[Review] Skyforge: Plenty of Sparks, But No Flame

SBFord

I want to play Skyforge. But when I play it, and I immediately regret my decision. It’s at once both a fun game and a frustrating mess, and I can’t stress enough that everyone try it for themselves. For some of you in trying Skyforge, you’ve found a new go-to game. For others, you’ve learned precisely what you do not want from this genre. Me? I’ve learned that I want some of what Skyforge does, while loathing other aspects.

Read more of Bill Murphy's Skyforge: Plenty of Sparks, But No Flame.

Stop looking at my package, man.

Dragnelus

They give rewards in squads or group (dungeons) from the beginning also the "experience" points. You get class sparks (increasing prestige) you got weapons, rings, amulets or trophies (also increasing prestige) there is a guide which squads or dungeons etc you should do at your prestige.

LilithM

Solid combat? The game is called an action combat MMO, it's not. Behind the scenes it's still the same old tab combat, like WoW. It does not deserve to be called action combat MMO until they have something like we have in Tera online, Vindictus, B&S, Black Desert, etc.

The combat is dull and is why I quit. Add to this that the animations are very jerky, it lacks the smooth feeling I get from other actual action combat MMORPG's. Also, grind, grind and some more grind on top of that grind.

I do like the character creation system, body morphs are nice even though there could be more for the face. Costumes look great and they have sexy and plain/practical ones, whatever your taste is. The story is okay, nothing special. And I actually thought the voice acting was okay.

Other than the class system nothing stands out in this game.

Edit: Forgot to mention that the game is not a casual one, despite a bunch of people saying it is. It's clearly target toward the hardcore crowd, first and foremost.

Viper482

Originally posted by LilithM

Solid combat? The game is called an action combat MMO, it's not. Behind the scenes it's still the same old tab combat, like WoW. It does not deserve to be called action combat MMO until they have something like we have in Tera online, Vindictus, B&S, Black Desert, etc.

The combat is dull and is why I quit. Add to this that the animations are very jerky, it lacks the smooth feeling I get from other actual action combat MMORPG's. Also, grind, grind and some more grind on top of that grind.

I do like the character creation system, body morphs are nice even though there could be more for the face. Costumes look great and they have sexy and plain/practical ones, whatever your taste is. The story is okay, nothing special. And I actually thought the voice acting was okay.

Other than the class system nothing stands out in this game.

Edit: Forgot to mention that the game is not a casual one, despite a bunch of people saying it is. It's clearly target toward the hardcore crowd, first and foremost.

It is a tab/action hybrid. The combat feels much like any action game out there, the only difference is tab rather than reticle targeting. It certainly takes skill to play your class well. I love the combat and animations are great. The combat is every bit as engaging as Tera's in my opinion.

You are just a simple case of not everything is for everyone.

 

simmihi

Excellent first paragraph, that's exactly the way I feel. And a very nice touch concerning the main issue of the game, the terrible prestige design.

 

One character,not being able to detele it, not being able to reroll, not being able to reset the atlas - many players are already at the point where they farmed "bad" prestige (stamina and might from the order etc) and are not able to do any content which gives them rewards. It's a massive, MASSIVE design flaw.

 

I welcome the games which let you mess your character, but having this "opportunity", combined with the fact that you cannot start a new one, are things which cannot go hand in hand. The game and the stats are so badly explained that messing things up happens almost naturally.

Viper482

Review? Thought the game was still in beta?

simmihi

Originally posted by Viper482







Review? Thought the game was still in beta?

 

It's open beta, it's not gonna be a character wipe. They sell premium membership and currency. It's practically a "soft" launch. This is practically the "final" version of the game

 

 

BillMurphy

Originally posted by Viper482

Review? Thought the game was still in beta?

Open Beta for F2P is launch. Don't even get me started again.  See our article from 2013 stating our stance:

http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/7418/The-Beta-Is-a-Lie.html

 

LilithM

Originally posted by Viper482

It is a tab/action hybrid. The combat feels much like any action game out there, the only difference is tab rather than reticle targeting. It certainly takes skill to play your class well. I love the combat and animations are great. The combat is every bit as engaging as Tera's in my opinion.

You are just a simple case of not everything is for everyone.

