Whether it’s in Early Access, migrating to a new platform, or a developer has reached the threshold to a full launch, it's always entertaining to see what new MMO's have released each week. This week, we have 4 'new' games that have launched, one of which has been largely panned on Steam as one of the worst creature collectors to ever grace the MMO space.
Dragona: Fireborne
Dragona: Fireborne by LivePlex and published by IndigoWare is an interesting free to play fantasy title that follows a familiar fantasy feel and aims to emulate some classic gameplay elements. The game has released on Steam on March 1st, 2024, but has been available as an Alpha since February 13th. According to the developers, Dragona: Fireborne will have ongoing testing until after beta, where they will wipe the accounts before launch.
In Dragona you harness the power of dragons through a dragon transformation, utilizing CORE energy to manifest your dragonic abilities you harness from special transformation items. The game features quests, world bosses, an honor system complete with honor ranks, and a battle arena.
This Korean port is “fully playable” in its current state, and LivePlex believes that the game will only be in Early Access for about 3 months, with their launch version limited to a lower level cap, fewer areas, and less features that they intend to open up over time. If you want to help this little studio prepare for their eventual launch, head on over to Steam and give it a shot.
Zenith: Infinite Realms
Well, RamenVR, the developers behind Zenith: The Last City launched Zenith: Infinite Realms this week. In preparation of this new game, or rather new game mode, RamenVR has delisted Zenith: The Last City from the Meta Store and all versions of Zenith seem to have transitioned to Zenith: Nexus or two separate modes, the free Zenith: Infinite Realms version, and the “DLC” Zenith: The Last City.
At this time both versions, whether it’s Nexus or the “DLC” The Last City are getting heavily review bombed due to the nature of this move, which sets the, once groundbreaking, VR MMO as more of an afterthought while RamenVR attempts to grow their playerbase. This may be the last big effort for RamenVR as they have been operating at a loss for some time now.
With a new game mode, revamped abilities, and new parkour challenges, I hope they’re able to break through, but if the Steam reviews are any indication, they may have pushed away their most steadfast supporters. Still, if you're a VR enthusiast, it's hard to find better VR MMOs out there than Zenith.
DudeGo
Yes, DudeGo is a weird name for a game, and FussyCraft’s mix of game modes might just offer up a bit of weird fun for the right kind of gamer. With 3 modes, Battle Royale, Deathmatch and CTA (City Theft Auto) there’s plenty of stuff to try in this Early Access game that released February 28th, 2024.
The game is currently in the very first stage of Alpha, with plans to stay within the Early Access phase for about 2 years. You can drive cars, fly helicopters, demolish your foes with tanks, kill NPCs or other players, or if you’d rather try and live a peaceful life, you can own a house and fill it with a bunch of tchotchkes. FussyCraft’s DudeGo is currently 7.99 on Steam, but for some reason, if you buy his entire catalog via a bundle, it’s cheaper?
Either way this Indie dev has a long way to go before release, but if you have a penchant for supporting indie devs, here’s one you can take a chance on.
Duel Revolution
It’s time to Duel! Maybe not though, as Duel Revolution by Game Matter is not a Yu-Gi-Oh rip off, but a Pokemon one instead. When done right, creature collectors, such as Palworld can be amazingly fun. If the mostly negative reviews on Steam of Duel Revolution are to be believed, this is in stark opposition of fun.
Released on February 29th, 2024 on Steam, and the 26th on mobile platforms, Duel Revolution takes not only the familiar 2D graphics of Pokemon, but it also ramps up the monetization to heights that have disheartened the few players that have attempted to play. Players complain that the game is extremely Pay to Win, requiring the use of multiple capture balls to catch any creature. The grind for free players is exceptionally slow, the quests and pacing aren’t cohesive, and apparently some players still have crashing issues on Steam, despite the game having been in development for about 10 years.
With very limited reviews on Mobile platforms, and Steam’s mostly negative reviews, this might be one of the worst monster collecting MMOs to hit the scene in recent memory. Especially when you have MMOs like Temtem and MOG’s like Palworld to compare it to.
