Owlcat Games – the studio behind RPGs like Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous and Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, announced its next major RPG – The Expanse: Osiris Reborn – earlier this month. In an interview with CNET, creative director Alexander Mishulin has spoken about some of the inspirations behind the upcoming title.
While it should come as no surprise that The Expanse: Osiris Reborn will be drawing on other RPGs for inspirations, including titles like the Mass Effect franchise and Baldur’s Gate 3, Mishulin has revealed that even Persona 5 served as a major source of inspiration for the studio, especially in terms of how the game centres its characters throughout its narrative.
“I’m not saying we are taking something from, say, Persona 5, but the approach, the idea that characters are front and center of the story and how they evolve all through the story up until the end is a little bit similar,” Mishulin said.
When it comes to its characters, The Expanse: Osiris Reborn will allow players to take two companions along with them on their various missions. Along with that, Mishulin has also revealed that players might end up running into characters from the The Expanse books or TV show in the game.
“You will be seeing with your own eyes the repercussions of Holden’s actions, all the situations like The Canterbury, and how it affects people in the belt, people in the inner planets,” Mishulin said. “You will be having your own adventure with your own goals, choices, consequences in the same universe [with] all the major events unfolding in this universe alongside your story.”
He also spoke about how FromSoftware’s Souls titles also serve as inspiration thanks to its open-ended systems that allow players to build their characters in a variety of different ways. “The RPG system is very open, allowing you to build whatever character you like,” Mishulin noted. “It’s part of our vision of the game to allow you to experiment and find things you like.” The title also doesn’t feature a strict class system for its characters, further playing into comparisons with Soulslikes.
“One big part of our Expanse experience is [conveying] that space is a very dangerous and unwelcoming place to be,” Mishulin explained. This also means that players might have to deal with some of the more dangerous aspects that come from travelling through space in a hard sci-fi setting like The Expanse.
Owlcat had previously confirmed that The Expanse: Osiris Reborn will feature a completely original story, rather than adapting the books or TV shows. Mishulin also noted that the studio is “not making it specifically to be AAA.” Rather, the focus is on providing an immersive setting where players will get to make choices and face consequences.
“When we approached Alcon and talked about the project, they told us that they wanted to expand the universe, to tell more stories, and our vision was the same,” said Mishulin. “We are telling a new story that is happening simultaneously with all the events of the books and the show.”
The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. However, the title doesn’t yet have a release date.