 

 

It takes skill in Vindictus, it does not take any skill in Skyforge. In Vindictus, and Tera, you can avoid the attacks of enemies by moving/dodging or blocking at the right moment. In Skyforge there is only a couple of attacks by bosses that you can avoid. The rest of the attacks from enemies and bosses will allways hit you no matter what. Just like in WoW. This is typical of tab target games. An enemy shots an arrow in Skyforge? It will home in on you. In Vin and Tera you can avoid it.

If you love the combat in WoW you will love it in Skyforge.

orbitxo

agreed.

orbitxo

Originally posted by BillMurphy

Originally posted by Viper482

Review? Thought the game was still in beta?

Open Beta for F2P is launch. Don't even get me started again.  See our article from 2013 stating our stance:

http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/7418/The-Beta-Is-a-Lie.html

 

 

oh snapz! u got Bill started....i agree with Bills vid rant/ oops ..post-.

 

currently im on WS ptr and they are doin great things for the game!!! ill be very pleased= iam sure new players will be too.

 

Grintch

Originally posted by simmihi

Excellent first paragraph, that's exactly the way I feel. And a very nice touch concerning the main issue of the game, the terrible prestige design.

 

One character,not being able to detele it, not being able to reroll, not being able to reset the atlas - many players are already at the point where they farmed "bad" prestige (stamina and might from the order etc) and are not able to do any content which gives them rewards. It's a massive, MASSIVE design flaw.

 

I welcome the games which let you mess your character, but having this "opportunity", combined with the fact that you cannot start a new one, are things which cannot go hand in hand. The game and the stats are so badly explained that messing things up happens almost naturally.

My thoughts exactly. Before getting into the game, I tried researching play videos but almost every one playing it seemed as confused as I was about the Atlas. After playing for a few weeks, I now understand it but My char is screwed up by having too much prestige to do anything solo at all except for lower level regions. And using sparks haphazardly across the atlas messed me up. I don't mind grouping but I feel as if I'm being forced to which I don't like. I'm hoping for maybe an Atlas reset sometime but I'm not holding my breath. I really like the game and want to keep playing but it seems like a chore now.

gunmanvlad

I have to agree with that score. Good review Bill!

 

I think for me, I would break it up into: 

PvP - 8 (combat shines, but classes are not balanced yet)

PvE - 6 (the grind...oh the grind)

and if you want to be NUMERO 1 on the server in prestige or such, it is 100% ca$h driven.

 

Still, a very good F2P offering (as in, the ENTIRE GAME is free, but you can't keep up with top guilds unless you pay $$$). For me, as soon as Blade and Soul comes along I'm dropping Skyforge like a hot potato.

JeroKane

Originally posted by simmihi

Excellent first paragraph, that's exactly the way I feel. And a very nice touch concerning the main issue of the game, the terrible prestige design.

 

One character,not being able to detele it, not being able to reroll, not being able to reset the atlas - many players are already at the point where they farmed "bad" prestige (stamina and might from the order etc) and are not able to do any content which gives them rewards. It's a massive, MASSIVE design flaw.

 

I welcome the games which let you mess your character, but having this "opportunity", combined with the fact that you cannot start a new one, are things which cannot go hand in hand. The game and the stats are so badly explained that messing things up happens almost naturally.

No worries. It's the Allods Team we are talking about. It's all deliberately designed this way and soon they will add some nice "expensive" pots/scrolls/whatever in their cash shop to "help" people undo bad changes, emptying people's wallets and filling theirs.

SpottyGekko

Originally posted by JeroKane

Originally posted by simmihi

Excellent first paragraph, that's exactly the way I feel. And a very nice touch concerning the main issue of the game, the terrible prestige design.

 

One character,not being able to detele it, not being able to reroll, not being able to reset the atlas - many players are already at the point where they farmed "bad" prestige (stamina and might from the order etc) and are not able to do any content which gives them rewards. It's a massive, MASSIVE design flaw.

 

I welcome the games which let you mess your character, but having this "opportunity", combined with the fact that you cannot start a new one, are things which cannot go hand in hand. The game and the stats are so badly explained that messing things up happens almost naturally.

No worries. It's the Allods Team we are talking about. It's all deliberately designed this way and soon they will add some nice "expensive" pots/scrolls/whatever in their cash shop to "help" people undo bad changes, emptying people's wallets and filling theirs.

Yup, that's been my impression all along as well.

 

They're just letting players stew for as long as possible before offering the Cash Shop based "relief" ! 

