As soon as you log into the game, players will be drawn to the gameplay with a simple and easy to understand. In addition to the keyboard, Rise of Incarnates adds even more gamepad controls to the player’s choice.
Like many other action games, the Rise of Incarnates style is based on the player’s quick response. Fighting mechanisms are familiar with continuous combo attacks, or a fast-paced surfing mechanism to avoid attacks, or even a quick response to the attacking character … quite familiar as other fighting games.
Another highlight of the Rise of the Incarnates comes from possessing a special combat mechanism as in the Dragon Ball series, when players are forced to “aim – orient” their attacks from afar.
Rise of Incarnates owns a relatively beautiful and impressive graphics, with a comic style. Environmental effects in the game are also exploited to the maximum when characters can destroy the environment such as breaking walls or some objects in the arena.
The first notable point is that at present, Rise of Incarnates only offers 2vs2 arena to players. In this arena, the player’s task is simply to take down the opponent to win.
At present, Rise of Incarnates introduces three familiar game modes including Rank, Normal, Bot. Each of these modes play in 2vs2.
Rise of Incarnates owns a relatively beautiful and impressive graphics, with a comic style. Environmental effects in the game are also exploited to the maximum when characters can destroy the environment such as breaking walls or some objects in the arena.
The maps in the game are built quite beautiful, sharp and true. Even players can destroy the environment, collapse concrete walls, and vehicles around the map while fighting. This gives the player a sense of Rise of Incarnates experience as a movie.
Rise of Incarnates offers a variety of player-selected characters, each with their own skills, as well as a variety of HP, with different weak stats.
During the battle, the character can jump into the air and attack downwards. All four characters possess melee attacks or ranged attacks. Of course, remote attacks are not as accurate as the average speed, and the opponent can avoid using the ability to surf or move. Meanwhile, close-range attacks have a much wider AoE range and are easier to hit.
However, Rise of Incarnates minimizes the fact that gamers play “cheese” when spamming only a few skills. All of the character’s spells in the game have a certain amount of use, and once used up, the player will have to wait for a cooldown. This can be considered the most highlight of the Rise of Incarnates compared to the other fighting games.
In the Rise of Incarnates, all characters in the game can develop new skills. After the game, players will receive a certain amount of experience points and gold coins. While experience is used to level up characters, gold coins help players acquire new characters.
New characters can be purchased in the Cash Shop with a prepaid card, but after purchase, gamers still need to spend some time to level them up.
Game Control Mechanisms
Battling Process
The ICARUS-on-Rise mechanics comprise essentially this: a significant 2V2 combat system with provisions for an open arena platform, promising to the target audience a variety of virtual characters with quirky abilities and varied playstyles to team up and combat against other teams.
Pro:
Dynamic Combat: The combat system is fluid and dynamic: you can intermix melee attack with ranged attack with special abilities. It adds spice to the game and provides numerous winning strategies.
Character Abilities: Each character will be referred to as an Incarnate because each one has its very own unique set of abilities associated to a mythical entity. It adds more dimension to the game because people could try different characters and find suitable ones to their playstyle.
Team Coordination: Teamwork will be the key focus in this 2v2 lay-out. Players will do away with resource management and battlefield control plus combinations because they simply have to work together to overcome their opponents. This will provide a layer of depth to the otherwise fast-paced, on-screen, frantic combat.
Con:
Steep Learning Curve-The game’s mechanics require quite a long time to master-the whole combo movement, attack, and ability combination. Novices would need to practice, and without any comprehensive tutorials, would probably get frustrated enjoying the game.
Balance Problems-There are certain characters who are noticeably powerful among the lot, causing the game to be imbalanced; thus losing the competitive spirit in the matches. This could frustrate players who prefer to play a particular character but have found that the character is not really that effective during competitive play.
Movement and Controls
Moving through “Rise of Incarnates” intended the quick, highly fluid movement where the most focus would be aerial maneuvers and mobility.
