On December 13, Visionary Realms released the MMORPG Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen in Early Access on Steam. The game targets fans of classic old-school MMORPGs like World of Warcraft Vanilla and EverQuest, offering a deliberately slow and challenging experience. It emphasizes an open world, social interactions and PvE content. Players can choose from nine races, including dwarves, elves and gnomes, as well as 14 classes like clerics, druids and paladins. Key features of the game include:
- Climbing: Players can climb almost any surface.
- Climate system: Six extreme climate zones require special equipment.
- Perception system: Decisions influence dialog and events.
- Day/night cycle: Some secrets can only be revealed under certain lighting conditions.
- Consequences for deaths: Loss of experience points and items after death.
Pantheon deliberately avoids modern conveniences like quest markers or maps, emphasizing mob grinding over quests and adopting a slow-paced leveling system. Fans of classic MMOs will feel right at home.
Steam reviews for Pantheon are currently mixed. Common criticisms highlight the high system requirements despite average graphics and generic NPC dialogue. Some players are frustrated by the absence of a map, though this aligns with the game’s core design. Overall, Pantheon has received 75% positive ratings from roughly 400 reviews.
Early Access content
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen remains a work in progress. In its Early Access version, priced at around $40 on Steam, players can explore six expansive regions featuring dungeons, rare monsters and a crafting system with 10 professions. The developers plan to expand the game over time, adding new classes, races, zones, visual improvements and gameplay mechanics.
Source(s)
Image source: pantheonmmo.com