Embers of the Uncrowned Preview
If you’re a fan of dark fantasy action games with flashy combat, eye-melting spell effects and a few new ideas to blend into the genre, Embers of the Uncrowned might be worth a look. A demo dropped on June 13, but I had the chance to try it out a couple of weeks prior. Tagged as an MMOARPG, Embers of the Uncrowned definitely occupies the same space as Lost Ark, Diablo IV or Path of Exile 2, to name some familiar examples. But if you love the genre, it’s hard to not get excited by a new kid on the scene.
Drawing of the Three
Embers of the Uncrowned has a pretty well fleshed-out narrative premise. You play as the illegitimate child and heir of House Harborwell. Tension and conflict drive you away to live as a mercenary, but you return home to Goldenhaven after elves invade the kingdom. As is so often the case in fantasy, you uncomfortably assume a leadership role with the goal of driving out the elven invaders for good.
A richly produced cinematic provides some backstory and context, but in-game, none of the dialogue is voiced. I imagine a lot of impatient gamers will click through it just to get to the action. Having actors voice the script would have definitely upped the engagement potential and added a little more AAA feel.
Embers of the Uncrowned gives you a choice of three starting characters/classes. The Executioner is a strength-based heavy tank with a massive two-handed axe. The Spectral Blade is an agility and speed class, wielding a magic phantom blade and a longsword. Finally, there’s a caster called the Stormbringer, who uses wind, lightning, and other elemental powers. While there’s an extensive skill tree for each class, you can’t create hybrid builds or pull cool abilities from outside your class. That said, Embers of the Uncrowned follows the lead of many recent RPGs and allows for easy respec-ing, should you want to experiment.
Skin Deep
While only three starting classes feel a little restrictive, the deep character creator and customizer guarantee that at least your character will look unique. Unlike Nexon’s excellent anime-inspired The First Berserker: Khazan, Embers of the Uncrowned uses a more familiar dark fantasy art style, with attractive female character designs that emphasize lingerie armor and jiggle physics. No judgement.
The starting areas look pretty good, bathed in gritty detail and drenched in somber colors. In fact, lighting effects are one of the game’s strongest elements. especially the magic effects in boss fights. Unfortunately, the technical panache of the light design is undercut by a camera that is in desperate need of fine-tuning. Those boss encounters are colorful but a nightmare to visually parse.
While not yet as technically polished as its more seasoned peers, combat in Embers of the Uncrowned feels a lot like an action RPG. There are light and heavy attacks, parries and special abilities on cooldowns. One frustration is that movement and reaction time right now feel slugglish. Dodging has that millisecond delay that makes every roll fire just a little too late. I auditioned all three classes. While the caster and agility classes felt pretty well balanced, the Executioner struggled against agile enemies and even some low-level foes. A hammer-axe the size of a small refrigerator should pancake little squishy enemies, even at the start, am I right?
Fun for One or More
One of the player’s goals in Embers of the Uncrowned is liberating elven-controlled camps and occupied regions. Doing so requires defeating a Domain Boss in a multiplayer raid-type battle. In this regard, the comparison with Lost Ark is spot on. Aside from these fights, a lot of Embers of the Uncrowned can be tackled alone, with a small cooperative group or with a companion AI character. One of these figures prominently in the demo and in the narrative. There’s plenty of solo content, but it will eventually funnel soloers into a mandatory multiplayer battle.
Whether solo players — or groups, for that matter — embrace Embers of the Uncrowned really depends on several factors. Right now, the game needs plenty of fine tuning in many areas. For example, controllers barely work. There’s placeholder text and mistranslations. Combat is not quite dialed in, though it can look and feel quite impressive at times. The limitations of only three classes will definitely give gamers pause if they’re used to more build variety and hybrid classes. Finally, there are just swaths of unfinished details that need filling in. I’m tentatively intrigued by Embers of the Uncrowned’s potential and I look forward to checking in with it later.
***PC code provided by the publisher for preview***
