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Fractured Online Gameplay Overview – New Sandbox MMORPG (Isometric)

Fractured Online Gameplay Overview – In this Fractured Online Gameplay Overview, we are going to dive into the Knowledge Point System, crafting features, gameplay loop, and combat mechanics of the new Sandbox MMORPG developed by Dynamight Studios and published by gamigo US Inc. Fractured Online Early Access was released on September 15, 2022 on PC via Steam and and the game website Fracturedonline.com.

This is a gamigo sponsored post. Please note sponsored posts are only sponsoring coverage, our opinions on the game are our own and not affected by any business relationships with developers or publishers.

Fractured Online Gameplay Overview

  • Name: Fractured Online Early Access
  • Platform: PC (Steam and Glyph)
  • Developer: Dynamight Studios
  • Publisher: gamigo US Inc.
  • Release Date: 15th September 2022
  • Genre: Isometric Open-world, Sandbox MMORPG

What is Fractured Online?

Fractured Online is an Isometric Open-world, Sandbox MMORPG, which is comprised of player-driven worlds, granting you the freedom to interact with others while crafting your paths together. Will you form an alliance with a budding guild to grow both of your cities? Or will you choose to study their movements to destroy them eventually? As with other Sandbox Survival RPGs like Myth of Empires, you will need to be equipped with the right items and gear before exploring the worlds of Syndesia or Arboreus. After all, you won’t only build your city to conquer lands.

Fractured Online Early Access

When it comes to progression, the game follows a familiar path as in Mortal Online 2 where you do not simply gather materials to then create your house and workstations in order to craft good-quality equipment. Instead, you and your guildmates will have to claim a piece of land beforehand to create your home base and research the upgrades you need. Doing so will require a hefty amount of gold and several settlers. Afterward, you can begin to build a strong foundation.

In terms of combat, Fractured Online features a unique Knowledge Point System in which you learn the abilities of your fallen foes. The more you fight a hostile creature, the more you understand what they are capable of doing. Furthermore, the game is kinder to newer players, who are granted the “Young Status” after leaving the tutorial area. This protects them from getting harmed by those who are keen to engage in PvP. But once they have completed 40 hours of playtime and accumulated 80,000 Knowledge Points (KP), they will no longer be classified as such, and are therefore susceptible to being slain.

Riding a Horse in Fractured Online Early Access

Fractured Online Gameplay Overview – Overview and Setting

Fractured Online is set on two different planets, namely Syndesia and Arboreus. It wasn’t always this way. Long before the rapture, there was but one world called Elysium. This used to be home to all until it was torn into three worlds because of the Great Betrayal in a bid to dominate and control the rest of the races. And so, Humans adapted in Syndesia, Wildfolk acclimated in Arboreus, and Demons raised hell in Tartaros. We will talk about them in the next section in Character Creation.

Demons of Tartaros

Rather than following a storyline, Fractured Online relies on player interaction to tell where the narrative goes. After the tutorial section, you are teleported to your chosen planet depending on your race, and then it will be up to you to carve your own path. There won’t be quests to guide you, nor will there be any NPCs. As such, I highly suggest immediately joining a guild. Doing so will open up several opportunities such as efficiently gathering resources, building a city from scratch, and even fighting bandits together.

Playing as a Wildfolk, I found Arboreus visually appealing because of its bold colors and adequate lighting. It is also resource-rich and decent with its varied biomes, which distinctly highlight the game’s Weather System. Although due to the massive scale, the world feels empty sometimes, especially when you traverse from the starter town to other sections of the world to farm for materials. Even though there are creatures to fight and resources to gather, the inclusion of random events to shake things up would make exploration better. One example could be the sudden appearance of World Bosses that require heavy coordination.

Killing a Sproutling in Fractured Online Early Access

In terms of the audio, Fractured Online features few background music and sound effects, the latter of which usually comes from combat. As such, the MMO’s overall sound ambiance is relatively the same. Hopefully, more tracks will be added in the full launch depending on the type of environment you explore and the beasts you encounter.

Fractured Online Overview – Gameplay Mechanics

Fractured Online Gameplay Overview – Character Creation and Tutorial Area

In Fractured Online, you begin by choosing your character’s race, whether they are Human or Wildfolk. Note that the Demon Race has not yet been implemented, making their home planet, Tartaros unavailable. The Humans of Syndesia lack the primal and physical energy that fuels the Wildfolk and Demons. However, they compensate for it by freely seeking knowledge, allowing them to become technologically driven to significantly enhance their cities. As such, they are prepared for whatever comes their way, may it be skirmishes or large-scale wars.

