Category Archives: Wishlist

The Steam Wishlist: August Additions

Every other week or so I go through the Steam discovery queue out of curiosity if nothing else. The algorithm is more miss than hit the majority of the time, yet there have been those rare occasions over the years where Steam surprised me with a queue that seems almost entirely tailored to me. I don’t usually buy the games right away but they will end up on the Wishlist for lack of a better tracking method. This August has brought a few new games to my attention that have made the cut, so I might as well share them here.

As usual I am drawn to the smaller titles. According to the Steam info, Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is a “musical adventure about restoring harmony and balance to Moominvalley, protecting it from the industrious Park Keeper”. I’ve always been interested in video games that use music/-making as a gameplay feature, so this could be a fun game for me to try out sometime.

Everything about the premise of Thank Goodness You’re Here! sounds like it could be a great laugh. If the Steam reviews can be believed, it’s well worth the money even if it’s only about 3 hours of total playtime. They also assured me you don’t have to be an English lady or gentleman to get the humor, although that’s probably a plus. If you enjoy quirky indie games that are doing their own thing, this title could be interesting. It’s probably the safest bet out of the three for me.

I was on the fence about adding Once Human when it came up on the discovery queue. It’s not like I need yet another “open world survival crafter bla” but the game is free and multi-player, so I might have a go sometimes with the better half, for shits and giggles if nothing else. The reviews aren’t the greatest either, not that this is always a reliable indicator of how much I’ll enjoy a game.

So much for the month of August 2024 on Steam. I’ll be reporting back on these once I’ve played any or all of them.

The Steam Wishlist, Part 1: Unreleased Games

My Steam wishlist is a beast of many attractions. There are titles that at one time or other piqued a fleeting interest and for lack of a better tracking method, were added to the list. There are those games that I intend to buy at a later time when there’s a Steam sale going on. Games that sound like fun for maybe a few hours but don’t warrant the current price to me.

Then there are games that I absolutely intend to play because they tick all my preferred boxes, yet are too vast and time consuming at present for me to tackle. I see you, Horizon Zero Dawn and Ghost of Tsushima. And lastly there are those games yet to be released, early access titles I won’t yet risk because been there done that, once burnt twice shy.

The unreleased Wish List

Bhagpuss recently shared a list of his wishlisted games that have not yet been released, which inspired me to start with the same category. It’s always fun to read what other bloggers are looking out for. Also, I’ve been wanting to purge my wishlist for a good while now, so a blog series on my Steam hopefuls is the perfect excuse to do so. What follows is my final list of unreleased games that have survived the cutting block for now. As you can see, indies are heavily dominating.

Outbound is a typical cosy indie adventure. The Wholesome Games curator on Steam has proven a personal goldmine for cute and casual indie titles in the past. Outbound looks interesting because it’s a spin on games like Raft but with an old Volkswagen camper. All will depend on how well executed and varied the features of this game will be; either it’s going to be a boring snoozefest or a small gem among adventure-with-crafting titles.

Everdeep Aurora looks nothing ingame like its cover thumbnail. It’s pushing an oldschool Atari Castlevania aesthetic, only with a cat. Every now and then I enjoy a puzzle platformer or metroidvania, so unless this turns out to be too difficult for me, it could end up in the library after checking reviews first.

Light No Fire looks immediately appealing to anyone who enjoys games like Valheim or Enshrouded. It’s your classic open world survival crafter with co-op. While Steam is loaded with games of said persuasion, I’m particularly interested in the ones that manage to overcome the voxel look and are set in a fantasy world. Light no Fire ticks off both boxes and adds dragon riding on top, so there’s a lot of potential here!

I Need Space looks like a potentially very fun and quirky puzzle adventure that’s doing its own thing. Surface impressions suggest Oxygen Not Included meets Starbound but it’s hard to say at this point, just watch the trailer.

