I’ve spent almost two weeks with Skyforge, and in those two weeks I came to the realization that Skyforge isn’t an RPG, at least not in the way I usually expect. In fact Skyforge does what many other MMOs fail to do: differentiate itself from the formula.
Skyforge tells the tale of Immortals who battle alien invaders trying to take over your home planet of Aelion. After a battle with invading forces you are killed and chosen to become an Immortal and return to life. The main premise of Skyforge simply has you facing off otherworldly invaders while building your followers until you are able to ascend and become a God. That’s not to say Skyforge doesn’t have a true story. Skyforge utilizes an interesting story in the form of seasons.
In my playthrough, I had three seasons available, and had to play them in order. Each season is separated into six to nine episodes, and each episode took me almost four to five hours to get through, so there is plenty of story content to dig through. After playing countless MMOs that feature long-winded stories, I loved this type of story-telling as it allowed me to play at my own pace while going off and doing other mission and quests. After two weeks of playing I only managed to get halfway through the first season, and the story itself was pretty damn good.
The biggest problem with the stories–really, all conversations in Skyforge–is their presentation. After some epic cutscenes at the start of the game, I was wondering why I never saw this type of cutscene again in the entire time I played. I can’t say if that changes later in game or when you reach the endgame, but I didn’t see anything to indicate it will. Most of the story is presented in simple dialogue conversations, in which I only had a single option to respond.
In a way, it’s nice to go into a conversation at my own pace, but it’s also annoying to constantly have to push X for the NPC to continue the conversation. The other problem with conversations, outside of the terrible lip-syncing, is that subtitles progress faster than the NPC’s voiceover, and at some points it just stops the conversation while the NPC is still talking, skipping the entire last part of their sentence or paragraph. I also found the voice work to be hit-and-miss. The main cast of characters you interact with sound pretty good but many of the NPCs sound terrible. It’s either good or pretty bad.
The world of Aelion itself is amazing. It feels like the developers mixed Greek mythology with future tech to bring you a world full of awesome characters and great lore to back it all up. Skyforge features an incredible amount of locations to visit, but it’s able to do this because of its mission structure. Unlike other MMOs, where you are thrown into a massive open world, Skyforge focuses on mission-based locations like an action game.
You select your mission from the many Provinces in Skyforge. Each Province features missions for you to go on, which can last anywhere between ten minutes to an hour. These missions take you through a plethora of locations and expand the overall story of these invading alien factions. Each time you complete a mission you unlock a higher difficulty of that mission to tackle if you so choose for better rewards.
Thankfully, there are those big open environments to explore, and boy are they gorgeous to look at. These open areas provide a massive amount of quests to complete and they kept me pretty damn busy. My only issue with these big areas is that you don’t really get any explanation as to why you are completing these missions. Why do I have to kill giant beetles? I never really got an explanation to most of these quests. The other major problem is exploration and loot drops. Simply put: there isn’t any, of either.
Exploration will net you nothing but some rare crystals that you can exchange for items at the marketplace. It’s all very disappointing, as there are a lot of paths to take that lead to nothing–no chests to unlock, no secrets to find. Loot drops are a bigger problem and hurt Skyforge the most. Because Skyforge doesn’t use a traditional leveling system, the only items you find are from defeated foes. Enemies will drop spheres that, when opened, will give you Currency or Knowledge. That’s it–the only loot you’ll find, stale and predictable over time.
The Provinces are also where you unlock new skills for your class. There are fourteen different classes in Skyforge, but I was only able to play as the three starting classes: a Paladin Tank, Lightbringer Healer, and Cyromancer DPS. Each Province features class temples. These temples show you the skills and abilities available to each class. In order to unlock them, you simply complete a mission that unlocks these skills and abilities. I hope by the time Skyforge actually releases, the developers will make it a tad harder to unlock class skills and abilities. As it stands right now, you simply have to kill a certain number of enemies to unlock every skill and ability for each class. It’s so easy that you can unlock all the skills for all three starter classes in less than an hour.
