by Atlas Fallen has the potential to surprise a lot of people. Although it’s only been out for two months, we haven’t seen much about this new game The wave developer Deck13 and publisher Focus Entertainment since revealing it at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2022. It’s a shame because after an early build of it, I discovered that Atlas Fallen has the potential to appeal to people who disliked one of the most divisive titles of the year: Prohibited.
Square Enix’s open-world action RPG contained some neat ideas with its fast-paced magical combat and liberating traversal abilities, but many people couldn’t get into it. While more focused on hand-to-hand combat than magic, Atlas Fallen is a similarly ambitious open-world game that offers satisfying movement and action that differs from the norm. This makes it a game that might scratch some itch Prohibited he did not fully arrive because of his strong critical writing. If it’s not on your radar yet, you might want to know what is Atlas Fallen has to offer.
Exploration is encouraged
Based on my demo, I’m not entirely sure what to expect Atlas Fallen’s mysterious story yet. The basic premise is that the player was a person from the lower caste of this world’s society who was bound by an ancient gauntlet. This glove has an amnesiac spirit named Nyaal living inside it and now trying to save the world from the gods who have left it in ruins full of wasteland. However, the narrative wasn’t much of a focus in the preview build, and the script is full of jargon that will likely only make sense once I play more of the game.
A conversational companion tied to the player’s arm and hand is already an unexpected narrative coincidence between Prohibited and Atlas Fallen. But neither game’s story is what appeals to me: It’s their fun ride and combat that interest me. His few seconds Atlas FallenIts surfing and fighting in the Gamescom trailer caught my eye last year, and both lived up to the hype.
As I exited a cave at the start of the demo, I learned how to lift large structures off the ground, surf large patches of sand, and run through the air with the help of my gauntlet. After entering the game’s open world, I was able to play with all of my movement options and found it to be a treat. Open-ended games with large worlds like Atlas Fallen they can live or die by how rewarding they are to explore, and fun movement is a critical way developers can make traversal enjoyable.
Prohibited she’s been able to capture some of that magic despite her issues, and it shows Atlas Fallen it also has. Of course, this is only part of the game, as players will encounter many enemy Wraiths and have to fight them. That’s where Atlas Fallen’s involved combat system comes into play.
Satisfying match
Deck13 and Focus Entertainment had yet to go into much detail Atlas Fallen’s battle before now, so I was blown away by how unique it was. Core combat revolves around attacking, dodging and parrying, with weapons changing shape as you use them in different ways. It’s faster than I expected from a developer who previously made Souslikes, but it’s the Ascension system that really caught my attention.
Between matches, players can equip their character with Essence Stones that fill or add abilities, assigning them to one of three levels in the process. Once in a match, attacking and defeating enemies causes players to gain momentum, which fills a bar at the bottom left of the screen. As this bar fills or “rises”, players gradually gain these Essence Stone abilities, becoming more powerful the more aggressive they are.
The boost comes with a catch: The more momentum you build, the more damage you deal. Players can deal with this by equipping defensive or health-related Essence Stones, or by using “Shatter” once an Ascension level is full to deal heavy damage and crystallize enemies for a while. To succeed Atlas FallenI needed to fight aggressively, but battles would quickly turn in the enemy’s favor if I missed a critical play or dodged when I had a lot of momentum.
This system gives each fight a push-and-pull feel not common in action games. More often than not, games want to make players feel much stronger or weaker than anything around them. Atlas Fallen it does both. This unique system has not attracted more attention and promotion, but in the end it is what it does Atlas Fallen you stand out more right now.
There’s something exciting about how much of a mystery this game still is to me, as it means there could be a lot of surprises when players finally get to experience the set in a few months. It forms an unexpected, almost accidental alternative Prohibited. If you’re still looking for an action-heavy RPG with innovative moves and fighting gameplay ideas, Atlas Fallen should be on your radar.
Atlas Fallen will be released for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on May 16.
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