/played: Forgotten Runiverse
/played: Forgotten Runiverse
My thoughts on the games I play.
In this new series of posts, I'll delve into the games I play and share my thoughts in the most unbiased way possible, of course.
My appreciation for the Forgotten Runes universe has always been an open book (heh). Simply put, I like pixels and wizards - I'm a simple man at heart, after all.
General information
They've successfully established a web3 IP from the ground up and continue to thrive, even amidst a terrible bear market. Through my discussions with the team, I've learned they've adapted to market changes. Additionally, the project's top executives bring expertise from their pre-web3 careers, which I find reassuring given web3 projects’ tendency to blow it up from the top down due to inexperience and unhinged hubris.
Following the successful minting of 10,000 wizards (Note: one of Yuga/BAYC co-founders just bought in yesterday, this is a random fact, that’s all), they've launched other collections, an extensive collaborative lore. On top of that, they've nurtured an incredible community that produces a vast array of user-generated content, including a weekly gazette, trading card games, art, music, and much more. Last year, they revealed a significant collaboration with the award-winning animation production company, Titmouse. Together, they have enlisted the talents of Derek Kolstad, a renowned action writer and creator, to develop an eight-episode series for Forgotten Runes.
They're even creating an official game, which brings us to the reason for this post (details below).
By the way, here is my wizard “Charmer Artis of the Grotto”, with her very rich backstory that I crafted over months:
Now onto the part that you all came for, the Forgotten Runiverse game. Back in January 2022, Magic Machine (the company behind Forgotten Runes) announced that they were building a game with Bisonic. Here’s an excerpt of the press release:
The two companies will establish a true web3 interactive fantasy MMO with sandbox elements that will become a hub for a variety of games and experiences. Players will own land, socialize, collect resources, craft items, create lore, battle legendary beasts and embark on epic quests. The game will be supported by key on-chain elements that deliver dynamic functionality empowering players to create and mint their own custom nfts. These nfts will be used and sold in-game as well as on third-party marketplaces like Opensea or the upcoming Coinbase NFT platform. The metaverse will expand the lore-based “Runiverse” into the interactive realm, growing the reach and awareness of the already flourishing Wizard Cult. There is a planned private and public land sale coming soon enabling anyone to own a corner of this soon to be realized world.
The Bisonic team has decades of collective experience producing, publishing and developing games such as Elder Scrolls Online, Diablo, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, Far Cry 3, Rainbow 6 Siege, Batman Arkham Origins, Killer Instinct, Street Fighter and more. The expertise of both companies will allow the Forgotten Runes community to play solo or as a group, creating a nearly limitless experience where anyone can create their own fantasy life through “create to earn” mechanics.
Keep in mind that this was in January 2022, when Bitcoin had dropped from 69k to approx 40k. Axie Infinity (and play to earn) was losing its luster, and the metaverse was beginning to show some dents in its almighty & shiny armor. The landscape was entirely different compared to just six months earlier. Why am I mentioning this? It's to provide context and explain why certain terms, once prevalent in their descriptions, have now faded from use or just toned down.
Since then, they have been continuously developing their project, showcasing impressive art, cool mechanics, and captivating music snippets. However, a playable demo had been elusive... until this week!
Bisonic and Magic Machine have now finally opened the gates for players to experience their game through the "Eve of Memory" event. The trailer for this event is quite cool as well, as it’s a mix of gameplay and artwork, and does a good job of explaining the event:
The event has several objectives:
Increase awareness of the game and its intellectual property.
Collect initial feedback from players.
Enable access to the upcoming land sale through gameplay (seals that you can get, see the gameplay loop below).
What we have access to right now, is a vertical slice, aka a demo made for a very specific event. Here’s their plan for the content roll-out:
The image above clarifies what is accessible in the game and what isn't (for instance Quantum Gifts aren’t available to mint). It's important to remember that this is a very early version, which means it's very likely to have bugs. I'll outline some of these, and I saw on Discord that the team is diligently working to resolve them, maintaining open communication throughout the process.
Right before the opening of the game, the Ring mint happened - I managed to get one (out of 700) for 0.015 despite the gas war. The current price is 0.30ETH. Ring offers the following:
Having reached level 15 and played for around 7 hours, I can say the following:
Good
Accessible to all, without a Wizard, or a Ring.
Simple login with an email + password.
The tutorial is pretty solid, as you go over most of the mechanics and the game loop. They even wrote an excellent gameplay guide for the event. This reminds me of the documents we employed in PR/comms when we invited press and influencers to try out a game at an event or online. So, kudos to them for adopting a similar approach. These elements seem obvious, but they help people understand your game, and cover it more efficiently (someone lazy will even just copy/paste it).
Good lore & world.
The soundtrack and sound design are delightful. Really.
The battle system is simple and efficient. Albeit it could need some more intricacies. It reminds me of Battle Chasers: Nightwar.
Good implementation of the Ring, and store (see at the end of the article).
Good gamification to allocate some of the land sales slots.
Group play is encouraged.
The game loop is simple, and reminds me of Monster Hunter, in a sense. It’s as follows:
(Courtesy of myself, you can use it)
Please note once more that this is a vertical slice, and a lot of this can be fixed.
Could be better
Art is very un-even.
The map art looks gorgeous.
Wizards look meh on Overworld, but slightly better during fights. Also depends on which kind of wizard you have.
Elites look amazing during fights.
Mobs look weird on the overworld maps.
UI in general is too chonky, and not useful enough
No hover indications.
No quest log.
Too many clicks to do some actions (that can be done in a drag & drop for instance).
The chat box is chonkier than me after holidays.
Bugs
Leveling difference between character menu & overworld.
While group play is encouraged, it’s highly buggy and offers very few options.
Got kicked out of the game/boss fights many times.
Quests not giving rewards.
Mana bug.
Misc
Buffs/debuffs are too strong.
Drop rates aren’t optimized.
My wizard looks like Hog from Overwatch & misses a neck.
Firebolt deals PHYS damage????? Literally unplayable.
Business model
One could argue that there's a slight dual pay-to-win element at play here. The Ring aids in gacha pursuits, and similarly, the option to buy packs of mana for additional wishes at the Font of Memory exists.
As someone who has regularly engaged (gambled tbh) in gacha games over the years, even whaled in Fire Emblem Heroes during 2017-2018, I don't necessarily see a problem with this. Here's my perspective:
Traditional gamers might not find this problematic, but they might raise an eyebrow at the incorporation of NFTs. However, whether NFTs are involved or not, it doesn't significantly alter the gaming experience – in my opinion, it's just a different storefront.
Web3 gamers might also not see a major issue, except for the potential concern of being priced out if items like the Ring become more common. Market rules, I guess.
I didn’t see the mention of a token, so no comments on that from my end.
Conclusion
All-in-all, I've really enjoyed my time playing the game, but I can’t grind it in its current state - and that’s not the goal of a vertical slice anyway. I am looking forward to numerous upgrades in the coming months. These improvements are crucial to bring the game up to the standard of web2 equivalents and demonstrate that web3 games are not merely Ponzis or scams.
Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: nothing I say here is financial advice. These are just my thoughts on a new up & coming IP, and their game.