Tiny Glade is one of the very few pre-release games that is an almost foregone conclusion for me. It looks fantastic and fits perfectly in my “zen builders” Steam collection together with Townscaper, Dorf Romantik or Cloud Gardens. I really look forward to trying it.

Mika and The Witch’s Mountain is essentially a game about delivering mail to some island townsfolk while riding a broomstick. I mean, how could I not be excited for something like this? It’s Kiki’s Delivery Service and recent titles I have enjoyed, such as Mail Time or A Short Hike, all in one. Pretty sure I will end up playing it!

Europa is a Zelda-esque looking exploration adventure that can go either way. If you enjoy games à la AER or Abzu, exploring old ruins and unearthing civilizations, Europa could be interesting. That is, if it manages to avoid boreout, as sometimes plagues this subgenre.

Silksong, the much awaited Hollow Knight sequel is put here for posterity if nothing else. The truth is, I have all but given up on this title and I doubt it will ever see the light of day. Announced five years ago, the devs went radio silent soon after and nobody really knows anything for sure anymore. It’s too bad, because Hollow Knight was a fantastic metroidvania in every aspect, a true indie rockstar and personal top 10 title.

Two years, many games!

Two years is a long time to be absent from blogging but it’s never too late to return to a good thing.

Maybe I will write about everything that happened down the line some day. For now, I’m happy the blog is up and running (including the dreaded SSL) and I look forward to some more regular writing about games again! I’ve not been idle on that front, even if MMORPGs have taken a backseat in recent times. I tried Palia some months back and I’m currently signed up for the BitCraft Alpha in April for which you can join via my buddy link, just in case you’re interested.

Other than that, I’ve played many an indie game as well as some interesting titles from the open world survival crafting genre which doesn’t seem to lose its popularity. Enshrouded is a very promising game that’s taken notes from Valheim and that my partner and I are currently enjoying quite a bit. I imagine I will write more on this in the coming days.

The most exciting thing right now is no doubt Dragon’s Dogma 2 releasing on March 22nd. The first title having been a cult classic among high fantasy RPG fans forever, it’s only taken Capcom 12 years to release a sequel. I guess they too felt it’s never too late to return to a good thing. While we wait, the free character creator has already been unleashed on Steam and judging from all the player creations already out there, the game is very impressive in the visual customization department. For me, it will need to bring back the magic of the golden days of yore – the dust of long and dangerous roads to travel, the fear around the campfire at night, the sound of dragon wings up in the sky. That just never gets old, that said I’ll keep managing my expectations until I’ve been able to sink some hours into the game.

For now, a very warm /hello! to all of you out there who may chance upon this post and everyone still lurking or actively blogging in this old neighborhood of ours! It feels good to be back blogging.

FFXIV Status Update and my Endwalker Wishlist

FFXIV is all the rave right now and I’m liking it. It’s fun to observe some people’s new found enthusiasm for a game that you’ve enjoyed for a long time. There’s been discussions on twitter as to how long the ‘WoW trenders’ will hold but frankly, it doesn’t matter. Any influx of cash to FFXIV is great and supports the devs, whether temporary or not. Meanwhile, Yoshi-P showed how transparent communication and public apologies are properly done, over something they had no control over, no less.

Character Status Update

My three max level jobs are ready for the expansion. I don’t really have any goals left or gear to grind on my BLM, WHM and BRD as all of them are over ilvl 500 by now which is good enough for me. All three have some stage of the new legendary weapons which look shiny but turn tortuous fast. Even my retainers kick some serious butt by now, even if they still bring me back useless junk most of the time. My FC room is maxed out on deco items. My Chocobo, Dandelion, is well fed and happy. I’ve accumulated a lot of hours in Shadowbringers and it’s been a fantastic run – but now it’s time to look to a new expansion.

