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Pantheon Rise of the Fallen is a high fantasy MMORPG that's been in development for nearly
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a decade. My interest in the game was piqued by its focus on dungeons and group content
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and I was eager to see if it could live up to its promise. Recently the developers opened
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the doors for a testing session, gearing up for the game's early access launch in December
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I managed to secure a key and spent about 3 hours exploring this world. This isn't
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my first time in Pantheon, I actually won access last year and frankly my initial experience
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left me disappointed. Despite my past reservations, I jumped in again to give it a fair shot hoping
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to see some significant improvements. Visually Pantheon has improved since I last played, the graphics have received a much
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needed upgrade, and the game now looks far better than its previously outdated appearance
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This visual improvement is a good sign showing that the developers are actively working on
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enhancing the game's appeal. Upon loading into the game, you find yourself in a town area. After a bit of wondering about
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I located an NPC who handed out some quests. Unfortunately, these were mostly fetch quests
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and the game doesn't provide clear direction on where to find the required items. It took
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me over an hour and a half just to find my first maple tree for part of one of the quests
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I hope they scale up the availability of materials in the starter zones for launch, otherwise
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with thousands of players on the same quest, progression will be painfully slow. Navigating
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quests is challenging due to the lack of an in-game map. While there is a compass at the
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top of the screen, it doesn't offer much guidance. Initially this was really frustrating
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and I found myself jotting down notes on a piece of paper for what I needed for each
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quest. Over time, this system encouraged exploration, which I did begin to appreciate a bit more
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although I am more accustomed to games providing clear guidance. One major roadblock in Pantheon is inventory space. Starting with a mere 10 slot inventory
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is frustrating, especially when you are tasked with gathering numerous items. All of your
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quests are to gather, fetch and pick up different stuff. Buying additional slots from quest
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NPCs is prohibitively expensive early on. The issue is compounded by the fact that enemies
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drop a lot of loot, making it hard to manage what you need to keep and what you don't
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need. Frequent trips back to NPCs to sell or store items are necessary, which really
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disrupts the flow of gameplay. However, killing some of the goblins that are walking about
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occasionally rewards you with bags for extra storage and sometimes new gear, which is a
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small consolation. Combat in Pantheon starts off incredibly slow, since you don't have many skills initially
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Additionally, some skills require a resource to use alongside their cooldown, which you
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need to build up fast. This made early combat extremely dull and quite difficult, as I often
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had only one skill that I couldn't even use due to the resource required. Initially, combat
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was manageable, but suddenly I found myself dying repeatedly, unable to defeat any enemies
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After some frustrating deaths, I turned the game off. I came back a day later, and I noticed
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I had multiple buffs in the top corner of my screen. These buffs made a significant
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difference, allowing me to defeat enemies and level up, unlocking more skills. I discovered
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a portal to a new area with plenty of enemies and fewer players, which helped me to progress
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faster. Despite these improvements, I found some skills redundant and combat animations
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appear to be lacking. Pantheon Rise of the Fallen is set to enter early access in just four months time, after
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almost a decade in development. Given this timeline, I had high expectations for a polished
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experience. Unfortunately, Pantheon feels more like a rough sketch than a masterpiece
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My second playthrough was more enjoyable, and I made substantial progress, but the game
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still feels unfinished. The beginner experience needs significant improvement, as it currently
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feels tedious and unenjoyable, even for those expecting a retro style MMO
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As a long time player of MMOs and RPG games with over 25 years playing this kind of content
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I want to see Pantheon succeed, but there are too many pain points in this game early
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on. The game lacks polish, a coherent story, and essential features that could deter new
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players. I do remain hopeful for Pantheon's future, but cautiously so. The developers
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have shown that they can make improvements, but they need to address a lot of fundamental
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issues to ensure the game's success as it launches in December. Thanks for watching