Humans of Syndesia

Next is the Wildfolk of Arboreus. These tribal beasts are peaceful and often treat other clans with respect. They also have a good relationship with nature despite hunting and gathering its resources. The Wildfolk prioritize taking care of the environments they live in as a means of giving back what they take. Because of this special bond, they can draw power from Arboreus’ earth, making them a force to be reckoned with.

Wildfolk of Arboreus

Afterward, you will decide your Subrace and Physical Appearance. If you select the Wildfolk, you get attribute bonuses but if you become a Human, you will instead pick a Gender. Should you wish to quietly navigate the lands of Arboreus without drawing too much attention, then the Tiger-Kin is a good choice. You also receive extra points for Dexterity, Strength, Constitution, and Perception, as well as a small boost to your Crit Chance. But if you prefer to play as a Mage, then choosing the Hart-Kin would be better because this Subrace grants Mana and Spell Damage boosts. You also gain points for Intelligence, Dexterity, Perception, and Charisma.

Next is the Background, which serves as your starter class. Regardless of the race you go for, the same 4 Backgrounds still apply, namely the Gladiator, Bowman, Arcanist, and Street Rat. The Gladiator is a barbarian with abilities that let you lunge at enemies and deal massive damage while knocking them back. The Bowman is your classic archer who can trap targets in place and consequently shoot arrows at them. The Arcanist is the wizard who casts offensive and defensive spells while the Street Rat is similar to the rogue who uses Dexterity as their main attribute to deal melee damage.

The Arcanist Background in Fractured Online Early Access

The last part of Character Creation is deciding what Attributes to tweak although there is already a preset available based on your Background. You will then be taught the basics of the game in the tutorial area via small quests. I highly suggest killing the creatures in this world in reference to the Bestiary Section of the Book of Knowledge to save a lot of KP. Doing so will help you with character progression early on. You should also craft a full set of Commoner Gear in preparation for your travels on the mainland.

Fractured Online Gameplay Overview – Knowledge Point System

As mentioned previously, the KP System is what will help you progress further. Unlike other MMOs, you do not level up, and instead, you accumulate KP to then invest in Abilities and Talents. This implemented system is the highlight of Fractured Online because you are rewarded by engaging in a variety of activities such as discovering points of interest, learning about varied creatures, and even fighting hostile enemies. The latter is especially crucial to the Skills you get to unlock.

Discovering Creature for KP

When you go over to the Book of Knowledge, which serves as your Codex, you will see the Bestiary. Some beasts like the Rabbit do not really grant Skills and Abilities whereas others such as the Bandit Agitator and Sproutling do. Depending on your build, you will need to seek these creatures out to learn more about their attack patterns, and eventually, the Skills you wish to acquire. You do not need to be fully knowledgeable about the enemy to gain some Abilities. For example, you have to be 30% knowledgeable on Crested Lizards to learn the Bleeding Strike Skill.

Bleeding Strike Skill in Fractured Online Early Access

Over at the Skills and Abilities Menu, you unlock Abilities and Talents by spending KP. Abilities are active Skills whereas Talents are passives. The latter shows a smaller version of interconnected perks, quite similar to Path of Exile’s Skill Tree. Some of them have yet to be implemented like the Seer and True Sight but others such as Evasion and Accuracy are already working as intended. Remember to memorize the respective Ability and Talent Presets for these to take effect.

Talent Tree in Fractured Online Early Access

Fractured Online Gameplay Overview – Survival Elements and Crafting

Fractured Online  features a lot of other activities that will keep players engaged. On top of the unique KP System, there are survival elements to consider such as hunger and energy. To curb hunger, you need to eat cooked meals by roasting the meat of slain animals and regain energy by resting in front of a campfire or firepit. While you are exploring, you should scrounge for Small Stone and Branches, which you need to create campfires. Luckily, gathering basic resources is abundant in Arboreus so this shouldn’t be an issue.

It is very easy for hunger to kick in and your energy to be depleted, especially if you are constantly engaged in combat. To set up a campfire, you will simply have to go to the Crafting & Building Menu and then Blueprints. Additionally, to make your travels more manageable, you must tame and ride a horse. As such, you can traverse long roads more quickly so you spend less energy running around from one point of interest to the next.

