Summary
Although the survival crafting genremight have once been viewed as niche outside ofMinecraft, it’sonly grown bigger and more popular in recent years. That’s great and all, but it sometimes feels like one big homogenous blob of resource gathering, stat managing, and hut building.
Every once in a while, though, there’s a new entry that manages to stand out and make the whole thing feel fresh again. For myself and many others, that game wasValheim, which launched out of nowhere in early 2021. I’m not even really sure whyValheim felt so unique in such a crowded genre, but its Norse setting, engaging combat, and dreamlike visuals all played a part in getting me back into the survival grind.
I can’t believe we’re already at the point where something can be considered a “Valheim-like”,but that’s exactly the vibe I got when Stormforge was first revealed. It’s only been a few months since then, but I’ve been looking forward to getting the chance to check it out for myself, which I did atGamescomthis year.
Riders On The Storm…Forge
In my mostly hands-off demo,Roboto Games CEO Curt Bererton and CCO Mathilde Pignolwalked me through the eye of the storm and explained what made Stormforge special, while giving me some plot details. Stormforge takes place in the magical world of Sorana that is ravaged by powerful elemental storms that are one of the focal points of the game.
These special storms appear throughout each biome and periodically move around, destroying bases and empowering resources in their path. That might sound dangerous, but your player character finds out early in the game that they are Stormforged, which gives them the power to move through the elements (provided they occasionally take shelter) and reach the Titan crystal in the middle.
As you might expect from the name, the Titan crystals are also home to boss fights, which seem like they’ll be a real challenge in the middle of a deadly storm.
Beyond looking cool and acting as a distinct landmark on the map, the storms are an interesting risk versus reward mechanic. Do you stay outside of it for as long as possible and build up your own shelter with basic resources, or do you head into the eye of the storm to find better loot and materials at the risk of dying to more powerful enemies or storm exposure and losing it all?
In some ways, the Stormforge’s central mechanic reminded me of Fortnite (specifically when it had moving storms), but the difference here is that it’s a central mechanic that’s meant to be interacted with and overcome instead of just acting like a kill state to knock out campers and slowpokes.
I only got to see the fire storm, but I was told that there are multiple other ideas in the works right now, like poison, dust, and, most interestingly of all, water.
Breath Of The Wildfire
On its own, Stormforge’s namesake was enough to make it stand out from the crowd of survival crafting games, but it’s admittedly helped out by the gorgeous visuals. The cel-shaded look has always been a favourite of mine, but the Breath of the Wild invoking style works really well here with the massive whirlwind of flame and death barreling through whatever basic forts you’ve made.
When you’re not oohing and aahing at your impending tornado death (or triumph, let’s be glass-half-full here), Stormforge’s gameplay is where the Valheim inspirations are most obvious. The simple dodge, attack, and parry combat are all present here, as is the structure building that you’d expect from a survival crafting game.
Stormforge also has character classes, which are the standard medieval fantasy game fare. For most of my hands-off demo, I played with the warrior, but I was also told about an archer and a magic-spitting mage. I only got to see them briefly but, just like with the variations on Storms, Pignol and Bererton hinted that there are several more in development.
After getting walked through the demo once, I was able to briefly take the reins for myself and give Stormforge a quick go. My time with it was much too short for something with so many layers, but the basic combat and movement are satisfying, and going toe-to-toe with the storm is more than enough to capture my attention and give Stormforge a leg up over other games in the genre.
Mod Me Like A Fiery Hurricane
I thought that was all I’d learn about the game during my preview, but I was also shown perhaps the most interesting element of Stormforge that hasn’t really been talked about yet - its focus on modding. Using the modding tools, players will be able to create and download weapons, tools, enemies, and even game rules, which seem fairly simplistic to implement.
One very basic example I saw was a comically big sheep, while another one spat out goblins whenever it was attacked.
Stormforge’s modding tool will even let players upload models from asset packs and then convert them into the game’s art style, which is a really cool trick. It goes deeper than just a bunch of items too, as I was shown a sizzle reel including a bunch of potential game modes, from a simplistic platformer to a more detailed horror experience.
Roboto Games hasn’t really shown off this side of Stormforge yet, which surprises me because it seems like the ace up its sleeve that’ll make it stand out. It already does that well enough with the enticing elemental storms that have got me on board, but the potential for community-driven content is what I feel can really make Stormforge special.
