Early Access Impressions

SBFord · October 2016

Early Access Impressions

Guardians of Ember, Runewaker’s latest MMO (being published by Insel Games), recently entered an Early Access “Technical Test” before the game goes into wider release on Steam. Our own Bill Murphy bought into the test for the Action RPG MMO via the IndieGoGo campaign, and came away with some thoughts after a few hours’ play time.

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Coldren · October 2016

.. Is it really an MMO if you can pause? He was pausing to switch skills in the combat/skills video, wasn't he?

BillMurphy · October 2016

Nope, no pausing.

Elvoc · October 2016

The only real complaint I have about my time in this game so far is it feels Like and FTP MMO with all its menu options and game mechanics, while its trying to convert to a Linear RPG for Steam. It needs a lot of polish and the agro traits of enemies right now needs a lot of help.

The problem we all had on day one of EA was that the launch option for the game would not work with Steam and people were pulling it out of the primary folder to launch it with a email login screen that never got you into game because this was how the game use to launch somewhere else..

Aeander · October 2016

DMKano said:

Just to be perfectly clear like Devilian this game is NOT really an ARPG like Diablo franchise, Grim Dawn or PoE etc...

there are no 1000s of gear drops with random stats

there is no inventory Tetris (each item takes up 1 slot)

no deep meta game of character builds like PoE/Grim Dawn

the major similarity is isometric cam and combat.

I dont compare traditonal ARPGs to games like this because IMO they are not in the same category.

Bill does it right to compare it to Devilian - kudos for that, as Devilian is closer to traditional MMO (linear gear progression, linear dunegon and raid gearing, etc...)

Also not to burst anyones bubble but Lost Ark also falls in this category, its a MMO at core with linear gear progression game, and not deep character build ARPG like PoE/Grim Dawn

Suggesting that random stat ranges and overbloated skill trees are requirements for an ARPG is like suggesting that a Dynasty Warriors game is not a Dynasty Warriors game without Musuo attacks. Certainly there is a case for the inclusion of these things, but there is also a case for their deliberate exclusion within the ARPG genre.

time007 · October 2016

um its a MMO. So you will have to grind a bit. I'm glad it wont be a "quest your way to level cap" game. so if you are level 10, done with quests and at a dungeon with level 12 mobs. oh whatever will you do....i know, try killing mobs to level up? duh. unless there are literally no mobs to grind and the mobs only appear for quests. which would be lame. i love how gamers are so bred into questing to victory and dont even consider grinding on mobs. i guess this writer grew up in the post WoW world. well i guess its a new generation of gamers so i cant find it funny they dont know to kill mobs to get exp to close the gap they are running into. haha its the equivalent of someone not being able to drive a manual and only able to drive an automatic i guess. or someone not being able to write, but can only type.

BruceYee · October 2016

The game was originally made by Runewalker but bought by Insel Games to be be localized for the west - according to a post on Steam forums confirmed by a game dev.

Also, the server for this game is in Germany so if you suffer lag on the west coast usa while playing games based in Europe like I do be cautious about your purchase.

Slapshot1188 · October 2016

time007 said:

i guess this writer grew up in the post WoW world. well i guess its a new generation of gamers so i cant find it funny they dont know to kill mobs to get exp to close the gap they are running into. haha its the equivalent of someone not being able to drive a manual and only able to drive an automatic i guess. or someone not being able to write, but can only type.

I found this kind of humorous in light of your signature. Anyhow, I can assure you that Bill is not new to gaming and has been around the block often enough. We don't always agree on taste, but I don't think there is any need to denigrate his MMO bonafides.

Aeander · October 2016

DMKano said:

Aeander said:

DMKano said:

Just to be perfectly clear like Devilian this game is NOT really an ARPG like Diablo franchise, Grim Dawn or PoE etc...

there are no 1000s of gear drops with random stats

there is no inventory Tetris (each item takes up 1 slot)

no deep meta game of character builds like PoE/Grim Dawn

the major similarity is isometric cam and combat.

I dont compare traditonal ARPGs to games like this because IMO they are not in the same category.

Bill does it right to compare it to Devilian - kudos for that, as Devilian is closer to traditional MMO (linear gear progression, linear dunegon and raid gearing, etc...)

Also not to burst anyones bubble but Lost Ark also falls in this category, its a MMO at core with linear gear progression game, and not deep character build ARPG like PoE/Grim Dawn

Suggesting that random stat ranges and overbloated skill trees are requirements for an ARPG is like suggesting that a Dynasty Warriors game is not a Dynasty Warriors game without Musuo attacks. Certainly there is a case for the inclusion of these things, but there is also a case for their deliberate exclusion within the ARPG genre.

Umm no - thats not why i am suggesting.

There are basically 2 groups of players:

those who love classic ARPGs (insane amount of prefex/suffix loot drops, meta game of class/skill building and gear synergy) - PoE, Diablo2, Grim Dawn

and then there are players who like - more traditional themepark MMO with ARPG combat- games like Devilian, Elite Lord of Alliance, Lost Ark and Guardians of Ember. Korean ARPGs are really themepark MMOs with linear gear progression, no RNG loot drop via dungeons and raids, limited skill selection and character building.

nothing wrong with either one - just 2 completely different types of ARPGs.

Someone who loves crazy deep build theorycrafting is not going to like Devilian or Guardians of Ember or Lost Ark.

thats what i am saying - people see isometric combat and immediately think - oh this is Diablo type game and in case of most Korean ARPGs its completely wrong.

I cannot comment on the effectiveness of the skill systems of Devilian, Guardians of Ember, or Lost Ark due to lack of experience, but I will say that my research into Lost Ark makes it look like a much improved version of the Diablo 3 rune system.

And, believe it or not, I actually like the Diablo 3 rune system in concept. It needs a lot more options to choose from, the the ability to simply but effectively craft a custom build from gameplay-changing mods is appealing.

And make no mistake - I'm someone who prioritizes deep build theorycrafting. I just prefer deep build theorycrafting that manipulates mechanics rather than buffs simple stat numbers.

Theely · October 2016

The UI-style of this game and close up character images looks exactly like Rift.

tom_gore · October 2016

Ahh, good old Begud. The big brother of Gitgud.

Warlyx · October 2016

doesnt look bad , but if its a mmoarpg like devilian uhmmm i dont mind if the game is fun , its from runewalker so i have hope

is going to have EA? OB or anything?

VooDoo_Papa · January 2017

Please tell me this is better than Devilian

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