We have fallen into the habit recently of featuring indie VR titles already out for early access or full releases on Steam. Ashigaru is a game still in its early stages, but it just looks so damn exciting we thought we should share it with you guys so you can keep tabs on it.
JaudaLabs is a two man studio based in Germany who have been busy squirrelling away at one of the first VR MMORPG titles to hit the market. It’s an ambitious project, and still very much in the early stages, but the landscapes we’ve seen in devblogs so far look pretty exciting.
The indie game project certainly holds a lot of potential in these devblogs. These devblogs certainly show the game coming a long in an impressive amount of time. The first, posted at the beginning of 2017, shows a sparse landscape and some lonely NPCs while the most recent shows a full world full of colour and surprises.
JaudaLabs have introduced a voice activation element to their MMORPG, currently allowing players to speak keywords to cast spells over NPCs. It’s an exciting prospect that few devs are waking up to. Untethered, for example, uses the player’s voice to run a radio show however their tech cannot currently work to recognise and act on the words actually being said by the player. JaudaLabs’ movements in voice activation represent an incredibly exciting step being taken, as is the case nowadays, by a smaller team of indie game devs.
Gradually, the project is beginning to take the shape of a conventional MMORPG. Shops, combat training grounds, larger exploration opportunities, and various building functions are forming out of the game environment. The game’s premise is centred around the user’s control of the elements, with spells and locations pertaining to earth, fire, wind, and water.
From the very start of development, it’s clear this team know what they’re doing with a VR headset. Movements are smooth, and though it’s still a sparse network, interactions run effortlessly. There’s no doubt that Ashigaru is an exciting prospect. The team is still building, but you can keep up with their efforts on YouTube and through their Patreon blog.
Ashigaru is in development for HTC Vive and Sorcerers of Kinetics, the team’s previous VR release, is now available via Early Access on Steam for HTC Vive.
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