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

For a distinct breed of science-fiction enthusiast, the unveiling of Exodus stood as the most significant moment from a major gaming awards ceremony. Curiously, those very fans may not have grasped its full significance during the initial showcase.

Exodus, the first project from a recently established studio staffed with ex- talent from a legendary RPG developer, was initially unveiled a couple of years prior. At the latest event, the development team provided an targeted release window of 2027, accompanied by a fast-paced trailer. Ahead of this showcase, the studio's leadership detailed some of the real scientific concepts that serve as the basis for the game's universe: time dilation, human augmentation, and galactic expansion. These are all suitably dense ideas, which are particularly tough to communicate in a brief, marketing-driven trailer.

“It's a shame some of those fascinating and novel ideas were highlighted in the trailer. All I saw was ‘stereotypical man in space,’” wrote one observer. Another replied, “All I got was ‘this is like a well-known space opera RPG at home.’” Responses in community spaces were correspondingly mixed.

The trailer's approach certainly is understandable from a business angle. When trying to capture attention during a hours-long deluge of game announcements, what has broader appeal: Scientists debating the complexities of Einsteinian physics? Or massive robots blowing up while additional war machines shoot plasma from their armor? However, in choosing visual bombast, the developers omitted to include the more nuanced elements that make Exodus one of the more intriguing concept-driven games coming soon. Let's delve deeper.

The Question of Humanity

Does Exodus include aliens? No. The answer is nuanced. Consider that scene near the beginning of the trailer, showing a bipedal figure with metallic skin and technological components merged into their flesh. That was certainly an alien, right? In the end hinges on your stance regarding one of the game's major philosophical questions: If you applied incremental change logic to the human biology, is what results still a human being?

“We want the Celestials... for a player not intending to dedicate large amounts of time into studying the IP, to still understand the core concept that they're evolved humans, recognize that they’re an opposing force you have to face... But also, ultimately, make sure it's fun and that they're cool and that they are satisfying to challenge,” explained the studio's general manager.

Understanding how these non-human beings aren't technically aliens requires grappling with vast expanses of both the cosmos and temporal progression. Time dilation — the relativistic effect that time moves at a reduced rate for faster-moving objects — is an operative scientific basis of Exodus’ fictional framework. Here are the essentials: Humanity abandons a dying Earth in the 23rd century for a far-off corner of the Milky Way. Due to time dilation, some human colonists arrive centuries before others. Those firstcomers heavily modified their genetic sequences and assumed the “Celestial” title.

“There’s various stages of evolution. The people who arrived at the Centauri cluster first... had tens of thousands of years of evolution into the Celestials... They really see unaltered humans as essentially primitive, beneath them, not really worthy for the dominant positions of society,” stated the game's lead writer.

Exodus is set about 40,000 years in the future. Reflect on that immensity — that's essentially all of recorded human history multiplied ten times over. Now imagine what humans would evolve into if they spent ten entire human histories mastering the boundaries of biological science. You would not possibly identify the end product as human. You might even believe you're seeing an alien. The most vicious lineage of Celestial, known as the Mara-Yama, can take multiple forms. Some possess talons and appendages and stand nine feet tall. Others are covered in chitinous shells. According to expanded universe 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.

Technology and Lore

Amidst the detonations, beam attacks, and war beasts, you might have caught snippets of otherworldly technology in the trailer. The protagonist, Jun Aslan, interacts with a shiny machine that emanates a purple glow. A spaceship jets into a portal and disappears at near-light speed. This all seems beyond human comprehension, the kind of tech ascribed to a Type 3 civilization. Yet, these are further examples of wonders that seem alien but are deeply rooted in humanity's own journey.

Beyond the core development team, the Exodus lore is being crafted by what the narrative lead called a duo of “renowned authors.” One celebrated author has already published a doorstopper novel set in the universe, with another planned, while another esteemed writer has contributed a series of short stories. Bringing such legendary science-fiction minds into the fold years before the game's release has allowed the studio to develop a rich fictional universe as a backdrop 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 of that caliber, you don't want to handcuff him. You want to give him room to explore,” the narrative director said of the collaboration.

One notable scene shows Jun seemingly mold the ground beneath him, forming stone into a makeshift bridge. This material, called livestone, reacts to brainwaves from Celestials or a specific human subclass — descendants of later human arrivals who were granted specific technologies by the Celestials. Since Jun demonstrates this ability, one might wonder about his origins.

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

The immense scale of the Exodus setting — both in the galaxy and temporal scope — means there is plenty of room for multiple stories to exist, drawing from the same universe without creating contradiction.

Stories Within the Void

Although Exodus has been on the radar for a couple of years and won't arrive, several stories have already been told within its universe. The first major novel explores the connection between a Uranic human and a woman whose ship arrived many millennia later than planned, making Celestials utterly alien to her experience. An episode of a television series tells a heartbreaking story about a father pursuing 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 a lifetime.

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