[b]This is a very long review. Please check for the TL;DR at the bottom if you want a synopsis.[/b] I have followed this game’s development since about 2012, back when it was planned to be a full-scale MMO. Since then, it failed two kickstarters and had a shot at self-funding by selling in-game cash shop items for something there was not even a demo for. The game started development in the early 2000s and has had a very shady and shaky history since. I can’t describe it here due to the character limit, but google it if you want more information - it’s concerning. TL;DR The developers have had a very bad history with keeping promises. That being said, when I was given a key to test it prior to Steam release, I had high hopes that it was not like what I expected. I [i]wanted[/i] to like it - I tried so hard. I played for 9.5 hours with two other friends and we simply couldn’t enjoy it. I will explain why below. [h1]General[/h1] The game takes place on one island with a rather...
Trials of Ascension: Exile
- Release Date:
- Jul 26, 2018
- Developer:
- Dragonfire Entertainment
- Publisher:
- Dragonfire Entertainment
- Platforms:
- Windows
Game Tags
About This Game
Trials of Ascension: Exile is a hardcore sandbox fantasy game where you will play as a human mastering your skills, evolve for the hunt as a Raknar, or defy all odds to grow as a powerful dragon!
Survival is the goal of every life that finds its way to the Lost Isles. With hunger and thirst a constant threat, food and water will be top priorities. But dangers lurk around every corner and many environmental factors need careful consideration. Shelter and other means of protection will be necessary to fend off all threats, including aggressive predators.
In addition to Health and Stamina, the Balance attribute brings a new aspect to combat. Maintain your balance and you are rewarded with solid footing; attack recklessly and you chance exposing yourself instead. Unbalanced characters find their swings are less effective and they run the risk that a well placed blow will knock them down. Additionally, each race has their own unique way of treating wounds.
Time is in constant motion on the islands, with day cycles that bring truly dark nights and changing weather patterns that forecast rain, wind, and storms, all of which will affect your character. Every piece of flora, fauna and minerals are interact-able and offer an abundance of resources to assist in your survival.
Each island can be set with a wide range of options so that you can play just the way you like. From flora and fauna spawn rates, to PvP settings, even to the number of lives each character is allowed, ToA: Exile can be set to your liking.
For untold centuries the Lost Isles have been the hatching and nursery grounds for your kind. Only those strong enough to survive on these hostile lands earn the right to reach adulthood and advance dragon-kind. Freshly hatched from the shell, you find yourself surrounded by new enemies your ancestors never faced in their tender years. Can you use your wits to overcome these new threats, or will the death of your kind begin with you?
Dragons are the most challenging race to play in ToA: Exile, as they lack the natural arsenal of the raknar and the ingenuity of the humans. Skilled and resourceful players will be able to overcome this disadvantage to keep their hatchling alive and fed until it is ready to molt. Molting allows the dragon to grow to the next developmental stage, increasing its size, strength, and abilities. Continued growth unlocks new racial abilities, such as breath attacks and flight!
Dragons are able to build their own race-unique structure, the nest. It functions as a respawn point, storage, and is required to molt to their next life stage. Multiple nests can be built, offering different storage and respawn locations across the island. Nests can be destroyed, so it is best to hide them in hard-to-reach locations.
Dragons can ingest nuggets of rare metals to fuel their fiery breath weapon. Devastate your foes with this powerful attack and bring the lesser races to their knees. The rarer the metals consumed, the more powerful attack.
After growing their wings, dragons can begin mastering the controls of flight. Launch yourself into the air with a running start, then beat your wings to speed up, bank to turn, and flare them to slow down. However, air speed must be maintained or you risk falling from the sky.
Dragon have superior senses and because of this are able to navigate their surroundings, even during the darkest nights. They also possess the unique ability to sense deposits of rare metals buried underneath the surface of the ground, allowing them to harvest the nuggets they require for their abilities and molting.
Driven to the seas by the advancing raknar threat, you and you fellow refugees seek out a new land to call home. A terrible typhoon over-takes your inexperienced crew and your ship is dashed upon the rocky shoals in the darkness of night. Nearly drowned by the waves, you make it to shore with your life intact and little else. Can you use your skills to survive, or will you join your fellow passengers in the afterlife?
Humans are able to gather raw resources from their environment and turn them into various items, tools, and equipment to improve their survival situation. They can also research improvements to the items they craft using our improvement system.
Along with the ability to craft their own tools and equipment, humans also have access to our 3D structure design system where they can draft a 3D model of a structure and create a blueprint of their building. These blueprints are needed to begin the construction of buildings.
Humans do not have natural abilities, instead they must rely on their skills to reach their goals. Skills are improved with use and can be enhanced through perk choices earned as they increase the skill.
Trapped underground by the devious humans generations ago, you and your hive mates explore the ancient volcanic tubes in search of new ways to the world above. An earthquake collapses the tunnel behind you, but opens a new way to the surface. As you skitter your way into the daylight, you find yourself surrounded by ocean. Cut off from the Hive, can you evolve to dominate this new land, or will it dominate you?
Raknar are born with full use of all their natural abilities. For combat, they have impressive, scythe-like strikers. In addition, their silk can be used to set traps for prey or as treatment for life-threatening wounds. Six legs give them an advantage in speed, and heavy chitin protects them from most minor damage. Take on the role of the lone hunter, or work together with your friends to create a hive that dominates the isles!
Raknar are able to evolve each of their natural abilities by simply doing what raknar do best, hunting and killing and they do it in real time. Watch as your raknar grows in size, gains armor around its body and menacing barbs sprout from its strikers.
