ArcheAge Chronicles Demo Impressions: A Gorgeous World With a Slow Dodge

I played the ArcheAge Chronicles demo during Steam Next Fest, from the opening cinematic through the first boss and into the open world. It is free for every Steam user and runs until October 26 at 10:00 AM PDT, according to XLGAMES' demo announcement. That is 1:00 PM EDT, 5:00 PM in London, 6:00 PM CET, and 1:00 AM on October 27 in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taipei (GMT+8).

My short version: the world is one of the best looking I have seen in an MMORPG, and the first boss fight was intense. The combat feels weighty, but dodging felt slow, and that is the part to know before you try it.

An opening that looks like a Soulslike

The introduction was fine. It is dark and grim, with fallen knights, floating corpses and a hooded figure walking through a burning field, and for a few minutes it feels like a Soulslike RPG. ArcheAge Chronicles is still an MMORPG, though, and that mix of a heavy, cinematic start with an online world is what makes the demo interesting.

Four classes, three weapons each

Before the adventure starts, you create your character and choose a class. The demo has four: Warrior, Ranger, Berserker and Mage. Each one has three main weapons. The Warrior uses a Longsword, Greatsword or Gladius. The Ranger picks a Hatchet, Longbow or Crossbow. The Berserker chooses an Axe, Warhammer or Greatshield, and the Mage has the Elemental Staff, Wavesword or Vitality Staff. Each class also has two kinds of traits that push it toward a different style.

I picked the Mage with the Wavesword, because a sword in a spellcaster's hands felt a little bit like playing an assassin. One thing surprised me: even with the Wavesword chosen, the opening and the first boss put the Mage staff in my hands, with fire and lightning skills. The sword only showed up once I reached the open world.

The Herald Knight fight was intense, but dodging felt slow

The first boss is the Herald Knight, a huge armored figure with glowing purple eyes and a blade as big as a door. I beat him, and the fight was intense, with purple fire spreading across the floor of his arena.

My problem was the dodge. There is a delay before it comes out, so dodging felt slow when an attack was already coming. You also cannot stop a skill once you have used it, so if you commit to a charged spell at the wrong moment, you take the hit. That means you have to plan your moves instead of reacting.

A stone, and then the open world

Once the Herald Knight falls, you receive a stone, and after a short scene you enter the world. The graphics are pretty good compared with other MMORPGs, and the character close ups in these scenes show it well.

Wanted posters send you hunting

The first town has a board with wanted posters, and that is where a quest to hunt a target begins. Reading a poster gives you a clue about the person, and from there you need to check your map and look for the wanted target yourself.

A world that feels real

This is where ArcheAge Chronicles impressed me most. The world is gorgeous, and the graphics are really different from what I expect in this genre. Standing at the lake and looking at the ruined tower, it felt like a real place. You can swim, and you can fly. Underwater, there are schools of fish, coral and sea grass, and you use Q and E to swim up and down.

Crocodiles by the sea

You can also kill the crocodiles near the sea, and I had a lot of fun with them. When one of them opened its big mouth right in front of me, I could not stop laughing. The shore also kept me busy with small quests in the tracker, like collecting bone chips, crafting a Lifeflow Potion at a Brewing Furnace, and a quest to defeat Pallatius the Severer.

You can fight other players too

The open world is not only monsters. You can also kill other players, and I fought them with the Wavesword out on the same paths where I was questing. In between, the bone chips for the Gathering Bone Fragments quest came from giant skeletons lying along the shore, which is another spot where the scenery stands out.

Verdict

The ArcheAge Chronicles demo shows a beautiful, believable world, a class system with plenty of choice, and an intense first boss fight. The slow dodge and skills that cannot be cancelled made combat feel slower than I wanted. If you are curious about a great looking MMORPG, the demo is free until October 26, so it is worth trying yourself.