Pros:
Air Combat: The ability to fly and enjoy aerial attacks provides a dimension never seen before in gameplay. Use verticality in arenas for advantage against opponents; isolate them and gain a strategic edge.
Design of Controls: Controls are highly responsive and intuitive. In addition, players will be able to deliver rather complex maneuvers and combos with precise execution. Responsiveness is definitely required for such fast action arenas.
Cons:
The camera fails in the dynamic movement and aerial combat most of the time, giving rise to abstract disorientation and difficulty in tracking opponents. The overall quality of experience suffers because of this.
There are times when the transition between ground and aerial combat seems awkward, often breaking the continuity of the game. Having smoother transitions would have a better benefit for the fluidity and immersion in combat.
Customization and Progression
“Rise of Incarnates” presents an array of character customizations and progression mechanics to keep the player engaged.
Pros:
Cosmetic Customization: Players can customize their character’s look with skins, costumes, and accessories, which adds a layer of personalization and creates individuality for every player’s experience.
Progression System: The progression system of this game awards experience points and in-game currency for winning matches and achieving objectives. This gives players a sense of accomplishment and keeps them motivated to continue playing.
Cons:
Pay to Win Allegations: As a free-to-play game, “Rise of Incarnates” includes microtransactions for items of cosmetic value and gameplay advantages. The game has been criticized by some players for incorporating pay-to-win elements, where those who invest money have an upper hand.
Limited Customization Depth: Although cosmetic customization does exist, actual customization of abilities and playstyle will stand as minimal. A further suite of customization concerning skills and character builds would have added much more repaying value to the game.
Narrative and World-Building
Story and Setting
“Rise of Incarnates” takes place in the dystopian future where a cataclysmic event has given rise to superhuman powers in selected individuals. These individuals are the so-called Incarnates bound to their mythical entities that must fight their way through a world hanging on the brink of destruction.
Pros:
Unique Premise: The game’s premise is convincing and creatively merges mythology with post-apocalypse fiction. The extra mystique of the setting comes from the way these individuals are endowed with powers from mythical entities.
Character Backstories: Each Incarnate comes with a backstory that delves into another realm of mythic association and motivation. These backstories only enhance character depth and allow for the explanation of the character’s actions in the game.
Cons:
Shallow Narrative: Even though the premise is enticing, the actual narrative of “Rise of Incarnates” remains crude. The story is mainly told through character bios and various snippets of dialogue, which may leave players craving depth from the plot.
Limited World-Building: Very little is set on the world-building in the game-the wider world is barely mentioned; the implication of the cataclysm hardly comes up in any conversation. Extensive lore and world-building would have added to the experience of the narrative.
Character Design
In “Rise of Incarnates”, the character design is vast. Every Incarnate is characterized by a different aesthetic appearance and span of unique abilities.
Pros:
Distinctive Designs: Each character is visually unique; they reflect different mythological origins as well as powers. It adds to the charm of that roster, which helps in bringing out each character.
Personality and Voice Acting: All the characters come alive with voice acting and unique personalities. All the performances are great, and they will definitely add value in terms of immersion and emotional impact while playing the game.
Cons:
Clichéd Archetypes: Cliché types fall short of being original and compelling, thus most of them. More nuanced and complex character designs would definitely have been an asset to the roster.
Limited Interaction: The most principal interaction among the characters is during the matches. More dynamic interactions and relationships would have given a little bit of extra flavor to the story and character development.
Graphics and Audio
Visual Design
This title has ambitious goals with respect to its audio and visual design: making the whole experience as immersive and out of this world as possible by providing highly detailed models and more colorful environments.
Pros:
Model-Detailled Characters: The models of characters are detailed and well-organized to fit the different powers and personalities each Incarnate has. Visual effects also seems pleasing to the eye in terms of showing the wow factor of the fight.
Rich Environmental Variation: The game is expected to provide an array of environments each having its distinct look and hazards. Variety keeps the arenas interesting, making the whole gaming experience more strategic.
Cons:
Inconsistent Quality: The discrepancy among the visuals from the environments and effects exists so they will be less polished than the others and can result to being a turn off from the immersion.
