In recent years, the ARPG market has become more and more competitive. Newcomers and industry veterans alike compete against each other, trying to outdo each other’s titles in the many facets that make up these titles — the best graphics, the deepest lore, and the most exhilarating combat system. In many cases, it’s difficult to push new boundaries. With a game genre that’s existed for more than two decades, who really knows where to go?

The folks at LINE Games do. In their new hardcore hack-and-slash ARPG UNDECEMBER, the game developers have done their best to create something that can satiate the needs of classic ARPG fans, while innovating the space and having a game up to date with the modern game market. In UNDECEMBER, customization is king.

Freedom is the game’s central philosophy. In almost every aspect, the game attempts to provide players as much customization in their experience as possible. This is apparent before ever swinging a sword. For example, the developers have done their best to allow players to control the game in the way they see fit. The mouse and keyboard, mobile phone touchscreen, and gamepad are all excellent options to experience the action. More than that, because the game offers a seamless multiplatform experience, you’re never locked into who you play with. Say you’re only able to play the game on the phone and have a diehard PC gamer friend — it doesn’t matter. UNDECEMBER supports it. 

In addition to this, the game offers so much freedom in how you want to experience the dark fantasy world. If you want to sit back and peacefully enjoy a solid single-player experience, UNDECEMBER’s got you covered. The 10 Act saga has intricate and entertaining lore, impressive cutscenes, and some of the most engaging and enjoyable boss fights you will experience in recent memory. Want to have something more challenging? UNDECEMBER will accommodate this. Everything featured in the challenge mode such as the Chaos Dungeon, Spire of Barrier, and Void Rift are difficult and fun — expect them to take quite some time. Prefer to play with friends? In UNDECEMBER, that’s no problem at all. The game’s co-op experience is extremely polished and extensive — with a very good Raid system, as well as strong competitive PvP. 

Of course, the most important aspect of any game is its gameplay — UNDECEMBER succeeds in this regard. What sets apart UNDECEMBER from any other ARPG is apparent right from starting the game up. The classless combat system is truly something special. While it may seem simple on the surface, it breaks every convention possessed in a traditional RPG experience. 

In many RPGs, classes restrict the game into very specific boundaries. How you build out your character, what they can do, and how you experience the game all follow a very linear path. This can no doubt still be an entertaining adventure, but it restricts one’s creativity, and doesn’t follow the direction of the modern game landscape (see every open-world RPG and sandbox game that’s had popularity in the last ten years).

With UNDECEMBER, the only real limits in how you want to experience the world is yourself. In other games, a warrior stays a warrior, and a warlock stays a warlock. While you can have fun with those classes, the only way a person playing a warrior can enjoy the abilities of a mage, warlock, or anything else is by building out a new character. That’s not the case in UNDECEMBER, though. The adventures are boundless. Someone playing in a style considered a warrior can cast magic from their sword. A character traditionally considered a hunter can summon minions from their bow. If there’s a way to build it out, in UNDECEMBER you can do it.

It’s clear the developers wanted every person that touches the game to have an experience unique from anyone else, and the game continues this principle with its three main systems: Gears, Runes, and Zodiac. With the Gear system, UNDECEMBER turns traditional farming mechanics into something a lot more engaging. The game has beautifully designed and expansive gear sets — many of them varying in strength and rarity. Instead of boring grinding that can be a detriment to many RPG experiences, UNDECEMBER keeps it exciting by always having the prospect of good loot and opportunities afoot. 

The Zodiac system offers even more room for customization. Many games have simple leveling trees, or automatic leveling systems. In this game, the Zodiac system offers players more control in how they want to build out their characters, while still being understandable for new players to use it. The First Growth Axis is used for one’s primary attributes (Dexterity, Intelligence, and Strength), while the Second Growth Axis is used for more unique building. What’s great about this system is it doesn’t reward lazy thinking — maxing out one statistic at a time. Instead, balancing things out and determining them in a conscious way will yield the best character. 

Last but not least is the Rune system — one of UNDECEMBER’s shining accomplishments. With the Rune system (made up between Skill and Link Runes), players can create their own unique skills in battle — combining the two Runes to make some interesting abilities. This truly takes the customization and creativity of the game to the next level — a player can stay entertained simply exploring the massive number of combinations available to them. 

All of this is packaged into what is already an extremely solid ARPG. The atmosphere of the game is excellent — the voice acting in cutscenes and dialogue, as well the artstyle enhance the game’s immersion and drive home the idea of a dark fantasy world.  All the enemies and characters are beautifully crafted, and are well-suited to their environment — adding even more authenticity to the world.

In addition to this, the game’s combat is excellent. Every way to play the game controls like a dream — you can sincerely get lost in the heated action of the battle system. The sound design and animation are also very well done, and makes slaying enemies that much more satisfying. On top of this, the game doesn’t have autoplay, which both makes the combat obviously much more engaging, and build’s on the game’s philosophy of control.

Overall, UNDECEMBER is an exceedingly well-crafted game. It stays true to the tenants that make ARPGs so much fun, while adding its own elements to the game that make for a much more personal and enjoyable experience. Elements such as UNDECEMBER’s art style, story, and boss design clearly had a lot of effort put into them, and they all make for a more genuine game. At the same time, the level of customization and control offered are something we haven’t seen in an ARPG before. All things considered, it is an excellent title, and is worth checking out.