Every time you watch or talk about Exodus, the upcoming space opera RPG from Archetype Entertainment, comparisons to Mass Effect start flying at the speed of light. I mean, Exodus narrative director Drew Karpyshyn played an important role as a writer and leader at BioWare in shaping the stories of their biggest hits. In our conversation after my hands-on preview of Exodus, he told me that Mass Effect is a perfect way for people to understand what this new game is. The parallels don’t end with the Paladin/Immortal morality system or the romance and relationship dynamics that will drive the story. He hinted at how the decisions you make can affect the ending of Exodus. Of course, that’s not unique to BioWare games by any means, but when Mass Effect 2’s suicide mission is considered the pinnacle of the series, it wouldn’t hurt anyone to make a quick comparison. When I asked him about the relationship systems in Exodus, Karpyshyn emphasized the desire to make them feel real, saying that it’s about: “[M]Grow their relationship with you, allow it to evolve from the decisions you’ve made, and realize that the decisions you make will bring some companions closer to you, but maybe push some companions further away.” He went a step further and told me, “Without giving too much away, we definitely want that to affect how their stories progress.” Then he went a step further and concluded, “Depending on the decisions you make, at the end of the game, you may not have as many companions with you as you possibly can. started with. That’s all I can say!” Those are aspects of an RPG of this style that I would have bet were included, but it’s nice to get confirmation that Exodus is doing the same. However, it may seem from our conversation that it’s not exclusively down to characters facing life-or-death situations. He talked at length about companions clashing with you and having conflicts over what you say and actions you take at key moments. He expanded on how other events in the game can influence the story it unfolds, saying: “Even within that optional content, there are options that will lock or unlock certain things, change the way things play out, change relationships, change characters, change…future…missions…” Hmm, it smells like loyalty missions to me! – Screenshots from September 2026 Maybe companions can reach a breaking point and leave the party entirely and maybe their affinity towards you or the situations they face throughout the story will affect their survival in the end. for sure when. Exodus releases on April 7, 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series video, including IGN’s weekly podcast, Unlocked.
