Guardians of Ember

It's not often that game developers manage to mix different genres of games and get something good, and such would be the case of RPG and Hack n' Slash hybrids. While the idea isn't exactly a new one (Diablo series, Path of Exile), the recipe has been tried over and over, but the results have always been forgettable titles, some of which never even had enough success to exist the Beta phase. However, one title that wants to set itself as an exception from the rule is Guardians of Ember, a new IP from the developers of Runes of Magic and Dragon's Prophet.

An MMORPG  requires several features to be present to be considered an MMORPG. First of all, you must have an above-average character customization phase, and an abundance of classes to choose from. As you progress through the game (and story, since that's where the "RP" in MMORPG comes from), you must always get rewards and the ability to forge your character in a way that makes it unique among other characters using the same class. Guardians of Ember has all of the above and more since you have a plethora of ways of making your character seem unique, both in terms of visuals and gameplay mechanics.

As for Hack n' Slash games, the conditions that have to be met are far simple, as the genre usually refers to a type of gameplay that emphasizes combat, as well as an environment that supports a constant state of combat (such as dungeons filled with neverending hordes of enemies).  Again, this is another feature present in Guardians of Ember, and it is presented masterfully since the hordes of enemies always keep flowing in, while your attacks and spells always keep flowing out. The only time combat seems to stop is whenever you visit a haven (such as towns), and even then you'll be there not to rest, but to put on whatever equipment dropped in previous encounters, enhance what you already have, or buy more supplies.

Because the game is online, most of the times the hardest encounters (and the most rewarding as well) are always aimed towards those that can cooperate as a team to fight off the bosses from various areas and instances. More so, while all classes have a skillset that allows them to go through the game all on their own, they are still based on the common RPG archetypes (Tanks DPS, Healer), meaning that class diversity is still the key towards smoother encounters during endgame content.

Guardians of Ember presents itself as a game with great potential. It has the graphics of a modern game, great replay value thanks to the randomly generated content, and it's great for raid junkies that like fighting bosses the size of their screen for loot described in various font colors.