Sometime during Shadowbringers, I gave up on BLM as my main after a couple of rushed, frustrating savage trials. I’m a bit sad that I fell out of love with the class but the lack of mobility and very strict rotation around Enochian are incredibly grating. I get that BLM is the highest raw DPS in the game but in order to get there, it requires so much prepwork and learning encounter positions by heart in advance that it ruins the fun for me. I like learning encounters as I go and being able to improvise, without falling out of sync with a 16-step rota that then locks you out of your most important abilities. This is also why I switched to BRD which is vastly different but also pays a high price for its mobility. I don’t think BRD party buffs are where they should be right now.

That leaves my WHM which is the most well-balanced class and a truly enjoyable healer to play. I think it’s fair to say that no other FFXIV healing class comes close to WHM, no matter what some die-hard Scholars like to say. I am still on the fence about trying out Sage in Endwalker; maybe it’s time to finally try Astro, as big changes for that one are coming (and their glams are superb). The way I see it right now, Endwalker come I will level BRD first, then go WHM next and BLM third. Whatever else needs to get in line.

Endwalker Wish List

My personal Endwalker most wanted are as follows:

A house in Ishgard
Better glamour system, bigger inventory
BLM changes (kill Enochian rota, improve mobility)
Make BRD DPS suck less (OR proper party buffs)
Dragons (you can never have too many of them – can you?)

It’s been revealed that instead of a chaotic housing rush start of 6.1. there will be a lottery system for players who’d like a housing plot in the new residential zones. This is good news as the current housing situation is nothing short of tragic. The artificial scarcity and cumbersome plot hunt is one of FFXIV’s worst designs. Fingers crossed I’ll get a shot at a small or medium plot at last, after so many years of cramming deco items into a small single room. One can only hope and pray!

Up to this point, the SE devs have still not said a peep about glamour revamp or glamour expansion for Endwalker. It’s not just me who’s got their glamour dresser, plates and retainer inventories bursting with set gear and other fluff, so I sincerely hope they address this too. A game that specifically lets you play up to 18 combat classes (as well as other non-combat ones) on a single character cannot get away with a glamour system as dated and restricted as that forever. Physical item transfers need to go, the dresser needs to become unlimited and plates need to be 10 per job, not overall, at the very least.

We’ll see what other news come out before November 23rd. I’ve a feeling we haven’t heard all there is to know about new Endwalker features just yet!

Fishing in Valheim

Fishing is Valheim is rather fun. I am not usually a piscator in MMOs but basking in the morning sun at the shore of our home base is one of the most pleasant, relaxing things to do in the game. The large fishing pole looks great and feels like a proper mechanical tool rather than the cosmetic item it often is in other games. Fishing is also easy and cooked fish makes for solid health and stamina food early in the game. I hear you can make fish wraps later on too but our progress is nowhere near farming barley just yet.

How to catch a lot of fish

Once I learned that fishing was a) all about stamina and b) about catching physically visible fish in Valheim, my hauls have improved in efficiency. I usually pick a spot at the shore that is busy with different fish and cast my pole in the same spot until it’s more or less empty, varying slightly with throwing angles and line distance. Reeling them in is simple as long as you ensure your stamina pool is reasonably high (I fish with a pool of 100-120hp to be on the safe side). I don’t reel in my fish in one go but long-press the right mouse-button several times in a steady rhythm which feels better to me personally.

After getting the basics down, I started upping my fishing game a little. I discovered there’s no need to fully reel in a fish as you can already target and store it with ‘E’ when it’s still 3-4 meters away. This makes the process faster and requires less stamina which can be helpful when you find yourself running short. I’ve never lost a fish, not sure if it’s even a thing or not as long as your stamina holds.

Then there’s of course the 2-star fish which yield 4x meat when you catch them. The large silver tuna are easily spotted in the water and swim much faster than other fish. They also seem to enjoy company, at least I often seem to catch 3-4 in a row which can lead to a stack per 5 minutes easily.

