Exodus, developed by Archetype Entertainment with narrative director Drew Karpyshyn formerly from BioWare, is a sci-fi RPG positioned as a spiritual successor to Mass Effect [1, 2, 3]. The game features a Paladin-Immortal morality system inspired by Mass Effect's Paragon-Renegade system, where player choices affect story, companions, relationships, and gameplay outcomes [1, 2].

Gameplay builds on third-person shooting with party control of tech and biotic abilities. It includes powers-assisted gunplay with elemental combinations reminiscent of Mass Effect's prime and detonate mechanics [2, 4]. Players control Jun Aslan, who can be male or female, though character reactions differ little between genders [5].

The game’s romance system is non-gender-locked. Players can pursue all romanceable characters regardless of Jun’s gender. Romance requires player initiative, can involve multiple partners, and relationships may become complex or conflictual [6, 5, 3]. Mature sex scenes are included but described as tastefully done with moderate explicitness [6, 5].

One exception, the Awakened octopus companion Salt, cannot be romanced because “Salt just thinks humans are gross,” Karpyshyn explained, noting the character’s alien physiology as the reason [6]. The universe features other hyper-intelligent Awakened species such as the frog-like Kay [2, 4].

Players will face difficult choices that influence story direction, companions’ loyalty, and efforts to keep multiple characters happy [1, 5, 3]. The demo mission shown recently involved infiltrating a construct called Khonsu orbiting the new human home planet Lidon and freeing the enslaved Kay species [2].

Karpyshyn described the gameplay philosophy, saying, “It's a perfectly fine way to wrap your head around it.” He also noted romance requires player action: “There's no situation where a character is going to romance you if you didn't take the initiative” [1, 5]. Chris King added on mature content, “We allow you to get physical, but they're tastefully done” [6].

Exodus emphasizes choice and consequence in both combat and narrative. The next major update or release date for the game has not yet been announced.