When Morphies Law first made its way to consumers in 2018, the title underwhelmed in both critical and commercial results. Following the response, the developers stated that the game needed “the right kind of post-launch TLC”, which has resulted in the re-launching of the game last week with a number of significant improvements.
Dedicated Servers Make Online Play Feel Great
A major problem for the game when it launched, and for all multiplayer games, was that there were significant issues with online play. Noticeable lag, long waits to be placed into a match, and parties that would simply not fill up with players made the game frustrating to play. As the player base dwindled, these problems became more pronounced.
To address these concerns, the developer stated in 2018 that:
"Due to a bunch of reasons – some of which we could influence, others not – our launch wasn’t good and sadly it’s hard to find full games these days. This sucks for a multiplayer game and we are determined to fix this situation. For this to happen though, we need to make a big splash."
With the relaunch of the game last week, server issues and matchmaking feel far better than before. When speaking to the developer about these improvements, we at TheGamer were told:
“We've done everything we can from our side to ensure a smooth experience: we have dedicated servers with a scalable capability on 5 different regions of the world, Crossplay with Nintendo Switch, and a clever matchmaking algorithm.”
The result is that the online portion of the game feels far better now than it did during its original launch. The sort of game-breaking player lag from 2018 does not appear to be an issue now, and players are likely to stick around as a result.
Full Cross-Play Between Switch And PC
The addition of cross-play is a fantastic part of the relaunch. This comes at a time when cross-play titles are seeing great popularity and success. When Dauntless launched formally in May of this year, it players could see the various platforms used in play, be it PC, PlayStation 4, or Xbox One, with the Switch coming later in 2019.
Cross-play should certainly help keep the player base healthy, though a recent tweet by the developers showed that at one point in the last week the users were 99% from the Nintendo Switch and 1% on PC.
The Free Demo To Convince Players Of Improvements
Leaning hard into the buttrocket mechanics of the game, the developers have included a "Fartnight" demo that allows players to try out portions of the online game, and to unlock features from the full game. After the demo expires following thirty minutes of gameplay, one can keep playing, but the sound effects are predominantly of farts, which is meant to encourage players to pick up the retail copy of the game. Currently, the demo is only available on Steam, and not the Nintendo Switch.
The demo is a great move by the developers to give players an opportunity to try before they buy, which is all but necessary after the stumbles faced during the original launch of 2018. Given the improvements made to the online component of the game, there is little reason to stay away from the game now.
Extra Customization
The Remorphed release of the game brings additional categories for avatar customization, and a Morphie View that allows for close up inspection after each match. The Musical Lobbies that players stand inside while waiting for teams to fill has also received a revision. Players now have their choice of instrument, ranging from a broad selection. The instruments are all played automatically and blend harmoniously, which is a nice touch between matches.
Success So Far
At an early glance, a mere week following the release of Remorphed, the game appears to be doing well both commercially and critically. The reviews on Steam are predominantly positive, and the developers have recently tweeted about their gratitude to the players who have had faith in the game.
Although Morphies Law: Remorphed had a rough start in its initial form, it was great to see the developers embrace the faults of the game and continue working towards the improved version we see today. As the developers stated in their FAQ on their website, “As it turns out, making games is more complicated than we thought…”, which was relating to a question about why the project had taken so long to release.
Hopefully we will see more developer Cosmoscope GmbH. While the game may not be perfect, the innovative gameplay and discipline to see their vision through from a troubled beginning to a strong finish is reason enough to expect that they will continue to produce great projects in the future.