Pantheon Early Access First Impressions

[@EQOAnostalgia]

9:08 That's DEFINITELY NOT the weather lol. It looked like clouds and rain at a glance, it's your food and drink status. 🤣 Edit: Here's a map to aid you on your adventures! shalazam.info/maps/1?zoom=3&x=3219&y=2958

[@acornkingdom]

Nah, it's weather. Rain with a chance of bread. 🙃

[@EQOAnostalgia]

@@acornkingdom Cloudy with a chance of Keetballs. Ask Nathan about Keet meat.

[@TR3LON1ST]

been playing for months and enjoying it more with every patch.

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Yeah it's awesome honestly lol. It grows on me more and more.

[@sauntor]

Totally agree that some slight cell shading would go a long way with the current art style. Really does have those old school EQ/EQOA vibes but modernized to an extent. Looking forward to those hand drawn maps all over again!

[@EQOAnostalgia]

No need to wait my dude! shalazam.info/maps/1?zoom=5&x=3269&y=3785 LOL! LET'S GOOOO!!!

[@nagarpoe]

I love playing this game .. didn't think I was going to but having a blast grouping up with people and exploring

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Awesome!

[@Somesomeones]

Once they release it directly from their website I'll buy it. I can't wait to try it.

[@David-x7g5v]

It plays fantastic on a good rig. Looks good also in 1440p gsync. Real good.

[@solomani-42]

How complete is the game? For the sake of Brad’s memory and how much joy and good memories his games gave me decided to grab it. Thanks for the preview.

[@EQOAnostalgia]

It's got a ways to go. But the combat feels great, classes are awesome. Shaman is my main atm. REALLY solid class. The world feels dangerous and mysterious and there are a fair amount of quests, crafting is solid too. Gathering mats feels good and chests to be found for sweet lewts. Climbing is fun and adds an extra layer for exploration and treasure hunting. So far i think it's awesome. Only level 9 but been skilling up and crafting a lot.

[@dota2mas7er84]

I've been skekptical but it looks like the game is going in a good direction

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Indeed it does 😃

[@JoppaVash]

Thanks for the video man!

[@EQOAnostalgia]

It was my pleasure. Keep crushing it guys! You definitely earned my full support.

[@YourEternalSonata]

Hey man, glad to see you pop up in my recommend again. Found you way back when mostly from your Socom content. Just learned about Evercraft from your channel and that looks pretty good. Do you have any interest in Ashes of creation?

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Awesome! Welcome back. I covered Ashes a long time ago. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKfCimCPndJpiNE Haven't really kept up since. When EQOA got a private server and all these upcoming oldschool MMO's were announced I kind of lost interest since it seems more modern.

[@19Nivea73]

Great video ..Terminus is my new home for sure, i have great fun. The amount of progress VR have done under 2024 is amazing, they really did wrap all the things up for the ea (impressed) - I bet 2025 will be full of new content and polishing ..Looking forward to it.

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Thanks! Yeah i feel you. I'm planning to settle in as well. I'm glad 2024 has been so fruitful for them. I'm looking forward to the new year as well, especially Gnome and Druid!

[@aaronmiller4871]

Only thing they didn’t get in that I’ve seen is abilities to 40 for all classes

[@thefreak731]

If this game reminds you of EQOA in any positive way, i think i may get it

[@EQOAnostalgia]

It does, I've had a lot of fun with it since uploading. If you like EQOA and the classic style i recommend. Just make sure you're okay with wipes before launch. No sub fee until launch which is 2 or so years away.

[@TMsweet3]

I enjoyed watching you play, gotta love the first ding😊 thanks for the videos always enjoy watching them!

[@EQOAnostalgia]

[@aaronmiller4871]

I’m glad you stuck it out and have gotten a chance to play! Playing is believing with pantheon

[@ZombifiedZealot]

crafting is a grind, but im now a BiS level 5 tank.

