AsArchetype Entertainment's first game since its establishment, EXODUS™, is translated as "Great EXODUS™" in most contexts.
But honestly, this title is somewhat unintuitive. At first glance, it neither reveals the game's theme nor its gameplay. However, for EXODUS™, and indeed all related derivative works, this term is extremely important—because it is a sci-fi concept that permeates and constructs the game's worldview. Just as the discovery and application of "Mass Effect" and related technologies set the major premise for the entire Mass Effect story.
And in EXODUS™, the "Great EXODUS™" is similarly a cutting-edge technology that has influenced the fate of the universe. The translation as "EXODUS™" (Qianli) might be intended to help Chinese-speaking players better understand the usage scenario of this technology. "EXODUS™" is akin to the "jump" concept often seen in many sci-fi works; it is the essential technology for human spacecraft to travel between star systems in the story. It was the emergence of the "Great EXODUS™" technology that allowed human civilization to take root across the cosmos.
But unlike the familiarUnlike "space jumps," the "Great EXODUS™" in EXODUS™ comes with a huge cost—because faster-than-light travel is impossible, interstellar travel involves time dilation. In the worldview of EXODUS™, time is not constant on planets versus during interstellar travel, much like depicted in the movie Interstellar—one day for travelers in space might mean a year has passed on Earth. Undertaking interstellar travel means people must leave Everythinggj behind on their current planet and completely distance themselves from their past lives, which is the meaning of "departure" inherent in the term "Great EXODUS™."
It can be said that EXODUS™ possesses an extremely vast and unique sci-fi story framework, and this sci-fi framework overlaps to some extent with the Mass Effect series, which also features space opera attributes.
This is no coincidence. BecauseArchetype Entertainment's team composition consists of industry veterans from major Western studios, including many former developers from EA, Halo Studio, Naughty Dog.exe, and BioWare. These veterans excel in sci-fi themed role-playing and narrative. Coupled with EA's standard corporate mindset having ruined the Mass Effect series, the young Archetype Entertainment has become an industry symbol of creators resisting capital giants, making EXODUS™ together the "spiritual successor" with the most authentic Mass Effect lineage.
That said, reality is always disappointing. Ever since wealthy companies like Wizards of the Coast began fully empowering creators, similarexamples like Archetype Entertainment are no longer rare. Even the term "spiritual successor" is fast becoming pejorative, especially in the case of EXODUS™, where the game is still in lengthy development while numerous novels and tabletop games have already been released. Even in Amazon's 2024 game-themed anthology series Secret Level, one episode is based on EXODUS™, essentially dramatizing the aforementioned concept of the "Great EXODUS™."
Fortunately, EXODUS™'s development seems to have finally entered its later stages, and Archetype Entertainment truly values the Chinese market. Just days after the end of Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, they rushed to Shanghai, China. At Bilibili's "You Xian Kan" event in September, they prepared a dedicated demo version for Chinese media.
Perhaps also because it is still early before the official release, the version we played still shows relatively obvious signs of testing, such as missing Chinese text and quick skipping of sequences. RegardingThe dialogue choice segments beloved in CRPGs were only briefly showcased... but this doesn't prevent us from discovering certain elements deeply embedded in EXODUS™'s DNA.
In fact, if we talk about EXODUS™, naturally, one cannot avoid Mass Effect. Judging from this demo, it is indeed the purest successor to the Mass Effect lineage currently available. This is reflected not only in the composition of the development team but also in the game's underlying gameplay.
However, considering that EXODUS™, like Mass Effect, is a "space opera" style story with numerous unique settings. Therefore, before understanding the gameplay, we still need to briefly introduce certain settings within the game.
In the game, players assume the role of a Starwalker with a special lineage"Jun Alsan." As explained at the beginning, the worldview construction of EXODUS™ is inseparable from the popularization and use of "Great EXODUS™" technology. It was because some people undertook the "Great EXODUS™" first that ideological and technological civilizational divergences occurred during human development. The humans who completed colonization first, after undergoing long periods of time passage and modification, evolved into a new race called the "Celestials," becoming the greatest enemy humanity faces in the story.
EXODUS™ has another important setting: the awakening of non-human creatures. After modification, these animals possess thinking and language capabilities equal to humans. One such example is the player companion seen in the previous Gamescom trailer, SALT, an octopus sniper who fights in a mech suit.
This demo takes place on a planet inhabited by awakened frogs. Lacking means of defense and attack, these frogs quickly faced an existential crisis after being attacked. As guardians of galactic security responsible for establishing connections with other civilizations,"Starwalkers," the player leads two squad members—Suliman and Elise—onto the planet. At this point, the entire planet has fallen into complete chaos. Players must face Celestials resembling aliens, traditional human enemies, tactical mechs two to three times human height, and... an awakened space brown bear wearing clothes.
The focus of this demo lies in showcasing the game's combat system and level exploration. If you were previouslyplayers or fans of Mass Effect will find this system even more familiar.
The core combat gameplay of EXODUS™ is an action RPG built on a third-person shooter foundation. To deal with enemies encountered in levels, Starwalkers must combine firearms with various skills to eliminate them. In terms of "shooting," EXODUS™ is almost identical to Mass Effect, offering a shooting experience consistent with modern firearms and familiar cover mechanics; just a few skirmishes are enough to awaken players' long-dormant memories. However, EXODUS™ features more modern character progression design, suggesting that development resources appear to be more abundant.
