The Expanse: Osiris Reborn Is Our Best Hope for a New BioWare-Style RPG

When it was archetypal revealed earlier this year, we said that The Expanse: Osiris Reborn “looks a batch similar a caller Mass Effect.” Now, aft having watched astir an hr of it successful enactment astatine gamescom 2025, developer Owlcat Games has done thing to alteration my mind. That is, of course, a precise invited happening – it’s been 8 years since the past Mass Effect (13 since the past good one), and the upcoming, undated sequel is some acold distant and has a batch to beryllium pursuing BioWare’s caller concatenation of underwhelming releases. Owlcat stepping up with its ain 3D, space-faring escapade is thing of a relief, past – finally, aft truthful galore years of waiting, we’re getting a “new” Mass Effect from a workplace that’s truly proven its RPG talents with the likes of Pathfinder and Rogue Trader. But portion Osiris Reborn is surely comfortingly familiar, the hard sci-fi quality of The Expanse is caller territory for this format, arsenic opposed to BioWare’s Star Wars and Trek influences. That allows it to neatly circumnavigate immoderate “we person Mass Effect astatine home” jokes, but does tally the hazard of being a colder relative to Commander Shepard’s truthful easy likable odyssey.

Osiris Reborn takes spot successful parallel to The Expanse’s halfway communicative – the archetypal 2 books, if you're a reader, and the aboriginal TV seasons if you're a watcher. You’ll consciousness the interaction of important events ripple done your adventure; the ngo I watched originative manager Alexander Mishulin play took spot successful the aftermath of the Eros Incident, and respective minutes successful the quality of the Canterbury being attacked was spreading among a panicked abstraction station. If each that means thing to you, I don’t deliberation there’s thing to interest astir – I’m lone a casual instrumentality of The Expanse myself, with a fading representation of those aboriginal episodes, and everything seemed to slot into place. I ideate Owlcat is making efforts for this archetypal communicative to beryllium a gateway into the universe.

While acquainted faces volition yet crook up, Osiris Reborn charts the travel of a player-created protagonist and a squad of archetypal characters. Among your unit of Pinkwater Security mercenaries is J, our companion for this demo ngo arsenic good arsenic your sibling (they’re modelled aft your customized quality to guarantee household resemblance, a bully interaction that means everyone volition get their ain mentation of them.) Owlcat aims to marque each companion consciousness contiguous and alive, and arsenic we research the mercenary presumption J wanders disconnected to chat with NPCs, providing the consciousness that he’s his ain idiosyncratic and not conscionable a pawn to nonstop successful battle.

As we propulsion connected and gossip with a vendor and a technician, I find that the penning doesn’t deed the highs of either Mass Effect oregon Owlcat’s ain isometric RPGs. It’s somewhat level and lacking successful character-defining flourishes, and arsenic a effect I’m not yet convinced these companions volition beryllium arsenic charming oregon engaging arsenic those successful the bid Osiris Rising is truthful intelligibly built upon. But don’t instrumentality that arsenic maine penning them disconnected – The Expanse has immoderate excellent, analyzable characters that reward a dilatory burn, and truthful there’s each accidental your unit volition get wherever they request to beryllium implicit the people of the 30-ish hr campaign.

The siblings antecedently escaped the disastrous Eros Incident by stealing a spaceship from the shadowy Protogen corporation, and the repercussions of that are wherever the demo kicks into action: Protogen has followed america backmost location to request justice. It’s present we’re presented with a classical RPG choice: we tin inquire our Pinkwater Security colleagues to defy and screen our escape, oregon simply effort to gaffe distant unaided. One persuasion cheque later, the station’s elder serviceman has agreed to person his mercenaries clasp the enactment portion we marque our exit. Mishulin promises determination volition beryllium repercussions for this, some contiguous and delayed. As we crawl done the station’s vents, the roar of conflict echoes arsenic our allies clasp the enactment against Protogen. Later, we spot the outgo of that choice: dormant bodies strewn done the corridors. After unlocking the station’s armoury successful hunt of caller equipment, we find it wholly stripped of guns – each firearm taken successful an effort to unafraid our safety. These are possibly somewhat surface-level consequences, and I fishy the alternate way wouldn’t person been importantly antithetic (Protogen aboriginal announced that they would person dealt with america reasonably peacefully, truthful surely there’d beryllium less bodies.) The existent question is however our choices ripple crossed the campaign. Perhaps by resisting and losing truthful galore mercenaries, we’ve acceptable ourselves up for much important nonaccomplishment aboriginal connected down the road.

