With the open beta of For Honor I was finally able to play the game for myself and see just what made this game tick.
The setting of the game while not exactly historically accurate, brings a fresh look back to games set in medieval times.
I mean the last game i remember to do that was chivalry medieval warfare, and even then the console port left much to be desired.
The main thing that caught my attention in For Honor was how similar its progression system was like that of Rainbow Six Siege.
You unlock characters with currency you can earn, and even buy upgrades though this time they actually affect stats, which is a pretty bold move though im not sure if it will play out in the long term.
So i started to think, since Ubisoft has been getting into E-sports, and since Siege has been successful, would they want For Honor to go the same route?
Well in some cases yes.
The Art of Battle (the name for the fighting system) is certainly a great system for one on one fights, it reminds me a lot of games like Infinity Blade, only much more expanded.
The timing and thought that must go into each move, is what would make For Honor not only a good battle of wits but an entertaining spectacle to watch as well.
However this only applies to the duel mode.
The other modes seem to break away from the games strength which is the fighting system, because adding more players into a system that favors one on one fighting will have its share of problems.
The main source of the issues could just be an issue of balancing, which considering how E-sports usually have different rules its no surprising Ubisoft might already be thinking ahead with this.
So I don’t think mentioning, stamina, or capture point healing will mean much.
The real focus is that fighting more than one person, is kind of impossible.
Yea it makes sense for it to be the case, but if that’s going to be the go to strategy than a lot of For Honor Matches are going to be looking the same.
It will be less about the strategy going into fights, and more about avoiding fights all together and sneaking up to kick someone off a ledge.
The gameplay dynamic is completely different in these modes, and while it is MOBA-esque I don’t think it will stand out enough in the long run due to all the tricks at players disposal that make fights seemingly one sided.
I just don’t see that having the same tactical edge that rainbow six has, or even the prowess of skill that any other fighting game.
Some characters are more about blocking others are counter attacking, but both require to be locked on to do it, add in more than one player and that entire dynamic is essentially ruined, and you resort to rolling and running around, and if your playing Dominion and your in the Minion mosh pit, then forget it.
Hopefully when players get better awareness characters like the Peace Keeper wont be that big a force, considering their best technique is inflicting bleeding damage, they are the perfect double teaming character, because they can swoop in and grab and enemy, inflict bleed and run away, while the other team mate continues fighting them, and the Peace Keeper goes on to capture more objectives.
This will something incredibly hard to balance, if they even try at all.
I just know that the appeal in For Honor is the one on one fights, and that is probably what will get more attention overall.
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