[@EQOAnostalgia]

LOL! Grats. I haven't touched the crafting yet. Truth be told I haven't played since yesterday. Spent all day today editing this video and the M&M December Playtest video. Speaking of grind... 😮‍💨😪

[@solomani-42]

Out of three EQ-likes coming out the Minecraft one is the one that grabs me the most. Though happy to try all these. Watching this on Xmas so 🎄✝️👑

[@EQOAnostalgia]

After playing all 3 i can safely say they are all great so far, they each have their own feel while using the bones of EverQuest and that era. Merry Christmas. ✝

[@solomani-42]

@ 🖖

[@AlbertoMartinez765]

OMG ....was anyone else screaming at their monitor..OPEN YOUR DAMN INVENTORY!!!!! Your starting Spell and Prof Quests are sitting Right THERE! LOL

[@delinquentis9971]

Not gonna jump in just yet. But i'm looking at this game very closely and hope it gets popular enough for the devs to keep working on it.

[@BawsssHoG]

Yesssss I'm glad you finally got it! Are you ever on at like 3 or 4am est? Did you make your toons on stormona?

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Yup Stormona. Still trying to get into Knights of Napalm lol. No leaders on all dayum day!

[@StiffAftermath]

I actually love the antiquated look of the game. I find them charming and nostalgic. I hope there is an option to keep them 😊

[@EQOAnostalgia]

It grew on me fast lol. Feels like a natural progression from EQOA, kinda like an EQOA 2 vibe.

[@DotHackish]

Cant afford the game atm... but im sure a buddy key will be avaliale eventually for me.

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Good luck, there's definitely a lot of them out there and yet to be released. They've had trouble with sorting them out evidently.

[@cramittv633]

I think it was 2013 when we first started communicating as I was following then as well. I wanted to yell to open your inventory the whole first 15 minutes of this video. I've enjoyed my time with the game so far, started in Wilds End and highly recommend you check it out. It seems to be one of the more distinct zones thus far. In any event, glad you got to try it out, I think there is a lot of good in there however havent traveled yet but got up to lvl 12 or so thus far.

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Yeah we go way back lol. That time flew past! I was cringing in the edit, i chalk it up to your standard "Gotta go fast" new MMO jitters and trying to keep the commentary flowing lol. Total noob move 🤣oh well, it makes for a good chuckle at least. I haven't traveled yet either. I want to make a Wilds End video after Christmas. Have an M&M playtest video set for tomorrow.

[@phillipkeidge475]

Looking forward to seeing more of your adventures :).

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Looking forward to documenting them. Thanks!

[@Caliban_80]

Glad to see it’s not a scam seemingly. Looks like a low budget EverQuest 2 though.

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Yeah it looks rough around the edges atm, this is how it should have looked 5 or more years ago tbh. But they're making good progress now it seems. They said it was very early in the visuals dept.

[@montizuma5335]

You say, "Idon't want to fuss about the char creator", but I've been looking for someone that has actually went through it and not just skipped past it. I skimmed the preview and seen images of you going through it, and that is the reason I clicked.

[@EQOAnostalgia]

It's extremely barebones atm. One face for each race, only a handful of hairstyles and colors and that's about it. If you seen anyone scroll through the races, you've seen it all for the most part lol.

[@AlbertoMartinez765]

It super Basic right now there like 2 faces and maybe 5 hairstyles..these characters will all be deleted multiple times so its not important right now.

[@filthycasual5430]

Looks pretty cool so far

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Yeah I'm addicted now lol.

[@Valientes4life]

Thanks for sharing your experience.. I kinda like the pace of this game.. I come here and my stress level just drops.. 😊 I hope this will take of, but I fear it won't after the first weeks of hype is gone.. do you still play everquest? Kind regards Martin

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Yeah EA can either make or break a game. Sometimes they get more popular after official release, sometimes they fizzle out and die. No i don't play EQ1, did for a few months many moons ago. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z36nY5aVnNd-oJo

[@Valientes4life]

​@@EQOAnostalgia Thanks for your answers. Merry Christmas to you and your family

[@EQOAnostalgia]

@@Valientes4life No doubt. Merry Christmas!

[@video_ouija7114]

Seems really interesting

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Definitely keep an eye on it as it progresses

[@instinct9519]

Been really enjoying playing. I loved EQOA back in the day.

[@EQOAnostalgia]

It's a good time to be a classic MMORPG fan that's for certain. Yeah EQOA is a true gem. I hope the other server is out in 2025 because i can't stand the one we have now.

[@kevinbelden9065]

Looks great 👍

[@roguemort]

how do you get a buddy key?

[@EQOAnostalgia]

You gotta have a buddy. 😅 Check out streams, sometimes people give them away. Sometimes on steam people hand them out.

[@RedfinPike]

Subbed

[@bodhisfattva7462]

kinda amusing you didnt open your inventory to find your free lev 1 spells....you made the start way harder than it needed to be :P

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Yeah lol. I'm used to EQOA.

[@michealjones3297]

So i bought the game and after playing for 4 hours so far, i will say that EQOA did it far better 25 years ago

[@EQOAnostalgia]

I mean EQOA was a finished product. This is still in development.

[@michealjones3297]

@EQOAnostalgia in eqoa the guild leaders gave you quests and told you your role. Really got into the immersion right away

[@EQOAnostalgia]

@@michealjones3297 To be fair they did have starting quests, i did a couple. But nothing like "Go get a robe, go bind, go sign the coach ledger" etc. Shaman had some great starting quests in Pantheon too. Just have to look around a bit. Once you get to town, you get a ton of quests. Crafting and otherwise.

[@RandomHero374]

Man... i really wanna like this one.. but i feel the playerbase is just to low... then when it gets out of Early Access its going to have a monthly... just feel like this one isn't going to pop off. Maybe I should just forget that and enjoy it for what it is.

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Don't sweat the large numbers. We have a solid group of players atm and growing. I personally prefer if the game stays small to mid size with dedicated players than something like WoW. One of the things i liked most about oldschool MMO's, smaller servers/community and a more tight nit and mature vibe. It was always easy to sort out the D-bags and keep them out of your group lol.

[@Pyriold]

With you coming in its already one more, haha. Honestly, population is such that several servers are maxed out and some are pretty low pop. So... you decide if you rather want frequent groups or resource node availability :)

[@RandomHero374]

@@EQOAnostalgia True. I will hop in on this game soon :)

[@markusjohansson6245]

Tried it. Got randomly instakilled in newbie area out of nowhere (lag?). Was no feedback of getting hit. Felt horrible. 10 years and this ?

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Yeah it feels more like a game in dev for 3-5 years to be honest. Idk precisely what happened aside from the setbacks they had losing 2 major devs who passed away and 2020. To me it seems like they didn't know what the heck they wanted for years but i heard they originally were using stock assets as a proof of concept to float to investors. So then they had to rebuild everything over again when they did the graphical changes... really odd approach to development. Either way it feels solid now, looks rough, but i think they can make something great here.

[@michealjones3297]

Did you say the characters will be wiped?

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Yes

[@kylesullivan31]

Can this be played with controller ?

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Good question i'm not sure actually. I've heard people have set it up to work with steamdeck though. You probably need something like x360ce.

[@kylesullivan31]

@ I’m a controler player only these days if you hear anything about controllers being implied please post. Game looks cool tho. Keep up the good content

[@BaneofMills247]

Antimicrox basically just turns your controller into a mouse and keyboard. You can rebind everything just like steam input. It's free too. I haven't tried it on Pantheon but it works for everything else so it should work ​@@kylesullivan31

[@mimitan]

This game looks like Valheim, but the looks is intentional or the best they can do rather than a stylistic choice.

[@EQOAnostalgia]

I think they shot for the Breath of the Wild crossed with Valheim theme intentionally. You can see the influence of Valheim in their startup menus, and in their music.

[@Pyriold]

Its intentional as in they could not pull off more high res for the size of world they want with a small team. Has the advantage that it wont age as badly as state of the art.

[@Zetler]

This game should have been out 10 years ago.

[@EQOAnostalgia]

This game began production 10 years ago. That would be a hell of a feat lol.

[@MSDGAMEZ]

I refunded it. I just didnt enjoy the no map situation. I wouldnt have minded so bad but the game just didnt give me enough information

[@EQOAnostalgia]

I got you homie. shalazam.info/maps/1?zoom=2&x=4595&y=3964 You DO get used to it if you stick through it. It's pretty amazing how much your brain can absorb lol. I still know the EQOA map after 20+ years to my surprise. If you decide to go back let me know.

[@kearseymorton2078]

They released Everquest 1.1 after 25 years? It looks and plays great for something from the last century! Any chance they will modernize it a bit for us that are not sexagenarians yet?

[@Nomad454]

Man the amount of progress this development team has made in six years is pretty disappointing. I pledged to support this games development in February of 2018. Safe to say I'm losing hope seeing the state of the game in early access when it's almost 2025. I could have had a baby and raised them to nearly seven years old by this point. They'd be starting school by now and have a personality all of their own, while Pantheon has barely become a game...

