New BioWare-Style RPG Exodus Is Doing Romance A Little Differently From Mass Effect

Exodus, the sci-fi RPG from Archetype Entertainment founded by ex-BioWare folks, certainly looks like a spiritual successor to Mass Effect. As BioWare continues to work on the upcoming fifth game in the series, Archetype is creating its own sci-fi shooter space opera with Wizards of the Coast, and one very popular thing from Mass Effect that is also in Exodus is romance. Who among us doesn’t love a little love in the cold, unknowing vastness of space? However, one thing Exodus is doing differently from Mass Effect is that it’s not locking relationships behind the player’s gender.

In an interview with IGN, Exodus narrative director Drew Karpyshyn talked about the game’s approach to romance, confirming that “the player drives the romances and they are not gender-locked,” meaning whether you play as a male or female version of protagonist Jun Aslan, you’ll be able to kiss whoever you want. Mass Effect notably didn’t have same-sex relationships for men until Mass Effect 3, and even then, some romantic relationships were specific to certain pairings. Soldier Ashley Williams was only romanceable by male Commander Shepards, while Biotic Sentinel Kaidan Alenko became a bisexual option in Mass Effect 3. Mass Effect: Andromeda kept this system going, with certain characters like engineer Gil Brodie only being pursuable by male Ryder, and his identity as a gay man playing a part in his story.

BioWare has gone back and forth between gender-locking certain relationships and taking on a “playersexual” approach where the protagonist could pursue anyone. Most recently, Dragon Age: The Veilguard went this route, but also made a point to write in that all its party members were pansexual, rather than seemingly adapting to whatever identity would make them open to the player’s advances. Mass Effect companions, meanwhile, have always been written with specific identities and proclivities. Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages, and while there are aspects of relationship writing I enjoy that you only get through specificity, I’ve started preferring the “playersexual” approach because it ultimately means that queer people aren’t getting shortchanged as they often do.

While all options will be available to all players, Karphyshyn says that romance will have layers in Exodus, including potential for some polyamorous relationships, or the possibility of ruining a relationship by trying to woo multiple people at once.

“There’s no situation where a character is going to romance you if you didn’t take the initiative. We want to put you in situations where you can potentially try to romance more than one character. Sometimes it’ll go well, sometimes it won’t depending on the character and depending on the choices you make. Like real life, it’s complicated, right? We want it to be complicated.”

Relationships will be affected by the other choices you make, and yes, there will be sex scenes, though director Chris King says they are more “reserved” than those in something like Baldur’s Gate 3 or Cyberpunk 2077. Whatever the case, it’s been almost a decade since I had a new space husband in Mass Effect: Andromeda, so I will be kissing space men when Exodus comes out on April 7.