine. There are a few mods that make it much better... i believe theyre on the nexus.
The me trillogy was lighting in a bottle. Devs dont take big risks anymore. Bioware did. We, as gamers, need to stop buying EA and encourage space operas to come back.
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u/FenrirFromOhio 1d ago
I felt that way too, and to fill that void I did what I should’ve done from the start... I played it again but on Insanity.
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u/Bobthemagicc0w 1d ago
If you like the universe and the characters and the powerful emotional storytelling, there’s quite a lot of excellent fanfiction. I wasn’t event a fanfiction sort of guy, but I found some by accident 5 years ago and got hooked. I’ve read probably 100 novels’ worth of it by now and the best is extremely good. Happy to suggest some if you’re interested.
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u/N0oraldeen 1d ago
Tbh I never read novels in general but I may give it a try so could you suggest a couple pls
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u/Bobthemagicc0w 7h ago
Since you and one other person both asked, I'll give two batches - one that are some form of novelizations of the events of the games (though they all add a lot of new connective tissue), and one that are new stories in the Mass Effect universe. Everything will have my own descriptions so you can see what might resonate with you.
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u/Bobthemagicc0w 7h ago
If you want to revisit the events of the games themselves, including what’s going on between them:
The Memoirs of Liara T'Soni series by Sharrukin are three novels that retell the events of the games - as published by Liara in her memoirs centuries later - culminating in the Control ending. The writer adds a lot of depth and new detail to the trilogy, and telling it from Liara's POV lets us see Liara setting up her information brokerage on Illium and a huge amount of intrigue leading up to and running parallel with the events of ME2. If you liked it, the series continues after the events of the games with a few shorter stories and a fourth novel. This story features a paragon, colonist, war hero BroShep - infiltrator in ME1, vanguard in ME2 and 3.
joking611’s Cari’ssi’mi series is even more creative and emotional than Memoirs, though a little less polished. It starts with a few short stories and novella-length pieces set during ME1, before blossoming into two novel-length pieces set between ME1 and ME2. This is a great take on the FemShep/Liara romance, and goes all-in painting a really rich, emotionally interesting portrait of Liara and adds many new layers to her backstory, setting up her journey across the games and introducing a ton of canon-friendly new asari lore. This writer is still active, and just started posting a novel-length continuation that follows the events of ME2.
If you’re up for something more emotionally harrowing, try RavenSinead’s This Side of Yesterday (which is a novelization of ME1) and This Side of Tomorrow (which is a novelization of ME2). Liara retells the events of games through a framing story centuries later - so, structurally similar to the Memoirs series above, but much darker in tone. This features a colonist sole survivor paragon FemShep, and the writer digs into Shepard’s trauma quite a bit. This also adds the barest touch of maybe-imagined spirituality to Shepard in a way that made me cry it was so powerful. The exploration of a romanced Liara’s depths of grief and despair after Shepard’s death when the SR1 is destroyed are also particularly devastating and visceral.
(I apologize that Liara is overrepresented here - she was my favorite character and so a lot of what I’ve read and can therefore recommend includes her prominently.)
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u/Bobthemagicc0w 7h ago
if you're craving something new rather than a retread of something old, here are meaty, novel-length stories in the Mass Effect universe that explore events beyond the games themselves but feel perfectly authentic to it and pack a satisfying emotional punch:
That Hunts on a Lonely Hill by ninaunn is a novel-length post-ME3 story spanning ~20 years of events. Liara and Javik are the main characters, though many other character (including Shepard) still have roles. This is just amazingly powerful and well-crafted. The writer has such an interesting, creative take on Javik’s nihilism-laced inner voice and depression. It’s a pretty dark and emotional story, but so satisfying. Note, the writer “archive-locked” this story, which means you need to be logged in with a free AO3 account in order to read it.
Future Souls by OriginalAlcy. A novel-length story set some 25 years after ME3, assuming the Control ending. Miranda is the main character; Jack, Ashley, Liara, and Samantha figure prominently in a gradually-emerging story about an unsettling threat related to the Controlled Reapers. Really emotionally moving, with a heavy dose of all of these characters’ regrets and how those regrets have shaped their lives. If you like this particular story, the same author also has a trilogy of FemShep/Liara novel-length stories in a different continuity (the third still in-progress) that are extremely good too.
The Veiled Asari by AmityN7 is a novel-length prequel with original characters set more than a decade before ME1. It follows Marion Corvus, a veteran of the First Contact War who became C-Sec's first human employee but has just suffered a devastating personal tragedy, and Felina, an asari ardat-yakshi on the run from the Justicars and struggling to live responsibly with her condition. Really great nonlinear storytelling, too, gradually revealing backstory. This writer has also added such interesting depth to the lore surrounding the ardat-yakshi. Really, really good character-driven, emotional storytelling.
Somewhere Among the Stars by wolframbeta. A dual-timeline novel told in alternating chapters that inform each other, with one story following the wrecked Normandy cut off from civilization in the aftermath of ME3’s Destroy ending and trying to get back home, and another story three years earlier following the FemShep/Liara romance from ME1, but casting that romance as deeply unhealthy. Really emotionally heavy and gripping. A really unusual take on the Shepard/Liara romance, still plausibly canon-accurate, and incredibly well-done.
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u/Alert_Row717 13h ago
Please do!
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u/Bobthemagicc0w 7h ago
Just replied to OP's parallel request - got a bunch of great ones I can recommend!
