Wayfinder recently launched in early access, and though it's still an unfinished product, it presents a lot of interesting ideas and promising features. Airship Syndicate, developers of classics like Ruined King: A League of Legends Story, has teamed up with publisher Digital Extremes. The former's distinct style and tone blend with the latter's experience in the free-to-play scene, taking several queues from DE's Warframe in particular. Though Wayfinder's early access release is only available through founder's pack purchases, the full release early next year will be free to play. There's a lot to cover, but Wayfinder's many systems aren't as daunting as some of its free-to-play contemporaries.
At its heart, Wayfinder is a hero-based, loot-driven action RPG. A series of main quests tell a story and unlock systems, but the primary thrust involves hunting materials and using them to craft gear or summon Wayfinders - new characters. Players initially choose one Wayfinder to whom they're tied until they've gathered the ingredients necessary to summon another. Likewise, that character comes with a weapon that can be replaced when new weapons are crafted.
The town of Skylight is the central hub. Lauded comic book artist and head of Airship Syndicate Joe Madureira and his team have crafted a gorgeous cityscape. All the environments of Wayfinder are spotted with beautifully detailed locales, but Skylight is the most exceptional and consistent example. The rich, almost cartoony art style is a treat to behold. In Skylight, players interact with vendors and quest-givers. It's also home to the Beacon, a central portal where all the Lost Zones (dungeons) can be accessed.
Generally, a quest will send players out into the surrounding Highlands to find the next dungeon and acquire an item that will grant them access to it. Once the dungeon is discovered and the first expedition is complete, that Lost Zone will be accessible from Skylight's central portal going forward. Lost Zones take the form of either Expeditions or Hunts. Expeditions are a classic dungeon crawl, the goal being to get to the end while grabbing as many resources as possible along the way. A Hunt is a boss fight, and this is where the best loot lies. These boss fights are a highlight; they all have unique mechanics, and though the first couple aren't mind-blowing, the later fights present some surprising and challenging curveballs.
Wayfinder uses premade characters, similar to the hero roster of Overwatch 2, but any character can equip any weapon. Wayfinders and weapons both come with a suite of abilities and mechanics, so swapping out armaments can drastically alter a character's build and play style. A variety of factors determine a Wayfinder's abilities: character, character archetype, weapon, and weapon class.
Each Wayfinder has distinct combat moves, 3 standard and one ultimate, and falls into an archetype: Survivalist, Arcanist, or Warmaster. The archetypes provide some passives, determine how their dodge works, and set the character's general tone. It's important to note that Wayfinder does not rely on the "holy trinity" of character types common in MMOs: damage, tank, healer. Any character combination can complete any dungeon, and all are meant to be equally viable for solo play.
Like the Wayfinders, all weapons fall into one of four classes: Guardian uses sword and shield, Executioner encompasses two-handed weapons, Marksman employs ranged combat, and Twin Striker is for dual wielding. All weapons within a class handle similarly. For example, rifles and shotguns both fall into Marksman, they both have infinite ammo that relies on an active reload mini-game, and they share a mechanic called Eagle Eye. However, their firing rate, damage style, and ammo capacity will all differ. Each individual weapon also has a powerful, unique combat ability, granting them a distinct feel and rhythm.
All weapon classes have a Mastery level. The more a character uses a class, the higher that Mastery gets, up to three levels. Players can choose one of three different Mastery perks, and can switch between these at any time. Mastery is tied to each character, so if a weapon class is maxed out for one Wayfinder, players will have to level it up separately to get the same benefit on another. Thankfully, other types of progression and modification are shared between all characters including weapon level, accessories and echos.
Echos are the primary stat mod system in Wayfinder. Borrowing heavily from the mod system in Warframe, players will receive "echoes" as enemy loot, which can be augmented into a character or their gear. On a leveled-up character, there are lots of available echo slots, meaning there's a huge opportunity to tweak according to play style. Though unavailable right now, many more unlockable echo slots are present, pointing to an even greater depth of modification in the future.
A variety of new weaponry can be crafted from Skylight's vendor. There are some really fun and unique weapons in Wayfinder that skirt the line between awesome and bonkers, like the sword and shield with chainsaw edges that can be hurled at enemies, or the gargantuan great sword made of lava. The game uses a targeted loot system akin to the upgrade system in the Monster Hunter series that's a little more geared to the free-to-play model. The process can be lengthier and with some inconsistent drops, making the idea of simply dropping a few bucks and buying the shiny new thing more tantalizing. For the most part, though, material acquisition isn't terribly troublesome, and the developer has already addressed at least one problem area. Crafting materials are gained by completing challenges or overcoming bosses, and vendors tell players exactly where to go and who to hunt. No wandering around endlessly fighting hoards of enemies hoping for a drop.
The last major piece of customization is Affinities. At level up, characters input an affinity point into one of three categories: Instinct, Discipline, or Focus. These increase stats depending on which accessories the Wayfinder has equipped, but more importantly, they eventually grant perks. The perks are a great goal to work towards, but the stat boosts are finicky. Accessories boost a handful of stats, with each stat tied to an affinity. If players add an affinity point to one of the three categories, it increases the accessory's stat gain for the associated affinity. If that all sounds a little confusing, that's because it is.
Wayfinder is a free-to-play game and, of course, these days that means a battle pass. But Airship Syndicate and Digital Extremes have made a choice that's good for players. Taking a cue from the Halo Infinite battle pass, each season of Wayfinder's "Reward Tower" is available indefinitely, as long as players opt for the paid version. Purchasing the season means a player could theoretically come back years from now and progress the season one reward tower. The developer says its goal is no FOMO and has a commitment to operating a free-to-play economy in a non-predatory manner. It's yet to be seen how well it will follow through on this, though, as some less-than-fair store pricing has already caught the ire of fans. The developer has stated that the prices will be addressed, but it's worth keeping an eye on to hold it accountable.
There's a lot to come yet in Wayfinder. Tweaks are needed, but what's there is a fun action RPG with the seeds of some really great systems and ideas. This game will be one to watch out for over the coming months, with development continuing through early access into the start of next year. Plus, Airship Syndicate has published a roadmap detailing just what improvements and inclusions players can look forward to until full release.
Wayfinder is available now in early access on PC, PS4, and PS5 with a full release planned for early 2024.
