How excellent companions turn good RPGs into great ones, straight from the Exodus devs: "That's really what I think a lot of players love"

In a post-Baldur's Gate 3 world, it should come as no surprise that there is an extra emphasis on interesting, compelling companion characters in RPGs. Exodus is no different. The sci-fi RPG might take place out in the cold vastness of space, but from conversations with the development team at Archetype Entertainment, there's plenty of interpersonal conflict (and perhaps romance) to keep things warm.

"The thing that I think defines a lot of the best role-playing games, and one of the things we've really focused on for Exodus, is your companions," says Drew Karpyshyn, Exodus narrative director at Archetype Entertainment. "We want them to feel like real people; they have their pros and their cons. They obviously have their own conflicts among themselves and their conflicts with you. They don't always share the same goals and values, and they have to grow along with the player."

That doesn't mean they're entirely beholden to the player's whims, however. "They all have their own individual arcs, their own journeys that sort of go along with yours, sometimes come to conflict with yours, sometimes complement yours," he says. "And that's one of the keys … this interaction between the companions and Jun and the choices you make as a player, and how that affects their journey and yours. That's really what I think a lot of players love about the classic role-playing game that we're trying to build."

Companionable

While Exodus has yet to reveal all of its companions, the ones we do know something about certainly meet the criteria of being uniquely themselves. Tom Vargas, for example, is a former Traveler (someone that goes on Exodus, basically) that has a sordid history, making him connected but perhaps with some troublesome baggage. Meanwhile, Elise Charroux is a bit more of an in-your-face merc without a filter – and a mech suit to back up the tough talk.

"We have multiple that I love," says studio general manager Chad Robertson when I ask him about his favorite companion. "However, Salt is an easy one, and it's sincere that I actually think Salt is going to be amazing."

Salt, if you've not been following along, is an Awakened (read as: sentient and able to speak with you) octopus and bounty hunter. She snipes using a special mech with a reinforced water tank in the middle she pilots from. All indications are that she's an early favorite; Archetype Entertainment even brought out a massive custom Salt statue the lit up and bubbled during our visit.

"There's some lines with Salt that we haven't shared yet, where I just still, even having seen them multiple times, will just break down laughing, because the one-liners she drops every now and then are just… they're perfect," says Robertson. "Credit to Drew and the team for their amazing effort."

"That said, though, Phaedra is a favorite of mine that I really enjoy," he continues. "Her performances stand out to me. I also like how she works in combat. There's some nice things that she does that if you get combos teed up with her really nicely, it's fun to play."

I have friends everywhere

How all of these elements form a cohesive whole or relate to Jun is a bit of a question mark for me. Playing an early mission Exodus, most of it was spent learning about Tom and Elise and Jun's initial interactions and combat abilities rather than anything more complex. The early moments seem promising, however, and it does sound like the development team has been holistic about the roles the secondary characters play.

"One of the things that's really cool about RPGs with companions is you get to go along with people who help out and complement," says Chris King, Exodus game director at Archetype Entertainment. "I'm kind of an introvert in real life, but when I play video games, I like having those companions that tag along and keep me company and whatnot. And we try to build synergies between what the companions do and what the player does, so that your choices are built around not only what you want to do, but what they like doing, or what they're good at."

"To be honest, we don't just think about it from a gameplay or narrative perspective," says King when I ask how you build a mechanically interesting companion. "It's all those things rolled together, and I think part of what makes choices interesting is there's nuance to them, and it's not necessarily binary."

According to King, the team deliberately attempts to craft companions or kits that are specifically of interest to differing playstyles. If there's a particular kind of way you want to play the game, there should be a companion for that.

"Let's say you're into stealth gameplay," he says. "We've got a couple companions that are built exclusively around that, and they excel at it, but they might have other things that aren't as interesting, or that there's a trade off. So, we're always trying to think about those choices, and how players want to mix and match them together."

In other words, it's a balancing act to figure out how to mix and match cool and unique aspects across the board so that there are good reasons to try partnering with all the possible characters. If you're into a particular kind of combat, like full-frontal assaults, maybe you're largely palling around with Elise, but what are you giving up when you do that? What would having Tom in the party rather than Elise offer, in combat or otherwise? I don't know, but I'm certainly curious to find out.

Our Exodus Big Preview continues to explore upcoming sci-fi shooter RPG, but if you can't wait for 2027: you can check out our ranking of the best RPG games.