Personally, I don’t get the Battle Royale genre. I know Fortnight is absolutely massive and PUGB is now a virtual classic but there’s something about that style of gameplay that just doesn’t do it for me. My personal tastes, however, don’t really mean squat and I know there a going to be millions of addicts amongst you looking for a new way to get your kill on. Well how about getting a bit medieval? You’ll be able to do just this with Ran: Lost Islands which has been announced for Steam.
Ran: Lost Islands is coming out of the Jolly Roger game studio and will be entering Early Access on Steam later this year. This is a game of piracy and plunder and if you are to successfully leave the Cursed Islands with a haul of goodies and your life you’re going to need to be a bit skillful and smart. You won’t be the only one looking to cash in on the gold and artifacts hidden beneath the waves. In true battle royale fashion everyone wants the same thing you do and are more than happy to send you to an early grave to get it.
Not in true battle royale fashion this isn’t just a game of gather something lethal before everyone else does and survive. Ran: Lost Islands will see you collecting clues to the artifacts you seek. These items and the clues leading to them are hidden about the islands and not all the treasure will be on dry land, there’s wrecked ships to be explored too. Obviously you’ll need to be able to defend yourself and high level gear is hidden about the place as well, you just have to find it.
The locations you will be exploring in Ran: Lost Islands are diverse and you’ll find the clues you seek at various landmarks dotted about the place. These include, temples, natural caves and the walled city. Different areas will give need for changes in strategy which is always good for versatile, replayable fun.
Wrecked ships mean one big thing that we haven’t seen played with enough in other titles: water. You will be engaging in combat both on land and sea and this will enable you to not only wreck your opponents vessels with cannon-fire but also cut them to shreds via boarding parties in heated melee combat. In addition to this you’ll be able to do battle underwater in an attempt to find that all important treasure.
In Ran: Lost Islands you will be taking the role of a warrior from one of three factions. These are namely The European Empire, Ming Dynasty, and Japanese Shogunate. With this in mind all the weapons and gear you find will be both period and fitting for the character you’re playing. Aside from this you won’t just have other players to worry about. In your hunt you’ll come across the survivors of exotic hunts, wild scavengers in the woods and much bigger, nastier things lurking below the waves. Both skill and strategy are definitely the name of the game here if you’re going to get out alive.
To contradict myself entirely this actually sounds like something I’d consider playing. There seems to be just enough here that’s new, different, and exciting to warrant giving Ran: Lost Islands a punt. If you’re like me when it comes to this genre and you’re a bit unsure I’ll leave you with the announcement trailer. Maybe that’ll be enough to swing you one way or the other. You can also sign up for the closed Beta here and join the discord server if you fancy a chat about the whole affair.
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