The former is reflected in skill cultivation and available weapon types, while the latter is evident in gameplay expansion and map exploration.
InIn the Mass Effect series, players could choose different classes based on their playstyle, with each class offering different skills. However, EXODUS™ does not have clear class divisions. Although the game provides multiple skill trees in different directions, it does not restrict players' skill choices.
With skill divisions no longer tied to classes, the actions available to players have become freer and richer. Besides being able to carry at least four guns as primary output weapons,Jun can also equip classic tactical items like auto-targeting and EMP grenades. Meanwhile, he possesses a gauntlet with artifact-like powers, capable of acquiring abilities from ruins on various planets and using them in combat and exploration. In other words, in EXODUS™, the protagonist alone can cover different roles and functions ranging from damage output to crowd control.
But since it chose to inheritthe lineage of Mass Effect, how could it lack the presence of "teammates"?
In this demo, the player's teammates are preset asSuliman and Elise. The former seems strongly tied to the plot, constantly appearing in cutscenes and key animations, providing Jun with tougher and sharper options when facing moral choices. The latter only appears in the results of affinity options, acting more like a tactical slot reserved for the player, likely allowing any companion to fill it.
Followingthe old traditions of Mass Effect, these two characters also possess vastly different personalities and combat styles. Suliman tends to use lethal methods to eliminate threats permanently, while Elise places more emphasis on morality. During the demo, players faced moral choices similar to "whether to share medkits with injured enemies." Whether you give or not, your teammates are watching from behind, naturally directly affecting the increase or decrease of affinity with both.
This characteristic is also reflected in their respective combat skills, which is also veryMass Effect.
In combat,"teammates" provide Jun with firepower and skill support—but honestly, in most parts of this demo version, teammates felt more like skill-launching attachments, not even drawing enemy fire. I don't know if this was intentional. They only truly become effective when players issue commands—for example, Elise can launch highly destructive missiles at one or more enemies, which can absolutely save the player's life in critical moments.
On the other hand, these skills are not limited to combat. For example,Suliman's skills allow him to turn invisible and assassinate an enemy, giving players more strategic options. For instance, if enemies are patrolling ahead, he can help eliminate targets without raising alarms.
But actually,"Stealth" itself is not exclusive to Suliman. Jun's basic equipment also includes items for achieving short-term invisibility. When undetected by enemies, he can also take the initiative in combat through "backstabs."
You might scoff at this. Because by now,"Stealth" gameplay has long been ubiquitous in similar games, but that's not the essence of the matter. What is truly pleasing to see is that EXODUS™, as a "spiritual successor," has not settled for Mass Effect's existing systems and framework. The emergence of a systematic assassination gameplay represents EXODUS™'s attempt to offer players problem-solving solutions more aligned with CRPG thinking. Notably, there is also a "Scan" function in the game, allowing players to scan enemies before combat to identify corresponding weaknesses and optimal solutions.
Actually, regarding this point, in EXODUS™'s map exploration aspect also demonstrates this quite clearly.
During main quest execution, we frequently discovered hidden side quests and treasures, requiring players to use some brainpower for"detours," which include puzzle mini-games involving code cracking and puzzles solved using gauntlet abilities. For example, some floating platforms controlled by energy require players to use their abilities to block the energy source, thereby changing the platforms' movement states to transport characters to desired locations.
This kind of"clever" designs are actually relatively rare in Mass Effect. But specifically creating these demonstrates that Archetype Entertainment has both the ideas and the余裕 (leeway/resources) to implement those parts of the "space opera" that resemble CRPGs more closely.
Of course, considering that EXODUS™ is Archetype Entertainment's first game since its establishment, and it has likely been in development for over four years. Therefore, the emergence of these strengths is not entirely surprising. Finally, let's return to a more critical content area where quality control is also more difficult—the expressiveness of story and text.
I still remember Dragon Age: The Veilguard from two years ago. If not for its overly flat text, it could have received higher ratings.
But the realistic problem is that today'sBioWare simply lacks the ability and courage to recreate that kind of "snarky" dialogue in its stories.
As for EXODUS™ can achieve... Honestly, I don't know. Because the focus of this demo was never on the text from the start; it even removed a large segment of key gameplay, leaving only the beginning and end.
And in the few story segments available in this demo,Jun's dialogue options always seem relatively restrained. I think this may be related to his special identity—obviously, against the backdrop of the "Great EXODUS™," "Jun Alsan" is inevitably a righteous tragic hero. He can't even blame those space frogs who have awakened advanced intelligence.
As for those that might affect the development of the entire world,"moral choices" were also not directly reflected in this demo. Although at the end of the demo, after Jun saved the frog planet, players gained the right to decide the planet's fate, the impact of these decisions might only be reflected at the end of EXODUS™'s story, or even in sequels. It would be unfair to jump to conclusions now.
Therefore, let's leave the rest to the full release andlet Space Bear Teacher, a hardcore BioWare fan, make that judgment. All I can say now is that, after excluding all unstable external factors, it is the purest lineage of Mass Effect you can see right now.