Vindictus Defying Fate pre-alpha test: A Promising Adventure Held Back by Rough Edges 

Nexon's upcoming action-adventure game, Vindictus Defying Fate, took me by surprise. The pre-alpha test, which I got access to, promised adventure with gritty combat. The game is also largely impressive when it comes to its visuals and animations. However, certain issues exist that will hopefully be fixed when the game is ready for a full release.

I have very high hopes thanks to the positive impression it left on me. Let's look at what Nexon has done with Vindictus Fate and where the developers need to polish the game.

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Vindictus Defying Fate has the potential to become one of the best action RPGs

The two available characters (Image via Nexon)

Creating an action RPG that can satisfy role-playing enthusiasts like myself should be a daunting task for developers. Many studios have tried and failed by messing up some basic aspects of their products. However, Nexon has done well in making me believe that Vindictus Defying Fate has a fair chance of being successful, although the developers need to iron out some elements before its final release.

After playing the game for a considerable amount of time and taking down the first few bosses of the build I was given access to, here's what I think about the game's pre-alpha stage.

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What I liked about Vindictus Defying Fate

The game takes heavy inspiration from the Souls series (Image via Nexon)

Nexon might have a wonderful game on its hands that offers an action-filled experience. Here are some key points:

• The game is well-optimized, considering this is an early build. I rarely encountered bugs and Vindictus ran at a solid 60-70 FPS on my outdated PC on 1080p Medium settings (Ryzen 5 3550h, 16 GB RAM, and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Super).
• Enemy attacks have weight. Their strikes can push you back, and the animators did a great job of portraying how arrows or heavy attacks displace you from your position.
• Chaining skill trees and combos brings a fun factor to the game.
• Beautiful visuals and well-crafted environment layers.

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A few aspects that need more work

All that glitters is not gold (Image via Nexon)

I will get a few things out of the way first. The game has its fair share of minor performance and input-related issues, which I am sure will be resolved by the time the game launches. There are several input delays on PC using both an Xbox controller and keyboard+mouse.

While all this can be fixed easily, I have a few things to say about the combat. The game tries to mix action-oriented combat with Souls-like elements, which, on paper, should work well. But it was very clunky, making boss fights a chore at times, unlike what one would expect from a Souls-like title.

Not every Souls-like is great, and not all great games are Souls-like. The developers can experiment with the combat more, but they need to smooth it out if the studio wants Vindictus Defying Fate to stand out. Mixing traditional action-oriented combat with Souls-like is a great concept, but as I said, it will require a lot of work.

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Closing thoughts

Vindictus Defying Fate has insane potential (Image via Nexon)

Vindictus Defying Fate left a strong impression on me despite its few shortcomings. The game is visually beautiful, and the animations are well done.

Personally, I feel that the combat system has a few issues and could be polished. Other than that, Nexon has a potentially successful game on its hands if it can market and publicize it well. I am looking forward to diving deep into Vindictus Defying Fate when the game officially launches.