Mini Royale: Nations

Overview

Mini Royale: Nations is a fast-paced and exciting FPS game that takes the best aspects of other games in the genre such as VALORANT, CS GO, and Call of Duty, and simplifies them into an easy-to-play blockchain gaming experience. One of the standout features of the game is the battle pass, which encourages players to continue leveling up to unlock rewards such as weapon skins, character skins, charms, among other items. The weapon loadouts in the game are simple and offer a variety of guns to choose from, including SMGS such as the P90, Assault Rifles the AK, and even Sniper Rifles such as the SSG, a personal favorite.

Gameplay

Mini Royale: Nations currently offers two game modes: Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag. Both modes are great fun and provide an entertaining way for teams to showcase their skills against each other. However, Capture the Flag can be frustrating at times when teammates don't play the objective, which is a common theme when queuing solo in the game, or any shooter for that fact unfortunately.

When playing with friends it is easy to pub stomp and adds to the enjoyment and overall experience of the game when you set up these personal competitions to see who can get the most kills within your friend group. Another key feature of the game is the battle shard components, which can be collected and forged into new items. Through this mechanism on top of the battle pass, the lab, and clan battles, Mini Royale: Nations does a good job of introducing variety and lots of replayability to keep you coming back for more and have a sense of progression and achievement.

Personally, I got stuck in the game loop for about an hour and a half on stream once I started playing, which a lot of games struggle to do. These items are also sought after and look really nice as in-game assets that make the players want to own them. The skins added a lot of flairs and in my opinion, felt right on all the guns making it a pleasure to look at while playing. The maps in Mini Royale: Nations are small and have typical 3-lane mobility, similar to Call of Duty, which allows for gunfights to happen almost anywhere on the map. The small maps make for a quick and snappy experience.

Additionally, Mini Royale: Nations does not have recoil, which can make it similar to games like VALORANT and CS: GO with how you can perform well without the need to use the sights, and this can also be a drawback for players. However, I believe it adds to the game's addictiveness, since you can instantly pick it up and play without worrying about the need to remember the recoil pattern of each gun. One of the best things about the game is that it is available on the browser, making it easily accessible to all players, and doesn't require a high-end PC to run smoothly.

Moreover, the game allows players to change their crosshair which is a nice added feature, especially when with some maps a white crosshair doesn't work too well with the colors. Changing to the pink and dot crosshair was one of the first things I personally did upon loading into the game before queuing up into any match.

The main issue with the game at the moment is that guns can often get stuck in the animation that is meant for the walking mode animation. This can be easily fixed by aiming down the sights again to reset the view. Another issue that occurs is when you die and try to change loadouts, it can take several attempts to get it to respond and actually switch. Additionally, the game lacks movement options such as sprinting, and the character models can look strange when up against someone who is jumping. Sometimes when all these hiccups combine in one session, it can get a little frustrating and leaves a sour taste once you are done playing.

Review

Overall, Mini Royale: Nations is an exciting and addicting FPS game that stands out from the others in the genre. It has its fair share of issues, but also a lot of great features that make it worth playing. The game is accessible through the browser and has simple weapon loadouts, a battle pass with attractive rewards and a true sense of progression, two unique game modes, and even in-game events to help keep you entertained. With its addition of small maps, it makes for a quick and fun experience that everyone should at least give it a try.