Dear reader, I want to entreat you to read the rest of this spotlight with an open mind. I have a bit of a history on this site for advocating for the underdog—or the horndog, one might say. I do this because I think it's funnier to try and empathise with the abyss than it is to point and laugh at it. Anyone can poke fun, but to try and genuinely understand something that strikes you as 'weird' is always going to be more interesting than taking cheap shots. It's with this approach in mind that I cautiously approached Atlyss, a pseudo-MMO developed by lone developer Kiseff.
I'm going to have to address the anthropomorphic elephant in the room first, and talk about the game's visuals before I get into its mechanics. To be blunt, this is a game with visuals designed to appeal to horny furries. I'm not being judgmental here, it's just an inescapable fact. You can get stacked thicker than a Scooby Doo sandwich in this game, creating Second Life-tier avatars that are 90% wobble. There's a butt slider which, when activated, displays a custom animation for each of the game's five races, where they coquettishly spin and present their hiney to you. Which is like, technically helpful. I guess.
This outward-facing salaciousness isn't deceptive, per se, but it's not a main focus of the game, as much as it is simply a consequence of an artstyle that's otherwise really charming. As an opening notice mentions, the game contains suggestive designs, but "nothing explicit"—and that's genuinely true. What's more, there's a trio of options that allow you to take smaller doses of carnality. You can limit excessive proportions, disable jiggle physics, and banish transparent clothing client-side.
As far as the enemy variety and dungeon crawling goes, it's anything but sexy. You fight a slime queen and some magic goat carbuncles, but they're conservative when compared to the stuff players can pull off. Seeping from room to room in my seven-hour solo playthrough of this early access build, I began to sink into ignorant bliss. The animations are fluid, the dungeons are nicely designed, enemies are cute and interesting, and the music's simple, but has enough character to vibe to. I'd forgotten, entirely, that this game also appeals to an audience with specific tastes.
That illusion was quickly shattered when I went onto the game's subreddit to see if anyone had sorted out any builds, and was smacked upside the head with straight-up porn, like a bad dragon-shaped baseball bat wielded by the world's most specific crime syndicate. By far the funniest and coolest thing this game does—something I can only respect it for—is having the temerity to be really goddamn fun, whether you've got a fursona stashed away or not.
That furry can schmoove
Atlyss shows a ton of promise. It's still in early access, but it has about 8 hours of playtime for a single character (completely reasonable for its current price point), and what's there is genuinely endearing. Structurally, it feels a lot like the MMOs of yore. You pick up quests—most of which are repeatable, for the XP grind—and level up, grabbing gear as you go. There are two dungeons, each of which have around three variants to make repeating them less of a chore.
There are also three classes currently in the game, Mystic, Fighter, and Bandit. You're locked into these once you choose them, but there's further customisability in your general abilities—learnt from spell scrolls—as well as your weapon typing and stat distribution. While each weapon type corresponds with an attribute, you can enchant other weapon types to scale with your stat of choice, burning a stone to do so. For example, my little mouse fighter has a bow I enchanted to scale with strength. Respeccing is comparatively cheap, so there's room to experiment.
Combat is simple, but fun to master. Moving around and fighting in Atlyss just feels great. Everything is tight and responsive. You have a dash on a one-second cooldown that will shoot you off in a direction, and you can use it to cancel most animations. Depending on your weapon type, you'll have access to a basic and strong attack, as well as a jumping strike. You can equip five abilities and two weapons, as well. Oh, and you can parry with a timed block. To show you what that looks like at a higher level, here's a picture of me tearing through some boars:
Is it anything revolutionary? Not exactly, but the kind of vibe it aims to replicate is done in a pitch-perfect way. It's a pleasant grind harkening back to the days of games like Maplestory, only with none of the attempts to swipe your wallet for bragging rights. Atlyss has a core audience, one I am not a part of (I swear), but it's also standing up on its own two paws for us normies, too.
I think, more than anything, its wider appeal really does lie in how its salaciousness is an option, not a mandate. If you're into that sort of thing, you can wobble your way around ruins, going ga-ga for your goat girl's derriere to your heart's content. If you aren't, then you can just… vibe. The character designs permit smut, certainly, but if you aren't maxing out all of your sliders, you're able to make some cute little guys just fine.
I am, unironically and full-heartedly, recommending you give this game a go if you like RPGs, regardless of your tastes. It's presently $10 (£8.50) on Steam, which is more than worth the 7 hours I spent with it—and I may even grind some more to try some of the other classes. I am genuinely and thoroughly charmed by it, and I look forward to seeing what else its solo dev has to offer. I just… might turn off the jiggle physics if I ever get brave enough to enter multiplayer lobbies, that's all.
