Much like the game's whole vibe, Fellowship's pitch is pleasingly simple. The co-op RPG offers all the dungeon-clearing action you know and love from Final Fantasy 14 and World of Warcraft without the barriers to entry.
After loading up Fellowship's Steam Next Fest demo, I'm invited to a tutorial that offers the familiar. You play as one of the demo's two tank characters as you learn to juggle ability cooldowns, draw aggro, and interrupt nastier foes from unleashing nastier abilities. The joy of Fellowship, though, is that there's little to do before you can tackle more dungeons. There are no subscription fees on the horizon, additional character leveling, or unlocking jobs.
Anyone who has done any dungeon content in an MMO will likely feel right at home – you've got a party set up of one tank, two healers, and two damage dealers. The current heroes also fall into classic fantasy archetypes, from frosty mages to stoic paladins. Comparisons to World of Warcraft's Mythic+ dungeons are tempting, too. You have a set amount of time to slay bosses and a certain percentage of enemies, and better loot is available to those willing to tackle harsher difficulties with additional modifiers. If you like hanging out, there's plenty of that too. A social space provides everything you need, from training dummies to party boards and much more.
Of course, this isn't just WoW's Mythic+ spun out into a new game. The dungeon-lite does away with outdated UI elements and doesn't require player-made plug-ins for features like a detailed map. Other elements are simplified, too, like being able to select a particular hero if you want to play their role. It's not as personal as making your own character, but you don't have to worry about the leveling process. When it comes to launch, you can dive right in without clearing content before unlocking dungeons.
Questions linger over whether there is a need for a game like Fellowship, but I'm glad it exists. MMOs are impossible to topple as players have built so much history within them that it's hard to shift them elsewhere – why clear dungeons here when I can load up Final Fantasy 14 and do the same with a character I've put years into shaping? What Fellowship does do, though, is open up the joy of dungeon content for those who find the likes of World of Warcraft confusing or simply don't have the time to sink into a full-fat MMO. And for that, this Steam Next Fest demo is well worth trying.