Visual Clutter: Intense battle loud effects when combined with other HUD elements, gives a difficult-to-follow battle experience. A cleaner more streamlined interface, thus, would enhance visibility and player experience.
Audio Design
Audio design has music, sound effects, and voices to make the entire experience as immersive as possible while engaging the player.
Pros:
Dynamic Soundtrack: Tracks that would suit and build the atmosphere become more dynamic in the scene of the fast-paced battle where it encourages and amps up the intensity of those matches. The soundtrack helps have the tone and atmosphere.
Impact Sound Effects: Attacks, abilities, and environmental sounds have impactful effects and build the sensory experience of the game. It gives a sense of what combat is all about and the impact.
Voice Acting: The voice acting really is great overall, especially as the character of forms is brought to life. It just includes all the dialogue plus vocal cues during a match to add to the immersion delivered with the game’s emotional engagement.
Cons:
Monotony in Audio Cues: Over time, you may find that some audio cues, like character lines or attack sounds, become monotonous. This repetition can impede the immersion quality of the audio experience while making the game feel somewhat static in certain aspects.
Underused Ambient Soundscape: The ambient sound found in environments is somewhat limited, taking away some of the liveliness and immersiveness from the arenas. A more richly detailed and diverse ambient audio would create a more convincing sense of place.
Influence and Reception
Critical Reception
“Rise of Incarnates” had mixed critical reviews, hailing its combat mechanics and unique premise but lambasting the execution and balance of the game.
Pros:
Innovative Combat: The combat’s innovation was praised by critics of the game, especially regarding aerial maneuvers and team-based strategy. The stand-out quality of the combat was described as being flashy and dynamic.
Unique Premise: The game’s unique premise and air were highlighted as obvious strengths, as they give an extremely different flavor to a fighting game with their mixture of mythology and post-apocalyptic themes.
Cons:
Problems with Execution: The execution was dismal. Issues like imbalances, steep learning curves, and camera control have been mentioned as detracting from the overall experience. These were considered things that inhibited the game from reaching its true potential.
Lack of Content: Similarly, criticisms were laid against limited content and a weak narrative and world-building system. Many reviewers felt that the game was not in a position to be complete, and therefore mostly cringe-worthy when looking for anything long-term.
Player Reception
The player reception for “Rise of Incarnates” was as mixed as the reviews. Some players appreciated the unique mechanics and premise of this game, while others were disappointed regarding the lack of content and shortcomings.
Pros:
Engaging Combat: A good number of players enjoyed the dynamic and fast-paced combat oriented around aerial maneuvers and team coordination. The variety of character abilities and playstyle kept things interesting and engaging.
Community Involvement: The community was alive and passionate, with players going crazy discussing strategies, builds, and potential improvements. This sense of community furthered the experience and helped newcomers.
Disadvantages:
Meager Player Base: The worst of the things was that there were too few players around, making finding matches really hard and the competitive scene unhealthy. Eventually, the game just fell because of this lack of players.
Frustration over Balance: There were always whispers of imbalance in terms of characters — too overpowered some and too underwhelming others had that added imbalance which made a less enjoyable and fairer competitive experience.
Content and Progression: It be one of the areas where players would complain for lacking content and a shallow progression system. Many believed that the game wasn’t engaging for the long haul and simply not rewarding enough to continue driving players toward their goals.
Expansions and Updates
Although it has not stood the test of years, “Rise of Incarnates” has still managed to introduce itself with some updates and additions of content which tried to improve the overall experience.
Character Updates
Bandai Namco updated character introduction whenever they released new characters into the rosters attributed with their unique abilities and dispositions of play.
Advantages:
New Faces: Added characters opened new avenues along which fresh material could evolve variety in players. Each became a new strategic and tactical variant within the scope of gameplay.
Diversity of Abilities: For this, they acquired new characters with very diverse abilities, making the game really exciting in providing more opportunities for players to design their teams.
