OverPrime, The Paragon Reboot Review
Multiplayer Online Battle arena (MOBA) are one of the most played genres in our gaming generation currently. One of them being League of Legends (LoL) , the most popular one at a whopping 150 million monthly players. Others include DotA 2, which is seen as the hardest MOBA game and Smite, the first 3rd person view MOBA. This genre of games focuses on objective-based gameplay where two teams battle it out to destroy each other’s towers and/or cores. Many players love the genre but of course, we always love a new game stepping up to the plate and changing how we think of most MOBA’s.
Paragon: The Overprime, the reboot of Epic’s once beloved Paragon that was shut down back on April 2018, might be stepping up to that plate. This new 3rd person MOBA is a fan-made remake by Team SoulEVE, a Korean dev team, backed by Netmarble, a huge mobile gaming company. It features old characters from the original such as Gideon, Murdock and the fan favourite Twinblast, along with some new characters like Zena, a Korean pop-star from another dimension turned warrior.
This game has been praised (and harshly judged) by the fans of the original Paragon for its innovative changes to its predecessor’s gameplay and mechanics. The game introduces new mechanics such as Portals and “Sprint Mode”. At either side of the maps, portals help with quick rotations to fights and objectives control, while having access to a mechanic called “Sprint mode” allows the player to travel quickly from one lane to another. These two new mechanics enhance the gameplay, making the game fast paced for players to enjoy.
As an enjoyer of the game, I believe that the game is visually amazing but needing some work in the gameplay. While fun, having both Portals and “Sprint mode” on this map takes away from the strategic part of the game and instead pushes nonstop brawler-like combat. Removing one or the other would add a new variety of gameplay that would entice players to change it up. Of course, this wouldn’t be a 2023 early access video game without its bugs. One of these bugs includes mobility focused heroes stuttering or being misplaced after using their mobility action. Luckily for the players, SoulEve has dedicated developers working hard to fix these issues, while adding more content to the game.
With a dedicated fan base, this game has the potential to become a fun game to jump on as both a competitive and a casual MOBA player.
