Atlas Fallen

[Maryokutai]

I'd like to preemptively say that I'm enjoying this very much, but I want to start off by mentioning two major flaws because the game can potentially put you off initially before it sarts to come into its own.

 

First of all, do not play it unpatched. Because I have a very slow internet connection but wanted to give it a shot right away the day I got it, I installed it offline and dear god. Whatever "gold" version they pressed on the disc here is basically an alpha version. It looks and runs significantly worse than the finished release, it lacks fundamental gameplay elements (no lock-on for example) and even the settings menu barely has half the amount of options you eventually have at your disposal after it's been patched. Deep down I think it should be unacceptable to release a game in this state but we're so far down that path already that I feel like wasting my energy to point it out. So, tl;dr: don't play this without the Day One patch.

 

Secondly, the game itself has an incredibly weak opening. Think back to how masterfully The Last of Us introduced us to its world, its protagonist and his motivations in a very effective 15-minute rollercoaster. Now imagine the complete opposite if that and you have a good idea of what Atlas Fallen's prologue is like. It's magic mumbo-jumbo mixed with a visually very unappealing tutorial area and leaves a very unappealing first taste.

 

That said, now to the good stuff, because at around two and a half hours of playtime the game does its own 180 and turns into what I'd summarise as a surprisingly enjoyable mix of open world action game and light RPG. After the tutorial it throws you into an open world hub that's big enough to be believable as a place but small enough to not feel overwhelming in a way few modern games are. And while the game's structure with quests and areas being gatekept by enemies above your level is very RPG-esque, the actual progression system does kind of its own thing. Instead of collecting XP and levelling up, your character becomes stronger by upgrading their armour and unlocking Perks associated with that progress. In parallel to this you find, in a very motivating pace I might add, a lot of active and passive "Essence Stones", which are basically skills and buffs that enhance your options during combat.

 

Combat itself is a mixed bag and also a clear indication that this doesn't go all the way as an RPG because there's only one way to approach it and just a couple of variables through the aforementioned stones. The game is build around the so-called momentum gage, which fills up as you attack and do other violent gamey stuff. Said gauge is split into three segments and every segment is linked to one skill you previously equipped, with the third one obviously being stronger than the first. The higher the gauge, the higher your damage and the lower your defense, which is described as a risk-reward mechanic but doesn't really feel that way because you have no control over it. Generally speaking, this all works rather well and is good fun, but I have two problems with it: firstly it's very, very easy to miss the indicator for off-screen attack prompts, so I'm getting hit quite often. Might be a me-thing though. The other one is not though and that's the very wonky lock-on. Bigger enemies have multiple body parts you can destroy for better loot but the lock-on is so finicky against those enemies that you sometimes can't get the right part locked or the game refuses to let go when you'd rather want to focus on the small mob running around etc. There's ways to work around this – my solution is not using lock-on at all until there's only the big one left – but it's still something to point out as a flaw.

 

Outside of combat the game basically just consists of exploration, which is fun both thanks to the world's verticality and the protagonist's mobility, who can double jump and air dash. Moving around feels very good and it's here the game feels most polished. In other areas, like dialogue sequences, you can tell this is at max a double-A, sort of euro-jank title marketed as a big-hitter. Visually it's very pleasing, but with noticeable pop-in and very outdated character models that wouldn't look out of place in a PS360 game. I do want to point out though that Deck13 is using its propriety tech and hasn't jumped on the Unreal-bandwagon so huge respect for that, because all things considered this is a technically very impressive game for such a small studio. Six hours in the story hasn't really evolved much beyond the initial mumbo-jumbo and still resolves around the protagonist's gauntlet and the spirit of a Navii trapped within, but when the actual moment-to-moment gameplay is this rewarding it's not a big deal for me yet. 

 

How on earth this is sitting below a 70 on metacritic I have no idea, but then again the same thing happened with Venetica back in the day. I think US outlets in particular have a really hard time accepting the space in-between triple-A and indie, you rarely see them really value the effort put into these games and maybe looking past a flaw or two. Or maybe I'm just too partial because it's a German game, I don't know. Anyway, I think a few people here might end up enjoying this, you just have to be prepared for a sub-standard opening and be ready to play around some QOL flaws during combat encounters. I've also heard it only takes about twenty hours to complete, which I think is a good sign in this day and age of bloated open world releases.

 

 

[DANGERMAN]

crazy that stuff like lock-on is missing from the unpatched disc

 

I'd be interested to see this actually in action, feels like no one is talking about it at all

[Maryokutai]

The second half of this year is just a bad spot for games that aren't automatic PR-magnets. Currently BG3 dominates the conversation, next month it'll be Starfield, in October you have Spider-Man and Mario and both November and December are suicidal times for AA anyway.

 

It's unfortunate this had to be delayed because I think the initial June (?) date would have been a perfect spot without much competition, but looking at its unpatched state I can absolutely see why they deemed it necessary to push it back a few months.

 

For what it's worth I think it's a great little game in a very unremarkable way, if that makes sense. It's not gong to win any prizes but it draws me back to the console more than a lot of other recent stuff I've played. 

[Maryokutai]

Finished this the other day. My impressions didn't change much over the course of its runtime, but I think it would have been better if it had been five hours shorter. I ended up with 27 hours on the clock (which includes most side activities) but in terms of mechanical depth and narrative beats, this should have been a 20-hour title. I'm not saying it becomes bad or overstays its welcome, but there's not enough meat here to warrant the last few segments, which mostly consist of you gong through the motions. It doesn't offer anything new mostly, it just makes you realise some of its limitations, like the very samey mob fights, more and more as you go on.

 

It's a really solid, middle-tier game though, the kind of you'd have seen more on PS360. I think people who enjoy the likes of Darksiders would also enjoy this – not because it's the same design or setup, but it falls into that niche of trying to be its own take on something that exists, without having the financial backing to go all the way. I'm glad I picked it up before all the big titles come out and might even consider buying the DLC that is coming out sometime next year.

 

 

(This scene was a very heartwarming tribute to one of their team members who passed away during production.)