The new free-to-play MMORPG Ecila (PC) launched in Early Access on Steam on August 15. The game aims to impress with a free class system, anime aesthetics, and a complete avoidance of pay-to-win mechanics. We at MeinMMO will reveal what’s inside.
What is Ecila? First, we need to clarify that Ecila shares its name with a pixelated rogue-like game, but the two games have nothing to do with each other.
Our Ecila is a 3D sidescrolling semi-open-world MMORPG, which sounds much more complicated than it actually is. Essentially, the game is an MMORPG with anime aesthetics that is mostly controlled with the keyboard. You move right with D and left with A, but the levels offer more depth than a normal sidescrolling game would.
Ecila fundamentally offers an open world, but also has many instanced areas, which is where the term semi-open-world comes from. Story-wise, Ecila wants to take you on a journey dealing with fairy tales and mythical creatures, but all of them are not quite themselves anymore.
It borrows the phrase from the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland and makes “We’re all mad here” (German: Wir sind hier alle verrückt) the guiding motto of Ecila’s story.
The gameplay features: Ecila offers some exciting gameplay aspects, which we would like to briefly present to you:
- 3D sidescrolling gameplay with keyboard controls
- Jump & Run elements and combat
- A story revolving around fairy tales and mythical creatures
- An open class system that depends on which weapon you carry
- You can equip up to 3 gear presets at once and freely switch between them, which is essential for fighting in the harder levels
- Crafting and item upgrades
- An optional auto-play feature that automatically fights, runs, and takes potions
- Avoidance of pay-to-win, but possible pay-to-progress
In this video from Sokol, you can see 17 minutes of gameplay from Ecila:
How will pay-to-win be avoided? Ecila offers you two real-money currencies, Diamonds and Topaz. While you can only buy Diamonds with real money, you can earn Topaz but also purchase it with Diamonds.
Cosmetic items like skins or costumes can only be obtained with Diamonds, while you can also purchase experience boosters, teleport items, and automatic healing potions with Topaz. The extent to which one has to grind to earn valuable Topaz is not yet known.
The community smiles nostalgically
What do the players say? The game receives a lot of praise, but also some criticism. We summarize the most important points for you:
The positive voices:
- The user ron.ofman writes (via Steam): “Good game! It gives me the nostalgic feeling of the Maplestory/FlyFF era from 2005. It still has some bugs, which is okay for Early Access. Ecila has the potential to become a really good game.”
- The player Alex has played almost 30 hours and writes (via Steam): “Very cute, reminds me of Maple Story and Flyff. […] It feels like a 2008 MMO has been remade. Many seem to be bothered by the auto-battle feature, but it’s optional. I think the game will appeal to those who grew up with the old MMOs and miss them.”
- The user sylardean writes (via Steam): “I love this MMO. It’s super cartoonish and reminds me of Dragonica, only that it’s about fairy tales. At the beginning, it can be a bit grindy, but the auto-battle feature actually makes it very bearable. Ecila still has its problems, but that’s what Early Access is for. As a fan of cute anime MMOs, Ecila really brightens my heart.”
The negative voices: Negative reviews mainly criticize the auto-battle feature and the bugs present in the Early Access version. The user ehbunny writes among other things: “Without the auto-battle feature, one simply has to grind too much, so it’s not really optional. The game is therefore not for me, but maybe for you.”
What do you think of Ecila? Will you play it or are you also bothered by the auto-battle feature? Do you like the aesthetics and miss the old MMOs too? Let us know in the comments.
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