Raknar are the only race able to cling and move effortlessly over most surfaces. This includes slopes that cannot be traversed by the other races, including vertical and even inverted surfaces! This adds a whole new dynamic to combat!
As a raknar you will be able to penetrate the darkest of nights and caves thanks to your fully functional night vision that you can turn on and off at will. Become a true hunter of the night!
Screenshots
User Reviews
I have to start out by saying I am very biased. I've been following this development team for about 15 years. Originally they were planning to make an MMO and I absolutely loved their design ideas. A skill based progression system instead of levels so you could specialize the way you wanted. A perma-death over time system so there was real risk in the game and nobody could be on top forever and you'd have the opportunity to start fresh and try something new as in rogue-like games. A ton of races including dragons and set up so there would be real conflict and asymmetric power levels. Deep settlement building, crafting, and religious systems. I participated on their forums, I was even a moderator for a while. I've chatted with the developers in chat rooms and private messages. I pledged to the kickstarters for the MMO that ultimately failed. I donated money through the website so they were able to develop a demo for their second kickstarter. I watched disappointed fans turn away and t...
If it takes me 30 minutes of searching to find a simple rock to make the first tool only for it to fail 3 times in a row, and then I clip out and die then I die of dehydration because I do not have the option to drink fresh water and fruit does not give thirst back. No thanks, this game should still be in Alpha it is not ready for Beta or early release.
(I am not good in writing reviews but i will try to give my 2 cents into this) since it is an Early Access Game, i still wanted to buy it and i really have been impressed by the graphics and all for an Early Access game Standard i mean. But what i discovered while struggling and surviving all days long in real life was beyond cruelity and plain bad mechanics and gameplay choices for the Dragon Race at least Raknar as well somehow because you can hunt and kill and improve but you will get bored of it i really were devoted into being able to Play as those rare Races called Dragon! but to my Surprise it wasn't standing for too long the people behind this game have a lot of love into their game that is for sure right but they lack immersive experience and some indepth things for example Playing a Dragon Race is not an fun experience not even hard it is immensely punishing you for anything you litteraly do 1 Failure Punished to death and beyond death even without any failures Random Spawni...
With a new developer taking over Trials of Ascension my previous review is no longer relevant, as is all the old posts you'll find online and in some of the old replies here talking about the history of this game. With the game officially being back online I felt its only fair to update my review. Currently the game is in the same state as it was before it was taken over so I don't have much to add right now, once we start seeing updates from the new Developer i'll re-evaluate and update my review. Until then the new developers have quite the task taking on all the problems left behind by Forced Chaos but i'm hopeful that they are up to it. There are many issues we all know about but one that was most noticable to me is how boring and grindy the Dragon gameplay is. Currently besides building your nest and and searching for rare nuggets needed to advance your character (something you have to complete without having died once or lose your progress) all you can do is aimlessly soar or w...
Wooohooo! Ahahaha! It's pretty horrible so far. Refund. Maybe in a year or so.
This game starts you off from very humble beginnings. As a human, that means you have boxers and a torch. As a survival game, that's where you SHOULD start. Everything after that you do on your own. Except for the torch, nothing is given to you. Instead, you have to earn it. Earning everything is HARD. I enjoy that kind of play. I feel a sense of accomplishment for everything I gain. I kept myself fed, I created clothes, I defended myself. I want to keep progressing. I get sucked in by that. There is no hand-holding, and going solo makes it harder. However, there is real emotion getting attacked from behind by a bear, or hearing a snake hiss in total darkness, or finding a Raknar web in the moonlight. If that does not sound fun to you, play something else. This game does not provide any quick reward. It is not merciful. And you can totally screw yourself over. I like that kind of challenge. I feel good when I succeed and I get pissed when I fail. I laugh when I do something really st...
bad game
Spent 3 hrs running with my friend before work and almost called in. We both picked up dragon so that we can eat the rest of our guild. Our server is set to 2 lives and lost one to a relentless bear. Game just launched early access today so it is not complete, but will be fun watching this game grow.
Dragons: hatching - Very challenging, almost brutal, meant to weed out the weak and only let the strong through. I believe that its a good filter to keep dragon populations at a minimum this includes, always being at the brink of starvation, always watching your back, front, both sides, and below you for anything at all that can kill you as you can die to most everything, and running around the island many times hunting for those Nuggets and hoping to get past hatchling hood. Youngling - things get less stressful. you gain the ability of limited flight/gliding and you have some amazing animations, probably one of the best character models so far is this stage here. as a youngling you can start to roam the island a bit more and find your perfect lair spot as well as hunt. Juvinile - In this stage you are almost as tall as a human and taller than a raknar. even a stage 10 raknar, while they might be bulkier you win in the height department. you gain the ability to breath fire via a re...
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System Requirements
Minimum
- OS *: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit versions)
- Processor: Intel Core i5-2400/AMD FX-8320 or better
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 670 2GB/AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB or better
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 8 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Broadband internet connection required for multiplayer
FAQ
How much does Trials of Ascension: Exile cost?
Trials of Ascension: Exile costs $9.99.
What are the system requirements for Trials of Ascension: Exile?
Minimum: Minimum: OS *: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit versions) Processor: Intel Core i5-2400/AMD FX-8320 or better Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 670 2GB/AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB or better DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 8 GB available space Additional Notes: Broadband internet connection required for multiplayer
What platforms is Trials of Ascension: Exile available on?
Trials of Ascension: Exile is available on Windows PC.
Is Trials of Ascension: Exile worth buying?
Trials of Ascension: Exile has 48% positive reviews from 46 players.
When was Trials of Ascension: Exile released?
Trials of Ascension: Exile was released on Jul 26, 2018.
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