Path of Exile's long-awaited expansion, Ascendancy, is almost upon us. After keeping us in suspense since last November, Grinding Gear Games have revealed that the expansion will be released on March 4th at 12 PM PST.
The highlight of the expansion is The Lord's Labyrinth. Created by Izaro—pictured above—this labyrinth is randomly generated daily. Six new traps come together to create "elaborate puzzle rooms" within the Labyrinth. Over the course of your run, you will be pitted against Izaro multiple times and your fights against him are said to "evolve depending on your actions in previous encounters."
Also included are 19 "Ascendancy classes," each of which has its own Skill Tree. After each Labyrinth run, you can use part of Izaro's power to imbue an item with an Enchantment. New skills and support gems unlock new "devastating" skills. "Dozens of Unique Items and Divination Cards designed by Path of Exile's community."
It seems that Islet Online's release date of "soon" was accurate, as it released on Steam Early Access yesterday. The Minecraft-like MMORPG by the Korean studio Morenori Soft went live to moderate reception, currently holding a 60% positive rating on Steam. The most common complaints seem to be that the skill system is cool, but doesn't seem to do anything, and that—even with the 20%, or $5, launch discount—the $24.99 price point is way more than users feel it should be.
I played Islet Online while the demo servers were online at the end of last year and, at the time, I had thought it could be a potentially good evolution of ever-tiring block-based survival genre. I liked being able to customize my character. The ecosystem was fairly cool and I personally watched rabbits eat grass and flowers and become suspicious of me, even as I tried to befriend them. The skill system that leveled skills with use was also refreshing, as it's rare to even see a system like it in "traditional" MMORPGs these days. However, I also got the feeling that it would have to really push these features to escape Minecraft's shadow and it did not seem to be doing that quite yet. Simply bringing the genre to a persistent online world would not be enough.
Morenori Soft does, however, plan to spend the better part of the year bringing the game to a release state. The current tentative "full release" date is set for Q4 2016. The planned features list includes monsters, human NPCs, a more detailed ecosystem, a modding SDK, and more animals, items, and skills. They may very well be able to make a game that sets itself apart between now and release.
Livelock is an upcoming cooperative top-down shooter set to release some time in 2016. In a world decimated by a burst of gamma radiation, select humans have uploaded their brains to machines and merged with artificial intelligence.
Players traverse post-apocalyptic maps, banding together in groups of three— with three playable cybernetic hunters—to "break the infinite cycle of war" (by seemingly killing everything). The announcement trailer, appropriately set to dubstep, shows off the chaotic firefights brimming with colorful effects.
Livelock is developed by Canada-based studio Tuque Games and will be published by Arc Games. The game is set to release on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Barons of the Galaxy is an old-school browser strategy game. You create a corporation, mine resources, research technologies, and build structures. But there's more to it. Multiple players can be be based in a single city. Players can be voted into office at the city, planet, or solar system level. Events—such as raids or fluctuations in the market—can occur in cities, leaving players to handle them however they see fit.
It is a tick-based game with ticks occurring every 10 minutes. It will be free-to-play, but only those who pay a $5 per month subscription fee will be given the option to be elected into office, access "certain chat features," and upload custom avatars and logos.
The game is hitting Kickstarter on February 8th and will be asking for a mere $6000. A preview page is available here. The game is "nearly fully developed," but the developer needs the funds to pay an artist to create a few more assets. The rewards are on the lighter side, mostly offering various amounts of subscription time and a promotional coin, but the first 200 backers will also be able to name cities in the game.
Earlier today, Daum Games revealed March 3, 2016 as the release date for the highly anticipated Western version of Black Desert Online. In the same announcement, the company started accepting applications for Closed Beta 2, scheduled to begin on February 18.
Black Desert Online is free to play in Korea, but back in October 2015, we learned that the Western version would be buy to play. While the change in payment models caught many off guard, it does make the game's Founder's Packs a little more palatable since they include a retail license along with a few digital goodies.
