departure is constantly compared with Mass Effect From the moment it was revealed, and it's not hard to see why. After all, Archetype Entertainment's upcoming sci-fi RPG is made by a team with deep Bioware roots, its story follows a customizable protagonist traveling to the dangerous corners of space with a team of friends, and its premise includes ancient alien technology, the survival of humanity, and key choices that can change the world and within it. Add Matthew McConaughey as the mysterious CC Orlev and some time dilation mechanics, and departure Also becomes the last video game tribute to Christopher Nolan Interstellar. Now, during future game shows, departure It finally went beyond the broad idea of what it was with expanded gameplay that clearly showed players its combat, companions, choices, and overall RPG structure.
Ahead of that public display, Gamerant was able to get a sneak peek at the gameplay reveal during a showcase briefing with Archetype Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast. The revelation follows Aslan, an adaptable traveler with a mysterious genetic connection to ancient celestial technology, as he moves from a rescue mission with friends like Alice Charrox and Tom Vargas to a dangerous mission with Phaedra and Salt on the planet Psang. throughout the footage, departure It brings its combat tools, companion dynamics, moral choices, time dilation, and home world into unprecedented focus, giving game followers and RPG fans alike meat to chew on ahead of its 2027 release.
Exodus gameplay finally shows off its RPG loop in motion
for as much as departure As shown before, it's still a bit difficult to picture what it feels like to actually play. As Aslan leaves his mortal home world behind to search dangerous planets, abandoned ships, and ancient ruins for anything that might help humanity survive, the premise has always been clear enough. However, one premise can only carry a game so far, especially one that's clearly trying to be a choice-driven RPG, a squad-based action game, and a big sci-fi story all at once.
but departure' Future games show gameplay makes a big difference. In the past, the game has featured some very brief highlight reels, but nothing as comprehensive as this one. Here, June is shown preparing for missions, choosing who to bring with her, venturing into dangerous territory, dealing with enemies using a mix of gadgets and abilities, making choices under pressure, and then returning to Persepolis, where those decisions really start to show how important they are. It's a familiar enough RPG structure, but the reveal helps show how departure Puts its own spin on it.
Exodus' expanded gameplay features companions, choices, and battles
In the beginning, June goes on a rescue mission with Alice and Tom, and the two departure Friends show their true colors immediately. Alice is impatient, aggressive, and clearly more comfortable solving problems with force, while Tom has more experience and a stronger moral compass. That difference comes before the mission even gets underway, but it becomes even more important once you get to a control room and have to decide whether to vent an airlock full of cargo. Alice sees it as the fastest way through a dangerous situation, while Tom points out that there may be dockworkers and a maintenance crew inside.
That's kind of the choice departure Seems particularly intriguing, though it's unlikely that every single decision in the game won't have players questioning their moral integrity. It also gives friends an active role in the selection system, as both Alice and Tom are present in the pressure of the moment, each revealing something different about who the Traveler can become.
departure The fight is shown before, but the extended reveal spends a lot of time playing out an encounter. During the Fire Eaters sequence, Jun receives a Recycler upgrade from CC Orlev and uses it to thin out enemies before alerting the rest of the room. He then uses a scramble cloak to sneak in unseen, with Alice and Tom ready to push in if the situation worsens. The footage eventually escalates to heavy resistance, including an armored turret handling a thruster grenade, but it's worth a long look at how it presents the encounter from setup to escalation. Players have already seen the pieces departure' Combat, sure, but it gives a good sense of how stealth, upgrades, companion backup, and heavy threats all come together within a single combat.
After returning to Persepolis in Revelation, June meets Phaedra Nath, a scientist and technician who has a deep personal interest in Rot. Her grandfather, Elijah Nath, was a legendary traveler who disappeared decades ago while researching it, and this revelation follows June, Phaedra, and Salt on their quest to find Pasang. That mission opens soon departure Beyond its hub and rescue setup, there's an unstable planet, celestial ruins, strange enemies, and a new gauntlet ability called Glance that lets Jun destroy Bramble created by Rot. While Elijah is revealed to be alive, the mission reveals Phaedra's family history, Lyden's possible extinction, June's hereditary connection to celestial technology, and departure' together with the great mystery.
Exodus' Time Dilation makes its selection cost more
In many modern RPGs, returning to the hub after a mission can feel like hitting a reset point. Players leave, complete whatever objective they had, and come back to see what has changed because of what they did. departure' The time dilation mechanic, however, complicates the act of leaving expensive in itself. June may return with new information, new abilities, or possible answers to Lydon's disappearance, but the house isn't waiting for her. People age, problems grow, and whatever choices he makes in the cluster may already be inhabiting the world when he comes back.
Eliza Nath is probably the best example of what the expansion of time can do to someone departure. He left Lydon decades ago to search for Rot, and when Jun finds him alive in Sang, he is no longer just a lost grandfather or a legendary traveler but a man who has spent years with the mystery tied to Lydon's existence, and by the time Phaedra reaches him, what he discovers has clearly changed him. This is a concept that fans of Christopher Nolan Interstellar Having already seen it play out in a deeply emotional way, but experiencing it on a stick can potentially evoke an even deeper response.
Of course, the full game has yet to prove how much time the expansion will actually change. What comes into the house, who he is when he returns, and how the world reacts to the choices made years ago from Lydon's point of view are bound to affect him. As this extended gameplay reveals, though, it's clear departure'Time dilation mechanics will cost more choices. Which is risking his life every time he leaves, and may be leaving a time he can never return to.
- issued
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2027
- developer(s)
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Archetype entertainment
- publisher(s)
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Wizards of the Coast
- Number of players
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single player
- Steam Deck compatibility
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unknown