Another thing that happens quite often is the double catch: this seems weird to me but occurs frequently when I catch fish at the shore. The moment I reel in my catch, a second fish starts pursuing it. It will swim halfway up the slope at my feet before I store the hooked fish, so it’s possible to make a double catch by pressing ‘E’ twice in a row (the second time targeting the fish at my feet). Am not sure if these suicidal fish are meant to behave this way but as long as you’re standing close to the water line, you can benefit from crazy fish sacrifice.

Fishing improvements

Right now fishing is a cheap source of food in Valheim once you acquire the fishing rod at the trader and have cleared plenty of crypts for coin. Coin soon becomes abundant, so 10 gold for a stack of 50x bait is fair. What I’d like to see is more applications for fish as in more recipes. Another cool addition would be ocean fishing, with further type of fish added to the game. Checking the roadmap ahead, especially the ‘Hearth and Homes’ as well as ‘Ships and Sea’ announcements, that seems likely to be in the books.

FFXIV Endwalker Reveal

There was a lot of hype regarding a big reveal for FFXIV this week and some 10 hours ago Square-Enix finally answered the community’s most pressing questions:

Yes, there’s going to be a new expansion and it’s called Endwalker
The approximate release date is Fall 2021
The story will be taking the Warrior of Light to the Moon and Garlemald
Yes, they’re finally adding a fourth healer to the game: the Sage
Another new class will be melee dps (to be revealed in May)
Level cap will be raised to 90

While the teaser trailer didn’t particularly blow me away, the over two hours long announcement showcase covered a lot of ground as to what to expect for Endwalker. As final as the title of the next expansion sounds, Yoshi-P was quick to point out that it marks both a ‘New Dawn’ while simultaneously ending the long story arch of Hydaelyn and Zodiark in 6.0. He was also very clear that he had no intentions personally to go anywhere and was going to remain at FFXIV’s steering wheel for the foreseeable future. Good news.

As for the Garlemald Empire, nothing concrete was revealed other than that it will be part of the Endwalker storyline. A final showdown between Zenos and the Warrior of Light was hinted at while Yoshi-P mentioned it was all going to get complicated (again). Considering how great an expansion Shadowbringers has been, I really look forward to finding out where the story is going!

The design approach, or ‘cultural flair’ if you will, of some of the Endwalker zones scream sub-tropical (some commenters have said latin American) and are very colorful. I’m not much into the whole Dancer class vibe so I’m steeling myself for another experience à la Stormblood rather than Heavensward. Us high fantasy, renfair dragonslayer types can’t always win.

Thoughts about Sage

So the fourth healer class in FFXIV is going to be Sage which came as a surprise to me personally. Yoshi-P has pointed out many times in the past how difficult it is to balance the healing meta in FFXIV while keeping the gameplay fresh and different for each class. Playing a WHM myself when I’m not melting faces, I prefer the pure and powerful healer type (why play anything weaker than the best healer?). For this reason I’ve never been much into SCH or AST.

The Sage has been introduced as another ‘varied healer’ in the showcase which means a mixture of healing, mitigation and dps. What I’ve seen of the play style so far with the 4 Noulith weapons performing different actions, it’s not gonna be my cup of coffee.

Maybe the most exciting reveal about Sage for me personally is the fact they will be revamping AST to become the second pure healer next to WHM in Endwalker. SCH and Sage will occupy the varied healer role and thus become more distinct from the other two, registering differently in the duty finder as well. AST has always had fabulous class design so maybe I’ll be able to enjoy it more after the changes.

No words as of yet on glamour overhaul

One area the announcement showcase sadly didn’t touch upon was the glamour system and glamour inventory issue. While the system has been improved over the years, it is still leaps and bounds behind many other MMORPGs, forcing players to deal with physical items (and physical single-use dyes) that occupy a fairly restrictive inventory space. Considering FFXIV has the one-character-for-all-classes approach, keeps adding 2-3 classes per expansion and is piling on gear sets like no other game does, this is an increasingly pressing and frustrating matter for FFXIV players.

