Kyn, an indie action-RPG inspired by Viking lore, comes out next week

Kyn
YouTube YouTube
Watch On

I'm not the kind of guy who would presume to tell you what to play, but if you're a fan of the action-RPG business then you might want to take a peek at the upcoming Kyn, a Viking-themed game that features Diablo-style combat in a party-based environment. As you might imagine, that takes a little getting used to.

I played a bit with a pre-release version of the game and it was actually pretty decent. I didn't get anywhere near far enough into it to render any kind of meaningful judgment, but its multi-character implementation was definitely interesting. I can't claim that I ever became "good" with it, but I eventually learned that trying to keep everything under control in real-time is a losing proposition. Judicious use of the spacebar, which slows battles to a crawl, is essential: It doesn't allow for the same level of strategizing as a full-on pause option, but it does keep things manageable.

Each member of the party can be customized as a fighter, a mage, a healer, or whatever else you might have in mind. Developer Tangin Entertainment also promises a "deep crafting and loot system," with more than 100 different elemental materials that can be combined to create more powerful weapons and armor, although I didn't get far enough into it to mess around with all that.

I got a powerful Titan Quest vibe from Kyn during my brief time with it, and I mean that in a good way: Titan Quest was very good, and (so says I) deserved a far more positive reception than it got. Again, that's not an endorsement, just a (very) early impression, but one that I think warrants a second look. Kyn comes out on July 28.

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Latest in RPG
kingdom come deliverance 2 thunderstone quest
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's masterful quest design can be summed up by one wonderfully weird search for a magic stone
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'
Starfield: Shattered Space
By the time Bethesda was on Starfield, you'd 'basically get in trouble' for breaking schedule, says former dev: 'A lot of the great stuff within Skyrim came from having the freedom to do what you want'
Latest in News
An Enshrouded player in a recreation of Erebor from The Lord of the Rings
Kings under the Mountain! 33 Enshrouded players spent 10,000 hours to recreate this iconic location from The Lord of the Rings
A mech awakens.
Mecha Break developer is considering unlocking all mechs following open beta feedback
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened