Maybe I didn't pay attention, but I expected The Expanse (the game), where my ragtag of space murder hobos go from colony to colony doing quests a la Mass Effect and having space combat like in the show/books.
In contrast, we have the same "planes but not planes" in space that you need to first lower their shields then destroy the hull like in most space games.
That sounds fantastic. I would also rather start as a grunt that knows some martial arts or is good with gadgets and have a rockman/megaman mechanic that let's you learn/open the skill tree from the enemies you defeat.
That would mean that going for a big baddie can give you a big reward, but you're also risking making it stronger.
Plus it would give a boon to strategize lining oponents as you see what skills you need for defeating bigger enemies.
Avenging Spirit for Gameboy and Arcade was exactly like that, and I think maybe Messiah had that mechanic, although you spent a long stretch being a plump and frail cherub.
Yet often you have to repeat the mission, and often said missions have concrete failing states (don't be spotted, don't miss the car, don't let x die) and less opportunity for branching from a failure.