Ember Sword Alpha Impressions - Did Bright Star's MMO Show Potential?

mmorpg.com:

Ember Sword is a sandbox MMORPG that recently had its alpha play test that started April 17th 2023, to April 19th, 2023 and I had the opportunity to experience it. Developed by Bright Star Studios, Ember Sword is expected to deliver some thrilling PvP and PvE experiences. Being that it is only in alpha, there is, of course, more polish to be had as the game develops. With that said, let's hop into my first impressions.

What stood out to me when first jumping into Ember Sword was the art style and world design. The art style is unique and gives the world a cute feel to it, while houses have a nice tech motif. I love the mysterious landscape. Within each area, there are statues and technological marvels in the world that make you wonder, “what’s this”? For example, in the forest area there is a log with a walkway inside of it which made me wonder if I could go in there. The answer to that, is no, but it still makes me wonder who or what lives there. I know they're just a background, but it does not stop a person from wondering, “oh that looks neat, why is this here?” and there are so many examples of monuments like that around the world.

After playing Ember Sword for a while, I saw that it lands in a similar field as RuneScape, whereeach weapon is its own class, and comes with preset skills. The one that I gravitated to was the pistols. The other weapons in the game at the time of the test were sword and shield, mace, and staff. The problem I had with the pistols was not being able to tell when I used a skill. Some skills for pistols could really use more of an effect that shows they are being used. Whereas with sword and shield, the character has specific attack animations, like a skill that leaps in the air and slams the