Is Ashes of Creation really the next big MMORPG and can it satisfy players’ needs? Nearly 2 hours of new gameplay shows that something big seems to be on the horizon.
What do the developers show? Originally, the developers planned a livestream, but there were technical difficulties with the video quality. Therefore, Intrepid Studios uploaded a video that shows what the MMORPG Ashes of Creation has to offer in its current pre-alpha state in about 1:45 hours in 4K quality.
Impressive Pre-Alpha Gameplay
What exactly can be seen in the video? A group of four players meets and sets out to explore the vast world. Right at the beginning, flying mounts can be seen, with which the party flies to an underdeveloped outpost. There, the heroes accept their first quests.
Eventually, the group discovers the entrance to a cave. Without loading times, the heroes enter the dungeon, where many enemies lie in wait.
Later, the group reaches a large city, where they can become citizens and even run for mayor. A group of monsters attacks the settlement. The housing system is briefly shown before the heroes accompany a caravan to their destination. Of course, there is an ambush…
Further scenes follow with fights in dungeons, including against dragons. All of this makes a fantastic impression, although there are still bugs here and there. For example, when jumping over chasms.
What new information did the developers reveal about the game? In a Q&A session, the team discussed the freehold housing system. On your own piece of land, you can not only place a house but also cultivate fields, build fisheries, and care for animals in stables. Through breeding, it is possible to get special mounts.
You determine the direction your freehold should develop. If you want to become a farmer, you’ll need space for fields. If you just want a big house to use as a retreat, then simply build the largest structure possible on the land.
The furniture in the housing system plays a larger role than in many other MMORPGs. The better you become at crafting furniture and the higher quality they are, the more buffs they can grant you. So, in Ashes of Creation, housing is not just about decorating the rooms nicely – your character is even strengthened by high-quality furniture.
The Anticipation is High
MeinMMO author Andreas Bertits says: Being able to watch nearly two hours of continuous gameplay of Ashes of Creation and to see and recognize the various aspects of the MMORPG and how they interconnect has simply made me eager to play myself. In fact, even more than the recently released gameplay for the mage.
Ashes of Creation seems to be the MMORPG that so many are currently waiting for. Not only does it look graphically great, it offers so many exciting features like
- Building and expanding cities
- An exciting housing system
- A massive game world that apparently operates without loading times
- Action-packed fights
- Good group play
This is how I envision a modern MMORPG. Ashes of Creation does not change the DNA of online role-playing games but adds many modern and exciting elements. The expansion of cities alone could develop into an exciting endgame activity that is not detached from the actual game but naturally flows through the game from beginning to end.
Of course, the story content needs to be good, and there wasn’t much to see of that in the video yet. The few quests made a rather standard impression so far. I hope for a bit more here. But, what was shown was still in a pre-alpha state. There is still a lot of time and space for more story. Therefore, I am optimistic that something big awaits us here.
With what Intrepid Studios is currently showing about Ashes of Creation, it is no wonder that the MMORPG is among the 8 most promising new MMOs and MMORPGs for 2020.
