Archetype's Exodus: An Exploration for the True Futurism Fanatic.

For a specific breed of science-fiction fan, the announcement of Exodus stood as the most significant news from a prestigious gaming awards ceremony. Curiously, those very fans could have missed grasped its full implications during the initial showcase.

Exodus, the first project from a freshly formed studio populated with former talent from a renowned RPG developer, was originally unveiled a couple of years prior. At the latest event, the development team provided an early release window of 2027, accompanied by a fast-paced trailer. Ahead of this reveal, the studio's leadership elaborated on some of the authentic scientific theories that serve as the basis for the game's universe: time dilation, human augmentation, and galactic expansion. These are all inherently dense ideas, which are particularly difficult to convey in a brief, cinematic trailer.

“I would have preferred some of those intriguing and fresh ideas were featured in the trailer. All I saw was ‘standard man in space,’” wrote one observer. Another replied, “All I got was ‘this is like a well-known space opera RPG at home.’” Reactions in fan hubs were similarly mixed.

The trailer's focus undoubtedly makes sense from a business standpoint. When attempting to stand out during a marathon barrage of game announcements, what sells better: Scientists contemplating the complexities of Einsteinian physics? Or massive robots blowing up while other war machines emit plasma from their faces? However, in opting for spectacle, the developers neglected to include the subtler elements that make Exodus one of the more exciting concept-driven games coming soon. Let's delve deeper.

Evolved or Alien?

Does Exodus feature aliens? Perhaps. That's complicated. Recall that image near the opening of the trailer, depicting a humanoid with gray-blue skin and metal components fused into their form. That was certainly an alien, yes? The truth hinges on your perspective regarding one of the game's central thematic dilemmas: If you applied Ship of Theseus philosophy to the human genome, is what is left still a human being?

“We want the Celestials... for a player not intending to dedicate large amounts of time into absorbing the IP, to still understand the core concept that they're evolved humans, see that they’re an antagonist you have to confront... But also, at the end of the day, make sure it's engaging and that they're compelling and that they function effectively to fight against,” explained the studio's lead executive.

Grasping how these alien-seeming beings aren't technically aliens requires grappling with vast expanses of both the galaxy and history. Time dilation — the Einsteinian theory that time moves at a reduced rate for rapidly traveling objects — is an fundamental core tenet of Exodus’ science-fiction trappings. Here are the basics: Humanity abandons a desiccated Earth in the 23rd century for a far-off corner of the Milky Way. Due to time dilation, some human travelers arrive millennia before others. Those pioneers heavily modified their biology and took on the “Celestial” name.

“There’s multiple tiers of evolution. The people who reached the Centauri cluster first... had numerous millennia of years of evolution into the Celestials... They really see unaltered humans as fundamentally primitive, inferior, not really worthy for the upper echelons of society,” stated the game's narrative director.

Exodus is set roughly 40,000 years in the future. Reflect on that timeframe — that's effectively all of our documented past multiplied ten times over. Now contemplate what humans would become if they spent ten entire human histories mastering the frontiers of biotech. You would absolutely not perceive the outcome as human. You might even believe you're looking at an alien. The most fearsome branch of Celestial, known as the Mara-Yama, can adopt various forms. Some possess talons and claws and stand enormously tall. Others are protected in armored plating. According to supplementary lore, when Mara-Yama travel between stars, their physical forms can atrophy into little more than a collection of organs attached to a head.

Building a Sci-Fi Canon

Among the pyrotechnics, beam attacks, and war beasts, you might have noticed snippets of advanced technology in the trailer. The protagonist, Jun Aslan, uses a shiny machine that radiates a violet glow. A spaceship flies into a portal and is gone at near-light speed. This all seems outside human comprehension, the kind of tech attributed to a highly advanced civilization. Yet, these are further examples of concepts that look alien but are deeply rooted in mankind's own evolution.

Beyond the core development team, the Exodus lore is being expanded by what the narrative lead called a duo of “renowned authors.” One acclaimed author has already published a massive novel set in the universe, with another planned, while another prolific writer has penned a series of short stories. Enlisting such legendary science-fiction writers into the project years before the game's release has permitted the studio to develop a rich fictional universe as a foundation for the game.

“It was really a collaborative effort. We had set some basics, and working with him, he would have ideas... and we would work to see how they all fit together... With someone as established, you don't want to handcuff him. You want to give him creative freedom,” the narrative director said of the collaboration.

One interesting scene shows Jun seemingly manipulate the ground beneath him, forming stone into a instant bridge. This material, called livestone, reacts to brainwaves from Celestials or Uranic humans — descendants of later human arrivals who were given limited technologies by the Celestials. Since Jun exhibits this ability, speculation arises about his nature.

“Jun's not exactly a Uranic human... Jun is sort of a modified version, for want of a better term,” clarified the writer, adding that the ability to interface with Celestial technology is a “central mechanic of the game.”

The vast scale of the Exodus setting — both in the galaxy and temporal scope — means there is plenty of room for multiple stories to be told, using the same universe without causing overlap.

Stories Within the Void

Although Exodus has been publicly known for a couple of years and isn't releasing, several stories have already told within its universe. The first major novel delves into the connection between a Uranic human and a woman whose ship arrived an aeon later than planned, making Celestials completely alien to her experience. An episode of a streaming show depicts a poignant story about a father searching for his daughter across star systems, with time dilation imparting profound 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 left by Celestials that has become a refuge. A corrupting influence known as “the Rot” has begun corroding everything, including essential life support systems, and Jun must master his unusual powers to {find a solution|stop