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

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.