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.
