Mass Effect veterans don't want side quests to feel "tacked on" to their new sci-fi RPG, and they can't add everything or "the game would be thousands of hours"

The Mass Effect alum over at Archetype Entertainment don't want to bloat their upcoming sci-fi RPG Exodus with side quests that feel "tacked on." The new developer is instead trying to make sure players are compelled to take on side quests regardless of the reward.

Former Mass Effect writer and current Exodus narrative director Drew Karpyshyn says as much in an exclusive interview with GamesRadar+, explaining that side content "really is about trying to give players the chance to explore what they want to explore, that will add to the main story."

"We don't want things to feel tacked on," he continues. "We definitely don't want you to feel like you're doing it because you're obligated, like 'I need those three points to get my next level on this skill, so I guess I'll do it'. We want side quests to be something you would do even if you weren't getting a reward - you're going to get rewards, of course, it's a game, but we want you to feel like 'This is something I'm interested in, this is something I want to explore.' And a lot of that means it's tied to the themes of our games. It's tied to the companions you have, it's tied into interesting aspects of our game that maybe don't get explored as much on the critical path, but you can see them."

Karpyshyn elaborates that deciding what to focus on during development is tricky, "but the nice thing is there's always other things we could add." Even that is a fine line, mind, since the developers "can't add everything into one game" or risk it becoming "thousands of hours [long], which sounds great in theory, but isn't realistic."

Mass Effect veteran says new RPG Exodus won't be one of those games where "you can just romance anyone because you're the hero"