Gear is the true endgame and we all know it, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed we’ll see great changes in this department for Endwalker. Keep your varied healers, gief more shinies space!

Games for 2021

I haven’t played many different games in 2020 despite having been under soft lockdown for most of it. My three games of 2020 were probably Spiritfarer, A Short Hike and FFXIV, the latter still being my go-to MMORPG. I’ve had a good time with FFXIV last year for about three months but then my motivation plunged again as I hit the classic endgame token-gear grind. It is always the same with that game. But yes, it DOES still have lots of shiny armor!

I don’t know why 2020 proved to be rather uneventful for me gaming wise but 2021 is shaping up to be a better year if some previews (and release dates…) can be believed. I came across this Youtube compilation for the Top 20 Open World Games in 2021 in December and was actually surprised to find myself excited for quite a few of them, namely (in order of appearance):

Towers
Little Devil Inside
Fable 4 (highly doubt that it’s 2021)
Everwild

Another title that I am absolutely waiting for is Crimson Desert. I adored Black Desert’s world building and graphics, so a single-player experience would be very welcome. There are still rumors that the game might feature co-op play too which would be awesome and way better than trying to make it another MMORPG. I mean, just look at it – it’s glorious!

I was also very happy to learn about a new upcoming Fable last year. I never fully got over the discontinuation of Fable Legends, so it’s exciting that Microsoft agreed to give an open world title a chance. That said, I have my reservations about Playground Games pulling it off, given the only games they’ve worked on before were the Forza series. Speaking of games without certain release dates, what on earth happened to Hollow Knight: Silksong and Hytale? Both of these were supposed to get a releases or at least release dates long time ago yet seem to have fallen into obscurity.

As far as new MMORPGs go, I have not the faintest idea what to look forward to in 2021. I’m not even sure there will be any that deserve the title MMORPG, most lineups I’ve checked just seem to talk about survival or pvp-centric multi-player online games. I guess, I’ll just have to wait and see!

Gaming Wishlist Updates

Great news: I’m still here! I haven’t kept up with blogging the past few months due to some unexpected turn of events at the new job and workload too heavy to allow for musing in the evenings. It’s never a good sign when real life manages to swallow so much of me that I can’t write; but I have managed to play more games again lately which is slowly restoring my sanity. So, hello – I’ve missed you!

What I’ve been playing

After a longer break from Overwatch, me and the better half are back in the saddle and have been enjoying and despising ourselves in equal amounts during competitive play. Overwatch is one of those games where there’s just no middle ground: you want to hug and kiss your team mates or see them burn in a fire for all eternity. Okay, maybe not quite that but matches can be incredibly intense and Blizzard are still utterly failing the community in terms of the streak rating and loot box systems in place. If the heroes weren’t so darn fun to play and the gameplay wasn’t as smooth as it is, I would probably move on to another title but none can currently compete with Overwatch in the fun team shooter segment.

After some debate, I also recently picked up “I am Setsuna” on steam and have enjoyed playing a very classic JRPG again. It’s true that “I am Setsuna” (which should really just be called “Setsuna”) is heavily influenced by the style and gameplay of FF6 and Chrono Trigger, having shamelessly cloned the battle system of the latter. Still, Setsuna is a very different beast, with a morose tone following a linear story to a rather predictable, depressing ending. The game never lightens up the mood and just as the entirety of the world remains firmly covered in snow, its soundtrack features an uncompromising list of wistful piano tunes. Despite all that, I have enjoyed my time there so far – it’s a beautiful game with beautiful art, excellent gameplay and nostalgic moments.

