Asgard’s Wrath is an upcoming combat RPG from Sanzaru Games, the studio that created Rift exclusives Marvel Powers United VR (2018) and Ripcoil (2016). It’s slated to launch on Rift and the newly unveiled Rift S in 2019, although to whet our appetites in the meantime the studio released some fresh footage at their public GDC 2019 debut this week, showing off what to expect from the game’s combat and puzzle-laden quests.
We only got a chance to play some of the beginning storyline and learn the basics of combat during our hands-on with Asgard’s Wrath, so everything seen in the questing video (linked above and below) is news to us.
The setup is this: in Asgard’s Wrath you’re a fledgling god who must help a set of Nordic heroes through their own discrete story lines. Each hero as their own load-out and abilities, and the objective is to complete each hero’s story to obtain a special rune stone for Loki, who basically plays as the game’s grand task master.
Clocking in just under eight minutes, the video presents a number of classic RPG tropes to go along with the game’s decidedly involved combat system, making use of shields, swords for attacks and parrying, and some magical weapons such as a throwable axe that you can recall with the flick of the wrist.
On top of that, some of light puzzles seem to make use of your weapons, forcing you to throw your axe accurately to cut down a rope suspending a plank bridge.
The level seems to be brimming with items such as a cross-bow, crafting items such as berries and mushrooms, and treasure too, which all nestles into the game’s classic-style RPG inventory menu. Only a few things are actually holstered to your body in the game, all of which seem to relate directly to combat.
One of the major mechanics in Asgard’s Wrath is the ability to magically transform the world’s animals into chimeric allies. A battle-toad pal follows you around automatically, taking down the level’s brutish enemies with his trident and giant lily pad-shaped shield.
You can order your toad buddy to do specific tasks too, like grab a key with his long tongue from behind the bars of a jail cell or attack a specific group of baddies on command.
There’s no denying that Asgard’s Wrath is a visually stunning game. You can also probably tell that it’s not an easy game either when it comes to the game’s combat system. Multiple enemies put your melee skills to the test, as they barge in with increasingly tough attacks and armor plating that you have to break before getting a good shot at finally knocking down their HP bar.
Unlike the popular combat sandbox Blade & Sorcery, Asgard’s Wrath isn’t entirely physics-based, meaning you’ll have to pay close attention to when baddies are charging up, or telegraphic vulnerability to land those head-slicing hits.
Sanzaru isn’t ready to talk specific release dates yet, although they’ve said it’ll be headed to the Oculus platform sometime this year. It’s said to offer a 30+ hours of adventuring, promising to be the “deepest title yet” from Sanzaru Games.