Upcoming sci-fi RPG Exodus has been drawing plenty of comparisons with BioWare’s Mass Effect series, and developer Archetype Entertainment is leaning quite a bit into this with its game design choices. In an interview with IGN, narrative director Drew Karpyshyn spoke about the relationship system and how the team wants to make the relationships between characters feel real.
This also means that these relationships will end up having far-reaching consequences in the core story of Exodus. Karpyshyn also confirmed that, while players get to get closer with some of the characters, they will also end up inadvertently pushing some companions away with their choices.
“[M]aking their relationship with you grow, allowing it to evolve from the choices you’ve made, and realizing that the choices you make are going to bring some companions closer to you, but maybe push some companions farther away.”
“Without spoiling too much, we definitely want to have it impact how their storylines go,” he continued. “Depending on choices you make, by the end of the game, you might not have every companion with you that you started with. That’s about all I can say!”
Giving players the agency to make choices extends well beyond the main story too. Karpyshyn spoke about how even optional content like side quests will have plenty of choices that can change how things play out, and even have effects on your relationships. “Even within that optional content, there are choices that will lock or unlock certain things, change the way things play out, change relationships, change characters, change… future… missions…”
Exodus is being developed for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, and is slated for release on April 7th. Archetype Entertainment confirmed the release date with a trailer last month, which also gave us a look at one of the game’s characters – Salt the Octopus. The character is an interesting one, since she is capable of communicating with other species despite being an octopus, and is also adept at sniping from a distance and using smokescreens to confuse enemies during fights.
Another party member unveiled with the trailer was Emrys of the Deva – a Celestial that can use their abilities to weaken enemies and power up Jun by using resources known as Remnant Orbs. The Emrys is slated to be a support-oriented party member that can offer plenty of utility in combat encounters.
Back in June, Archetype Entertainment had confirmed that Exodus had entered its final stretch of development. The studio released an extended gameplay trailer that gave us a look at the core premise of the game, which revolves around a salvager named Jun Aslan who can seemingly interact with ancient Celestial technology. The combat is also set to offer plenty of choices to players, from stealth to rushing in guns blazing.
For more details about Exodus, take a look at our thoughts on why it has the potential to be a dark horse in the RPG genre when it comes out next year. Also check out some more combat set in the Ghost City of Lidon.
