It’s tough out there for BioWare fans: Veilguard was better than it gets credit for, but the studio still looks like it’s on its last legs. Our only solace seems to be other developers picking up the torch of those big, cinematic, ensemble cast, wish fulfilling RPGs: Larian, CDProjekt, and now, maybe Owlcat with its distinctly Mass Effect-y upcoming take on the Expanse, Osiris Reborn.
On November 7, Owlcat shared the game’s main theme from composer Paweł Perepelica, who previously scored Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous and Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader for the studio. It’s hard get crazy excited about music from an upcoming game, but Osiris Reborn’s main theme kinda goes.
That combination of a very space opera, orchestral sound with more cyberpunk synths puts me right back in that 2007, saving the galaxy headspace. It doesn’t hurt that Mass Effect and The Expanse draw from the same well of gritty, ’90s and aughts, military-inflected, Sci-Fi Syfy Channel sci-fi—even if Mass Effect tempered it with a more wide eyed, mid-20th century sensibility.
I’m curious to see how Owlcat does when it branches out from isometric CRPGs into an action RPG direction. At times, it’s reminded me of CD Projekt and Larian’s trajectories, gradually gaining popularity with crunchy, complex, and admittedly more janky RPGs—this could be the studio’s Witcher 2 or Original Sin 2 moment, where it punches above its weight in terms of craft and production values.
We can’t yet say if Osiris Reborn will be all that, but I’ve been smitten with Owlcat’s work since Wrath of the Righteous helped me survive catching Covid for the first time. The Expanse: Osiris Reborn does not yet have a release date, but you can wishlist the RPG on Steam, while Owlcat is offering various “founder pack” preorder options on its website.
The studio’s keeping plenty busy otherwise as well: Its recently-established publishing arm is helping to deliver the Disco Elysium-like Rue Valley later this month, while Owlcat is also continuing to support Rogue Trader while working on another 40K RPG, Dark Heresy.
