The Expanse: Osiris Reborn was one of this summer's nicest game reveals – especially for fans of the Amazon Prime show still reeling from its cancelation – because it sounded so darn similar to a Mass Effect spiritual successor. It seems to be sharing more than just sci-fi trappings and third-person combat with BioWare's iconic series, though, as its director says Commander Shepard's adventures are a "great inspiration."
Speaking to Polygon, creative director Alexander Mishulin welcomed comparisons to the Mass Effect trilogy and admitted it's a "great inspiration for us because it's an iconic game for [the] Xbox 360 generation." So iconic, in fact, that lots of the Owlcat Games team grew up playing Mass Effect and even got into game development because of the tragic space opera. "It would be impossible to deny that Mass Effect has [had] a lot of impact on us as game developers," he says.
All of that adoration and inspiration sounds like it's manifesting in-game in lots of different ways, too. For one, you'll be able to smooch and romance your companions, which I know makes this an instant-buy for some. There'll also be a bunch of different origins to choose from that'll affect how certain factions treat you. And borrowing from Mass Effect: Andromeda, of all things, you'll also have a twin sibling on board who will probably brutally judge all your actions in a way that only your sibling can.
Still, Mishulin acknowledges that the Mass Effect formula is a little outdated at this point. The first game did come out 18 whole years ago, as painful as that is to write, so the developers are thinking about how players are now "accustomed to a lot more convenient user interfaces [and] convenient approaches to the gameplay." Owlcat isn't simply "modernizing Mass Effect, but just making a game in the same genre but with all the modern trappings." The team's even looking at more modern RPGs like Persona 5 and Baldur's Gate for reference, too.
The Expanse: Osiris Reborn doesn't have a solid release date yet, but it'll come to PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC when it's ready.