As I mentioned, you can unlock fourteen different classes. One way is to buy a class with real money. Another way is to donate an obscene amount of in-game currency to the Temple of that specific class. I was never able to reach the amount required. A the third option is to complete all the missions in a Province. Once again I wasn’t able to accomplish this, as some missions are group missions requiring other players. When I tried to enter these missions, I was told that someone in the group did not have the Prestige level to attempt the mission, but the mission never tells you what your Prestige level needs to be. This left me guessing and attempting the mission numerous times with the same message to greet me each time.
The great thing about Skyforge’s class system is the ability to change classes whenever you want. Even mid-mission, don’t feel like being a healer anymore? Go ahead and switch to a tank. It’s a great system and I utilized it as often as I could.
The more I played Skyforge, the less I saw it being an RPG. Skyforge simply doesn’t do what a lot of MMOs do. There is no crafting system, nor leveling system. There aren’t even traditional attack and defense stats, at least none I can see. What Skyforge does well is simplification. Instead of collecting armor and weapons that increase your stats, you collect accessories. These accessories modify stats such as critical hit and health bonuses, and you get progressively stronger by increasing your Might.
In Skyforge, you are an Immortal, and as an Immortal, you are worshiped by your followers. In the capital of Aelion, you have access to temples to increase your fame and power. In these areas, you exchange in-game currency to build a shrine for yourself. Building your own shrine isn’t as interesting as it sounds. After selecting from various areas in the capital, I was able to increase my Might by spending Currency and build new structures by spending Knowledge. There are other things you’re able to do in the capital, but I some of the options, like the Trophy Hall, aren’t available at the moment. Your followers can also leave you offerings in the capital, which is a great way to earn in-game currency. You increase your offerings by increasing your Prestige level by completing missions throughout Aelion. The higher the Prestige level, the better the offerings will become.
Gameplay-wise, Skyforge is an action-MMORPG with emphasis on the action. The combat in Skyforge is solid; in fact, it’s now one of my favorite combat systems in an MMO. Each attack and skill is mapped to the buttons of the DualShock 4, much like Final Fantasy XIV, making it simple for anyone to get into. Dodging incoming attacks is also simple thanks to the game’s quick dash skill, and most enemy attacks are easy to spot with indicators in the animation or damage areas highlight on the ground. I also love the fact that some enemies will drop parts to use as weapons, like laser blasters from a Mechanoid or Iron Gauntlets from knights.
All of it works exactly how you would imagine it to work. But with any beta, there are problems. Combat effects like lighting strikes from the Paladin class lag behind the actual attack. I also found every mission outside of the Season story missions to be way too easy, something I hope is also addressed before official release.
Skyforge also helps those that like to play by themselves. The entire time I played Skyforge, I didn’t run into a single other player in the hub world. I couldn’t get into any PVP matches nor effectively put together a group for missions. But when playing alone, you don’t always have to worry about who will heal you or having healing skills and items. Many enemies drop health orbs, which gives you a fighting chance and allows you to focus on combat or avoiding attacks.
Because my hands-on with the game was still in beta, I ran into plenty of bugs and glitches. Getting stuck on the map screen happened all the time, but it’s easily fixed by opening another menu. Explanations of how things work are also non-existent. The only tutorial you get is a combat one, as it’s part of the introductory story missions. There’s just so much that I don’t know how to do, or even if I can do it. How do I change the camera’s zoom during a mission? How do I form a team with other players? None of these things are explained. All of these issues will hopefully be fixed by the time Skyforge officially launches on April 11, but if not, it’s in for a rough launch.
Still, I’m quite addicted to Skyforge, even with all of its issues. Its simplicity and accessibility will draw in a specific crowd. Those worried Skyforge will follow the typical MMO formula will be happy to know it’s not the case, and I’m happy for it. Skyforge is the MMO for the action player who doesn’t have a lot of time to spend playing an MMO, which is perfect for long stretches or short bursts.