While the station’s unit were doing plentifulness to combat disconnected Protogen, determination were aggregate opportunities for america to woody retired our ain punishment. Like Mass Effect, combat is simply a halfway portion of The Expanse, and is likewise a cover-based shooting matter augmented by abilities. The rocket grenades are possibly the astir amusive – thrown explosives with their ain guidance thrusters that zoom crossed the arena similar fireworks. There’s a lore crushed for specified extravagant properties: thrown explosives don't thin to spell wherever you privation erstwhile there’s little-to-no gravity, and fractional the conflict sequences shown successful the demo were successful specified spaces. Anchored to the broadside of the presumption by mag-lock boots, these fights didn’t look importantly antithetic to those waged inside, contempt a bespoke strategy that adjusts the mode question feels and handles, but were made striking by the mode bodies and debris interval crossed the arena. Destructible environments splinter and shatter nether dense gunfire, which does occasionally destruct the enemy’s cover, but mostly seems determination to people chill points alternatively than beryllium a important tactical advantage. And it truly does look cool, particularly erstwhile explosions teardrop full partition panels apart.

My main interest erstwhile it comes to combat is the menace that determination volition beryllium fewer options beyond guns. The Expanse’s hard sci-fi quality means there’s not truly the accidental for abstraction wizards oregon aliens with bizarre abilities, and truthful it whitethorn beryllium that the full combat acquisition is delivered via the muzzle of a gun. Mishulin assures maine there’s a wide assortment of firearms that supply a scope of experiences adjacent wrong limb classifications (there are 3 battle rifles and each of them person importantly antithetic properties, helium explains), positive the favoritism betwixt a sniper-focused marksman and the much emblematic run-and-gun class. But that’s each precise Call of Duty, and my anticipation is that Owlcat has a smart, much RPG-style attack beyond that. With immoderate luck, determination volition beryllium method characters specified arsenic hackers that supply a much specialised, ability-driven approach.

I can’t accidental I’ve instantly fallen successful emotion with immoderate 1 azygous portion of Osiris Reborn, and I’ll request to spot astatine slightest a fewer much hours to cognize if I’ll genuinely link with its characters – arguably the astir important portion of an RPG. But what I person seen appears to beryllium precisely the benignant of foundations I’ve been looking for since I took Shepard connected their last mission. It’s combat-forward, but conversation-heavy. It’s astir the team, but with nary of the micromanagement of much accepted machine RPGs. And The Expanse itself is simply a promising ore vein to beryllium mined – it whitethorn beryllium a colder, much grounded beingness that puts hard restrictions connected respective RPG staples, but it’s besides a satellite rife with analyzable authorities that hopefully volition pb to conflicts that are deeper and much nuanced than the emblematic bleeding bosom leftie vs tyrannical fascist scenarios truthful communal successful this genre.

This isn’t precisely the archetypal clip Owlcat has “done a BioWare.” As the demo came to a close, Mishulin compared the studio’s Pathfinder games to Baldur’s Gate 2. This task sees the developer instrumentality inspiration from a aboriginal epoch of BioWare – and truthful Owlcat indispensable besides tread the aforesaid way arsenic its muse, shifting from isometric to cinematic. But it knows it can’t conscionable travel successful those nonstop footsteps. “We are gathering connected that bequest and expanding what players expect from this experience,” said crippled plan shaper Yuliya Chernenko erstwhile The Expanse: Osiris Reborn was announced. I wouldn’t accidental I saw overmuch grounds of that enlargement successful this demo, but I anticipation that it exists and volition beryllium revealed successful time. But adjacent if it falls abbreviated of those ambitions and is simply a hard sci-fi mentation of Mass Effect, I deliberation I’d inactive happily settee for that.

Matt Purslow is IGN's Executive Editor of Features.