[@EQOAnostalgia]

It's been about 10. But it's also understandable. I'm learning more and more about how many pitfalls they had to endure. Including some absolute bs with Unity, they got effed over HARD. Then they lost Brad McQuaid who passed in 2019 and another key dev died, then 2020 hit... it's a miracle this is even a thing at all.

[@brutal-noodle]

those symbols literally mean male or female fyi. thanks for video

[@EQOAnostalgia]

I know that, that's why i made the comment i did lol. It's a clever way of not having to spell it out. Thanks for watching.

[@Tall_Order]

Oh good, I see male and female symbols instead of body types... Just don't label them. We know what the symbols mean. lol

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Lol yeah. I really hope EverCraft does the same. It's so cringe and its a dead agenda that peaked in 2016 and has been rolling back since.

[@ceruleannomad3922]

I was so invested in pantheon. Broke my heart how it went to shambles and now it’s .. just this. All the vision and spirit Brad had for the game is just, gone.

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Have you played it? I think it's retaining his vision through the gameplay and mechanics. Maybe not the artstyle he wanted. But to be fair they were using certain assets to float the concept to investors, which is... odd to me. But nevertheless what they ended up with was likely too hardware intense for the scope they had in mind so they switched to more stylized graphics. Which age a lot better imo than more realistic ones. EQ2 for example looks like plastic poop lol. EQOA while dated, still has a visual appeal. Ofc this is all subjective. Try the game if you haven't yet, you may be pleasantly surprised.

[@ceruleannomad3922]

@ I was invested since 2016 and played early alpha and yes I agree the floating of concepts was odd but I think Brad had the vision to pull it off. I dunno I just remember when he passed we were all broken by it and I think it never recovered after that. I’m glad you’re enjoying it though, it’s kinda like ffxi for me going there and seeing the game kinda “dead” for lack of a better word just makes me sad. I started with EQ in 2000 and man that game still has it.

[@Pyriold]

@@ceruleannomad3922 They would have needed like 10 times the funding to pull off the graphical style that they wanted initially. So, graphically its different, but all the core systems are what brad would have approved, and that's what really counts for me.

[@ceruleannomad3922]

@ they had a heredity system that was gonna be amazing, fully flushed out living spaces. At the time you just buy into the hype cause you want it so bad, but looking back it was just overpromising.

[@Pyriold]

@@ceruleannomad3922 You know what? Good points. And i do not see a reason why this wont still happen. It would have to be low prio right now since a lot of things need to be in place before. But... i think later on it would be nice to bring up these topics again. The devs are really responsive to suggestions (joppa being the front for that), would be interesting to hear his take on these things.

[@zelasd3125]

I gave it a try for a few days, and just no. I can handle slow gameplay and visuals that were outdated 15 years ago, but on top of that there is an absolutely terrible inventory management, no map and pointless death penalties that will only get worse and more painful when you do actual content. Just no.

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Most of that is just classic MMO 101, i think the graphics are decent enough for now, looking forward to improvements though, especially lighting and character models. This genre is definitely niche.

[@dannymaple7899]

Modern WoW sounds like its more your taste

[@zelasd3125]

​@@dannymaple7899 Having a map in-game and reasonable inventory management is not some sort of insane wish that automatically means one should play WoW.

[@EQOAnostalgia]

They'll have maps in time. It is planned.

[@BawsssHoG]

Yep they plan on allowing add-ons for inventory, dps/heal meter, the map is coming soon it's gunna be a fog of war map where you have to discover the area but even then there's gunna be no marker showing you where you are at. Lol

[@Burnsmh]

Im early

[@Thebuzzer1]

Can i have a buddy pass pweez? T_T My credit card is getting declined :(((((((

[@EQOAnostalgia]

I would give you one if i had one man. Steamers have been handing them out and you might get lucky if you drop some not so subtle hints on steam lol.

[@Thebuzzer1]

@@EQOAnostalgia haha gotchu ! appreciate it either way ^.^

[@cyradus]

This looks pretty bad. Worse than a phone game from 8 years ago. Yikes.

[@EQOAnostalgia]

It's not, mobile games are cash shops with graphics lol. This is a game in early access and has a ways to go, but the core is a lot better than any mobile slop i ever played.

[@davidoberle137]

this game is a dumpster fire

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Not really lol. It's awesome for classic fans of the genre.