Free Steam 'Gem' is blowing up as MMORPG defies the odds with 86% rating

Do you remember The Quinfall? Blue Protocol? Throne and Liberty? Swords and Legends?

No, of course you don't, because the MMORPG genre is full, and anything trying to release in the saturated scene is doomed from the get-go.

Dominated by World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, Final Fantasy XIV, and The Elder Scrolls Online, an abundance of MMORPGs from AAA studios have come and gone without much of an impact.

So much so that many consider the genre dead - or at least, fully claimed.

That is, unless you are a duo of cutesy indie developers spending ten years creating a 2D platformer that differs from anything else out there.

That's where Soul's Remnant comes in, as this title, ten years in the making, has somehow launched as a free game on Steam and is smashing all expectations.

Soul's Remnant dubbed the new 'gem' of the MMORPG genre

Set in the same iconic pixelated 2D platformer style that Mario has jumped through and Hollow Knight has slashed across, Soul's Remnant adopts a multiplayer stance that leans heavily on socialisation and exploration.

Best tackled with friends or a large group of allied onliners, the game boasts a classless skill system full of randomized dungeons and bosses.

"Customize your character, and conquer dungeons and bosses in this mysterious world. Play with friends or make new ones - just watch out when night falls!" the description reads.

What makes it so great is that the developers, Chaomoonx, are simply two people who wrote all of the code, art, and music over ten years, and have already hit 2,000 concurrent players on Steam

"It always bugged me how much people tried to discourage others from making an MMO as just one person," they wrote in an AMA on Reddit.

"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."

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Having launched on August 13 in an Early Access stage, the free game offers endless hours of fun, and has already achieved an 86% success rate in the reviews.

"Genuinely a nice little gem of a game that's incredibly similar to MapleStory, but without the ridiculous P2W aspect attached to it. It's far more enjoyable than the competitors right now, and I hope these guys get more players because they definitely deserve it," one reviewer said.

Another added, "I really like this game, it actually hooked me way more than I thought it would. I have played, and glossed over, many MMOs in the past - but something about this one stuck with me. If this game is selling a fantasy of 'This is what OG MapleStory felt like,' then it absolutely nails it. It does this without using nostalgia, and learning from modern ARPG game design."

Finally, a third wrote, "This might be the most addicting 2D MMO out right now. It feels like I'm playing MapleStory and Celeste at the same time. Everything is so fluid and satisfying; I am in love."