As someone who is a self-professed lover of all things sci-fi and RPGs, one would expect me to have a great fondness for BioWare’s seminal classic, Mass Effect. While I do have positive things to say about Shepard’s antics aboard the Normandy, for the most part, I find myself consistently struggling to get into it. Naturally, I’ll outline my reasoning for disliking Mass Effect, but it is important to note that I still understand the love for the game and can, for the most part, see how its assorted elements would appeal to someone who, like me, enjoys a good spacefaring adventure with a smattering of RPG mechanics and weighty narrative choices sprinkled in for good measure.
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I find this to be a little frustrating, as it isn’t as if I’m actively out to hate a game that is largely considered to be one of the best sci-fi RPG games ever made, if not the best. I would love to love Mass Effect, but I can’t. That is why I am extremely excited about an upcoming sci-fi RPG that aims to replicate much of what makes Mass Effect so beloved, while addressing many of the facets of its design that I struggle to gel with. While it remains to be seen how perfectly Owlcat’s The Expanse: Osiris Reborn turns out, I have high hopes that it may finally solve my biggest problem with Mass Effect once and for all.
I Wish I Loved Mass Effect More
I want to preface this by saying (as I appreciate I am wading into some very controversial waters) that, as much as I may struggle to fall in love with Mass Effect, I do understand that it is both a critically acclaimed game hailed as a masterpiece and has merits that I simply have failed to appreciate. Simply put, Mass Effect is, in many ways, an objectively good game that I just don’t enjoy, and that, I should hope, is okay and in no way is meant to detract from anyone else’s enjoyment of it. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let me tell you why I don’t love Mass Effect.
I began my adventure in the Citadel and beyond as a wee lad on my Xbox 360 and found myself perpetually confused by the sheer number of barren open-world spaces, the majority of which seemed to hold little purpose in the early hours beyond being ugly scenery to mindlessly wander around. Even as an adult, having attempted to complete the remastered Mass Effect trilogy collection and failed, I still struggle to understand the point of the semi-open planets and find their existence actively detracts from what could otherwise be an enjoyable experience. That aside, the first game has undoubtedly begun showing its age, as, beyond some frankly stellar writing, I found the combat, mission structure, and overall approach to parceling out its piecemeal side content to be a little antiquated. I can’t exactly fault a nearly two-decade-old game for feeling old, but it certainly hasn’t aged as well as other games from its era, such as Bioshock, Super Mario Galaxy, or the original Modern Warfare.
Its sequel had me significantly more gripped, although my having not completed the first game all but ensured I was a little lost while galavanting around a far more approachable universe. I still never completed Mass Effect 2, in large part for the same reasons I struggled with its predecessor, but I have always intended to at some point, as I certainly found it significantly more palatable and interesting. I, naturally, haven’t played the third game, although I’m aware of its many controversies, but I did play Andromeda, a game that somewhat addresses my criticisms of gameplay but fumbles in the execution of its narrative, something that I still struggle to believe is possible for BioWare despite it having failed to deliver a single compelling story over the past decade.
Part of me believes that Mass Effect was a game best experienced when it came out, when what it was trying to achieve and its ambitions felt lofty and impressive. Nowadays, ironically, thanks to the efforts of BioWare, we’ve surpassed what the studio could achieve in 2007, and have numerous sci-fi RPGs that are better than Mass Effect, at least in my opinion. However, what we do not have are sci-fi RPGs that replicate the aspects that Mass Effect got right and remain timeless. Its story, writing, and characters are all phenomenal, and while, at least with the first entry, they weren’t enough to make me overlook its subjective glaring shortcomings, I still can appreciate why so many people love them. Few sci-fi RPGs have delivered these elements not just on a similar scale and to a similar level of quality, but in the same format. That was, of course, until the aforementioned The Expanse: Osiris Reborn was announced, as it appears to be the spiritual successor to Mass Effect we’ve all been hoping for.
The Expanse: Osiris Reborn Is Fixing The Biggest Problems With Mass Effect
Owlcat Games, the same folks behind the exceptional Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, has seemingly shot for the stars with its adaptation of the incredibly popular sci-fi epic, The Expanse. This is a big-budget, flashy, third-person, Mass Effect-esque shooter with a plethora of moral choices, deeply impactful character customization options, and a healthy smattering of fully-destructible environments to top things off. From initial impressions alone, it does appear that The Expanse: Osiris Reborn could very well fill the void left by BioWare’s temporary abandoning of the Mass Effect brand, or, at the very least, entertain fans as we await the long-gestating Mass Effect 5.
What appeals to me about Osiris Reborn, beyond the inherent privilege of being a more modern title and therefore blessed with an array of technological and mechanical innovations, is its more grounded setting and CRPG roots. Owlcat Games has experience developing not just profoundly impactful CRPGs, but ones in which choices truly impact the micro and macro of both individual missions and the story at large. The Expanse: Osiris Reborn’s positively received Beta showcased this in action, with minor decisions resulting in significant consequences and even the potential to miss certain content. I’m not about to imply that Mass Effect doesn’t have that, as that would be unequivocally untrue. However, I do feel that Owlcat Games has displayed an aptitude for delivering meaningful choices on a much grander and significant scale.
I want to make it clear that I don’t really have any prior attachment to The Expanse, either the show or the books. I watched the trailer for the first season and was immediately put off by the very 2010s trilby that one of the characters wears, and opted to skip it in favor of the countless other shows vying for my attention. As a result, I’ll be going into Osiris Reborn without any preexisting affection for its universe or characters, although I’m not particularly worried as Owlcat has already proven effective at breaking down complex lore for newcomers with Rogue Trader. I’m stating this to make it abundantly clear that there’s no bias here toward The Expanse merely because it’s an IP I recognize. I simply feel that Owlcat is achieving something that I wish the older Mass Effect games could deliver, but, in large part due to their age, they’re incapable of doing so.
None of this is to imply that BioWare is incapable of delivering a more impactful and contemporary version of Mass Effect. Indeed, should Mass Effect 5 prove to be a vastly improved upgrade of the original games in the way fans had hoped Andromeda would be, then I will be the first in line to buy it. I am not predisposed to dislike Mass Effect. There is no great desire to dislike it merely because it is popular. I want to love it as much as its dedicated fans do, as evidenced by my desperate attempts at finding something akin to it, like The Expanse: Osiris Reborn. I sincerely hope that BioWare delivers with Mass Effect 5, as I would love to have an entry point in that series that I can latch onto with all my heart. However, until that day arrives, The Expanse: Osiris Reborn will be the solution to all of Mass Effect’s biggest problems that I’ve been dreaming of since I was a child.
Do you think The Expanse: Osiris Reborn can surpass Mass Effect? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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