Above the breathtaking panorama of Fera: The Sundered Tribes, my gaze falls upon a colossal, glacial behemoth making its way through the treacherous wetlands below. From this vantage point, the object appears relatively small, but as my gaze narrows in on its distance, I realize just how massive and imposing it truly is.
As I charge towards the clearing, I deliver a solid strike that finds its mark, but the creature merely flinches from the impact, its ferocity unbroken by the blow – staying grounded is no longer an option.
As the monsters roamed this unforgiving world, they effortlessly conjured a tempestuous blizzard, unleashing a torrent of icy precipitation that threatened to engulf everything in its path. As diamond dust swirls through the air, I watch the landscape unfold, swooping down to grasp a crumbling ruin nearby before springing upward once more, this time soaring above our battleground and executing a daring somersault as my axe whips around me – a blinding whirlwind that instantly halts the snowstorm in its tracks.
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While monster hunting may seem an alluring endeavor to some, Monster Hunter is indeed a niche experience that doesn’t necessarily resonate with every individual. As you plod through the map’s confined boundaries, a deliberate rhythm builds, punctuated by the slow draw of your tools and a heavy sigh as you raise your weapon to meet the oncoming threat – perhaps a flaming anteater, an evil monkey, or some other formidable foe hurtling towards you.
Several Monster Hunter-inspired games, such as Wild Hearts and Dauntless, adopt Capcom’s formula with its characteristic slow-paced scanning segment, massive, heavy weaponry, and intense combat.
As the Fera tribes navigate their tumultuous history, they defy conventions by charting an unconventional course: a daring ascent into the unpredictable skies.
In the vast open world, where rugged rock formations are shrouded by wispy clouds, ancient ruins dot the deserts, and dense forests stretch as far as the eye can see, Fera’s anchor points await, allowing you to secure yourself with a mystical tetherhook before launching into the air. With this ability, you can unleash devastating slingshot attacks on enemies or deploy your wingsuit glider to soar through the skies?
While gliders are often compared to those in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Fera’s implementation stands out for its similarity to Batman: Arkham Knight. Here, you can carefully pitch your wings to gain altitude before smoothly descending into a calculated dive-bombing maneuver targeting unsuspecting foes.
As players navigate Fera’s landscape, they’ll discover that grapple factors are linked to historic constructions scattered throughout the terrain; however, it can be a bit cumbersome to grasp where you might latch onto – especially for those new to the game who may be expecting web-slinging capabilities akin to Spider-Man’s. When you initially acquire and then appreciate that it’s more akin to a tool, similar to the Wirebug in Monster Hunter Rise, rather than a superpower – which is cleverly done, indeed – it results in an intriguing approach.
At Gamescom 2024, my alpha-build showcased a world of impressive scope, featuring an array of unique creatures that roamed various biomes, each boasting distinct quirks, attack patterns, and elemental abilities.
You’ll be able to tackle three types of ferocious creatures in the comprehensive Fera experience: mature, elderly, and historical ones; unfortunately, you only got to face off against the first two.
The mature being exhibited a remarkably direct demeanor. Despite possibly being bolstered by potent tools, I was swiftly taken down with just a few expertly delivered piledrivers. Although the elder appeared to be a flying monster in reality, it told an entirely different tale.
As the team at Large Harm refined their approach, they found that encounters against ground-based enemies became surprisingly trivial when equipped with the significant mobility advantages offered by their tetherhook and glider. The pursuit of all-out annihilation drove designers to craft massive, area-of-effect-centric move sets for their beasts, with aerial foes receiving assault patterns that eerily echoed those found in fast-paced bullet hell shooters rather than typical action RPGs.
When you vanquish a monster, the process of dissecting its flesh to extract crafting materials takes on a slightly different connotation. As you navigate the game’s unique arsenal, distinct tools will be at your disposal to dismember gruesome components, subsequently harnessing the power to fuel Fera’s survival and town-building dynamics, where you’ll orchestrate and elevate a tribe of individuals by constructing, upgrading, and managing their dwellings and infrastructure.
While initially intrigued by the game’s premise, I was struck by the novel fusion of survival and monster-hunting elements, coupled with an impressively intricate combat system that surpasses many survival titles, and a city-building mechanism that rivals those found in role-playing games.
The crucial challenge facing Fera will be how seamlessly it integrates its disparate elements – much like the smooth coordination of gears in a well-oiled machine, as players transition from grappling with terrain features to retreating and regrouping, or whether the city-building aspects bring everything to a grinding halt. But there’s not long to wait.
Fera: The Sundered Tribes will launch into Steam’s Early Access on September 17th.
