What do you think is in store for this game in 2025? How much more work does the general gameplay need, what new additions will we receive and how far away is the full release?
I would love some sort of PvE mode. I think the game is super impressive but I’m just so tired of competitive games.
I’m not sure what that would look like.
Supposedly the game will have some kind of narrative component. There’s full on visual novels for some of the characters out there.
I love visual novels so that’s definitely something I’m looking forward to.
Like a story-based PvE mode or just a different style of gameplay (like a horde survival mode or something)? I’d like to see some casual PvP modes added too, though I think they should focus on refining the core game first. I have friends that are more casual than me who’d appreciate this sort of stuff.
I feel like the core gameplay mechanics are near finalized so we won’t see huge changes in soul mechanics to the degree we have been. Probably still small to mid tweaks for a few months.
I haven’t played hero labs (don’t get as much time to play in general with being a dad now lol) so might be off a bit but would think most of those characters move to the main roster during the first half the year.
I expect more skins and some kind of progression tied to skins at some point in 2025 to help with retention. I don’t worry as much about the steam charts as some do with it being a playtest but I do think they can’t let the player count drop too low. I select the “high quality” option for queue or whatever it’s called and while it takes a little bit for a match mine have been good so I’ve been happy.
We know several characters will receive visual overhauls (warden, yamato, haze, viscous…)
And while a ton of progress has happened with the map, a lot of stuff is clearly placeholder. There is even an unused denizen (jungle creep) type in the files. There’s also an entire walker model that currently isn’t used.
There’s a SHITTON of potential items that aren’t in the game yet.
I’m pretty sure general gameplay already has all core systems in place, movement, shooting, reloading, etc. I don’t see that changing much. Then again, wall-jumping was a fairly recent addition, so who knows? Lots of stuff still changing with hero abilities. Yamatos ult, Pockets ult and Grey Talons spirit snare have all received changes recently that almost amount to entirely replacing the abilities with something different.
As for when I think it’ll release… I honestly don’t see it happening next year. The game is VERY far along but it’s in that phase where the last bit takes a lot of the effort. There is so much that still needs doing and tweaking.
It’s possible that a lot of thr missing stuff is actually done and just not in the play-testing build, ofc, in which case my estimate could be very off. MAYBE it could release next year.
I’m pretty sure general gameplay already has all core systems in place, movement, shooting, reloading, etc. I don’t see that changing much.
I was thinking more in terms of soul mechanics. There have been lots of big meta shifts this year in relation to wave sharing, jungling and the urn. I’m not sure if they’ve settled on that yet or if there will be more big changes in 2025 as they try to work out how much they want to play into the MOBA component vs the hero shooter component.
Ah. I do think they’re leaning more MOBA, and intend to continue doing so. But IMO the two are not mutually exclusive and many of the heroes allow for a ridiculous amount of hero-shooter-style skill expression.
But they are very clearly looking to address some of the main sources of frustration in the MOBA genre. Stuff like the way a winning team tends to snowball. Or how when the teams are really evenly matched, games can end up running REALLY long.
The main drive here seems to be to try and resolve some the biggest gripes people have with Dota and LoL.
This can be seen in how the guardians and walkers have been made to lose resistance over time (meaning the losing team can snipe them more easily the longer the match goes on).
How souls become easier and easier to earn. How the lowest earning player on a team gets a passive soul income. The urn mechanic and how it favors the losing team. The mid boss, and how it is designed to be either a match ender or comback mechanic depending on which team gets it. I expect such experimentation to continue.