Soul's Remnant, a 2D platformer MMORPG that spent roughly ten years in development, has launched free on Steam and is holding a Very Positive user rating, Polygon reports. Polygon describes the game as the work of a two-person team, a scale that is unusual for a massively multiplayer release at a time when far better funded live-service games routinely arrive to empty servers.
What the game is
The game emphasises exploration and socialisation, and is built in pixel art around a classless skill system. Its content includes randomised dungeons and bosses that players can take on with friends, and it leans heavily on social systems: guilds, party-specific housing and player-run shops are all in.
In Steam reviews, players most often compare it to MapleStory, with the distinction that Soul's Remnant does not carry the pay-to-win monetisation those players associate with the genre. Solo players are also catered for, according to Polygon's report: the game shipped with ten NPC villagers written with distinct personalities, and a soundtrack of more than 40 original songs.
A decade of being told not to
Writing on Reddit, developer Chaosmoon said the discouragement was a constant through the project, and framed the release as an answer to it.
It always bugged me how much people tried to discourage others from making an MMO as just one person. Like yes, obviously it's hard to do. Very hard. But it's not impossible, especially if you have the passion and determination needed to get this far.
The free release is the part that stands out against the wider market. Publishers with substantial budgets ship multiplayer games that fail on arrival, and few of those spend a decade in development, let alone release without a price tag. Soul's Remnant is available on Steam now, and its rating is the early signal that the approach has landed with the players who found it.
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