The MMORPG “Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen” brings hope to all players longing for the old MMORPGs like Everquest, where PvE against gigantic bosses was the focus in group play. In May 2022, MeinMMO takes a look at the state of the PvE MMORPG.
This is the idea of Pantheon: The crowdfunding MMORPG aims to deliberately bring back an “old-fashioned” feeling with some new systems: The “Oldschool MMORPG” is supposed to be far from the dungeons of a modern WoW, where players simply rush through like a horde of crazed goblins while shouting “OGOGOG” and hammering the key for the “I deal as much damage to as many enemies as possible” skill.
Pantheon is supposed to become a PvE MMORPG where everything must be done in a group. A game where players discuss for 3 minutes who holds which opponent in CC before daring to pull.
The idea for the game originated in 2014, when it was launched with a crowdfunding campaign.
Here are 10 minutes of gameplay from Pantheon, the MMORPG hope for PvE fans
Key ideas of Pantheon include:
- A climbing system that allows players to explore the world vertically
- A perception system that enables players to discover secrets in the world
- A high level of difficulty. The developers state: There is no easy mode; you need friends for everything. Dungeons cannot be rushed in 5 minutes with AE damage; everyone must fulfill their role; otherwise, you simply won’t progress.
For years, Pantheon was the baby of Brad McQuaid, a key developer of Everquest, and the mind behind the MMORPG Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. However, McQuaid passed away in 2019. Since then, Pantheon has become quieter.
Pantheon hires 4 new developers, is in the midst of development
Where does the game stand today? In a newsletter from May 2022, the team reports on its progress. Visionary Realms has now onboarded 4 new employees, primarily for animation and graphics. The rest of the team is currently working on the zone Wild’s End.
A “roadmap to Alpha” shows that while the team is making regular progress, there is still a lot of work ahead. Only a few rudimentary steps, such as “NPC Combat Awareness” and “Asset Streaming,” have been completed.
The team is currently working on key systems such as class development, reworking the network system, or crafting systems.
Many other, more supplementary areas such as factions, the perception system, or things like swimming and climbing have not yet been started.
Alpha is supposed to start in 2022 – but that doesn’t seem certain
Is there a schedule for when it can be played? It seems that Pantheon will remain in a “pre-alpha” state for the foreseeable future.
In December 2021, it was announced, that they would spend 2022 preparing the game for an alpha and conducting it within the year – but whether this will actually happen seems questionable.
Crowdfunding MMORPGs like Pantheon are notorious for repeatedly and often drastically shifting their schedules: This has also happened to Pantheon’s “colleagues” like Crowfall, Chronicles of Elyria, Camelot Unchained, or Ashes of Creation.
For Pantheon, it was crucial in May that they have – as promised – hired new developers who are already working on the project.
In any case, Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen remains an interesting project for MMORPG fans. However, whether it will really enter alpha in 2022 seems questionable. The moment when it will be “truly playable” is still far off even 8 years after its announcement.
This seems to be the crux of crowdfunding MMORPGs: They go public early with fantastically sounding concepts to raise money and excite fans. But by that time, they only have the ideas on paper and sketches; it takes a good decade or more until they can be admired with keyboard and mouse.
For hardened MMORPG veterans, Pantheon is one of the absolute hopefuls:
I have been playing MMORPGs for over 22 years – I am looking forward to these 5 new ones
