Online game "Life is Feudal: MMO"

Life is Feudal is a free-to-play medieval role-playing game. Here you will not find elves and dwarves and dragons and wizards, and the heroes do not slash monsters the size of five storeys with magic daggers. But there is a huge map, from the desert in the south to the tundra in the north, and a clever simulation of the society of past times, where not only knights are honored, but also artisans and simple farmers. Guilds rule this world instead of loners, who have a hard time. Only feudalism, only hardcore, and even from Russian developers.

The events of Life is Feudal take place in a fictional world similar to medieval Europe. The 21x21 kilometer map includes different biomes: there are forests, steppes, deserts, and hilly meadows with wild animals that live there. Once this land was an empire, but after a series of disasters it fell apart - and all the areas of little to no value were divided among the guilds, controlled by ambitious leaders. It's up to you to join one of these factions to wage war, carve crafts and take part in building your own princedom.

The game demonstrates its identity already at the stage of creating a hero. If in other representatives of the genre the choice of sex character does not affect anything much, here it matters. Men, for example, have longer arms and bigger weapons, so if you take a guy, you will be able to get the enemy from a little longer distance. But it's harder to hit a woman in combat than a man, because of the same difference in size.

Another surprise awaits when choosing a race. It turns out that it affects the occupation to which you will devote a lot of playing time. The inhabitants of the central and western regions of the empire, the Gothlungs, are born craftsmen, cavalrymen and miners of minerals. The second people, the Slavards, live in the north. As it is easy to understand from the name, they are taken from the Slavs: they are good on foot, quite good in nature and have a powerful constitution. Because of their rugged habitat, they prefer fishing and hunting to crafts. Finally, the nomads from the south, the Hussians, have a reputation as skilled marksmen. However, the race provides only the primary character traits, and whether to use them for survival or not is up to everyone.

In the world of Life is Feudal you appear without any useful items, embroidered clothes and starting capital - here everything must be obtained and created by yourself. Need a sling to hunt? Look for twigs and plant fibers in the grass. A body of water nearby? A fishing rod also needs to be assembled from improvised materials. Stomach rumbling with hunger and no tools at hand? You can pick some apples from the trees. The game first encourages you to think about basic things like food and shelter. And only after mastering the rules of survival, you get the opportunity to succeed in any peaceful or military cause. This part offers unprecedented freedom of choice.

You can develop your character in two specialties - civilian and military. When there are no raiders' arrows whizzing over your head, you are free to cultivate the land, mine ore, forge tools in the forge, do construction, collect medicinal herbs, carpenter or hunt. In short, to do what he feels like doing - and to which, as a rule, the initial position of the hero. At the same time there are skills that are useful on the battlefield. You can develop the skill of archer, lancer, swordsman, horseman - here, again, it's a matter of taste. Nobody prevents you from going from chasing deer in the woods to tame animals, start breeding them at home and eventually get to breeding sled horses - the most expensive pets in Life is Feudal. At the same time, a character can become a knight himself and gallop in front of the infantry on a horse from his own farm.

Become successful in the world of the virtual Middle Ages is almost unrealistic without the cooperation of other players. So sooner or later you join one of the guilds to get access to its resources, specialists and trivial support in conflicts. The emphasis on the social part is an important feature of Life is Feudal.

The second difference in the game is the unhurried pace. Everything from character skill development to more global events requires patience and coordination. For example, the siege of a castle can last for weeks. While the builders will set up camp under the enemy walls, while the peasants will equip the cart with supplies, while the carpenters and blacksmiths will build war machines, a lot of time will pass. That's why Life is Feudal is sometimes called "hardcore", although you don't need to delve into any complicated matters.

The game opens up creative freedom not only in choosing your character's life path, but also in changing the world around you. In Life is Feudal you can cut down trees, improve fields for more solid crops, and even change the landscape - say, remove hills, dig mines, or tunnel under mountains. In the world, day is followed by night and then morning, sunny weather is followed by rain, i.e. there is a simulation of natural phenomena, thanks to which you are more deeply immersed in the atmosphere of survival. Of course, accomplishments like large-scale earthworks are beyond the power of a single hero. All serious changes on the map are made by groups of like-minded people.