Updating the Wishlist

While I haven’t been able to play much this summer, I have tended to my steam wish list ever so often. I am quite excited about some of the games, so here’s a short list of titles I added more recently:

Cuphead: a fantastic looking 2D platform shooter inspired by 1930ies cartoons, this game promises to be soul-crushingly difficult yet exciting to play in coop. I am worried the bosses may indeed be too frustrating for myself +1 but I fully intend to pick it up, anyway!
Ooblets: the complete opposite to Cuphead, I get a sweet zen vibe looking at Ooblets footage and any game inspired by Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon is cool in my book.
Wonder Boy TDT: Wonder Boy is back yet again! Love the visuals, love the IP and really looking forward to play a good old action adventure again sometime.
Rime: this game has been out for a while and is lauded as a spiritual successor to ICO or The Last Guardian. I am more than skeptical about this tall order but curious enough to wanna give Rime a go sometime.
Ni No Kuni 2: the sequel to the stunning Wrath of the White Witch is gracing PC in January 2018. I was sad the first title remained console exclusive, so its second installment is high up on my radar.
Epic Tavern: this game looks like a bit of fun and has been composed for by fabulous MMORPG composer Neil Acree. Taverns were always among my favorite things in RPGs and MMOs so this “epic tavern management RPG” sounds right in my alley.
Destiny 2: I’ve played the Destiny 2 open beta last weekend and have been enjoying myself quite a bit. By all accounts, the sequel to Destiny seems to have learned from the missteps of the first title, so I’m willing to give it a shot this time around for its exquisite aesthetics and gameplay alone.

I always like to have a few games to look forward to play during the long winter weekends and Xmas break. In terms of MMOs, I recently updated Wildstar and GW2 for what its worth. There’s also the FFXIV expansion I’d really like to play when I get the time! I used to be a Red Mage in FFXI and was thrilled to hear they finally added the class. Which games are you looking forward to play this fall and early winter season?

So have you heard about Ashes of Creation?

One of the greatest things about blogging for a longer period of time is followers coming up to you saying “you’re wrong about that” or “you forgot this”. This is genuinely beneficial and helpful in so many ways even if it ends in heated debates and disagreements sometime. At the best of times, we discover new viewpoints or just new THINGS we never heard of – and new games! So it happened with my last week’s post where I researched upcoming MMOs in 2017-2018 to get excited about. Shortly after, a friendly person on twitter poked me to ask:

Have you heard about Ashes of Creation?

I admit that I hadn’t up to now! I am aware of few titles from the more distant future, like Amazon’s New World, but I missed last December’s news on the big Ashes of Creation reveal and first look video on environments. So it appears there is another big scope classic MMORPG title in the works currently, by former SOE and Daybreak MMORPG developers no less – who knew? After some research, it does not appear that Dave G. is part of the crew however, in case you were wondering!

An Ashes of Creation First Look

Ashes of Creation development started 2016 which means the title is still a long way off and additional crowdfunding via kickstarter is planned to go up at some point. At a first glance, the game aims to follow the classic fantasy MMO formula, doing a little bit of everything with a focus on dynamic world building. This was something promised in EQN and we’ve yet to see a bigger title actually deliver on this front, so color me interested. Another feature that jumps out immediately is Intrepid Studio’s approach to housing which, according to their FAQ, is going to be both open world as well as instanced –

Q: Can I own land?
A: Our land owning system has an integrated personal housing and farming system to allow players to claim land in the open world. This land is the same static size for all players. You may then acquire blueprints for structures to build on that land, such as a home, stables for animal husbandry, crafting stations and more. In addition to open world housing, you will also be able to own homes within a Node itself; these homes will grow as the Node does, from a small cottage to a sprawling mansion! Certain Nodes will also have instanced housing. (source)

While there’s no definite word on the 8 different races and classes as of now, the different info on the housing and node systems make me wonder if there will be full non-combat classes? Many open questions like these are likely to be answered in the coming months and it’s worth checking out MoP’s interview with lead designer Jeffrey Bard as well as MMOGame’s recent interview with founder Steven Sharif for further inside info. From the many provided answers, I definitely prefer the below one from Syp’s interview:

Q: How will this game differentiate itself from everything else that’s out there or that is in the making?

