The beauty of early access is the relationship it inherently builds between developers and consumers, as the former works closely with its community to build the game they both have the vision for. That’s certainly the case forWaven, anearly accessfree-to-play RPG available on Steam and currently in soft launch in some countries on Mobile. The game, its developer Ankama Studio, and its community are working toward a full launch sometime early next year.
This symbiotic relationship has clearly paid off forWaven. On Steam, the title boasts over 3600 Very Positive reviews, with 350+ of those being recent. Now, Ankama Studio has released Update Version 0.14, and it’s immediately clear why. Not only are the balance tweaks extensive with clear goals and communication abouteveryWavenhero, but there are plenty of exciting features and new content in it, with more to come on December 19.
Waven’s story mode prologue is officially added to the game, alongside a new UI to manage the various quests within the game. Developer Ankama Studio tells Game Rant during a recent roundtable that the story will continue to develop over the next year or so, with the studio expecting a content update to take place every four months or so. It also adds a new island nation, Amakna, as well as a few quests there and on other islands. Perhaps one of the most exciting elements of this update is the separation of PvP and PvE, meaning the two different gameplay styles are now able to be balanced regardless of the other.
Another big addition, coming on December 19, is the new heavy-hitting warriorIop hero Astramantis, making this the 26th available character in the game. Astramantis can teleport within enemy range and blast them, adding +50% to the damage dealt. For now, Astramantis will be available via the Platinum Pass but will become available for all after one season; the devs described this as a “preview” of the hero for those who purchase the pass. However, they also noted that it was important for all players, since it is afree-to-play game, to get the character via some means eventually. A month, give or take, is a good amount of time for this.
Ultimately, these newWavenfeatures alone are enough to carry a major content update, but that’s clearly not all. There’s plenty more content in this update, more coming in December, and more set for January and beyond as well.
Developer Notes: “Affinity” rings introduce a particularly interesting multi-element playstyle. However, we want to explore a new perspective: the possibility of playing with multiple affinities, thus creating damage synergy.
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