If even February 18 seems too long a wait for your BDO fix, check out the free Character Creator download. The game is running a 'Beauty and the Beast' event where players who create the most beautiful and dreadful characters have a chance to win some prizes.
For more information, check out the official post from Daum Games. A new trailer accompanies the release date announcement, have a look below:
After just few months of releasing Heart of Thorns for Guild Wars 2, the game’s developers, ArenaNet, are now preparing and working on a new update set to come out by spring 2016. In their recent livestream, developers said that the top priority for the update is to address the unforeseen problems that came out with the expansion.
The said update will also address the playing community’s concerns, specifically the excessive grinding required by the Heart of Thorns expansion. The devs have promised to give players a better and easier gaming experience and for them to make “meaningful progress in a short span.”
Dungeons might just be one of the most important features of an MMORPG, which is why fans of Bless Online have eagerly awaited news about the Korean MMORPG’s new dungeon system. Unfortunately, not everyone was happy with the experience. Steparu was kind enough to give us a tour of two new in-game instances including a run through the Ancient Temple.
Bless Online Open Beta Gameplay Ancient Temple Party Dungeon
According to Steparu’s review of the new dungeons, they weren’t that bad but not too thrilling as well. Aside from the language barrier, players are randomly kicked out and disconnected from the server. Log in queues are also slightly long, especially if you’re trying to join a populated server. The game also lacks a dungeon finder system but has an LFG system instead where you can choose a dungeon and pray that you’ll be invited into a party.
Bless Online Panthera Ranger First Party Dungeon
Steparu also commented on his overall experience with Bless Online, stating that, “I suppose I'm enjoying it just a little bit, but not overly. I mainly want to progress to explore the PvP aspects of the game and see some end-game dungeons if any. It doesn't seem like a game I would stay up 24 hours and play non-stop unless I have nothing to do.”
A look at MMO News and updates for the week ending February 1, 2016. This is the twenty-eight episode in a weekly series every Monday that will cover all major MMO news and updates. The games mentioned this week are: Eternal Crusade, ArcheAge, Master x Master, Blade and Soul, Cabal 2, RIFT, Tales of Pirates 2, Conan Exiles, Knight Online, Crossout, Swordsman Online, Tanki X, The Division, Lucent HEart, Marvel Heroes 2016, Islet Online, Trove, and Luna Online. Links to individual news articles we covered this week:
LuckCatchers is a skyfaring sandbox MMO from Russian studio DiP Online that is based on various steampunk novels by A. Pehov. The game boasts a "really huge world" with over 30 NPC-controlled cities and the ability to build your own settlements with castles, villages, and more. A skill-based progression system allows you to become whatever kind of character you want. Your skills will determine what ships you can and can't fly. You can mine and process various resources to make "weapons, ammunition, and flight equipment." Events will occur regularly—the examples given are "lottery, migration of dragons, [and] plane races."
A complex system of government will also be in place. Players can either conquer or use diplomacy to annex various territories. They can become governors and tax other players. A "flexible reputation system" will protect players and their settlements in safe zones, should they not want to take part in more intense conflict.
More importantly, though, the developers promise that it will not be pay-to-win. In one comment on the Greenlight page, the developers state, "We are not interested in developing of just another pay-to-win game. We want to develop really interesting game product with impressing freedom of actions. And donate option is just a little helper - not the ultimate thing." A complex player economy allowing players to trade for anything, including Premium Gold, will be in place to ensure balance. Players can even hire other players for jobs as part of the game's "real labor market." Furthermore, all players will receive five Premium Gold per hour of play.
If this interests you, you can sign up for and download the Open Alpha from the official website. The website is only in Russian, but another developer comment on the Greenlight page confirms that the game currently supports English and Russian, with French, German, and Spanish on the way. As an added bonus, the developers are offering various physical goods from the game, including a world map and coins, to their "best players" as prizes.
Should you like the game, don't forget to vote it up on Greenlight.
