Games worth discovering

Atlas Fallen Preview

8K View2023-03-21

Atlas Fallen, set to release on May 16th, promises a vast and immersive world, a dynamic combat system, and unforgettable art style. It didn’t bring anything new to the table, but what it has so far looks very solid. After spending five hours crawling through the desert in the game, I do feel myself immersed in this world that is passionate, rich, and filled with challenges.

The story of Atlas Fallen takes place in a dangerous world that is beset by chaos and uncertainty. Players will encounter ancient ruins and lurking monsters at every turn, which will provide a constant stream of surprises and thrills. The only thing that players can rely on is the ancient artifact that wears on their hand - a powerful glove that is inhabited by the spirits of past hero. This glove grants players incredible powers, including the ability to slide through the desert, generate weapons, and even activate long-buried ruins that have been corroded by time. Players will need to hunt dangerous monsters, upgrade their equipment, and specialize their combat style in order to bring a new era of prosperity to the scattered humans who inhabit this desert world.

The art design of Atlas Fallen is one of the most satisfying elements in this short experience. The game presents the entire yellow sandy terrain well, and avoids map homogenization by reasonably arranging and placing landscapes. During the trial play, the game featured unforgettable scenery such as canyons, caves, abandoned villages, and magnificent landscapes built from sand. Coupled with the sliding sand skill given to the player by the artifact glove, even aimlessly sliding around the desert is quite enjoyable.

Although the desert area that can be explored is vast, Atlas Fallen is not empty. The game has a variety of collectible items and upgrade resources, which often require players to defeat enemies or explore ruins to obtain. In terms of exploration, the game's design is very classic.

Players need to use the glove to activate ancient ruins and adjust them to the appropriate position to obtain items. The items dropped by ruins and enemies can be used for upgrades in various aspects, including armor, weapons, gloves, and skills. Each time a player makes a choice in resource management, they will eventually specialize in a unique personal combat style.

The highly customizable combat system is another highlight of Atlas Fallen. Players can freely change the shape of their gloves to engage in combat. In the trial version, two forms have already been unlocked: the whip blade and the axe, and players can perform various combo attacks by mixing the two weapons. The game's aerial combat is also well-done, as players can maintain a considerable amount of time in the air by using short dashes and attacks.

Another core aspect of the combat system is skills, which players can activate by accumulating status points through normal attacks. The game offers a wide range of skills, and different skills and attack rhythms can lead to completely different results. Through customizing skills and weapons, players can have distinct combat styles and output. As the game progresses, more weapon forms will be unlocked, and upgrades for the core glove system will be available for players to explore and discover on their own.

The demo of Atlas Fallen features a limited variety of enemy types, but they are all intricately designed with detailed lore. The larger monster variants have unique attack patterns and abilities, requiring players to approach them with different strategies than standard foes.

The game's narrative also captures the tone of its title, with players needing to explore ruins and complete NPC side quests to uncover fragments of the once-thriving world's history. The ancient spirits inhabiting the player's glove act as dutiful tour guides, recounting fantastical tales and past glories.

Overall, Atlas Fallen’s excellent art style, expansive world, and smooth combat system ensured a solid experience. However, we could not try out its co-op mode this time, and missed a big part of fun for this type of monster-slaying games. The game is clearly very devoted to the genre, and so far, it looks very promising.

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