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The market has recently seen a few Paragon-likes, but few excite me like Predecessor did. I’ve played a few of these games, and spent quite a few hours in the original Paragon, earlier in my career. My best friend and I would stream it frequently but had our complaints about the game; in particular, Paragon was the slowest MOBA available anywhere.
While there are still ways to go with Predecessor, I’ve played a few matches on PC alongside Robbie Singh, Omeda Studios’ head. Originally, he got his start among those in the Paragon community, and here we are, in 2024, with a game built on the framework of Paragon.
Note: This article is based on the author's opinion.
Predecessor changes up the formula of Paragon in the right ways
As a long-time player of MOBAs, it was nice to see someone change the game up. Predecessor is based upon/uses the assets of one of those games: Paragon. Whether it was DOTA, DOTA 2, League of Legends, or SMITE, I played all the big-name MOBAs. I even played many of the ones that utterly failed—looking at you, DC Infinite Crisis.
Paragon, developed by Epic Games, shut down in 2017, but the assets are available to developers who wish to take it and create something new with it. Back in 2023, I previewed one of these called Paragon the Overprime. However, after looking at both games, I feel that despite using the same assets and gameplay engine, they’re quite different.
Frankly, the main problem I had with Paragon was it was like swimming through molasses. It was such a slow, tedious game. Matches took forever and moving around the map took even longer somehow. Between the launcher pads in Predecessor and characters simply moving faster, the gameplay feels less tedious.
To be honest, that’s perhaps the thing I enjoy the most about Predecessor. The gameplay for Paragon was already decent, if not incredibly slow. When I played this MOBA on PC, I didn’t feel like I was being punished, like I did in Paragon. Another notable change is that some of the characters have been updated and changed.
A good example is Dekker, one of the ranged support characters. They adjusted most of her kit, except for her stun. She felt like a much different, much better character to play here in Predecessor than the original release by Epic Games.
From adding new camps to kill in the jungle to improving the map in little ways, Omeda Studios has really improved on the original game, offering something new and fresh, even though it’s visually familiar.
The little things make Predecessor worthwhile
Plenty of little touches make Predecessor such a great game. Cross-play across PlayStation, PC, and Xbox means you shouldn’t struggle to find matches; it also has a die-hard community that regularly puts on tournaments. You can tell the fans are enjoying the game, and that the developers are listening.
I also appreciate that the game lets you unlock some awesome cosmetics for your characters. Yes, they’re in a Battle Pass, but each character has their own, instead of waiting for a new season to start, and hope you see something you want. This Affinity system is really neat, and if you finish someone, you can take their exp and start building for another character’s cosmetics.
That in particular I love, because you can still play your main character, or characters, without stressing out about mastering someone you aren’t familiar with. The developers hear their community and make sensible changes. That’s always a good sign in a MOBA.
Final Thoughts
I cannot rate Predecessor yet as it’s still in Early Access/Open Beta. However, I can tell you that I enjoy playing it, and feel like it’s got a ton of promise. The Omeda Studios team is passionate about this game and has plans to implement, such as new modes and characters down the line. The game is gorgeous, and the attacks all feel incredible to use.
Just talking to Robbie Singh told me a lot of what I needed to know. You can tell when someone is invested in the game they’re working on, or when it’s just a chore they want to move on from. I don’t think this game is going anywhere, anytime soon. It’s incredibly fun and feels like the next evolutionary step from Paragon. The future is bright for third-person MOBAs, whether it's SMITE 2 or Predecessor.
