Defenders of Naxia Demo

The ARPG genre is pretty much defined by a handful of games that reign supreme since the dawn of time, yet there are always worthy contenders being released on a regular basis. Hence, Diablo may still be king in some regards, but titles like Torchlight or Path of Exile have managed to shake Blizzard’s throne from the ground up, and others can do it as well.

Defenders of Naxia is the new kid on the block, yet it has the potential to change a lot in the current hierarchy if everything goes according to plan. In essence, this is a top-down ARPG with a very hands-on combat system and a pretty intricate background story that aims to put your patience to the test. However, it’s still in its infancy at the moment, which means that not everything is as it should be.

To begin with, the combat is a bit chaotic and not very enjoyable, probably because it feels empty and impersonal. The character also attacks in a straight line, which makes it difficult to deal with group situations in which you find yourself surrounded. Granted, some of the spells have AoE abilities, but it’s not enough to feel like you are actually in control of your own character.

Replayability is key in an ARPG, and you can achieve that by allowing the players to play the game multiple times with different classes or specializations. Thankfully, this chapter appears to be in order, although it’s still too early to tell if the different skill trees have an effect on the gameplay. The item system is a bit too simple as well, since it would appear that every item provides you a bit of extra mana and that’s about it.

As for the graphics, the game actually looks pretty impressive, especially when you consider the fact that it’s being designed in Unity. Even the cutscenes are very well-designed and quite cinematic, although some work is still required. Probably the most obvious sign that this is an indie production rests with the poorly chosen sound effects and the lack of voice acting, although that’s in the plans for the full release.

All things considered, Defenders of Naxia is on the right track, but it needs a better combat system and more ways to diversify the gameplay. Linearity could also be a problem in the full game, even if the environments are randomly generated. Hence, if you want to see more of Defenders of Naxia, you can support the developers by helping with the Kickstarter campaign.