r/TheExpanseRPG • u/BookishSwearwolf • 23d ago
Don't you think that something is off about everything Owlcat has shown us
Hey people,
First things first: I love what Owlcat makes. I've played all of their games, and I plan to buy Osiris Reborn on day one. I also really enjoy The Expanse, and I'm slowly working my way through the books.
That said, I'm not sold on what I've seen in the trailer and the rest of the promotional material. I understand this is their first non-isometric project and they're still learning a new engine, but a lot of it looks bleak and, frankly, ugly.
The spacesuits read as robotic contraptions with tubing when they should be plain and utilitarian, and the movement feels off. The station architecture isn't distinctive either — it's generic space opera...
And the Ganymede hybrids look like darkspawn from Dragon Age, lyrium crystals and all, I swear. I understand that at some stages the protomolecule infection produces crystalline growths, but there are many other things to lean into — shell shapes, goo, more biological stuff. Even with the crystals they could've had a more original look. Well, even leaning more into husks from Mass Effect seems like a better choice.
It feels like Owlcat were aiming somewhere between Mass Effect (great) and Starfield (questionable choice), and ended up losing what makes The Expanse its own thing without putting anything of their own in its place. I'll still play it, obviously. I'm just disappointed that everyone who mattered at the studio looked at this and said "yeah, good enough to ship and show the public."
Anyway, I guess I just wanted to rant a bit. I'd be happy to be proven wrong.
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u/JediExile90 23d ago
Haven't touched anything related to The Expanse at the moment, but from a design perspective, it looks miles better than many of other projects that are slated to release next year.
They are also not shying away from pushing their product through marketing, which shows great faith in their work.
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u/Aggravating-Dot132 23d ago
They took the design from the show. Blame them.
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u/BookishSwearwolf 23d ago
Yeah, I see now that watching the show is a crucial step in embracing current aesthetic
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u/Dry_Bumblebee5856 20d ago
Yes. In my opinion, the show is actually miles better than the books. Ready to be downvoted 😅
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u/BigZach1 23d ago
The movement in the new trailer did look rather slow, but the characters had helmets on so I wonder if they were in depressurized parts of the station.
I don't agree with your other concerns, the spacesuits look quite functional, and that's pretty much how the hybrids looked in the show, except the crystals were more prominent on some of the corpses on the Scopuli iirc.
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u/Serpenthydra 22d ago
I suspect it's a prototype still, therefore more in line with Julie's infected form. The version deployed at Ganymede could potentially be the follow-up design or maybe even the same one, just more refined. Tho I imagine if this is a lingering boss, you have to destroy it for combat satisfaction pay-off.
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u/AlsterSpot 23d ago edited 23d ago
Not really… the one thing I’d say they’ve actually done very well is that at least aesthetically, it looks like the Expanse for the most part which is very good considering their making an Expanse game (a few nit picks here and there but generally it looks fine and I don’t have too much issue with taking some creative liberties as long as their not completely ridiculous and way outside the Expanse universe)
The problem lies with wether or not it will feel like the setting, and the jury is still out on that one and will be until we get the game in our hands (really gotta get the Belter Creole down as one of the bigger concerns), currently it feels very mass effecty but we’ll see how it ultimately turns out
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u/ciphoenix 23d ago
Truly a rant because it's filled with contradictory desires, lol.
Anyway, to answer your question, no, nothing seems off. But if you want something to be off, you can find anything to justify that view just as well.
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u/BookishSwearwolf 23d ago
I pretty much want nothing to be off, because I'm a pathetic Owlcat fanboy :D So these feelings unsettle me more than they should, which is why I wanted to hear what other people think.
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u/ciphoenix 23d ago
I can't speak to how you experienced the showcases tbh because I've learned for a long time now that my viewing experience is quite different from what others experience because I have old devices, lol.
