This week we are looking at Arcfall, the old school style MMORPG which brings an online world into the current times. Similar in scope to Ultima Online, this game offers players a fresh take on the sandbox exploration game with fighting, crafting, and housing to fill out the menu for players.
There is something great about entering these worlds for the first time. Arcfall makes it easy on the player by giving them clear quests and markers on the map to accomplish early goals. Once you get the hang of the game, you are walked through some basic scenarios to get you on the right path.
The one thing Arcfall brings back is open PvP. There is an area called the King’s Reign which is essentially the safe zone. Now, once outside that area, it is free game. This style of play balances everything: economy, loot, gold, items. Mainly because people are forced to play smart and not take their best gear outside the main areas. If you do, you know the risks. There are checks and balances though, they do give a 3-minute window on your corpse before looting.
The fighting in Arcfall is straight forward, pick up the weapon you want to use and go for it. Having a skill based system, this allows for some creative combos within a character. Usually, the meta will give rise to certain classes, but everything seems fairly balanced in the pre-Alpha game. Having a ranged and close combat option seems to work best in tandem. Bow or Magic and a weapon on hand can give you good options. You just have to be fast on the switch.
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Arcfall does do a good job of making housing and crafting easy and accessible. You don’t have to stray far and wide to get yourself started. I am sure things get much more complex at the later levels, but in the beginning, the world gives you a sense of belonging.
For an early development game, Arcfall will bring a lot to old school MMO players that have missed the exploring and danger of a true open sandbox. Another addition is the high seas which we did not get far enough to explore, but supposedly there are pirates to fight and ways to trade. This is something which could really bring players into a much more vibrant world, just not sure how PvP may work out there.
Arcfall has a lot of hidden gems. It is on Steam now in early access. If you want to begin anew in a sandbox this is a solid start. The team will be adding a lot more in the future to flush out the already fairly rich world. If you are not invested in any games currently, and this sounds like your cup of tea, for only $19.99 it is a good price to get started. They offer some upgrade packs for more money, but if you work quickly you’ll get established fairly early on. I'm excited to see where this game continues as they add more to the world.
