Conan Exiles: Age of Sorcery expansion is a small revolution

Conan Exiles

There are successful games that nobody talks about, if not a few fans through mostly monothematic channels. One of these is Funcom's Conan Exiles, who just recently welcomed the free Age of Sorcery expansion, the largest downloadable content in the four-year life of the game and the bearer of fundamental innovations for the future of the project.

But why do so many play it, but no one seems to talk about it? The reason is to be found in the disastrous launch, from which it then rose brilliantly, and for its all-encompassing gameplay, able to imprison you in the world imagined by writer Robert Ervin Howard for months and at least hundreds of hours. Video game writers are forced to try so many different products, so it becomes really hard to promise so much dedication to a single experience like Conan Exiles. For the same reason, the only ones to carry on the flag of this immense game are those who have chosen to dedicate their free time totally or almost entirely to it. A bit like it was with the MMOs of yesteryear, including World of Warcraft and the more recent Final Fantasy XIV, which as proof of loyalty also ask for a monthly subscription.

Let's find out, then, why Conan Exiles: Age of Sorcery is a small revolution.

Better alone or poorly accompanied?

Conan Exiles Age of Sorcery: may the dark lord walk our land! Conan Exiles is not an MMO and does not need an offering every thirty days, it is a sort of reminiscence of it like Rust and Ark: Survival Evolved have been. In these games, you choose the server and literally start living it. In the case of Conan Exiles, the player will take on the role of an exile left to rot in the Exiled Lands, where he will be saved by Conan himself. Immediately after the quick introduction, you are left to your fate practically in your underwear, indeed without even those, with the aim of arriving at the end of the compelling, but very expanded story while rebuilding a life in this fascinating other when digital. Just like Ark and Rust, it is possible to choose whether to play the solitary experience, which friends can still join, or jump into a shared world, these divided between PVE servers and PVP servers, so where players can fight and stamp their feet. each other.

It is only in PVP that you have the full experience: imagine different tribes of players challenging each other with weapons in hand and diplomatically, building ever larger and more complex fortified villages. But there's nothing wrong with preferring a more relaxed and friendly gaming experience - PVE is the best starting point for learning how to play Conan Exiles without the constant dangers of a disputed land. It is always possible to create another character on a server with totally different rules.

It is not even mandatory to enter and be part of a community: the Conan Exiles map is among the largest in circulation, there is enough space to live the life of the hermit, build a tower on a mountain far away and specialize in the construction of some primary asset, to then resell it as a passing merchant to other players. But don't hope for a world full of players: each server can host a maximum of seventy users at the same time so the numbers are always quite low, guaranteeing that solitude at the base of every great adventure.

A brutal game

Conan Exiles Age of Sorcery: free to build more and better The survival aspect is actually brutal, the crafting is complex, but less than that of Ark, the simple combat system but over the years it has been layered properly , and with the new arcane arts introduced with Age of Sorcery things are further improved (but expect a proliferation of wizards and sorcerers trying the new content in the short term). Fortunately for the balance of the game, the new spells are powerful but also very slow, moreover they will often require a rather complex preparation that could also include a human sacrifice (classic NPCs are fine but even better can make another player's sacrifice) . Your neighbors will surely be delighted to see you furnish the garden with all the tools necessary to earn enough corruption and cast the most powerful spells, the most jaw-dropping summons including a winged horse.

L 'era of witchcraft

Conan Exiles Age of Sorcery: learning the new arcane arts will not be easy, once again dedication will be required The Age of Sorcery update, which we remember is completely free, also introduces the first Battle (Season) Pass of the game that officially renounces further paid expansions, which are progressively cutting out users, to embrace a system that has already proved successful in many other titles, as well as being particularly appreciated by the public. Each season (Era) will introduce new features and offer new challenges and rewards, as always small for those who prefer not to pay and abundant for those who will open the wallet. The problem with a change that we fully support, is that the old expansions continue to be paid, but better so than a clear change towards free-to-play which would also have led to a general deterioration in the integrity of the gameplay. br>

Experience counts!

Conan Exiles Age of Sorcery: graphically it starts to show some signs of failure, but it remains a great game With Age of Sorcery the perk system has been heavily revised and skills for a more engaging character progression; the construction mechanics have been completely modified which now also includes a creative room that will allow you to fly around the construction site and build with extreme precision; in addition, hundreds of fixes have been implemented for many of the most annoying bugs. Despite the exceptional progress and a rather interesting current gen version, Conan Exiles remains a very edgy experience: the graphical interface has become increasingly heavy and it is not uncommon to encounter a certain instability of the servers that can lead to annoying crashes. both on PC and on the most recent consoles. Nothing particularly dramatic, but that's not where you'll find the cleanest game around.

The experience, however, deserves to be tried, preferably in the company of some friends with whom you can help yourself to face the initial difficulties, and with whom you can build a first fundamental shelter more quickly. These four years of Conan Exiles have not only served to improve this game, but also to build the experience needed to create a totally new one. The recently announced Dune Awakening, currently under development in the Funcom offices, seems to want to exploit the same concept, but in the dunes of Harrakis. And if from scratch they've managed to create an experience like Conan Exiles, perhaps the best is yet to come.

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