Citadel: Forged with Fire Review

If you are looking for a medieval RPG experience, Citadel: Forged with Fire is just what the wizard ordered! Toronto-based developer Blue Isle Studios delivers with some interesting and innovative concepts in this open world survival experience. The title includes all the trimmings to keep you battling, building and exploring for hours.

The game features a deep upgrade system, the ability to fly on a broomstick and even tame your own dragon! The title has been in early access on PC since 2017, and is now available for console owners to enjoy on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Whether you decide to play solo, or in a party online, there is a ton of content to keep you occupied. Let’s hop on our broom stick and take a deeper look at the world of Citadel: Forged with Fire has to offer.

Citadel: Forged with Fire Details

Platform: PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Developer: Blue Isle Studios, Virtual Basement
Publisher: Blue Isle Studios, Blue Isle Publishing
Genre: Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO)
Modes: Single player, multiplayer
ESRB Rating: T for Teen (Ages 13+)

Author your own adventure

Citadel: Forged with Fire has your story begin in a mystical pit of lava where you are born of smoke and ash. From that point you kick off your wizarding adventures, with little explanation. It would be interesting to learn more about your character, unfortunately not much is offered in the way of backstory.

This is more than likely the developer giving agency to players to follow their own path, but it does leave something to be desired. It really comes down to you authoring your own tale, with so much to get into you’ll have plenty of interesting experiences to share.

A fantasy-based playground

Whether playing online or locally, there is a sprawling 36 square kilometer area with multiple biomes to adventure through. Each one of these areas from dense forests to frozen tundra’s features NPCs and AI driven creates both friendly and hostile. Picking your path is where the fun lies with Citadel: Forged with Fire as you can build massive castles, control minions, and even do battle with other factions. If you play online, you’ll be able to befriend human players or turn against them as you grow your influence and power in the open world.

A variety of character options

If you enjoy character building this game is definitely something that will pique your interest. Much of the gameplay consists of finding ways to upgrade your character, powers and buildings.

Early on in my playtime I was hooked on reaching the next level. Doing this would unlock crafting recipes and from there I would continue to adventure to find the resources to build and create new weapons and upgrades. To this end, you can add “gathering multipliers” to quicken the pace of harvesting new materials but it takes a lot of time to develop your character and other options.

Home sweet home

The building editor in the game is incredibly deep, offering a plethora of options when it comes to building your own abode. It’s flexible and easy to use with hundreds of structural pieces like attack towers, mana pools and even your very own throne. You can go from building a humble shack to a magnificent multitiered castle that would make Lord of the Ring’s Helm’s Deep pale in comparison.

It all comes down to time commitment when building these massive structures. Many of the fortification upgrades are tied to your level so it takes a lot of time to unlock everything. Even once you’ve unlocked it sourcing all the material takes a lot of time, but building a grand structure is a very rewarding feeling.

A wave of the wand

Whether you prefer a wand, staff, or sword the game really comes down to magic. It’s about imbuing these weapons with a multitude of various spells. There are character builds that work when it comes to melee play style, but with the plethora of spells there is a greater focus on magic in combat. This might turnoff players who wishes to take on the role of berserker barbarian, but the depth of magic based combat is quite entertaining.

At times the combat can be a little imbalanced as enemies’ difficultly really jumps rapidly at points in the game. You go from being king of the castle to getting one hit from a CPU controlled boar that demolishes you. It would have been ideal to see the difficulty of enemies progress in a less ridged manner.

Aside from those critiques the game offers a lot in the way of variety of gameplay. Taming flying beasts like dragons or giant eagles allows you to mount them and lead the charge against enemy castles. You can even battle a dragon while flying on your broom stick, Harry Potter would be impressed!

A stunning fantasy world

Citadel: Forged with Fire is a beautiful looking game with great density of flora and fauna in a vast open world. If you are on the PlayStation 4 Pro or the Xbox One X, you’ll see the full 4K glory of the world which really brings it to life. The game also supports HDR for deeper contrast and an even more impressive picture. I only noticed only a few instances of frame rate drops and minor clipping with my time with the game. Overall, it’s a real visual treat that is sure to impress, especially when casting spells.

The audio is where the game really shines, offering epic musical scores that rivalled the likes of classics like Skyrim. Sweeping orchestral scores really pull you into the epic landscapes that surround you as you are adventuring. The audio is a definite standout in my experience with the game, adding a massive layer of ambience to the overall adventure.

Citadel Forged with Fire delivers some fresh takes on an old MMO formula

Overall, Blue Isle Studios delivers with some fresh takes on an old MMO formula. The console space is fairly limited when it comes to online RPGs but Citadel: Forged with Fire does a great job filling the void. It offers players a lot of options with how they can interact with the world. You can build your own castle, or raid one, team up with allies or work against them.

The various biomes within the world are interesting to explore especially online with friends. Citadel: Forged with Fire needed a little more of its own unique identity, which could have been captured with more unique characters. Aside from that, the variety of activities that await are sure to keep players entertained for hours.

+Deep building editor that’s easy to use
+Massive open world to explore
+Great soundtrack and ambient effects

-Lack of a deep storyline
-Flawed enemy difficulty system
-Combat can be glitchy at times

OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF CITADEL FORGED WITH FIRE

Gameplay: 3.5/5
Graphics: 3.5/5
Sound: 3.5/5
Lasting Appeal/Replayability: 3.5/5

Overall Rating 3.5/5 (70%)

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