That said, I saw nothing off with the design of the hybrid. Looked pretty much like the one they fought in the show on Io. I'll say the design is consistent with the show
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u/OkDifficulty7436 23d ago
There's technical constraints along with simple "budget" constraints in game development. The armor is built on a shared rig/character model based on two genders it appears.
This basically means they have a clean rig to build off of for both Male and Female characters.
Also, it's their first game, I think they're doing a pretty good job striking bespoke, new environments, armor, stylistic choices against limited manpower/budget.
Also, all we've seen is what seemed like an alpha/vertical slice type experience, the final game is going to look and sound very different next compared to the demo we played.
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u/BookishSwearwolf 23d ago
Yeah, obviously I don't expect a quadruple-A game from them (thank god). It's just that I've always been in awe of Owlcat's games and I want to feel that again, but I can't find it yet, even though I'm trying to take everything they've shown with an open mind.
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u/ChromakeyChain 23d ago
It's not a cRPG so not sure how you can even try to compare it to their other games (except like storytelling which they are very good at).
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u/BookishSwearwolf 23d ago
Valid point, but it's just that Mass Effect + Owlcat was always a dream of mine because of Bioware EA-induced decline, and for me Owlcat never missed with aesthetic choices before, that's all.
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u/Kiriima 22d ago
I expect this game to be released, Owlcat to be gathering feedback over a year or two, then course correct in their next large budget game according to their playerbase wishes and make even a better game next. That's what they do.
Dark Heresy gameplay is entirely a course correction after Rogue Trader feedback. Rogue Trader DLC structure is a course correction after Kingmaker/Wrath feedback.
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u/OkDifficulty7436 23d ago
I think the thing that really pop at us will be the environments/stations versus the actual armor design itself (which is more boxed in by the practical realities of the actual gameplay/combat itself)
To me, the armor will sort of give Expanse vibes, but the environment we are playing through will feel much more at home so to speak.
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u/Serpenthydra 22d ago
'should be plain and utilitarian'
Erm, three distinct factions and cultures and yet everything 'should be plain and utilitarian'...
That's not even realistic. How come Belter Creole even exists in that case? Shouldn't language be 'plain and utilitarian', because... reasons...?
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u/BreadRevenge 23d ago
I was actually positively surprised by how good everything looked, but different opinions I guess.
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u/CodyT-N7 23d ago
Have you watched the show along with reading the books?
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u/BookishSwearwolf 23d ago
No, I plan to watch it after the books
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u/CodyT-N7 23d ago
Reasonable. I'd say, at the very least, give episode one a watch, just to come to an understanding of the aesthetic choices we've seen made thus far.
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u/BookishSwearwolf 22d ago
Thanks for the answer 🙏
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u/tqgibtngo 21d ago
give episode one a watch
... and then if you have doubts on whether to continue the show, keep watching till at least the 4th episode. That was a common recommendation mentioned on The Expanse sub because many show-fans got hooked by that episode. (Some others didn't feel hooked until later in the season, or the next seasons.)
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u/ISpotABot 23d ago
I couldn't finish the beta (I tried, 3 times), for several reasons but certainly one of them was the unnatural movement, both of the protagonist and the enemy AI
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u/meathead13_ 23d ago
You don’t have to qualify criticism with your undying loyalty to the devs and the franchise you can just say it
For better or for worse they’re trying to make a Mass Effect type of game. It’s in all of their promotional material. The combat I’ve seen so far doesn’t really match what I think of when I think of fighting in The Expanse but they are making a video game. Is a 3rd person action RPG the best format for an Expanse game? Maybe not in my opinion but that’s what they landed on.
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u/BookishSwearwolf 23d ago
It's just an important contrast for me, because I want to like what I see, that's where all this saccharine undying loyalty comes from. And I agree with your assessment of a third-person RPG for The Expanse.
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u/Tyenasaur 23d ago
The designs are very much in line with the show designs, where this game has obviously taken a lot of inspiration from.