Babylon's Fall

Combining the stylish action that only PlatinumGames can deliver with the refined storytelling that Square-Enix has mastered throughout the years comes Babylon’s Fall, the latest in fantasy multiplayer action. Showcasing the true capabilities of next-gen consoles, this title aims to deliver a fantastic compromise between playability and graphics performance.

With its release date rapidly approaching, die-hard fans of both developers have been testing the game in a closed beta test that’s garnered all sorts of opinions about Babylon’s Fall quality. Some regularly-addressed concerns include the game’s presentation and visual quality, not to mention the clichéd nature of most of the title’s gameplay.

Familiar territory

At first glance, Babylon’s Fall looks like a mixture between Dark Souls 3 and Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn. Unlike most fantasy multiplayer games, Babylon’s Fall strays away from the usual conventions of the MMORPG genre, opting instead for a gameplay style that seems to be similar to some of PlatinumGames’ most popular action platformers.

The game’s methodical approach at combat rewards players who opt for playing smart, using combos and varying weapons to their advantage. Even though the game makes a great effort to make the weapon changing as fast and fluid as possible, the visual representation of weapons floating behind the characters’ backs is somewhat unappealing, to say the least.

That’s the main issue with Babylon’s Fall right now: presentation. Even though the animations look impressively fluid – which by now is somewhat of a PlatinumGames’ hallmark – the action feels stilted and below the developers’ abilities. This doesn’t feel like a multiplayer game made by the same people behind games like Bayonetta or Vanquish, but rather like a cheap knock-off RPG.

Fortunately, the game is still very early in its beta test: there’s still a lot of room for improvement to be found, and the game certainly does have what it needs to become a competent and challenging title.

Information Overload

In a time when games are becoming more and more intuitive for the player, it’s baffling to see titles like Baylon’s Fall and its obtrusive, cluttered mess of a UI.

While the main combat window looks like a direct Dark Souls rip-off, the need to show the weapons behind the character is one of the most obnoxious ways to go around the weapon-changing feature.

These transparent weapons get in the way of the action way too frequently, obstructing the player’s view in the most intense combat situations. For a fast-paced action game like this one, making the player temporally blind is one of the worst decisions a developer could ever make.

There’s one silver lining about Babylon’s Fall weapons system, though: there’s a lot of potential for combos. Changing weapons is done at the touch of a button, which means that players can perform some sick combos that make use of their entire arsenal against a single foe.

While this might not sound all too practical, at least it contains some of the classic PlatinumGames flair. There’s still hope for Babylon’s Fall to shape up and become a great multiplayer title.

Pros

• Interesting visual design
• Some stylish combo potential
• Cool lore to explore

Cons

• Repetitive combat
• Ugly UI with intrusive elements
• Unwieldy camera gets in the way of the action