 

I'm sure the team is watching their metrics like hawks. They're probably trying to sell as many Founders/Starter Packs as possible, before offering the "cheaper" options. As soon as the desired numbers are reached, they'll add some "convenience" items to the store. Players will be falling over themselves to buy them....

Shaiapouf

Personally, I like the game as a "Side game". It doesn't offer a whole ton up front, as a main game like WoW, or FFXIV, or whatnot, but its fun enough to hop in, take my pick of class, and run a couple dungeons or whatnot, and finish up by sending my adepts out on some missions. if played straight up, it can definitely get tedious since dungeons make up the meat of the game (Open world is something you pretty much do once or twice, and PvP is...imbalanced, to say the least.), but in short bursts, the game is still quite rewarding, since pretty much everything you do contributes to your upwards progression, making even these small sessions usually feel productive.

Pyuk

Great review, Bill. Touched on exactly what I like and don't like in Skyforge. Thumbs-up!

Mange1

Alright I'm enjoying the game and the only issue I have is the 19kish prestige queues are god awful, they are taking a long time to fix something that can kill the game for players.  I'm going to go ahead and be honest here though, the combat is trash if you really consider it an action MMO.  Like bottom tier, just as bad as ESO's.  It's pretty much tab target, projectiles are all unble to be dodged, the actual in game dodge doesn't protect you from anything.  It's certainly more tab target than it is action combat and that's not something I'm ever expecting to change in the game but I am still enjoying it.  Crowfall will have to be my next "skill based" MMO it would seem, Wildstar was my last but population woes pushed me away from there.  Same with age of conan before that.

JudgeUK

Targeting - a muddled mess when playing a support* class. You can lock on group members with F2. F3, etc, but in smaller groups you will also be switching to attack mobs.

Now it's this switching where the system has problems. There are several keys you can use, Tab, T, F, which all behave in slightly different ways.

The issue is this hybrid line-of-sight/tab/lock on they have come along with. In some groups you will have 9 other members, all dodging around. You'll also have mobs or opposing players doing the same thing - and you will be as well.

Any line of sight targeting in the middle of this hectic environment, coupled with the dayglo skill animations, is a matter of hit and hope. So it's back to F2, F3 etc

But additionally the target system just seems to fall over and break down during rapid switching, leaving you repeatedly pressing keys with nothing happening for a while.

But that's not the reason why they will never get a penny of my money...........

*Support - no healing.

Another game where they have decided to remove the class type that I love and have played throughout different mmo's for years.

I've been playing one of their support classes, the Lightbinder - and I hate the fact that they have screwed over healing classes.

Still that was their decision. My decision is a little different from Bill'. I’m not going to play Skyforge until certain things are changed, if ever.

This no healer decision is an absolute anathema to what I feel a support class should be.

Waiting for the next mmo that includes an interesting healer class......

Octagon7711

One thing I don't understand is why some nodes cost 800 red sparks on the atlas for something like 47 might, or why is the same color there three times in a row?  Those values need to be adjusted.

mmrv

I will do a little rewind on my opinion. PErsonally the combat feels bland, the enemies are uninspired and boring.

 

BUT THE REAL PROBLEM FOR ME WAS....the locked classes.... Not because they are locked but because you are limited to only 3 choices to start. It is an epic failure in design. The problem is if you are not interested in any of those 3 you simply won;t bother playing to the point you can unlock something else.

They should have let you pick 1 starting class to add to the trio (replace the category with what you picked) and then rotated that one out to be unlocked later if you chose. That way I could atleast start with a class that i think i would like and then I can unlock others that might peak my interst as I play. Right now if you dont like any of the 3 starting classes you are going to end up like me uninvested and just quit before you even reach the point you can even think about unlocked the class YOU ARE interested in.

dragonsi

I like Skyforge and have only been playing it since Monday, July 27th. I had to order a new video card to play it and even though I won a free Pioneer code to start early, my card didn't come until several days after OB started.

 

Here are MY negatives about this game:

 

Let's start with MSM (Mona Sera Monastary). I'm not sure if this is a glitch or intended, but I only did it 2 times so far. Both times I noticed we come up to a group of 9 monsters, 7 trash quick kills but 2 Nagas who are stronger. Or even a group of 2 strong Nagas and 2 fish shield guys.  We kill off MOST of the group but get wiped on last 1-2 of them. We come back ALL MOBS ARE ALIVE AND WELL AGAIN AND WE HAVE TO START OVER???  WTF?!  If it's dead DO NOT reset the entire group back to life!  Same thing with Kraken, we killed a few, died to 1 that went haywire, and like all 3 are now alive again!

