Citadel: Forged with Fire by Blue Isle Studios is set to release on the Playstation 4 today, November 1st, as well as on Steam and Xbox One. A massive-multiplier online (sandbox style) game, there are elements of survival, magic, smithing/crafting, and creature interactions. Everywhere there are mentions of hero stories of fighting and taming ferocious beasts, creating luxury castles, and harnessing the power of the arcane arts.
But does Citadel: Forged with Fire live up to the hype? Let’s take a look.
Citadel: Forged with Fire starts exactly as such: you emerge, a young wizard, from the depths of flame and lava, new to the world and all that it contains. All you have is yourself, and a small haven to become oriented in.
There is not much to be said about Citadel: Forged with Fire’s tutorial. A creature such as yourself awaits you at the mouth of the cave with quests to complete that will guide you through the world, but the instructions are not much to go off. There is no pointer on the map, no hints, and no one else to offer aid. It’s just you, and your wits.
However, it’s not entirely a bad thing. Having to muster up courage to go exploring without a safety net or prior knowledge is thrilling. And just outside your spawn location is a land that extends for what feels like forever.
After hitting rocks and trees to gather stones and wood, I slowly but surely gained levels. With each level gained in Citadel: Forged with Fire, you get the option of increasing a stat: health, mana, carry weight, or damage. You also obtain knowledge points to spend on things such as weapons, household items, meals, and more. This essentially lets you build your character to function however you wish your character to be. You desire to be solely a mage? Dump all your points into mana! Learn more spells! Want to be burlier? Go for strength, and carry weight. Build all the weapons you want.
Finding my own way was difficult at times. Opening your inventory does not pause the Citadel: Forged with Fire, unlike other games. This resulted in some untimely deaths on my part, when I did not realize I was getting struck by a boar repeatedly, or clawed at by a lonesome direwolf. I then proceeded to lose all unequipped items, which was sorrowful.
Yet eventually I got the hang of it, and even killed those creatures on my own. And after re-chopping all of my wood, I got to start building my first hut:
The building mechanism of the game is very clean and intuitive, which I found pleasantly surprising. Some items were locked due to resource limitations, but I hope eventually to be able to build something even more extravagant.
Spells, admittedly, were slightly confusing. I mixed and matched ingredients relentlessly, but could not find much consistency with the outcomes. Once, when trying to create a damaging spell, I resulted in only providing myself with armor.
Spells are also tied to your weapon, which I did not love, as when my ax broke (and I did not have access to a forge) I had to create another one and enchant it all over again, typically with a new spell since I could not remember what I had done previously.
Yet the magic system does make sense overall, and I do believe with time I will get the hang of it. I mean, with a broomstick – does it get any better?
I did come across some simple game interface issues. Navigating the character’s main menu was hard when I wanted to back out of a selection. It typically closed the entire menu, or cancelled my entire spell collection instead of just letting go of an item I decided not to include. Furthermore, all the keys from the PC version, such as swapping equipped weapons. It was said ‘X’ would do so, when this just makes you jump. So even with many weapons, I had to switch it manually in my main menu, which takes a lot longer.
Resource collection is also a huge time sinker. The adrenaline that comes from experiencing the exhilaration of a new world eventually dies out, and hitting a tree for the twentieth time, countless times, gets tiring. There is an option to create worlds with unlimited resources, so I would recommend that for those that are okay sacrificing a more realistic survival scenario for more actual fun game time.
The lack of a storyline is also disorienting. There is nothing to do, but explore, and become stronger. Not awful, but this too can become tiring. With no direction in Citadel: Forged with Fire, there is no passion, no path to take. You must forge your own life, which is difficult.
Citadel: Forged with Fire’s character creation at the beginning too could use improvement. I could not rotate my character to view the hairstyle from the back, and the weird fascination of allowing players to choose leg length and thinness but not customize the face more personally was odd. I don’t really think I need the option to make my character’s tights a whole lot fatter, but I guess if the option is there, I’ll use it?
The graphics, too, while adequate, are slightly under par for what I would expect on something released so late into the Playstation 4’s life. The colors of Citadel: Forged with Fire are blended well, but the frame rate is slow, and lags on and off.
These setbacks of Citadel: Forged with Fire are minor, though, and this game is quite amazing. It strives to accomplish a lot, and it does. The world is enormous, the possibilities are endless, and the magic is enchanting.
There’s a whole world out there to discover, to wander, to explore, to learn about. I for one, cannot wait to be strong and powerful – truly a frightful and commanding figure on the lands!
End score: 9/10
Check Out the Citadel: Forged with Fire Trailer:
Citadel: Forged With Fire releases today on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Steam for both retail and digital.
PlayStation 4 Review
I'm Zepora, a junior at UC Berkeley studying Economics. I grew up attached to my Game Boy playing the Pokémon games, but now I turn to my consoles as break from school work when I'm not busy with lacrosse. I prefer RPG's with a some action, such as Elder Scrolls and Assassin's Creed (which is my favorite franchise) but am also known to play Super Smash Bros until 3am with my friends.
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