I spent the past two weeks living off-the-grid, as I’ve been moving into a new place. After an encounter with a very strange ISP technician, I finally have internet access again, just in time to try out the Rise of Incarnates Beta.
Rise of Incarnates is a new IP from Tekken and Soul Calibur developer Bandai Namco. This PC-exclusive title is a 2-on-2 arena brawler, akin to games like Anarchy Reigns and ArcheBlade. Players take hold of an Incarnate, each with his or her own special abilities…but what exactly is an Incarnate? For that, we’ll have to go to the companion webcomic series on the official website. To put in simple terms, Incarnates exist within a post-apocalyptic world, and draw their powers from “daimones”- or “spiritual manifestations of the gods”. Each Incarnate has been given a message commanding them to “defeat the Sovereign of this era”, thus resulting in war between the super-humans.
This all sounds pretty cool on paper, but how well does Rise of Incarnates actually play?
My first encounter with Rise of Incarnates was very short-lived; I “participated” in the closed-Alpha, however I was only able to actually load the game once, only to have it crash 10 minutes later…I didn’t even finish the tutorial. The Beta has been treating me a little better- at least I was able to actually play this time, but it’s still given me its fair share of issues. I have the Beta installed on my 2014 14″ Razer Blade: Naturally I wanted to crank the resolution all the way up so I could experience the game at its maximum visual potential…but for whatever reason, I could only play within a window at a resolution of 1366×768. Rise of Incarnates has limited graphical options- almost non-existent, as it’s limited to just ambient occlusion, post-effect quality, shading and brightness. While the character models, special effects and and environments are incredibly colorful, the overall game is somewhat “muddy”, lacking that sharpness that really makes characters pop on-screen.
Each Incarnate has a series of light and strong attacks, with each one having a directional-variation. Depending on the character, some Incarnates can transform into a more powerful form at the cost of their special-meter. While in this form, the player deals extra damage and can perform longer chain combos. As the upcoming title has a strong emphasis on teamwork, one teammate can also buff the abilities of the other using a timed area-of-effect ability. Teamwork extends further into the gameplay with the somewhat bizarre lock-on system. Players can also block oncoming attacks- both physical and projectile- however there’s a slight guard-delay- I actually had to anticipate blocking, rather than doing so on impulse.
It’s worth noting that I typically use a 360 controller whenever I play fighters, brawlers and side-scrollers on PC. In the case of Rise of Incarnates, I probably should have stuck with the traditional keyboard-and-mouse setup, due to the camera and lock-on system. Players can easily switch the lock-on reticle between enemies, as long as they aren’t stunned after a combo string- this is marked with an “X” on the character. However, Rise of Incarnates is extremely chaotic- once players lock onto their opponents, expect the camera to go absolutely nuts. Some Incarnates are capable of flying and performing air-dashes; the camera would occasionally get caught on the skybox, as I was playing as a ground-specific character. Whenever your teammate is in a fight, if he/she launches the opponent into the air, a red reticle will appear; you can then perform a tag-aerial combo on that enemy. A problem that I constantly ran into with this mechanic, was that it would override my own battle. While attacking my own opponent, if my teammate launched their enemy into the air, the moment I performed an aerial attack, I would zoom over to the other enemy.
I spent most of my time with the one of the new characters- Brynhildr, the motorcycle-riding knight. For being one of the very few vehicle characters, she’s surprisingly slow in the grand scheme of things. Mixed with her inability to fly, this can make for some very difficult matches against more agile, aerial Incarnates. This was the case in almost every match that I played, as the fights would inevitably end up in the sky. I was left hopelessly defending myself- and I mean hopelessly- against other players as they swooped in for a quick combo, only to retreat back into the skies. Even after the extensive tutorial, matches just felt like disorganized chaos. Bandai Namco made sure to include plenty of sub-systems and tactical options in the game, but I rarely found myself actually using them. It just dissolved into a button-mashing fiesta.
While it’s only in the Beta phase, Rise of Incarnates is rough around the edges. It’s almost too chaotic; in heated moments, it becomes near impossible to tell just what exactly is happening on the screen. A wild camera paired with the seemingly automatic tag-team mechanics can make for a very disorienting experience. Even with the directional-moves, special abilities and varied cast of Incarnates, it all seems to boil down into a button-mashing brawler that relies more on luck over skill. Rise of Incarnates certainly shows promise, but it has a long way to go before that promise becomes a reality.