The Expanse: Osiris Reborn – Could Owlcat Be Conjuring the Space RPG We've Been Waiting For?
AI Gaming News Author · IGN South Africa ·
Owlcat Games is cooking up *The Expanse: Osiris Reborn*, and early peeks suggest it could be the BioWare-style space RPG many of us have been craving, though I'm keeping a gently skeptical eye on character depth and combat variety.
Right, so remember that buzz earlier this year when everyone started whispering about *The Expanse: Osiris Reborn* looking suspiciously like a new *Mass Effect*? Yeah, I felt it too. And after catching a glimpse (nearly an hour, mind you!) of Owlcat Games doing their thing at gamescom 2025, I gotta say, they haven't exactly dispelled that particular rumour. Which, fair dinkum, is a bloody relief, isn't it? It's been, what, eight years since the last *Mass Effect*? And let's not even get into the 'last *good* one' debate, eh? BioWare's been a bit... hit or miss lately, like a spell cast with a half-remembered incantation.
So, Owlcat – the wizards behind *Pathfinder* and *Rogue Trader*, absolute titans of the isometric RPG world – stepping up with a fully 3D, space-faring adventure? Mate, that's not just a relief, it's like finding a hidden chest full of loot in a dungeon you thought you'd already cleared. This isn't exactly the first time Owlcat has tried to 'do a BioWare,' either. The creative director even compared their *Pathfinder* games to *Baldur's Gate 2*, so they've got form for taking inspiration from the greats.
Now, while the 'new *Mass Effect*' vibe is strong, there's a crucial difference, isn't there? *The Expanse* is hard sci-fi, grounded in a reality that's a bit more... chilly than the *Star Wars* or *Star Trek* influences BioWare often leaned on. No space wizards, no ancient alien prophecies just yet. This lets *Osiris Reborn* neatly sidestep any 'we have *Mass Effect* at home' jokes, which is clever, but it does run the risk of feeling a tad colder than Commander Shepard's effortlessly charming voyages.
This new adventure runs parallel to the early *Expanse* saga – think the first couple of books or early TV seasons. I saw a mission where the Eros Incident was just kicking off, and the news of the Canterbury's attack was turning a space station into a madhouse. Now, if that's all Greek to you, don't fret. I'm only a casual fan myself, with a memory like a leaky sieve for those early episodes, and everything slotted into place. Owlcat seems to be crafting this story as a welcoming doorway, not a locked gate, which is a smart move.
You'll be playing as your own created hero, leading a crew of original faces, though familiar ones will eventually pop up. My demo-buddy, J, a Pinkwater Security merc, is actually your sibling – and here's a neat trick, they're modelled to resemble your custom character. A proper family resemblance, eh? Owlcat's aiming for companions that feel truly alive, not just combat drones. J would wander off mid-demo to chat with NPCs, giving the impression he's his own person with things to do, which is a lovely touch. However, and here's where my gently skeptical hat goes on, I didn't find the writing hitting the dizzying heights of *Mass Effect* or even Owlcat's own brilliant isometric RPGs. It felt a bit flat, lacking those character-defining quirks that make you instantly fall in love. I'm not writing them off, not by a long shot – *The Expanse* is famed for its slow-burn, complex characters – but I'll need more than the 30-ish hour campaign to truly connect. Reckon they'll get there, though.
The demo kicked into gear with the fallout from your character and J nicking a spaceship from the shadowy Protogen corporation after the Eros disaster. Protogen, naturally, wasn't too chuffed about that and came knocking. Here we hit a classic RPG crossroads: do we ask our Pinkwater Security mates to hold the line, or try to sneak away? A bit of smooth talking later, we had a senior officer agreeing to sacrifice his mercs for our escape. Mishulin, the creative director, promised repercussions – immediate and delayed. And sure enough, as we snaked through vents, the roar of battle echoed, and later, we saw the grim cost: dead bodies, and the armoury stripped bare to arm our valiant (and now deceased) allies.
Now, those are *consequences*, right? But here's the thing – they felt a bit surface-level. Protogen apparently would've been 'reasonable' if we hadn't resisted, so certainly fewer bodies, I suppose. The *real* question, the one that tickles my curious gamer brain, is how these choices truly ripple across the campaign. Does losing those mercs set us up for a much harder fall later? That's the kind of systemic impact that truly makes choices sing, rather than just a different flavour of immediate outcome.
Combat, like *Mass Effect*, is a core part of the experience, and it's a cover-based shooting affair, spiced up with abilities. The rocket grenades, mate, they're a hoot – little thrusters guiding them like angry, explosive fireflies across the arena. Why so fancy? Because in low-to-zero gravity, your standard throwables just float off into the ether. Half the demo's scraps were in zero-G, anchored by mag-boots, which apparently adjusts movement subtly. It looked striking, with bodies and debris gracefully tumbling about after a heavy hit. Destructible environments splinter and shatter, which is visually spectacular – watching an explosion tear a wall panel apart is pure cool points, even if it's not always a major tactical advantage.
My main wobble with combat, though, is the potential lack of variety. *The Expanse*'s hard sci-fi nature means no space wizards, no bizarre alien powers. It's guns, guns, and more guns. Mishulin assured me there's a wide array of firearms, each with distinct properties, and different classes like snipers versus run-and-gunners. But, respectfully, that's sounding a bit *Call of Duty* to my RPG-tuned ears. I'm desperately hoping Owlcat's got a smarter, more *RPG-esque* approach up their sleeve – maybe technical characters, hackers who can manipulate the battlefield in more interesting, ability-driven ways than just pointing and shooting.
Look, I didn't instantly fall head-over-heels for any single part of *Osiris Reborn* during this glimpse. I'll need a good few more hours, probably a few more pints (virtually speaking, of course), to truly connect with its characters, which for me, is the heart of any great RPG. But what I *did* see? It feels like the foundations I've been yearning for since I took Shepard on that final, tear-jerking mission. It's got the combat, but also the weighty conversations. It's all about the team, but without the micromanagement faff of those older, more traditional computer RPGs.
And *The Expanse* itself? It's a rich ore vein, mate. A colder, more grounded universe, sure, with those hard sci-fi restrictions, but also a world absolutely brimming with complex politics. That, my friends, should lead to conflicts far deeper and more nuanced than your typical 'good vs. evil' genre tropes. Game design producer Yuliya Chernenko said they're 'building on that legacy and expanding what players anticipate.' I didn't see much evidence of that 'expansion' in the demo, to be fair, but I'm holding onto that optimistic chaos of mine and hoping it'll reveal itself. Even if it just ends up being a really solid, hard sci-fi *Mass Effect* clone? Yeah, I reckon I'd still happily sign up for that odyssey. It's been too long, hasn't it?
Originally reported by Matt Purslow for IGN South Africa.
Tags: Space RPG, The Expanse, Owlcat Games, RPG Preview, Sci-Fi Games
Original article: IGN South Africa