It almost doesn’t feel real, but Ashes of Creation Alpha Two is here at last. First announced in 2016 with a successful Kickstarter campaign, the new MMORPG is finally opening its doors to a wider audience as it begins an ongoing public test that is planned to run well into 2025. The bad news is that you’ll have to pay if you want access, with keys costing an eye-watering $120. The good news is that you can take a look at it right now thanks to the latest developer update from Intrepid Studios.
The first wave of the much-touted Ashes of Creation Alpha Two is underway, with tests running every weekend. If you want to join, you’ll need to buy a key, which as mentioned will set you back $120, and doesn’t include access to the full version of the MMORPG at launch. Creative director Steven J Sharif is quick to remind potential buyers that alpha access should not be considered the same as buying a finished game.
If you’re holding off for now, but still want to get a taste of what the new Ashes of Creation test has to offer, you’re in luck. Sharif sits down with design director Bill Trost, executive producer Bryan Langford, lead producer Jacob Beucler, and director of communications Margaret Krohn to take an in-game tour of where things stand.
Firstly, Intrepid addresses whether it worries that the alpha and its open-facing approach to development might spoil too much of the game ahead of its full launch. Sharif says the team has embraced this, and adds, “What we’re trying to create is a toolset that players can create their own emergent experiences with. It’s hard to spoil those, because they’re dynamic.” Those tools are something that you’ll see more of as Alpha Two progresses.
“The most memorable experiences that many of us have are the ones that we have created ourselves in the games we have played in the past,” Sharif continues. “The essence of Ashes of Creation is that dynamism, it is the player-driven agencies that create the world and the story of each unique server. So there is an opportunity for players to be spoiled if they follow the game and they’re interested in those things.” Of course, you can always choose not to watch, he notes.
With that out of the way, the team jumps into the game – starting things off by literally leaping their way carefully up a ruined building in search of some loot at the top. Playing the current iteration solo is “a little rough,” Sharif notes, so it’s encouraged for those taking part to make use of the chat function to find some friends to play with. Community and factions, as he explains, are at the core of everything in Ashes of Creation’s nodes and their citizenship, religious, and social systems.
One aspect you will notice during these early stages is that player movement can look somewhat stuttery at times. That’s something the team says it’s aware of and working to improve as Alpha Two continues. The game’s development has taken place over seven years, Sharif remarks, including a switch from Unreal Engine 4 to UE5, and so it’s still very much a work in progress.
The area we get to see today is mostly sweeping hill and forest zones, but Sharif says we’ll see “a lot of different biomes come up in a very quick amount of time” during phases one and two of the alpha. The team also shows off attuning to Embersprings, where you can set a location as your home point. If you’re playing Alpha Two, you’ll want to attune twice to ensure this is locked in, as it’s still a little finicky for now.
Sharif says the intent for phase one is to keep progression persistent across all the weekend sessions, as the focus right now is on improving the game’s stability and performance. He does note that there’s a chance a wipe may need to happen, although the team doesn’t want to do one during this stage of testing unless it’s absolutely necessary. He also showcases the HUD customization, which lets you quickly resize and drag each element around to exactly where you want it on screen, much like the free-form approach of FF14.
As things round up, we get a glimpse at player corruption in action. If one player attacks another and kills them without any response from their target, they’ll go red, indicating that they’re gaining corruption. As this rises, the corrupted player will have their skills slowly dampened, and they will suffer greater penalties upon death. If you do spy a corrupted player causing trouble, then, hunting them down is a great opportunity to grab some gear.
The first phase of Ashes of Creation Alpha Two is live now. Keys to join are priced at $120 and are available until Friday November 1, although note that if you do buy one, you won’t get access until Friday November 8. You’ll find them via the official website.
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