Skyforge CBT first impressions

This is going to be post about my first impressions of Skyforge. And I mean that quite literally. First closed beta event lasted few days. Unfortunately because of health issues i got only 3 hours with the game. So don't expect deep analysis this time around. Skyforge has been on my radar since I've heard about it for the first time. Setting seems to be original, after all how often you get to be a god? Game is also first attempt at MMO genre by Obsidian Entertainment (it's being developed in cooperation with Allods Team) - RPG developer who's recent works I've enjoyed. So how was it?

Not exactly what I was expecting. I was hoping for a full-fledged MMO and Skyforge is more of a hub game. There is one city that serves you as a base of operations. From there you go for adventures. In terms of map size the largest adventure I've seen could be called a big dungeon and doesn't compare well against zones in WoW, GW2 or any other MMO.

Graphics are serviceable. I haven't noticed any serious glitches. Unfortunately there are few MMOs on the market that despite being 2 or 3 years older than Skyforge have better visuals. English voice-overs are terrible. Cutscenes come from Russian version of the game and are not lip synced. That is annoying as hell. Especially in the game in which, similar to Final Fantasy XIV, you have to click through the conversation even if there is no dialog options.

Character creation is limited to appearance. Apparently all gods look like humans which was rather disappointing. Especially considering the fact, that creator itself is rather light on options. There are five classes that you can switch between. Unfortunately class progression is mostly linear. Literaly. Skill tree is a straight line that branches only once. Three classes are free, two remaining: berserker and gunner are locked and require purchasing in item shop.

Speaking of which, every time F2P games launches one of the biggest concerns is how "free" it's going to be. It clear that from two studios working on Skyforge Allods Team is one with experience in the matter. So they will be handling the monetization. I have mixed feelings about this. Every upcoming game deserves benefit of the doubt. However free to play model in Allods Online is not particularly generous and used to be downright outrageous. So when it comes to the business side of the game don't get your hopes too high.

Combat feels a bit stiff but as I mentioned before I only played for few hours. Maybe later, after acquiring more skills things will get more interesting. Game uses soft targeting so it's not exactly a "true action combat". Although with the exception of Tera fanboys most players will not care.

In conclusion - despite being developed by two well known studios Skyforge doesn't feel like AAA mmo. Of course game is still in closed beta which means many of the problems described above can be fixed. However I would hold with purchasing any of founders' packs until we know a bit more about the game.