For those of you who know me a little, you'll be aware that I entered the web3 gaming space in the first quarter of 2022. Back then, one of the first games on my radar was Ember Sword, and you can imagine how excited I was to participate in the game's first playtest later that year. Jumping into the game with great excitement, I encountered less than favorable conditions due to lag caused by servers located outside my region. Fortunately, George was able to play and provide us with a glimpse into the first playtest and the world of Ember Sword.

This time around, the Ultra Deep playtest gave me the opportunity to experience a much revamped and improved version of the game. The browser MMORPG has tons of new content for players to experience, taking you into one of its intended dungeon runs with a fancy crafting table on the way down to prepare you for the waves of enemies and incredibly challenging boss fights waiting for you once you step inside.

The first playtest set us loose in an open world where we were tasked with various quests and missions, including collecting Bubbleweed, Birchtwood, iron, and other crafting materials, as well as slaying various monsters. We'll be covering the best bits of the April playtest versus the Ultradeep playtest in our video adaptation of this piece.

"I really like the art! I had a great time during this alpha test phase. Sadly, the two days are over now, but I had a lot of fun playing it so far, and I'm curious to see how the game develops over the next months. I know that it's going to be cross-platform, and I'm looking forward to playing this on my mobile device."

George's thoughts on the first playtest

"I'm murdering everything and everyone" was one of George's remarks during the previous playtest, and especially for George and all the other overly confident alpha playtesters, the next playtest is going to be a bit more of a challenge.

So, we got early access to try this out firsthand, before anyone else. Here's what we found and what we thought of it. As you can imagine, I'm super stoked to jump right into the game upon receiving the access keys.

Weapons and Class

This playtest is playable with 2 to 4 players, so you'll need at least one of your friends to join you on this adventure! At the start of the game, you'll be required to create armor and a weapon, and this will impact the way you play and experience the game, as each weapon brings its own skills and abilities, from warrior to healer and everything in between. Here's a short rundown of the available weapons and associated class/abilities:

• Sword and Shield: Your typical warrior, ready to protect his team and dish out some damage. With a variety of skills to crowd control his foes and ensure he is the center of attention. Go for Heavy armor to boost his HP and strength.
• Pistols: If medium range is more your thing, consider Pistols as your weapons. As a ranger-type character, you'll deal damage to your enemies at a bit of range with a salvo of AOE damaging skills. Medium armor would be your best pick to increase your agility, resulting in more damage and attack speed.
• Staff: If you prefer to be even further away from the action and command the elements, pick up the staff and be the group mage. Deal the most damage in your party as you strike down anything in your path with well-placed fireballs or even worse. Make sure to grab Light Armor to increase your spell damage and speed up your casting speed.
• Censer: You are the voice of reason and the healing power of the team, making sure everyone survives except that annoying mage, perhaps. Your healing powers are the heart of the team, but it doesn't stop there—healing, buffs, shields, debuffs, and even damage. You are the Swiss army knife of the party. Light Armor is best suited for you to increase the spell casting speed and further enhance your powers.

Your armor will determine how sturdy you are and increase some stats to improve your specific damage output per class. Once you have that all sorted, you'll delve into the darkness ahead and traverse various obstacles and monsters along your way. Mind your step, as you cross the parts of the dungeon connected with simple planks only. The fall down is something you won't survive. (Not speaking from personal experience, I promise!)

Playing together is key, as you'll most certainly need each other's help to overcome all the foes that are thrown your way. Of course, this will be topped off with a boss every so often to truly test your skill in both combat and teamwork. We, as a group, enjoyed this tremendously, as every time we played, we tried different tactics and strategies to overcome the challenges ahead. This is not to say it's flawless, as there are still some bugs and glitches that need fixing, as expected in an early build of the game, but very enjoyable nonetheless!

After running around and dying a fair few times, we managed to clear a good part of the dungeon and slay its first boss. We can't wait to jump in for the next runs later this week to clear out the entire available gameplay.

In short, we enjoyed playing this early access a lot and will be returning to complete it. It still has some things to sort out, but looking past these, it's apparent that Ember Sword is building something that will be enjoyable for a long time to come and shows that it has a lot more in store for us than what was showcased during the first playtest. Whether you're already an MMORPG lover or new to the genre, Ember Sword will make you feel right at home, although complete newbies might need a little help with the basics, such as equipping and where/how that is done, as well as slotting in potions to your hotbar. Plus, it gives everyone with at least a 3G internet connection the possibility to play the game, making it truly accessible to almost everyone with a single click.

Some general information about the game changes compared to the last playtest: This playtest will be running on four servers to ensure higher performance for everyone around the world. Europe, North America, South America, and Southeast Asia are where the servers will be located.

The UI has had an overhaul since the last time we played, and it looks much better and cleaner. There are also various tooltips on stats and weapons to give you a better idea of what you should be equipping and why. Additionally, there has been a general overhaul of the combat system, with major work done on channeling and the combat state bar, after receiving feedback from playtest 1.

For those of you wondering how you'll be able to join in on "The Ultradeep" playtest, you can find the details below:

Live Dates

• Start: 11:00 UTC on Friday, October 27th
• End: 22:00 UTC on Sunday, October 29th

To participate in "The Ultradeep" playtest, sign up for an account now and access the playtest by going here. 

To further enhance the game, the team encourages all players to provide feedback through the playtest survey, with the chance for three fortunate participants to win exclusive Ultra Deep swag. For those seeking competition, the competitive leaderboard beckons, where they can challenge the scores of select Ember Sword team members and vie for top prizes. Additionally, the team actively promotes user-generated content and streaming within the Ember Sword community, fostering growth and enriching the gaming experience. As Ember Sword continues its exciting journey, players are invited to join in shaping its future and exploring its boundless potential.