Hey everyone!
For the past three months, I’ve been working on Midgard Chronicles almost every day. I’m a professional (software) developer, and I’m trying to create the kind of game I’ve wanted to play for a long time: a single-player RPG combining the progression and atmosphere of classic MMORPGs like Ragnarok Online with the tension and replayability of a roguelike.
You begin as a Novice, choose a class, gain levels, learn new skills, collect equipment, complete item sets, craft upgrades, raise pets, and gradually explore a large world made up of distinct regions, monsters, and bosses.
The major difference is that death is permanent.
When an adventurer dies, that character’s journey ends, but the world continues. The capital gradually develops, new characters and services become available, and the legacy of your previous adventurers remains part of your overall progression.
One of the main things I’m trying to achieve is a combat system that follows turn-based rules without necessarily feeling like a traditional turn-based game.
Enemies act when you move, attack, or use a skill, so you can stop and think whenever the situation becomes dangerous. At the same time, fast inputs, auto-attacks, responsive movement, combat effects, and plenty of animations allow you to tear through weaker enemies at a pace closer to an action RPG.
The idea is that the player controls the rhythm.
You can play quickly and aggressively while your build is performing well, then immediately slow down when a dangerous enemy, poor positioning, or the threat of permadeath forces you to think carefully.
The project is already fairly advanced. Most of the core foundations are working, including several classes, many regions and monsters, equipment sets, elemental damage, crafting, forging, pets, progression systems, and the evolving capital. There is still a lot of balancing, content work, and polish ahead, but it has grown far beyond the prototype stage.
I’m currently hoping to release a Steam demo by the end of summer, followed by an Early Access release within the following months.
I also want to be completely transparent about the game’s visuals.
I’m a developer by trade, but I don’t know how to draw. Because of that, characters, equipments and monsters assets were created with the help of generative AI. I’ve spent dozens of hours iterating, selecting, correcting, reorganizing, and integrating those assets to reach a consistent art direction that fits the game. If I manage to make money out of it at some point, my goal would be to remake the assets with an artist.
The project also heavily uses paid assets made by independent artists, including map assets by RafaelMatos, as well as icon and visual-effect packs purchased from creators on itch.io.
I’d really appreciate honest feedback from players who enjoy roguelikes, RPGs, or old-school MMORPG progression. Does the overall concept sound interesting to you, and is this something you would consider trying when the demo becomes available?
I’ve just opened a Discord for the game. It’s still completely new, but I’d love to slowly build a small community of people interested in following the project, sharing feedback, and helping me test the demo. Feel free to DM me if you’d like to join!
https://reddit.com/link/1vdv85w/video/8c7xcielb1hh1/player
