Open Beta playthrough or what happens if you cross Fortnite with Dark Souls?
For those who heard about the game for the first time, I offer a short digression into history. 24 Entertainment’s Battle Royale was first announced at The Game Awards in 2019 and attracted the attention of the public with its unusual Japanese-style setting, parkour and main focus on close combat. The trailer showed several episodes of each of the unique elements, I suggest you watch it in order to better understand what is at stake.
Since then, there has been no news about the game. But on April 11 this year, the developer, suddenly, threw off the vow of silence and invited everyone to an open beta test. Along the way, releasing another trailer to attract attention. To participate, you just had to go to the page of the game in Steam and request access. After a couple of minutes, the game was automatically added to the library and you could start downloading.
The beta test was available to everyone from 23 to 26 April. What did I see in just over 8 hours of play?
After starting the game and a small piece of text from faces. agreement and warning that this is a beta test and the final product may differ, it was proposed to create an account in one of the regions. Entering a nickname, the game turned on a cut-scene with a certain nameless hero and offered to learn the basic commands for controlling the character, as well as a brief excursion into parkour, melee and ranged combat, using skills, and other introductory elements.
In general, the training took no more than 10 minutes and ended with a boss fight. Having dealt with the boss without any problems, I got to the main menu of the game, and then, in the best traditions of free-to-play, various notifications and pop-up windows rained down on me.
Having dealt with all the messages and red markers, I went to the first battle. By default, the battle royale mode is enabled in a party of three on a huge map with a maximum of 60 players. Looking ahead, in the beta one more mode was available – on a smaller map – where every man is for himself (ie classic deathmatch).
The beginning of the game is no different from other representatives of the genre – on a huge map there are available zones for “landing”. You can choose the same point as other group partners, or you can invite them to land on the point you suggested. Then there is a 90-second countdown (as I understand it, needed to connect all the players) and after a small load, the battle begins.
So, what is Naraka: BladePoint and how does it differ from existing projects in this genre?
Setting
The whole game is done in a rather restrained style, very reminiscent of Ghost of Tsushima or Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. The appearance of heroes is Japanese samurai, Buddhist fighters or mysterious female assassins. Weapons – both melee and ranged – are swords and nothing more. There are katanas to choose from, a long or huge sword (three in total). With long-range weapons, things are better – here you have a bow, a crossbow, a pistol, and much more (there is even a Bloodbourne-style gun!).
The map has several different biomes (more on that in a bit), but in general, its style is also made with a clear hint of Japanese villages: small houses, interesting architecture with a combination of bright colours, wood, dragon symbols and low ceilings. There are monasteries, towers with bells, and even a cemetery with ships!
It all looks surprisingly organic together and I really liked it.
Gameplay
If most of the existing battle royales focus on long-range combat or medium range, then Naraka: BladePoint is predominantly a close combat game with small inserts of medium range (due to the huge arsenal of this type of weapon). This approach seemed a little strange to me – after all, the developer himself positions his brainchild precisely as a melee game with elements of parkour. But at the same time, there are only 3 melee weapons to choose from!
What they did not fail with was parkour. There is more than enough of him here and he significantly affects the outcome of the battle. Firstly, absolutely all surfaces can be climbed – be it a tree, a wall or a piece of rock. Secondly, for moving to greater distances or higher heights, the game has a special hook. You can activate it by collecting a special supply.
The grappling hook can be used to quickly initiate a fight, as well as to retreat or divert attention. There is also a special feature – if you hit a player with a hook and press the strike key while approaching, the hero will perform a special attack. This works without the possibility of a counter-attack, i.e. if someone flies towards you, then they won’t be able to dodge – which spoils the impression a little, but makes you constantly move and not stand still.
In addition to the weapon and the grappling hook, each hero has a unique skill with a small cooldown and another – like an ult – with a longer cooldown. Both skills can be learned in the game menu and even watch a video to understand how to use them correctly.
Ah, I almost forgot. The first few matches are a group of people playing against bots – at first I was a little surprised how cool I am playing. And then I upgraded several levels of my account and got into the game with real opponents. This transition turned out to be a little abrupt, because I was thrown into a party with the same newcomers (ie 1-10 matches played), and the opponents were guys much more experienced. Well, let’s put it down to the beta’s flaws and we can only hope that the matchmaking will be slightly tweaked by the final release.
Game modes
In addition to the training mission, available from the menu on an ongoing basis (special thanks for that – I took a new hero and quickly tested his abilities), there were 2 more options: a classic battle royale on a large map and 60 players in groups of 3 people and the “last hero” on a smaller map, where points were awarded for each kill and the one who scored the most points in 20 minutes won.
In the latter mode, it was possible to revive after death after 10 seconds. In the battle royale, there were 2 extra. options – playing solo and playing in a group of three. In the first case, death meant the end of the game, and you could either watch the survivors or go look for the next “skating rink”. In the case of a group, the developers decided to slightly diversify the gameplay and provided the opportunity to resurrect both independently and with the help of partners.
Impressions from the battle
The first couple of matches to kill bots is a pleasure. Basically, it was a thoughtless “click” of the left mouse button with a periodic “ult”. I tried to learn the points of interest on the map and deal with moving around the map.
But when the account level rose a little (rating points are added for each successful battle, and they are removed for a bad one) and real people appeared instead of bots, the game reached a different level.
Both 1v1 fights and group fights now require more careful study and even faster reactions. You need to use skills in time, and the ultimate can completely turn over a seemingly already lost skirmish.
It is impossible to demonstrate all the richness and tension of the game in the screenshots, so I added a couple of entries from other players.
Several losses in a row made me go read the game encyclopedia (“narakapedia”) again: learn the combinations of each weapon, remember from training how to block a powerful enemy strike and do not forget about the stamina bar – jumping and bouncing without stopping is not always possible.
In general, the battles turned out to be quite dynamic: the parkour system transfers any battle from plane to space, each type of weapon requires a personal approach, and the environment can play a significant role in the outcome. And most importantly, you don’t have to build anything around yourself and compete in the construction of skyscrapers 🙂
Not without a fly in the ointment – some tricks are bad counter-attacks and if you drive the enemy into a corner when attacking 2-on-1 or 3-on-1, there is practically no chance of getting out alive. The strange implementation of the hook also adds fuel to the fire – as I wrote above, you cannot dodge it.
Special thanks to the developers – for their excellent organizational skills. They actively answered questions in the subreddit of the game and supported an active discussion in the discord, but that’s not all.
During the beta testing, several different competitions were organized. The first is to make a video with the most outstanding moments from the game. The second is the best custom modification of the appearance of the hero. There were also awards for the first places in single and group rankings in each of the regions. And the last thing is a small knockout tournament among the best of the best. The total prize fund of all awards (gift cards from Amazon or Steam were handed out) amounted to more than $5,000!
Heroes
In short, only 6 were available in the beta. Each was worked out not only visually, but also with some history that was revealed gradually – the more you play for a particular hero, the more you “know” him and discover different information about his past.
To be honest, I liked the overall style: after the monotony of zombies, and the dominance of cartoon or military themes, the heroes of Naraka: BladePoint are like a breath of fresh air.
In addition to unique skills, the heroes also have special talents, which are upgraded for special tokens. Each talent increases some of the characteristics of the character, such as the speed of energy regeneration, or enhances one of the skills. Unfortunately, I simply did not have enough time to deal with this aspect of the game.
Monetization
The game provides several tools to ease players’ wallets, but at the time of the test, almost all cosmetics were available for free.
The first and most typical is that the appearance of the characters can be changed with the help of clothes, accessories and other cosmetics. You can buy it both for points obtained in battle and for gold – which you can earn by completing various quests or buying in the game store.
The second, no less famous, is the battle pass. Here is the same story with quests and the gradual opening of levels. I don’t know how it was in the final version, but in the beta all the most delicious things were located on the first 20 levels of the pass, and then there were purely resources for buying various goodies in the same store.
There were some loot boxes, although not critical: there are cosmetics inside again, and they are given out in considerable quantities for pumping heroes and completing various tasks.
The developers did not answer the main question – whether the game will be distributed according to the F2P (free-to-play) or B2P (buy-to-play) model. Based on many polls, both in the game and at the end of the beta, they themselves have not yet decided. But who managed to decide, these are some experts and analysts of the subreddit of the game, who predicted the game’s inevitable death, if it goes into the B2P model.
For myself, I decided to add the game to the Steam wishlist and look at the offers during the official release – if all the cosmetics can be opened just by playing, then paying a conditional $ 20-25 for access to the game will be justified for me personally. And if it also reduces the number of potential F2P cheaters, for whom an account ban will mean the need to buy the game again, then I’m all for this option!
In any case, the game managed to win my interest and, despite some gameplay rough edges, I seriously consider it as a candidate for purchase.
How about you?