The authors of the game did a very original thing, allowing you to pump a character only one peaceful profession - because of this, each specialist needs the help of others. The carpenter will not make much progress with chests and stools without tools from the blacksmith and food from the farmer. And all of them together in case of wounds and illness need a healer who knows a lot about medicinal plants. The blacksmith, in turn, depends on the resources mined by the miners and all the same food. And the farmer, having pumped up his skills, together with the provisions supply customers with new clothes. Society in the virtual world is built in such a way that gamers turned to each other for help - here prevails interconnectedness of arts and crafts. There are simply no superfluous professions, because each specialist will be at least something useful to others.

A unique case: people here are united into guilds not only out of a desire to conquer or break something, but simply for the sake of creativity. To build villages and castles, trade and develop their characters - such peaceful cooperation is not often found in the genre. Monuments - sword monuments stuck in the ground - are put up to claim guild territory. If you donate valuable items to the monument, its area of action will expand, and if you give up on its maintenance, it's the other way around. Here's another reason to join forces.

The karma system is responsible for order in society. This is, roughly speaking, the character's reputation points. To accumulate them, you have to not steal, not kill, not trespass on other people's property and read a prayer every day. Such a simple set of rules provides protection: aggression against a good citizen is punishable - anyone can kill and rob a criminal without any consequences. And the "people's avenger" for lynching will not be reduced karma. But in Life is Feudal there are still players who do not follow the law - yes, we are talking about the robbers, the usual medieval world. There is a certain romance in their life, too, but even they have to join gangs. Because they can be easily outnumbered individually, and cooperation gives at least some guarantees of protection.

And what about those who seem to be for the good, but sometimes itching to attack someone or raid the warehouse of another guild? Especially for such hidden adventurers there is a doomsday - a regular event in the game, when you can commit crimes without losing karma. But it's worth remembering that every property has its owners - and they're the ones who will protect it.

Like peaceful life, the combat part of the game focuses on the interaction of characters under the control of live users, that is, it works on the principle of PvP. Here, of course, there are also characters under the control of artificial intelligence, but they are busy issuing tasks - there is no need to fight with them. Settle the matter without loss of reputation and possessions can be in the Arena - a special area where violence is not removed karma. Or, as an option, to arrange an official war with another guild and attack its detachment or besiege the castle.

Battles in Life is Feudal are done very realistically. Because of the "non-targeting" mechanics, you can't "target" an enemy by automatically reducing the distance and focusing all your attacks on him. The distance when striking has to be calculated by eye, with the lancer being able to reach the swordsman earlier, but the latter has a better chance in close proximity. The game takes into account different types of injuries, including fractures, bleeding and loss of consciousness, and injuries to individual body parts have their consequences - for example, if you hit the head, the character becomes stupider. In general, the battles here are logical and realistic, but you need to get used to them.

The development of skills is arranged logically: what the character does, that he is pumped. It works slowly but surely. Who wants to hunt better, and later tame animals, should simply go to the woods with a bow to kill animals there. Need to raise a warrior? Grab a sword and fight a dummy or go with your comrades to beat the outlaws. And if you want to make your character a master of construction, take up crafting, gradually learn the basics of masonry - and you'll become indispensable in the guild, building your castle.

At the same time, every case requires a creative approach. For example, a healer, in addition to standard recipes, can combine ingredients at random, resulting in thousands of potions with different properties. And for all the hero is credited with experience, allowing him to develop further. The stronger the skill, the more can be done with it - and the higher the character is valued in his group. And another important point: fans of the genre have become accustomed to the fact that the user's progress in online role-playing games is often influenced by bonuses or items purchased with real money. In Life is Feudal all set up differently: you can buy a piece of jewelry, but to put a ringing coin in the coolness of the knight can not. In the game you have to achieve everything yourself, there are no magic cloaks for +10 to fire damage.

Life is Feudal is a rare example of an online game that reveals an unusual theme, looks beautiful, is logically arranged, and is in no hurry to launch its paw into the gamer's wallet. Nevertheless, a beginner should get used to it. Get used to the unhurried pace, have patience in character development, learning the combat system and the chosen craft. Immediately turn from a naked peasant to a rich baron here can not. Perhaps it is for the best - the achievements of the character in the game are pleasing as their own.

December 2020