Kyn (Tangrin Entertainment)
As if the Vikings were not fearsome enough, Kyn places them in a world where they can do magic as well. Coming soon courtesy of Tangrin Entertainment, the game is a mixture of action role playing, strategy and party based combat. Thanks to a preview build we were able to get some hands-on time with the game to see what it has to offer.
At this point the story details are still a little vague, but the developers are promising over 20 hours of gameplay for the main quest line. The preview we played opened with our two party members stumbling out of a cave after burying themselves amongst some magical gems. The purpose was to gain magical powers and it seems to have worked as they can cast spells. The first quest involved them making their way back to town, but along the way it soon became apparent that all is not well in the world. The Aeshir, a normally peaceful race of goblin-like creatures, and humans seem to be at each other’s throats while large wolves roam the countryside.
Since the Aeshir are skilled magic users with a penchant for summoning skeletal creatures to do their bidding we had ample opportunity to try out the combat. The game is party based and attacking enemies is as easy as right-clicking on them. Hot-keys allow for the use of skills, but a tap of the spacebar also slows down time so you can orchestrate more complex strategies. You don’t have unlimited access to slowdown either, so every move counts. We could only control two characters during the preview, but the full game promises parties of up to six members. Kynn is a single player only title, so won’t feature any online or co-op play though.
Kyn features five difficulty settings, but even on medium the enemies posed quite a challenge for our warriors. However, combat is entertaining and seeing a wolf carcass go flying after a heavy hit or skeleton bones scattering in all directions is quite satisfying. The skeletons will even continue to fight after losing their legs by dragging themselves along the ground. Overall the visuals are bright and detailed with plenty of ambient touches that brings the gameworld to life. Trees sway in the breeze, butterflies flit about, sheep graze in the meadows and chickens run about underfoot. Amazingly enough Tangrine Entertainment is a two-man team, which makes what they have accomplished even more impressive.
Based on what we have played the full game should have action packed combat and an interesting gameworld to explore. With skills that are divided into mind, body and control categories it also appears possible to forge your party members into mages, warriors and rogues respectively. Crafting also looks like it will feature prominently in the full game as we found plenty of materials while looting corpses and treasure chests.
Good action role playing games are definitely not in short supply these days, so Kyn has its work cut out for it when it launches on July 28 2015. The game can already be pre-purchased for $19.99 USD/ €19.99/₤14.99 to gain access to the “Legendary Fire Master Set” which is some nice armor and a powerful ax. Pre-orders are available from most of the major digital distributors such as Steam, GOG, Gamers Gate, Uplay and Green Man Gaming. Keep an eye on the official website for more details about the game.
Flavatron July 2, 2015
First Umbra now this. I don’t know what I’m going to run out of first, money or time.