There’s still quite a lot of interest in D&D Tiny Adventures vanishing from Facebook. I can see people visiting Geek Native’s coverage of the story from back in May. I think that proves there is demand for a good RPG on Facebook.
The folk at Peerflux have a new candidate for the unclaimed title of “The Facebook RPG” and they reached out to Geek Native to make sure we had the chance of taking an early look at Endless Chaos.
Such emails are not rare however Peerflux did a number of things right from the get go. “This is not another farming game” said the email. Okay. Good. Let’s hope not. I was already half-way sold into checking the application out.
They also had a video. This works well because it means we can get a small sample of the game without having to give it permissions to use Facebook data. It also suggests that Peerflux have the budget and ambition to stick with the Endless Chaos.
I decided to give Endless Chaos a go. The hardest part in setting up with picking a name.
There are three races. Kaals that contain a daemon in their body (sounds dangerous and a likely route to being nothing but evil… but aren’t they acting as brave, walking prisons), the Madochs that have altered their bodies with machine parts (are they the new humans or the worst of all monsters?) and the Ohmrons as energy beings (inhuman aliens or angelic helpers?).
The three are at war. Player versus Player is a big aspect of Endless Chaos. The game keeps track of your kill counts. This includes NPC monsters. Although the game is brand new, the doors just opened on the 14th, I’ve found players in the wilderness with kill counts in the hundreds. I didn’t pick a fight with them.
Once you’ve picked your race you’ve the standard warrior, ranger or mystic/wizard class selection to make. I don’t think it needs to be any more complex than this. I was able to have a strong enough feeling of “self” for my Endless Chaos character.
One thing to keep in mind is that Endless Chaos is like most other Facebook games in that it wants to go viral. It wants you to succumb and tell your whole Facebook world that you’re playing.
Okay, yeah, I did invite Facebook friends. Not all of them. I picked a dozen or so friends who I thought would be interested. Let’s try and avoid being one of those Facebook users who invite all their friends to everything. One of the reasons I did this was because you are given point bonuses for successfully inviting people into the game. The other reason I did this was because I was actually quite taken with the game.
What I’ve not let Endless Chaos do yet it broadcast out a progress update. They seem a bit too aggressive for me (mind you; so do the Super Poke Pets, et al, updates).
I’ve hit a wall with Endless Chaos. Perhaps it’s a victim of its own playability.
The quests are quite fun. You’re guided hand-in-hand by the game through some easy to understand quests. These quests, as you’d expect, also help you to master the game system. A nice feature of the quests is that you can decide whether you want to pursue a good themed ending or an evil one. Sometimes the evil options seem easier.
The wall I’ve hit is in the quests. Call it the “round boss” challenge. I’ve bought and upgraded all the weapons and armour I can (though there might be some tweaks I can still squeeze in there). I think to defeat this round boss I need to learn a new skill. I’ve found a teacher. I’ve paid the bill. Now I need to wait. It’ll take three days.
Three days. I got this far in one morning and now to make some more serious progress I may have to wait three days. The good news, however, is that I’m still free to roam the wilderness picking fights with other players or monsters.
My experience with the quests so far is that they’re done well. There’s a sense to story about Endless Chaos that D&D: Tiny never had. Only time will tell whether this lasts as I progress though the game.
The name Endless Chaos suggests there may be no end point in the game. D&D: Tiny had you create a new character with either some new perks or challenges and that seemed like a very clever way to recycle the game a dozen times. We’re still to discover what Peerflux’s approach to solving this issue will be for Endless Flux.
It’s worth saying that Endless Flux is still in beta. Everything might change. However, this beta review is entirely promising. I’m very happy to keep playing. If you want to play then sign up here.
