Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore is the new MMORPG from the indie developer Gellyberry Studios. It is meant to recall old classics like RuneScape or Tibia and is played in isometric perspective. The focus is on exploration, crafting, building your own home, and high risks in dungeons.
What kind of game is this? Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore aims to revive the old classics in a modern engine. You create a character that is not bound to any class but is defined by skills and equipment. With this, you explore the world of Irumesa.
- The focus is on a world filled with much to explore and discover.
- Similar to RuneScape, there should be various and unique opportunities for character development. However, you can only create one character per server.
- Gathering and crafting play an important role and are meant to be one of the reasons why returning to low-level areas is worthwhile. You should also be able to gather endgame materials directly from level 1, but the chance of successful gathering should be close to 0. The higher your skill and the better your tools, the higher the chance of success.
- Another reason for playing in beginner areas should be hidden puzzles or quests that need to be found. There is also a journal where you must find all monster types in the open world.
- There is housing in the open world that is visible to everyone. Guilds can also jointly establish a home on larger building sites.
- Instances and boss arenas are planned for PvE.
- In the endgame, there will also be open PvP, with a karma system preventing players from simply attacking others.
The game was initially known as “Blocky Ages”.
When will the MMORPG be released? It is set to start early access on Steam in 2023. So far, there have only been closed beta tests and “in a few months” there should be an open beta on Steam (via Steam).
A first look at Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore is provided by this trailer:
High risk for better loot, but there are penalties
What is special about the MMORPG? The developers emphasize that their game is based on the premise of “Risk versus Reward.” The higher the risk, the higher the chance for good loot. However, deaths can also be very dangerous.
In PvE, dungeons and boss arenas are meant to offer various difficulty levels, so everyone can find a challenge that suits them. However, the higher the difficulty levels become, the more there is to lose:
Generally, every piece of equipment has the chance to drop upon death, both in PvE and PvP. However, the Mage Guild is said to be able to prevent drops with enchantments. It is unclear whether this applies permanently or only once per enchantment.
- If you die at the highest difficulty levels, you lose experience points.
- Especially severe is that group members also lose experience points if one from the party dies. There is, therefore, a collective penalty.
Monthly subscription with a shop without Pay2Win and Pay2Progress
What does the payment model look like? The MMORPG is based on a subscription model, so you will need to pay monthly to participate in the game. There is not yet a specific price for this subscription.
However, the developers have already revealed that they will also have a shop. This should be neither Pay2Win nor contain XP boosts or additional inventory slots. The focus is purely on cosmetic items.
These cosmetics should also only be found in the shop and not in the game. This is to prevent prestige items from simply being bought in the shop.
Can you already test the game? You can apply for the ongoing alpha and, with some luck, be selected for it (via Ethyrial). Otherwise, open beta tests will start sometime in 2022.
How long has the game been in development? According to a post on reddit, the studio has been working on Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore for “several years.” There were first developer videos of the game in 2019. Since April 2021, there has been a Discord and first tests with outside players.
What do you think of the new MMORPG? Do the ideas appeal to you, or does the open PvP rather scare you off? Feel free to write it in the comments.
If you like the isometric perspective and enjoyed Lost Ark, you should keep an eye on this game from the publisher of Guild Wars 2:
New MMORPG coming in 2022 for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox – Looks like Lost Ark in gameplay video
