I’m jumping the gun cuz I still have to finish this game and am dying to,play the other 2 and yes even andromeda but for those of you who loved this series (the story in particular)—what other RPGs would you recommend? I’ve been ignoring recent entries in genre for far too long...just didn’t have that kind of time to commit to RPGs the last several years
I'd second the Dragon Age idea. For a minute there, they had Dragon Age and Mass Effect in a nice little cycle. It's one of my favorite series, and I think I've played through Dragon Age Origins more times than I have Mass Effect 2 (even though Mass Effect 2 is an objectively better game)
If you're going to jump in, there's a few things you need a heads up for. EA hasn't shown any interest in remastering these games as of right now, so you're stuck playing the original versions of the first two games, which are definitely showing their age a bit as PS3/360 age games, and are peak EA used game paranoia. Meaning DLC as far as the fukking eye can see, some of which actually includes important plot points and characters for future games. No joke, every single game in the series sets up the next game via DLC.
All that said, it's definitely worth it, flaws and all. If you like the writing in Mass Effect, you'll like the writing in Dragon Age.