The Wagadu Chronicles
Genre: MMORPG | Developer: Twin Drums | Platform: PC | Release Date: December 4, 2023 (Early Access) | Model: Buy2Play
What kind of game is this? The Wagadu Chronicles comes from Twin Drums, a small development studio from Berlin. This MMORPG focuses on role-playing with Pen&Paper elements. The setting is a blend of Afro and Fantasy.
Here, the interaction between players is the main focus: As soon as multiple players chat with each other, the “dialogue mode” opens. This zooms in on the two characters so that animations and facial expressions are more visible.
There is also a player-driven economy, a free class system, and a turn-based combat system. The fights only take place against computer opponents, not against other real players.
You can watch the MMORPG in the following trailer:
How is The Wagadu Chronicles currently doing? The Afro-Fantasy MMORPG started its Early Access on Steam a few weeks ago. However, the title has struggled with low player counts from the beginning. In the last 30 days, only an average of 5 players logged in.
The recent reviews speak for themselves: Only 55% of players can recommend the MMORPG. The animations are terrible, you can’t even name your character, and the customization options for your character are too limited. Furthermore, microtransactions in the in-game shop are very prominent.
That’s why I believe The Wagadu Chronicles will die: The criticism points are not that bad, as the title is still in Early Access. However, players are criticizing so many points that it would take a very long time for the team of at most 50 employees to work through all the criticism.
Since the title is partly funded through the in-game shop and there are hardly any players, I predict that the MMORPG will not make it past the Early Access phase. Although the MMORPG must be purchased for 24.99 Euros on Steam, the return policy might mean that many testers have already returned the title.
Since it is a sympathetic developer studio from Germany, I hope that the team at Twin Drums can turn things around. Perhaps the studio will still find a publisher that can support them financially.