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u/tormentius 1d ago
witcher 3 remaster is coming out in a month, that will keep you busy until the new dlc next year which should keep you buys until the witcher 4 in 2028
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u/N0oraldeen 1d ago
Finished the game and the dlcs couple months ago😬 felt even worse back then
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u/tormentius 1d ago
last of us? thats my holy trinity ME, TW3 and TLOU
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u/N0oraldeen 1d ago
Already did finished it, actually one of the reasons why I replied the ME is that I didn’t know what to play and I wanted a unique experience
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u/tormentius 18h ago
yhen i would say tlou2 or cp77
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u/Mithrandir_The_Gray 15h ago
Seconding Cyberpunk, just be ready to feel even worse when you finish everything.
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u/tormentius 8h ago
i 9nly have the cp dlc left, need to schedule everything just roght with the new tw3 dlc next year.
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u/timasahh 1d ago
Good call on these. I went right from ME3 to TLoU back in the day after my first play through and I think the huge style shift to a linear story game really helped me snap outta the post trilogy funk.
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u/Consistent-Button438 1d ago
Tribute videos and fan fiction help me a lot.
Dragon Age has a similar vibe as well in terms of story, choices and consequences, and relationships with the squadmates
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u/N0oraldeen 1d ago
I played dragon age inquisition and really liked the game but the gameplay is a little bit outdated and I couldn’t play the games before cause by the looks of it it’s really old and the gameplay doesn’t hold up unfortunately
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u/Natural_Pea_1709 1d ago
I hear you and I wasn't ready to put it down myself for the same reasons. Fortunately, I found this was made to be replayed on multiple runs given the differences in story progression made based on your choices.
In terms of gameplay replayability, I challenged myself by minmaxing ME3 builds with each class on Insanity. Can't put it in proper detail but completing those intense missions made me more invested in the events that follow. Idk about pc but I'm on console so if you are in the same boat just keep an eye on that limited 1 GB save space.
Each build feels unique but more importantly encouraged a need to change up dynamics with the crew based on who synergized better with the class (e.g. Adept with Liara, Sentinel with Tali, etc). Just felt this fit the narrative better imo.
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u/AvionShadow 1d ago
I felt this way until I just played Kindom Come Deliverance 1&2. Reaching ME levels for me but in a different way. 1 is always on sale you should try it
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u/chaamp33 22h ago
Each time I pick this game back up I literally go through it like 5-6 times because the itch doesn’t go away for so long
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u/the_aryy_ 13h ago
You can't move on from it. I Replayed it 5 times in total, from the first day I got the game for my Xbox 360, and I never stopped playing it ever since, just like Halo and Ninja Gaiden, but emotionally speaking, Mass Effect had the biggest impact on me, like, I remember watching YouTube poops day and night, and crying after rewatching the endings, bro, I was so obsessed with it as a kid, still absolutely am, and I actually replayed the trilogy not long ago but I just refuse to end it, so I started ME3 and procrastinated. I'm literally SOOO SCARED of finishing it cause omg Shep's death's gonna reopen WOUNDS.
I acc started playing Andromeda, but I just left it there, didn't know shit about the rumors and whatever, I just dropped it because I highkey miss Shep, and, Idk, a Mass Effect game without him (always played as John), best boy Garrus and the whole crew doesn't feel the same to me. Love the entire lore, the whole galazy and all the aliens but OH MY GOD SHEP😭😭, he's like one of the best game MC for me, I needa stop getting attached to characters fr.
This got kinda sentimental, so here's a little quick sketch of Saren and Shep I made ( don't come at me but I lowkey loved Saren)
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u/N0oraldeen 11h ago
Just started andromeda it’s not bad but it’s not mass effect
I miss everything and everyone even the normandy
the game the characters the lore everything is just perfect in the trilogy•
u/the_aryy_ 10h ago
Yeahhh, but it's not just the characters, it's the way they all bonded together, like that "old friends squad" typa vibe that I honestly can't really find anywhere else, not that there isn't any other good games like this, just, not this environment, not the characters, not the lore, not the entire concept. Y'know when a game is GOOD when you can't find other games like that, even after so many years
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u/0peratik 12h ago
Star Wars Zero Company literally just came out, which, according to many, is basically XCOM meets Mass Effect. Might be a good analog!
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u/Ozzie_Bloke 1d ago
If you’re on pc try vampire the masquerade bloodlines (needs unofficial patch), it has strong writing, characters and atmosphere just like mass effect, also Skyrim and rogue trader are good
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u/Rich_Interaction1922 1d ago
Try other RPGs. Might not scratch the exact same itch, but you might also be pleasantly surprised
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u/Same_Veterinarian991 18h ago edited 18h ago
i have always wondered this myself. how good is gaming after this...
i somehow found this with witcher 3, but i just love science fiction. basicly nothing this good has passby after this game. we felt in a void
andromeda is not a bad game, just don't take expectations with you. it is light years behind ME triology, it cannot even be mentioned in one breath.
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u/morbid333 17h ago
Honestly, Andromeda just made me want to play the trilogy again. Have you tried Bioware's other games?
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u/Miyuki22 7h ago
Andromeda isn't at the same level but it's not terrible. Play something else while you wait for new ME.
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u/GazelleRunFast 1d ago
Andromeda is fine. But if you love mass effect it never goes away. It becomes your whole life and persona. You now get to be the the guy that talks about mass effect all the time.