Gameplay: How does Skyforge play?
The most important thing. Skyforge is basically a classic dungeon crawler. You spend 90% of the time you spend in Skyforge in instances fighting the same mobs over and over again. It’s a lobby MMO through and through.
The god is controlled with keyboard and mouse. Everything is smooth, the combinations, the skill sequences are quickly mastered. The classes feel pleasantly different. You can switch classes at the push of a button; if one combat style becomes too monotonous, you just continue with another.
You quickly get into a groove of “auto-attack, select skill, evade and restart.” Skyforge is ideal for zoning out, perhaps watching a series in the background, reflecting on your thoughts, or chatting and having fun with others in voice chat. For many gamers, that’s hell; they want to completely immerse themselves in a game. For many MMO players, at least in my circle, that’s the daily routine, and it’s desired as such. You don’t always want a game that completely takes you over.
The non-combat elements of Skyforge are mostly negligible. There are no puzzles to solve; an Adept system is very simple. Occasionally there is a “jump” puzzle in special training missions, but that’s nothing really worth mentioning.
Skyforge also has PvP, typical battlefields and arenas. However, my experiences were rather mixed: The BGs seemed often decided early on, and then they dragged on unnecessarily, with people going AFK, it was quite disheartening. Also, class balance seems to be extremely uneven in PvP. I had little joy in that.
Regarding the endgame with the various activities that then take place in guilds, I can say little. It was simply over my weight class for a long time. To access this endgame/guild area you likely need to invest even more time in the game. Although the progress system in Skyforge is somewhat strangely regulated with limits, the “hardcore elite” drifted out of my reach after just a few weeks.
I gave up tackling the group instances with random parties after a while: They seemed to be harshly tuned and tedious. Often after one or two wipes a player left who couldn’t be replaced – my experience there, like in PvP, was quite discouraging.
But it’s not all bad: Skyforge stands and falls with its combat system. Luckily it’s solid and can be played for a long time in a nice and pleasant way without becoming tedious.
The story of Skyforge
The premise of Skyforge: The god of your world has vanished, gods from foreign planets and dimensions are vying for power. Can you become a god yourself as an immortal and protect your world?
It’s quite nicely done, but the story of Skyforge itself simply gets lost in the grind of the game. The quests only continue once you reach a corresponding new prestige level. And that can take a long time and invites a creative pause. What you did previously fades away by then.
The main story is rather generic and standard for long passages. Every time you start to get really interested, a huge grind task arises until it continues.
I often took a break of a few days, and the story wasn’t strong enough to remain in my memory.
Overall, Skyforge is relatively poor in “highlights”; it’s a quiet, long river. Only before becoming a god does Skyforge really deliver, with the final battle and story and “wow” elements, but that only comes after many, many hours. This could have benefitted the game.
What makes Skyforge appealing? What are its weaknesses?