Disadvantages:
Balance Issues: New characters were, by and large, a good thing, but their introduction at times caused the balance to be thrown further off. Some of these new characters were thought of as too strong, further damaging the competitive balance.
Weak Knot: The new characters were not in strong terms integrated into the existing lore and narrative, which made them feel somewhat disconnected from the game’s world.
Life Quality Improvements
Several updates were devoted to quality-of-life improvements addressing the player feedback and bettering things concerning gameplay users.
Pros:
Better Controls: Updates included improvements to the control and camera system, making it feel more responsive and intuitive. These changes addressed some of the initial criticisms and improved the combat experience.
Bug Fixing: Increased bug fixes and performance improvements resulted in a much more seamless, stable gameplay experience, all essential elements in maintaining player activity and satisfaction.
Cons:
Less Content: Quality of life improvements were great, but they did not address the core issue: lack of content. The players still felt the game lacked depth and replayability.
Delayed Answers: Some players thought it was too little too late. The trend had already started, and the player base had begun failing to sustain the updates.
Shutdown and Legacy
In December 2015, barely a year after its launch, Bandai Namco announced the termination of “Rise of Incarnates.” The game server shutdown was declared, and the game was delisted from Steam. Despite its ambitious aims and creative approach, “Rise of Incarnates” failed to hold on to a player base and never quite developed into a long-term success.
Reasons for Shutdown
Low Player Base: One of the most detrimental causes for shutdown was the low player base. With matchmaking not finding matches too readily and players spending valuable time waiting, the game created a less than reasonable appeal toward playing and remained incapable of sustaining its competitive environment.
Balance and Gameplay Problems: Continuing balance problems and instances of gameplay frustration played a significant role in driving the game’s failing health. Balance never fulfilled the player’s expectation, and therefore, it could never be cured.
Lack of Content and Engagement: Serious lack of content with an unsatisfactory progression system discouraged its long-term continuance. Thus, once players completed the minimum requirements, there was virtually no reason for them to remain engaged in the game.
Market Competition: As a newly born child in combat games, “Rise of Incarnates” challenged the oldest competitors with their established and learned multiplayer games. It was made even more difficult for a game to hold onto a dedicated player base with so much competition out there.
Legacy and Implications
Despite its short-lived life, “Rise of Incarnates” did leave some impression on the gaming community and industry. It became a particular “case study” in the troubles of pitching and sustaining a workable multiplayer game, especially within Free-to-Play.
Combat Innovation: The game’s innovative combat mechanics, especially the aerial maneuvering and team-based approach, were a talk across the boards. It showed a very different path for future fighting games.
Community and Feedback: High on the agenda has been how responsive the community is and how well the developers responded to that feedback. The development process helps integrate a community into the game experience & make better for all.
Learned Lessons: The challenges faced by “Rise of Incarnates” thereby equated valuable feedback for the development community. It highlighted balance, depth of content, and, very importantly, retention.
Final Words
The “Rise of Incarnates” was an ambitious project in itself, aimed at melding the elements of the traditional fighting game with those of team based, arena-type combat. It introduced a new premise, introduced new combat mechanics, and offered a character roster that would create a fresh entry within a genre much in need of it. But its balance issues, steep learning curve and general lack of significant content were largely handful among those hurdles.
Condemned for dynamic action and premise, this game never quite made it to retain a player base. Thus, the rise of “Rise of Incarnates, “” now means it is yet another reminder of all the difficulties involved in developing successful multiplayer games, especially in a market already fraught with hefty international competition.
This concept became “Rise of Incarnates,” which, indeed, has to run one unfortunate segment of late gaming history. It will have an everlasting influence on the game community and game industry, always, inspiring dreams and innovations in new gaming experiences. While there’s a lot to be learned from those innovative mechanics and community engagement, the case study “Rise of Incarnates” tells that having balance, depth of content, and player retention are core issues in the success of multiplayer games.
Ultimately, “Rise of Incarnates” will be remembered as a fascinating and ambitious project aimed at redefining the fighting genre, for the best part of that legacy continues without having made a long-term success.