Archetype's Exodus: The Ultimate Guide for the Dedicated Futurism Fanatic.

For a particular breed of science-fiction fan, the announcement of Exodus stood as the most impactful moment from a recent gaming awards ceremony. It's worth noting, those very fans might not have grasped its full implications during the initial showcase.

Exodus, the debut title from a recently established studio filled with ex- talent from a famous RPG developer, was originally unveiled a couple of years prior. At the latest event, the development team provided an projected release window of 2027, accompanied by a fast-paced trailer. Before this presentation, the studio's leadership elaborated on some of the grounded scientific concepts that serve as the basis for the game's universe: time dilation, genetic alteration, and galactic expansion. These are all inherently dense ideas, which are notoriously challenging to communicate in a brief, cinematic trailer.

“It's a shame some of those fascinating and new ideas were shown in the trailer. My takeaway was ‘generic man in space,’” wrote one commenter. Another replied, “The vibe I got was ‘this is like a well-known space opera RPG at home.’” Responses in online forums were similarly varied.

The trailer's approach undoubtedly makes sense from a business perspective. When trying to make an impact during a hours-long onslaught of game announcements, what sells better: A group debating the complexities of theoretical science? Or massive robots combusting while additional war machines emit plasma from their armor? However, in choosing spectacle, the developers omitted to include the subtler elements that make Exodus one of the more promising concept-driven games in development. Let's delve deeper.

The Question of Humanity

Does Exodus feature aliens? Perhaps. The answer is nuanced. Recall that image near the start of the trailer, depicting a bipedal figure with ashen skin and technological components fused into their form. That was surely an alien, yes? In the end hinges on your stance regarding one of the game's major thematic dilemmas: If you applied incremental change reasoning to the human biology, is what remains still human?

“We want the Celestials... for a player who isn't dedicate large amounts of time into absorbing the IP, to still comprehend the core concept that they're evolved humans, recognize that they’re an foe you have to confront... But also, importantly, make sure it's fun and that they're compelling and that they function effectively to encounter,” explained the studio's lead executive.

Comprehending how these non-human beings aren't technically aliens requires grappling with enormous expanses of both the galaxy and history. Time dilation — the Einsteinian theory that time moves slower for high-velocity objects — is an fundamental hard line of Exodus’ science-fiction trappings. Here are the essentials: Humanity evacuates a desiccated Earth in the 23rd century for a far-off corner of the Milky Way. Due to time dilation, some human travelers arrive centuries before others. Those early arrivals heavily modified their genetic sequences and adopted the “Celestial” title.

“There’s different levels of evolution. The people who reached the Centauri cluster first... had tens of thousands of years of evolution into the Celestials... They really see standard humans as sort of unevolved, inferior, not really fit for the upper echelons of society,” stated the game's lead writer.

Exodus is set roughly 40,000 years in the future. Consider that immensity — that's essentially all of recorded human history repeated ten times over. Now think about what humans would evolve into if they spent ten entire human histories advancing the boundaries of biotech. You would absolutely not identify the end product as human. You might very well believe you're looking at an alien. The scariest lineage of Celestial, known as the Mara-Yama, can take various forms. Some possess sharp teeth and claws and stand enormously tall. Others are encased in chitinous shells. According to supplementary lore, when Mara-Yama travel between stars, their physical forms can break down into little more than a collection of organs attached to a head.

Building a Sci-Fi Canon

Between the explosions, energy weapons, and war beasts, you might have noticed snippets of seemingly magical technology in the trailer. The protagonist, Jun Aslan, uses a shiny machine that radiates a etherial glow. A spaceship jets into a portal and disappears at relativistic velocity. This all seems outside human understanding, the kind of tech ascribed to a highly advanced civilization. Yet, these are further examples of wonders that appear alien but are deeply rooted in mankind's own journey.

Beyond the core development team, the Exodus lore is being authored by what the narrative lead called a duo of “renowned authors.” One bestselling author has already published a massive novel set in the universe, with another planned, while another esteemed writer has contributed a series of short stories. Bringing such established science-fiction writers into the project years before the game's release has enabled the studio to develop a layered fictional universe as a framework for the game.

“It was really a joint venture. We had set some parameters, and working with him, he would have ideas... and we would work to see how they all fit together... With someone so talented, you don't want to limit him. You want to give him creative freedom,” the narrative director said of the collaboration.

One interesting scene shows Jun appearing to shape the ground beneath him, fashioning stone into a makeshift bridge. This material, called livestone, responds to brainwaves from Celestials or Uranic humans — descendants of later human arrivals who were given specific technologies by the Celestials. Since Jun shows this ability, speculation arises about his status.

“Jun's not exactly a Uranic human... Jun is sort of a hacked version, for want of a better term,” clarified the writer, adding that the ability to use Celestial technology is a “important element of the game.”

The sheer scale of the Exodus setting — both in distance and temporal scope — means there is plenty of room for various stories to be told, drawing from the same universe without creating overlap.

Tales of Time and Loss

Although Exodus has been in development for a couple of years and won't arrive, several stories have already begun to be told within its universe. The first major novel examines the connection between a Uranic human and a woman whose ship arrived tens of thousands later than planned, making Celestials totally alien to her experience. An episode of a television series tells a poignant story about a father searching for his daughter across star systems, with time dilation resulting in life-altering effects on their family; by the time he finds her, she has experienced decades.

The game itself is centered on “Jun’s story,” set on the planet Lidon — a world largely abandoned by Celestials that has become a bastion. A corrupting influence known as “the Rot” has begun corroding everything, including critical life support systems, and Jun must use his unusual powers to {find a solution|stop