New Free-to-Play MMO on Steam has Serious RuneScape Vibes

A brand-new MMO called Winds of Valen has been released on Steam, and it features some serious RuneScape vibes. This new Steam MMO is completely free-to-play, and it’s clear that Jagex’s legendary title has been a massive source of inspiration for developer Head Coach Games. At the moment, though, gamers seem quite split on whether Winds of Valen lives up to its RuneScape inspiration.

Winds of Valen is the second game on Steam from Head Coach Games, after it released Cyber League Football last year. Football to fantasy MMO is quite the change, but it’s cool to see a talented indie developer experiment with various genres until they settle into their niche. Because its previous game was a paid release, it didn’t quite gain much traction on Steam, with Winds of Valen already having more Steam reviews than Cyber League Football.

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Winds of Valen is a New Steam MMORPG That’s Completely Free

Winds of Valen is now available on Steam, described by developer Head Coach Games as a “fantasy MMORPG inspired by the golden age of old school MMOs like Old School RuneScape.” It features a non-linear open-world, where players can train up combat skills such as Attack, Defence, and Warding, or professions like Mining and Smithing. It all feeds into the same system, so players can use the resources they gather to create new equipment for use in combat. There’s a standard loot and reward system, too, with every enemy having its own unique drop. According to the developer, the game is “built for players who enjoy the open-ended, sandbox design of old-school MMOs.” Best of all, it’s completely free-to-play, so everything is available right out of the box.

The RuneScape influence is pretty clear with Winds of Valen. It has that charming, low-poly aesthetic that has always been a staple of RuneScape‘s appeal, and the leveled skills are more in line with the resource gathering that is central to the gameplay loop of Jagex’s MMORPG. Players are able to immediately step out into the entire world and choose their own path – Winds of Valen embraces the idea of non-linear progression. Even the combat is very similar to RuneScape‘s, with the player and NPC taking turns to hit each other until one dies. Incredibly simple, but very effective, although the bosses in Winds of Valen are mechanics-driven, offering a change of pace from the usual combat system. There’s so much that RuneScape does better than other MMOs, so it’s cool to see another game take inspiration from it.

It’s still very early days for Winds of Valen, and player reviews for the game currently sit at “Mixed” on Steam. Despite the split opinion, most reviews reach the same conclusions, albeit from different perspectives. Most agree that the Winds of Valen gameplay loop is pretty simple as it stands, making it a pretty good MMO for newcomers. One gamer pointed out that “too many MMOs overwhelm you with the amount of complex systems in place these days, and this game keeps things straight to the point,” although the alternative to this is that there isn’t all that much to do in the game at the moment. Multiple reviews point out its obvious promise and potential, offering plenty of hope that Winds of Valen has a bright future. After all, since it’s totally free-to-play, the only thing players lose by trying it out is time.

Typically, the MMOs that really stick around are the ones with tons of content for players to enjoy. And while Winds of Valen might not have that right now, it certainly seems to have the strong fundamentals and very good foundations to build from in future updates. Right now, the Steam player count isn’t massive, but that could change as Winds of Valen continues to gain momentum.