Darkhaven now on Kickstarter - An Action RPG with Dynamic Worlds

[Manny]

Hi everyone,

Moon Beast's new game is now on Kickstarter! If you didn't know about it, here's a link: Darkhaven - An Action RPG with Dynamic Worlds

These are my current thoughts/opinions on it. I love to see some of my favorite developers come together to create a new game, but personally I'm just not that enthused about it after some of the more recent developments. I think in a nutshell, for me, it just looks kinda... generic? I'm struggling to sense the soul of this game. Right now it just appears like an amalgamation of ideas birthed mainly from ARPG titles, but also with some Minecraft-y and MOBA-ish stuff thrown in there. I don't know how much I care about destroying walls, mining, or jumping in an ARPG. Maybe I shouldn't knock it before I try it, and also I'm not trying to be too harsh because I know it's in pre-alpha, but... meh...

Another point of distaste for me (which has nothing to do with Moon Beast or the developers, specifically) is just a result of this modern gaming landscape, and how much of the PC gaming industry handles game development now. I miss the days when games were released as complete titles, bugs and all, because it felt like you were buying a labor of love that was crafted with a vision that the team shared, and they were sold out for that vision. Sometimes that vision landed with an audience, and sometimes it didn't, but you knew that countless hours and dollars were spent creating that title. Frankly that wasn't even something you'd think about as a kid playing games, you just kinda took it for granted. But If the game's story and/or style spoke to you, then there was a good chance that it would be a worthy investment to own it and experience it for the first time (or in the case of Diablo, endless times, lol).

At any rate, IMHO laying money out for a game this early in development feels like a gamble only Gheed himself would contemplate, lol. And there's no present indication that is going to be accessible anywhere besides Steam, a DRM heavy storefront, which I am not a fan of at all...

What do you guys think though?! Do you see this game being a success? Are you excited about it? If so, why?

 

[Manny]

OK.. so I challenged myself to find 3 positive things to say about this game because I don't want to be such a negative nancy lol.

1. The soundtrack sounds amazing so far!
2. The female model actually looks like a woman! lol
3. The in-game modding looks dope and makes me think of Starcraft and Warcraft III which both had some really fun custom games!

 

[fearedbliss]

Yea I agree with everything you said. But I definitely would not invest a single dollar without a guarantee that it would be DRM free and playable offline single player. No point in buying the game if I don’t actually own it.

 

[thrasher_565]

looks good

 

[Manny]

Yea I agree with everything you said. But I definitely would not invest a single dollar without a guarantee that it would be DRM free and playable offline single player. No point in buying the game if I don’t actually own it.

Well said, brosef. That's pretty much the TLDR of my post, lol.

 

[soulgazer]

I've put in a good 5+ hours in the demo. The necropolis event sold me on the modifiable environment. It was pretty cool to see the land change and stay changed until I killed the boss.

I was also wary about jumping, but it makes sense when the world has a vertical element. And once I got use to it, double jump + sprint was quite fun.

For me, the best part about all of it was the item system. They have permanent +skill point tomes. They have runes that can be used for rune words, tattoos, or placed in items. They have other socketables that drop from monsters. They have unique socketables that can only be placed in unique sockets. They have cursed items that apply a negative affect on the player; example: vow of poverty, character cannot pick up gold.

I easily lost track of time while playing due to the item hunt. So as long as they continue with these systems I know I'll be hooked.

While they haven't officially confirmed offline single-player, plenty of people in the discord are asking for it. And given their stance on modding, I don't see why they wouldn't have offline single-player if they allow such freedom in the modding.

I want to see this game become a "real thing" so I probably will support the kickstarter. I also want to give some money to the creators who made my favorite games of all time (diablo, diablo2) lol.

 

[fearedbliss]

Lol, I’m ready to give them my money once they give a clear and direct answer to the DRM free question. It definitely makes sense that they would have such a version. Especially since some of the games Erich worked on before were released on GOG DRM free as well (Rebel Galaxy, Rebel Galaxy Outlaw). I saw Erich is the CCO so I’m thinking he has mentioned this to Phil and Peter. I think Phil and Peter would be in favor of having a DRM free version of the game as well but let’s see, I don’t want to act upon an assumption and then be burnt.

 

[thrasher_565]

ya im close to 4 hours in and like it so far. lots to find out and what to do i guess and some stuff is basic for now. rares seem to suck...
i cheesed the big over lord bosses just knocback to the side of the map...
hard to see were you are on the map and a list of wps would be nice then scrolling across the map.
i like lum first town being taking over adds more play ability to areas.
destructive map is cool but i case see skills just levelling the map so it has to be balanced
not a fan of kick starter can take money and run...not saying they will but...
reminds me of titan quest i guess little poe
books to get any skills would have to be balanced just look at d1 and the problem with it.
i like it so far.
water walk and feather falling if kinda funny thow i dont no what they do? guessing water walk you walk on water?
tone to resistance thow to manage might be a problem or stats on times getting over whelmed.

 

[thrasher_565]

oh some times i need to just read. says to equip item to id... no wonder why rares had not stats...
100.000 is max gold
dull gem is max
i dropped my mf boots by the gem healing thing in town and could not pick up boots then it disapeard..but 5 minits later i got mf boots 2 socks and 15 frw.
what you think is the best build? im crows i guess.
that mancer taint take over the map and you run and die oping chests get runes and gems.
the fog all the time is kinda meh
you say there rune words?

 

[thrasher_565]

so update the tain took over the hole map. i think there some guy i need to kill to stop it or end the demo? i doubt i could kill him with 1000 1 shot...
you can build walls thow...it be one grind.
but you can run to thow level 7 crips to farm
got a legendary gem just need many more of thows
seems like the staff spear thing is the best. did find a 6 sock one. maybe 6 crit jewels... that be some grinding like 60 hours +...
had seens over 130 damge staff but at the time was not looking at staffs.
way over thinking it...
i thought this game was announced like 10 years ago hmm but my mind is wired.
oh level 8 is max so there's that...

 

[fearedbliss]

I found this in the kickstarter FAQ, unfortunately without a guarantee of it being DRM free, I can’t back the game even though I want to. Especially given that I have a lot of respect for Blizzard North specifically and these are the main guys in that group (with Max/David/Tyler/Roper as well).

Will I be able to play offline single player?

This option will be available during the demo. Long-term, it’s possible, but we can’t say for 100% certainty. However, we do feel offline play is an important part of any potential success for this product.

But anyways, if you haven’t seen the Chris Wilson and Darkhaven interview, check it out here.

 

[Manny]

@fearedbliss those are pretty much my thoughts as well. Also I noticed there are (now) only six days left on the kickstarter and it's still about $150K shy of the mark? Maybe I'm not the only one who isn't too excited about this game (even though I really wish I'd be)....

 

[thrasher_565]

ya i been playing it quite alot and learned some things. there are bugs and its quite laggy but im also on slow pc so who knows. they added an 100 floor dungen but monsters don't re spawn as far as i can tell and you got to go level by level then selecting your last level...

alot of saves being reset after patches i no its a beta but still. you can probably stop the suto update in steam might work but i dont no.

they also dumed down the gear for the last patch. i thing people like it mostly but i have feelings with kickstarter and take your money and run...

but i mean its jsut an game rpg you can jump and sorta destroy things that's about it...so far. it need more to stand out. but depnds on the cost or there plan too. if its like tortchlight witch some people liked some peopled didnt. but time will tell right.

 

[Manny]

As an update, I checked out the kickstarter and it appears they have reached their goal! I am very happy for the Moon Beast team and wish them the best!