UNDECEMBER, the upcoming hack and slash cross-platform action RPG, is entering its Closed Beta phase in South Korea soon. First announced by publisher LINE Games this April, there are high hopes for this Unreal Engine 4 masterpiece on the global market in the near future. Several Korean gaming websites managed to talk to developer Needs Games about its maiden title, and below we have summarized some of the main points. Read on!
• Updates for UNDECEMBER will not come in seasons, but rather a more traditional and old-school schedule. Major content will arrive every 4-6 months, with smaller updates every 4 to 6 weeks. The reason is mainly down to “continuity,” as each season will seem like a brand new game, and it puts much pressure on the development team to basically “start from scratch” every season.
• The team claims that games such as Path of Exile has a high barrier of entry due to the “hack and slash” element being their core. The aim for UNDECEMBER is to lower the entry barrier by adding more “fun” elements and appeal to gamers who previously avoid the hack and slash genre.
• While there are many co-op and online PVP content, UNDECEMBER contains content for solo play as well. End content has a system that allows players to increase character specifications and obtain items through continuous farming.
• To partially negate the repetitiveness found in the genre (mostly due to continuous farming), items in UNDECEMBER come in many various specifications. Players will need to spend time to farm for the rights ones to suit their builds. In addition to simply hunting monsters repeatedly, there are also functions for changing or creating options for items.
• There are no classes in UNDECEMBER, as characters are mainly classified into 3 main categories: melee, ranged, and magic. Magic itself can be sub-classified into various elements, and there are summoning spells as well. The goal in UNDECEMBER is for players not to have clearly distinguished characters, but create a unique variety of characters suited to their own playstyle. This may include hybrid melee characters which use elements to their benefits and able to cast some spells.
• Spells/ skills can be reset to encourage trying out different builds, but will cost some items when players progress deeper into the game.
• There is no 1:1 trading with the auction house the only way to trade amongst players.
• Given the freedom of creating unique builds, there might be some unbalanced ones. The team intend to use the upcoming Korean CBT to resolve this issue, although further balancing will also take place post-launch.
• Drops seen during party co-op gameplay is unique to each individual player.
• While the raid mode in UNDECEMBER allows up to 8 players, it is not the typical raid found in traditional MMORPG titles. It is not required to have certain spells to defeat the bosses, but each raid will come with a “gimmick” of its own. The barrier will not be high though, as the “fun” factor is more important.
• For the mobile version of UNDECEMBER, there is a unique “Smart Control” system, a function that automatically uses the main skill which can be turned on or off. Most spells/skills in UNDECEMBER have no cooldown timer. However, moving around needs to be done manually. Through internal testing, the feedback is split on which platform (PC and mobile) provides a smoother control system.
• Steam is being considered for the PC version when UNDECEMBER is ready for the global market.