Building a Campfire

Another survival element to consider is the weather. Wearing armor that provides you with optimal defenses will not necessarily be advantageous if encounters were to take place in harmful weather conditions. Such is the case if you wear Hide Armor under the scorching heat as indicated by the temperature in the screen’s upper right-hand corner. As such, you receive Warm stacks, which can potentially inflict the Burning status effect, thereby damaging you over time. The only way to circumvent it is to switch to another armor set like the Leather Armor.

Hide Armor Heat Tolerance

If you perish due to environmental factors or combat, you become unconscious. This gives you the option to either kill yourself or wait for 30 seconds before respawning in the same area. If you choose the former, you will lose all of your items in the inventory and even some of your equipment but you do not need to wait very long. If you select the latter, you retain your belongings, however, you receive an HP penalty. What happens is that your max HP is reduced by a certain percentage as indicated by the increasing purple bar. To remove it, you must sit in front of a firepit, not the campfire.

Unconscious State in Fractured Online Early Access

Equipment is not obtained from the creatures you kill but through crafting, and so this is going to be a huge part of your experience. Gear degrades over time, especially when you die, and currently, there is no way to repair items in the game so you will need to recreate them. Remember though that not all crafting needs to be done in front of workstations. Things such as Commoner and Hide Armor, Linen Bandages for healing, and Primitive Weapons can be done via the menu.

For Advanced Crafts, however, you need workstations and a capable city that actively engages in research. Doing so grants access to specialized gear with higher durability and one that provides better perks. But it will cost more in terms of the resources you must gather and the gold you need to pay.

Advanced Crafts

Fractured Online Gameplay Overview – Combat

Combat in Fractured Online is straightforward in that you activate the Abilities on your Hotbar to damage targets. But you can only engage with them if you are not riding a horse. What needs more improvement is the hit indicator of these Abilities as well as the corresponding attack animation. There is no reliable visual measure to let you know if any of your attacks will land on the enemy or not so you are left fumbling with the controls during the encounter.

Dodge in Combat

Another is the animation itself. When your character is supposedly dodging, for example, the word “Dodge” is displayed instead. It would have been better to show that you have successfully evaded the attack rather than simply seeing words on the screen.

Additionally, I experienced instances where the AI just stood in place, allowing me to pelt them with arrows easily. Hopefully, this will be fixed and improved upon in succeeding patches. On the bright side, Dynamight Studios are actively working and resolving bugs on a daily basis so it shouldn’t take too long to fix.

PvE Combat

While you are starting and your city is young, you will engage in PvE to kill creatures and gain experience. But once it turns into an empire, you can participate in PvP to raid hostile cities for gold and other resources.

City Management

Fractured Online Early Access is thorough when it comes to city management because of the buildings you can set up. For starters, you can opt to purchase a land parcel for your house for 4,000 gold or join a settlement to claim a city, which was what my guildmates and I did first. As long as you are either the Governor or Vice Governor, you can set up plots around the land you own. The houses you build on top of them are not mandatory but appealing for those you want to store their personal items if the public bank doesn’t suit them.

City Building

Going back to city management, the Governor can set taxes for their citizens, residents, and foreigners. Doing so will allow them to fund projects to improve the city further. Alternatively, you can rely on donations from your guildmates. You also have to maintain the Town Hall by setting up farms and harvesting certain crops.

Final Thoughts

Fractured Online is an isometric open-world, sandbox MMO where KP, crafting, and city management are the game’s main highlights. Consistently enhancing the city’s rank will open up new technologies and additional crafting stations. The whole system will take time to fully develop due to the heavy coordination required to successfully build and manage the land you own.

Irrigating Farms in Fractured Online Early Access

However, there are several improvements and bugs, which need to be addressed prior to the game’s full launch. These include the possibility of setting up additional servers to reduce connection issues, permanently fixing major issues like the global chat and market functionalities as well as party and guild invitations, and finally, random crashes. But what I’d like to point out is that the developers are responsive and they communicate with the player base often.

Exploring Arboreus

Despite these issues, Fractured Online continues to have potential. If you are searching for a sandbox MMO that you can lose several days building your character and city, then you may want to give this game a try. Fractured Online Early Access is already available and it costs USD 25.99, and is available on both Steam and the game website Fracturedonline.com. You can use the link below to support the channel!


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