Undecember, the dark fantasy action game that values customisation over classes, arrives this week
A loot-based, action-RPG that eschews character classes in favour of letting players forge their own path in the world.
You know you’ve got a good game on your hands when its Steam Next Fest demo manages to infiltrate – and climb! – the Top 50 Most Played games list in just one week. You know it’s a game worth looking at when critics and consumers alike flock to a demo, eager to see what all the buzz is about. UNDECEMBER has managed to whip up something of a cult following already – and it’s not even out yet.
It’s probably because the cross-platform hack ‘n’ slash RPG is doing something different. In UNDECEMBER, you take on the role of a Rune Hunter: a hero destined to stop the 13th god of this world – one pre-determined to be evil and unholy – from being born. The other 12 gods shared out their powers and gifts to Rune Hunters, giving humans the ability to prevent the birth of their awful sibling. It’s up to you to hunt down those powers and use them for yourself.
To that end, in UNDECEMBER, there is no set class. When you boot up the game, you select either a male or female character, adjust your appearance, and then that’s it – you’re in the world. There’s no shaman, demon hunter, warrior, paladin; instead, you build your character with gears and skills of your choice as you move on.
Some stats will be familiar to you – strength, dexterity and intelligence are all essential when making your character – but for the most part, you’ll need to hunt down Runes and equip gear in order to be the God-fighting hero you have the potential to be. Placing Skill Runes (which provide skills) and Link Runes (which provide passive buffs) into a grid will enhance your character – and pretty much everything you do in-game will let you power these up, and get better and better at tackling the forces of darkness.
If that’s not enough, you’ll also be able to equip weapons, armor, and accessories to provide you with even more granular control over your character. Other, similar games might pigeon-hole you into a certain playstyle, depending on your class… but UNDECEMBER wants you to have control over everything you do as you power up and get ready to take on the most powerful beings in the universe. There’s even a Zodiac system on top of all this that lets you control your primary stat numbers, and the traits they therefore infer.
Character creator aficionados and min/max apologists, this is definitely one to look out for. Especially if you enjoy challenging bosses with dynamic attack patterns and various gimmicks to motivate you to constantly experiment with skill combinations and gear settings. If there’s one thing we can learn from a Steam demo that attracts over 16,000 players, it’s that we know it’s going to be a game worth investigating at launch. You can even play the game with a pad thanks to full pad support, letting your feel even more involved with the action.
UNDECEMBER launches on October 12, 2022 on Steam and mobile platforms.