At gamescom 2026, I sat down and played an hour of The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, a third-person sci-fi action RPG. An hour is just a fraction of time in the world of RPGs, but I was able to get a feel for one long mission, from beginning to end, and met a few characters along the way. Exploration is key, and after my hour, I am very interested in seeing more of this world, beyond the spaceport I experienced.
In The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, you play a Pinkwater Security Mercenary. The overall story sees you caught up in a conspiracy that spans the solar system. Osiris Reborn is based on The Expanse universe created by James S. A. Corey, which currently spans books and TV, plus a Telltale game released in 2023. My preview had me carrying on with J, the main character’s sister, who looks a lot like you, the character. Character creation will allow you to design your own character with its own class, so I am curious how J changes with your design.
I had the level designer sitting in with me during my preview, so I was able to pick her brain. Though she couldn’t confirm anything officially, it looks like The Expanse will see quite a few companions in the full game. There was constant chatter in my comms—a ridiculous number of people; it had to be more than six, plus J with me, and a character we picked up during the preview, and she said there were even more. This could be great or overwhelming for party customization, for sure.
“Exploration is key, and after my hour, I am very interested in seeing more of this world, beyond the spaceport I experienced.”
Though I was limited to one mission on one space station, the world was very detailed. I noticed there are no quest markers or minimap, which would frustrate me overall, but the dev mentioned that the goal Owlcat Games had in mind was exploration, meaning they want you to look everywhere, not just bee-line it to the quest point.
Luckily, a lot of my preview involved exploration. I spent my time talking to my comms team as well as NPCs in the world with me. It felt like a very standard RPG, but that isn’t a bad thing. People who are interested in the world of The Expanse will likely find many familiar things as well as Easter eggs, but a lot of that would be lost on me. Instead, this felt like a decent space RPG, much like Mass Effect or Starfield.
I was able to experience combat during my quest in The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, and I’ll be honest, it was pretty hit or miss. There are some combinations of buttons that feel nearly impossible to use on a controller. When aiming down-sight with LT, it offers you the option to press LB or LB+RB, forcing you to use two fingers for triggers and bumpers. I am not that agile, and ended up missing a lot of these.
“Perhaps the most impressive part of The Expanse: Osiris Reborn was when I finally made it to the second location in the mission.”
Weapons and firing felt good, but make no mistake: The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is not meant to be an easy, breezy RPG. Even on the lowest difficulty, there was some challenge; mind you, I was jumping in mid-game for a brief playtime. There were options to direct your companions during combat, which I usually ignore, but in Osiris Reborn, it felt like this had some weight behind it. Occasionally I could crash down barriers onto enemies, and it was pretty fun.
Perhaps the most impressive part of The Expanse: Osiris Reborn was when I finally made it to the second location in the mission. The world opened up to this giant space farm that was bright, full of life and light, and it was on such a grand scale that I spent time looking around and exploring when I should have been preparing for a fight. Coming from the dark, cramped area I was in before, I was excited to see something different, making me even more interested in the world overall.
My time with The Expanse: Osiris Reborn was short, but it did enough to get me curious about the title. RPGs are my thing, and hopefully some of the awkward bits are cleaned up in the development process. For now, I am cautiously optimistic about the title.
The Expanse: Osiris Reborn will release in Q2 2027 and is available to wishlist on Steam now.
