Maybe it’s the fact that original science fiction based MMORPG games come along so rarely, or maybe it’s just that Skyforge is pretty damn strange. Either way it’s keeping me on my toes.
Developed by Russia’s Allods Team in conjunction with Obsidian Entertainment, Skyforge is a free-to-play MMO that’s not quite like anything I’ve played before. Or maybe it is like several things I’ve played before, all mashed up into one. It’s all a bit hazy.
It’s a game where players take on the role of an immortal on the path to godhood, tasked with defending the world of Aelion from vile invaders. Doing this involves engaging in active-targeting action-based combat inspired by games that are definitely outside the normal MMORPG spectrum.
Instead of picking a class and sticking with it, Skyforge players can swap between the game’s five professions (two of which are generally unlocked through progression). It’s like Final Fantasy XIV that way I suppose, though the change feels more immediate and shouldn’t instantly get you killed should you swap to a less advanced role.
It’s all a bit overwhelming at first — I’ve played on and off for several days during the early access open beta in different roles, across open-roaming areas and through instanced group adventures, and I still don’t feel like I’ve got a firm grasp of what’s going on.
That’s a little bad, but also good — if it takes a veteran of countless other MMOs a while to find his footing, the developers are certainly straying from established formula.
Here’s a quick look at the game’s combat and class systems, along with extended periods of me completely forgetting the game’s name:
I’ll likely keep at it, if I can manage to keep juggling my time between it and other massively mutiplayer obligations. Perhaps one day all of its strangeness will become so familiar that I’ll regularly remember its name instead of having to alt-tab out of the game to read the window label. Fingers crossed!
Want to try and figure it all out yourself? Skyforge launches into open beta proper tomorrow.
Comments
10 responses to “I’m Not Sure What To Make Of Skyforge ”
This game just seems to have zero buzz about it, I haven’t heard much at all, which is usually a bad sign.
There has been quite a bit over the past few weeks.
The lack of hype and media buzz should not be a worry.
For example, When I first got hooked on watch_dogs I was sold on the hype instantly. And when that preordered game arrived and I played it, I felt the all truly rewarded for buying into the hype…NOT ^_^
Just because some games failed to deliver on hype doesn’t mean that games without hype are automatically good.
Skyforge? Well that’s where the finest steel in all of Tamriel is forged
i used to be an adventurer once, but i took an arrow to the knee.
Downloaded this last night, haven’t had a chance to try it out yet.
Fair warning: once you finish downloading the game, it will start seeding to others. If you have issues with uploads (i.e. counting against your download limit) turn this off in the launcher options.
Let me know how it plays Rize; I’ve been curiously following this game once I heard Obsidian were a part of making it.
That’s actually most of the reason I’m going to give it a go (being free helps too).
A lot of the features sound too good to be true, so whether the game is or isn’t I’ll probably end up obnoxiously throwing my opinion at people like a good Internet commenter.
Is there a quota for animated gifs on kotaku? Why was that first image not a still image???
Somewhat off topic, Kotaku US seems to like using animated gifs with barely any movement in them for article headers. Why not just use a static picture that can display more than 256 colours and is significantly smaller in size?
Somewhat on topic, it seems like this doesn’t stray too far from the MMO formula and only gives the illusion of a more dynamic experience through soft-targeting. From the look of it, you’re still playing cooldown whack-a-mole and keeping your positioning in mind.