Now I am Lightbinder, around 4200 Prestige, When I installed the game, I knew I would be either Cryomancer or Lightbinder. I thought it was great I love playing both Mage jobs and Healer jobs. Now I have a huge complaint. GUESS WHAT? The "LIGHTBINDER" does not have 1 single heal spell at all!!  I realize the bosses drop orbs, but not always often enough. NOR do I want to be a S.H.I.E.L.D agent and dish out shields only and 10 second "Power UP" spells.

Now again in MSM, the 2nd to last boss, the famous Kraken that continously spawns trash fish out at you, does not drop a single health orb EVER, in the 2 fights I have been with him so far. That's a little unfair to say the least. No way for me to heal, AND a boss fight they refuse to give us heal orbs in as well?

On the other hand, the good news is: I am in no hurry to get to other classes asap. I am taking my time, heading towards God Form now that we have a definite date for it in a week, even though that is 30.500 Prestige and I am only around 4200. I don't mind, I WANT those nodes open at least until I get that high, then I don't have to worry about it. I am also opening the smaller, easy nodes close to Paladin and Cryo on the Atlas, and the individual job atlases as well for the smaller gains in Stamina and Might and Valor.

Oxtrom

You gave Skyforge a 7? the game is maybe a 5-6, i usually agree with your reviews because they almost seem like my own opinion of the games but this time i cannot agree.

Lets start with the combat, which is so dull and boring, it's just press a few times left button in the mouse then press E to execute it requires no skill, i dont even think it can be called an action combat mmo because you can't even dodge when attacking, look at games with this kind of combat that imo do it much better (eso,tera,vindictus,dunno if gw2 is considered).

Dont get me started on the company that runs the guys who made Allods one of the worse pay to win games i have seen, and the sad thing is skyforge has everything to go the same pay to win path Allods went, you can already see it comming from miles away that after the launch they open a cash shop and start milking it till it's dry.

I'd give it a 5 or a 6, but hey this is your review not mine so you can give it whatever you want, i am only here to give my opinion.

Rhiow-Darkstep

Much the same here.  I like it, I am still playing it, but the things that niggle at me are growing and eventually will most likely drive me to play something else.

What I don't like in any game is being forced to do something I don't really want to do or don't really enjoy doing.  I enjoy PvE mostly, and I don't really like to PvP if I can help it. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy large scale stuff (RvR or WvWvW) but I really don't like arena PvP and I'll be the first to admit that I am not very good at it either.

Skyforge however seems to think that I should have to do lots of PvP and more often that not the specific currency that I really need if I am to progress my Order is sat on a 'Battle' (PvP) icon. It's there more than anywhere else and it's not unusual for all the major 'special' stuff to be sat on Battle Icons.

So I reluctantly join a queue, wait my turn, play as best I can (i.e. badly) and then get the resulting insults and backlash from the other players I was just thrown together with.  Not fun for me and not fun for them I am sure. But hey, I got my token anyway.

 

 

DoctorOfGames

"Tell me your prestige and i will tell you how much did you spend"

This game potentially would be one of the best but the cap and the marketplace ball up it. Why? Because you finish sparks in 6 hours of game and after you must grind for 6 day holy text and equip in impossible dg(in pt of 3 to get blue equip). Too much repetitive to get nothing!

 

This game is totally P2W (WIN, NOT PLAY). Premium account is useless, to get cap you need 6 hours with premium, 10 hours normally. So why who don't shop is 17-18k and who shop is 35k? It is simple, he spent 200 euros to upgrade all chapels (to limit of greatness) and bought all rank enhancement stone.

 

What about PVP? "Noobs" cry against blood harvest of slayer and "pro no shop players" cry against who has the same prestige but double life and double Luck(shoppers)

myxaplix

Open Beta = release

 

Skyforge has lost me because of the grinding for sparks. Once you work your way to a more advanced class, the new class is starved for sparks. You are relegated to grinding instance dungeons for a few hundred colored sparks a pop. After doing the same dungeon (instance) for the 6th or 7th time, I decided I wasn't having fun any more.

I'll check out the game again in a few months to see if things have gotten better....I seriously doubt it will happen. Games rarely change things this big once the game is fully released.