A: Our hook is deeply integrated gameplay. When players first log in, they’re going to see Creation, beaten and broken. Outside of some few outposts of huddled masses, civilization doesn’t exist. It will be up to the players to invest life into the world, and bring villages, towns and cities into being. At the same time, they will need to protect what they’ve built, from the creatures they’ve disturbed in returning civilization to the world, as well as from each other. (source)

It’s the one million question: How is your MMORPG different from those that came before it? Considering how 99% of all MMOs start their player journeys the same way, the above statement is great news! Maybe Ashes of Creation will be the first title to really tell a story from the other end – from a world of destruction and desolation that’s waiting for players to rebuild and heal the land. Too often have we started our journeys in the sheltered lands of Elwynn Forest, Queensdale or The Shire, only to meet our inevitable Mount Doom as endgame progressed. How many times can we stomach traveling from soft greens and golden colors to black, brown and lava red?

To hear a developer say “we’re flipping the coin” is actually pretty exciting! It’s early days but yeah, consider Ashes of Creation added to my list of hopefuls. I guess they need to come up with a new shorthand though, AoC is already taken folks!

Which MMOs to look forward to in 2017 and beyond?

I mentioned in my recent New Year’s post that I no longer look forward to any upcoming MMORPGs in 2017 and beyond. In fact, I have a hard time remembering many titles and the ones I do know, aren’t exactly my cup of tea. Judging from the reactions within my twitter verse, I am far from alone in this sentiment.

I just realised 2017 is the first year in over 15y where I am not hyped / looking forward to a single upcoming MMORPG anymore… 🙁

— ~Syl (@MMOsyl) January 7, 2017

Now others have pointed out of course that gaming has never been more diverse and better than today and that is completely true. I can return to established MMORPGs and still find a lot of content to play through and get busy with. But with way fewer new projects on the horizon, I will still miss the excitement of looking forward to something new, diving into unknown worlds with other people. That’s just something I have always loved, that newcomer feel and collective excitement.

This encouraged me to actually go and do some research on upcoming MMORPGs for 2017 – 2018. As expected, it’s a different world from few years ago but I still managed to identify a few titles that may pique my interest in time:

Chronicles of Elyria

There’s been some buzz around this title for a while now and I admit some of the developer’s ideas, such as aging and living through several lifespans with your characters, sound interesting. As a kickstarted project it’s got a lot to prove but there’s no harm in following what already looks like a fairly promising indie project. Release date estimated at Dez 2017 earliest, so double that probably.

Pantheon, Rise of the Fallen

I know next to nothing about the great Everquest legacy and its associated heroes but I’m reading “high fantasy open world” and “focus on social and group play” and yeah you got me, I’m desperate! Bhagpuss has recently brought this title to my attention again and I’ve always trusted his savvy on the classics such as EQ and Vanguard, so color me mildly interested in Pantheon (once I got over the graphics, anyway)! Alpha/beta testing to be commenced in 2017 – release date who knows!

BLESS

BLESS is a Korean title set in a medieval fantasy world, composed for by legend Hans Zimmer which has caught my attention in the past. While the game inhabits the crowded space of “very pretty looking, grindy Asian MMOs with ingame shops” together with upcoming Revelation Online, its overall aesthetic is significantly more mature (no colorful wings either which is good news). Like Revelation Online, BLESS is another F2P title, so I may or may not find myself downloading the client at a very weak moment of MMO desperation. That is, if it’s actually available sometime – a somewhat curious topic of late!

….Aaaand that’s it! This is already the end of my list for 2017 – 2018 MMOs and this summary frankly hasn’t done much to lift my spirits. Granted, I am a fantasy MMORPG traditionalist, so PvP titles like Camelot Unchained or Crowfall are missing. These are no doubt interesting titles to a select audience but they ain’t mine. Are there any other upcoming games I should know of – and if so, where are they hiding??? :halp: