Unleashing Asgard's Wrath 2: Dive into the Ultimate VR Dungeon Experience with Epic Rogue-Lite Gameplay [EXCLUSIVE]

Asgard's Wrath 2 took center stage at the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase this year, captivating gamers worldwide with its ambitious and immersive VR RPG experience. One common complaint among VR gamers has been the lack of substantial content in VR titles, which often lose their appeal once the initial excitement wears off. However, Sanzaru Games aims to revolutionize the VR gaming landscape with Asgard's Wrath 2, offering an unprecedented amount of content and innovative gameplay systems.

In an exclusive interview with Game Rant, Mari Kyle, the Senior Game Producer of Asgard's Wrath 2, delved into the game's highly replayable rogue-lite Uncharted Rifts mode, which complements the expansive 60-hour open-world main game. Kyle also shared insights about the game's asynchronous multiplayer feature, allowing players to indirectly assist or hinder each other, along with additional details about the combat system and epic boss encounters. The interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

The Uncharted Rifts include various types of rooms, such as agility rooms and trap rooms. Could you discuss the gameplay experience that players can anticipate in these rooms?

Kyle: Personally, this is one aspect of the game that I thoroughly enjoy. Being a fan of roguelikes and rogue-lites, the rogue-lite nature of this game is particularly appealing to me. The rogue-lite dungeons offer a plethora of gameplay options. For instance, there are agility rooms that require players to proficiently time their jumps and quickly maneuver through the environment by utilizing grappling mechanisms.

In the Uncharted Rifts, there are trap rooms filled with spinning saws and fire arrows that cause significant damage. These rooms also include swinging saws, making it challenging to navigate through them. Additionally, there are combat rooms featuring diverse setups such as a multitude of bees or desert raider warriors. Timed challenge rooms are also available, requiring players to complete either combat or agility tasks within a specific time frame.

The Rifts offer various modular room types, and due to their procedural generation, it is impossible to predict which room will be encountered. To prepare for these unpredictable challenges, strategic planning is crucial when embarking on Uncharted Rifts runs. Players will be pushed to their limits, testing their skill sets and applying what they have learned in the core game to overcome difficulties that are ten times more intense in the Uncharted Rifts.

That sounds like the definition of dungeon crawling and probably a ton of fun in VR.

Kyle: VR adds an incredible level of immersion to dungeon crawling. The diverse environments further enhance the experience, such as the cave layout where you'll uncover ancient ruins or the Egyptian temple you'll navigate through. Procedural generation is a game-changer as it breathes new life into each run. Are there consistent themes throughout or do they progress through different biomes?

In the Uncharted Rifts, each Rift is divided into dungeon runs. To begin a run, you enter a portal and choose your character from four options available in the game. These character loadouts, such as a bow and arrow or an axe and sword, can also be used in the Uncharted Rifts. The choice of loadout affects the layout of the dungeon and the types of rooms you encounter.

All players will encounter agility rooms and combat rooms, but the tasks and challenges within these rooms will vary depending on the weapons and toolsets chosen by each player. For instance, Abraxas, the first playable mortal hero, wields a grappling sword. If you select him, you will encounter many dungeon rooms that require the use of this sword for movement, while other characters will have their own unique abilities.

You choose your character, enter the Rift, and encounter multiple levels called Threads. Typically, each Rift contains three to four Threads, although some deeper ones may have five. Initially, we start you off with a smaller number. Each Thread corresponds to the theme of the Rift.

Imagine a typical dungeon in a different game. It has a specific theme, and as you progress, you encounter various levels within. Each Rift functions similarly to a dungeon, where after completing one, you move on to the next, which also functions as its own dungeon. You can continue exploring Rift after Rift for approximately 30-40 minutes or as long as you can survive. Each Rift offers a distinct experience, with its own theme, selection of modules, and room layouts, all of which are generated procedurally.

Q: The dynamic nature of the challenges in relation to the chosen character in Uncharted Rifts is quite appealing. Was the intention to prevent a scenario where one particular character dominates the meta?

Kyle noted that during playtesting, it became evident that certain heroes in the Rifts possessed an advantage over others in terms of ease of gameplay. To avoid players solely relying on one hero to achieve high scores on the leaderboards, it was crucial to promote diversity. Thus, players were encouraged to switch heroes, ensuring that each time they entered the Rifts, they would face a new level of challenge.

The ability to access the Rifts at any point in the base game provided an excellent opportunity for players to familiarize themselves with the unique abilities of newly unlocked characters. Armed with this knowledge, players could then return to the core game and excel in gameplay.

Q: How much customization do players have with regards to the equipment and powers of different heroes?

Kyle: In terms of customization, players have a wide range of options available both during and outside of their gameplay. Within a run, players can acquire various Relics that provide passive or non-passive enhancements to their weapons. These Relics can include elemental boosts that set enemies on fire with each strike, as well as passive abilities that increase the chances of receiving additional rewards after defeating a creature.

These elements will enhance your run as you progress. We also offer Revelations, additional boosts that can be added to your run. While in the Rifts, you can also access skill trees. With each new Rift run, you can collect skill points to customize your skill tree and gain boosts for your run.

In terms of character customization, we provide a variety of armor sets for players to choose from, as well as a selection of cool titles and visual options to personalize your character.

Q: How do titles function in Asgard's Wrath 2? Do they indicate specific achievements?

Kyle: We offer an array of titles. I myself have created a few, each representing notable accomplishments that players will find enjoyable and intriguing to pursue. Some titles are tied to achievements, while others mark significant milestones or completed tasks within the game. There are numerous avenues to acquire them. Additionally, we may even introduce certain titles as free post-launch additions, accessible during special events or similar occasions. Rest assured, there will be ample opportunities to obtain these customizable and enjoyable elements to maintain your character's uniqueness.

Q: You mentioned players can customize their armor. Is that just cosmetic or does it also affect gameplay?

Kyle: Some of them may affect gameplay. We offer cosmetic options that share the same stats as certain others, while others provide bonuses and varying percentages.

Q: You mentioned skill trees in Uncharted Rifts. How does player decision-making relate to the skill trees? Will they fully complete the tree or focus on specific paths?

Kyle: Choosing a path is essential, but it varies. If you manage to survive in the Rifts for an extended period, you'll accumulate numerous skill points that can be distributed across different abilities. Each hero has their own skill tree, offering multiple options for enhancement. If you have extra skill points to spare, you can invest them in various areas according to your preference.

Personally, I prefer specializing in the axe skill tree since I have a strong affinity for and tend to excessively use my axe. Thus, I always prioritize fully maximizing that particular skill tree first. Once I've persevered long enough to obtain additional skill points, I expand into other areas.

Q: Can you think of any captivating axe maneuvers that bring about significant changes once unlocked?

Kyle: Oh wow, let me tell you about this incredible boomerang axe. You throw it and it swings back – let me just say, the arm workout I've gotten from repeating this is mind-blowing – but there's this skill in the ability tree. When you throw it, an afterimage of the axe trails behind, allowing you to throw it countless times. This creates numerous paths of destruction that enemies can inadvertently stumble into and suffer damage.

Pro tip: If you have a very fast hand, whenever you enter into one of the boss arenas, you can just do that a bunch so it’s like a web.

Q: As mentioned, does swinging harder in Asgard's Wrath 2 result in dealing more damage due to its physics-based combat?

Kyle: In order to provide a clear indication of the impact, we have incorporated a visual indicator to help players determine the strength of their swings. This indicator enables players to gauge whether they are hitting with enough force to inflict significant damage. Additionally, the game takes into account factors such as the speed at which the controller is swung downward, the distance covered, the position of the controller, and the direction of the swing.

In Uncharted Rifts, the meta progression works by allowing players to grow in power between runs. It's similar to the way in which swinging at an opponent from a small distance will not inflict much damage, but slashing in a wide arc will result in significant damage. The growth in power is finely tuned, taking into account precise measurements of speed and translating them into the actions performed by the player.

Kyle: The game offers a way to unlock new Revelations, which are important upgrades. You can acquire these Revelations as you progress in the game, and each time you unlock one, you also earn a currency specific to that run. This currency can be used to buy additional Revelations. Importantly, none of this requires real-life money; it's simply in-game loot that you can spend to upgrade yourself between runs.

One of my personal favorites is a Revelation called Divine Protection, which grants you an extra layer of health and armor. There are also Revelations that heal a percentage of your health every time you enter a combat room if it's low. These Revelations are categorized in tiers, and as you purchase higher tiers, their effects become stronger. These stronger effects are essential for successfully navigating the challenging Rifts in the later stages of the game.

Also, as you embark on the journey of the Uncharted Rifts, you will be tasked with the crucial mission of closing these ethereal Rifts that exist within our reality. As you successfully seal more and more Rifts, you will open the gateway to an array of remarkable discoveries. This may entail uncovering new and intriguing Rift modules that have yet to grace your presence, or revealing awe-inspiring art pieces and a plethora of other captivating wonders.

Players have the ability to bring items obtained from the Uncharted Rifts back into the core game. What specific items can be brought back, and how do they benefit the players?

Kyle mentions their enjoyable crafting system where players come across various resources that can be collected while in the core game. However, in case players wish to avoid extensive exploration or find themselves lacking specific resources, they have the option to enter the Uncharted Rifts and directly acquire the necessary materials to construct resources, armor, and other items in the base game.

If you find yourself in need of copper during the main questline, exploring the Rifts is a great option. You'll likely come across plenty of copper scattered around. Once you find it, you can easily transport it back to your player character in the core game using the Dimensional Wells.

However, it's important to note that if you happen to die before sending your items through the Dimensional Wells, they will be permanently lost. To ensure you retain something from your Rift run in case of death, it is advisable to utilize the Dimensional Wells whenever you come across them.

Earlier, we briefly discussed one hero utilizing an axe. How do the loadouts of the other heroes influence the player's experience and approach to combat?

Kyle: We have strategically crafted several of our player characters to allow players to deeply immerse themselves in specific playstyles. Certain characters prioritize ranged attacks, while others possess skill trees and weapon selections that cater to unique playstyles distinct from Abraxas, a character inclined towards melee combat, as well as each other.

As you progress, you will experience a great deal of diversity in the way you interact with the world. Similarly, each hero has adversaries specifically designed to counter their unique playstyles. In the story of Abraxas, the first mortal hero, you will encounter enemies who prefer close-combat and aggressively rush towards you to execute melee attacks. Contrastingly, when playing as ranged-focused characters, you will face foes who are more intelligent in closing the distance and striking from afar.

We dedicated significant effort to developing the enemy AI, ensuring that they adapt to your chosen characters and skill sets.

Q: When it comes to enemies, how are enemy encounters organized? Do players encounter entirely random foes, or do they align with the theme of each biome or room found in the Uncharted Rifts?

In the core game, the enemies and wildlife are closely tied to the specific biome you are in. While there are scattered instances where they can appear in different areas, each biome generally has its own unique set of enemies and wildlife. Some wildlife may only be found in certain maps, while others can be found throughout various locations. This distribution of enemies is typical in the core game.

However, in the Rift, which exists outside of the core reality, the rules regarding biomes in the core game do not apply. In the Rifts, you may find yourself in a combat room facing desert raiders, who never interact with a different type of minion in the core game. Yet, in the Rifts, both groups are equally difficult opponents fighting alongside each other.

The challenge becomes even greater as players must now navigate through battles with both the familiar desert raiders and a new character introduced later in the game. Balancing these dynamics becomes a crucial task in the face of the unknown enemies that appear in the Rift. The Uncharted Rifts culminate in tough encounters, such as boss fights. What specific challenges might players encounter in these final battles?

Kyle: It's an absolute blast! At the conclusion of every Rift, we engage in what we call a Divine Trial. These trials can take the form of intense combat scenarios, where waves of enemies, up to 20 at a time, enter the fray at different intervals. It's a thrilling rush as you face off against multiple foes simultaneously, while also navigating varied terrains that span different elevations. You might find yourself grappling up to a higher area to take on a few adversaries, only to quickly descend and continue the fight. The objective is to test your ability to handle a horde of enemies, each possessing unique relics, abilities, and enemy types.

Moreover, we have the awe-inspiring Divine Trials that entail colossal boss battles against massive creatures. These encounters are more personalized, pitting you against a towering 60-foot scorpion or similar adversaries. These battles require careful strategy and skill, as you may have already faced these bosses in significant quests within the main game, only to now confront them within the Uncharted Rifts, following a series of challenging encounters with various characters.

It really challenges how much you can survive and strategize your fights. Those are the types of bosses you'll encounter in the Uncharted Rifts.

How did you approach incorporating VR gameplay into the boss encounters in the RPG game? Will players be focusing on exploiting weak points or evading area damage?

The creature also possesses a substantial stinger that can be maneuvered towards you, allowing you to subsequently plunge it into its own head when its health is significantly diminished. Additionally, it possesses several other highly lethal attacks. One such attack involves swinging its tail, requiring you to leap over it in order to survive. Furthermore, it scatters numerous poisonous droplets into the air.

Each of these bosses exhibits a distinctive array of attacks that compel you to carefully consider your physical surroundings in the realm of virtual reality, and strategize how you will evade, counter, and reposition yourself. This experience is intensely physical and captivating, particularly if you are accustomed to encountering formidable adversaries in two-dimensional console games. It represents a stark contrast from such encounters.

Q: Could you please discuss the asynchronous multiplayer feature in Uncharted Rifts? How do players interact indirectly with each other, and what advantages are derived from participating in this system?

Kyle: As our studio is owned by Meta, a company known for its social nature, we aimed to create an immersive experience where players feel the presence of others in their own game. This can be seen in both the core gameplay and the Uncharted Rifts.

Earlier, I mentioned character customization and various visual elements, and you might have wondered about their purpose or where they are displayed. The answer lies in the player avatars that you can encounter in the game world. In both the core game and the Uncharted Rifts, you will come across specters of other players who have the same loadout and character customization, complete with their titles and other details. These specters interact with your game differently depending on the mode you are in.

In the core game, players have the option to leave their player character avatar in a specific location, which can lead to hidden treasure or a monster den with intense combat. Additionally, players can customize their avatar with recorded emotes, allowing for a more immersive experience. This feature enhances the feeling of a living world filled with diverse characters, even without real-time cooperative gameplay.

However, in the Uncharted Rifts, the engagement is taken a step further. While progressing through these Rifts, players have the choice to leave behind either a benevolent soul known as the Divine Soul or a malevolent soul known as the Dread Soul, upon their demise. After completing the Rifts, these souls are stored in a vast random database, giving priority to the player's friends but also including contributions from others. Consequently, these specters will appear in the Rifts of other players, either as companions in the form of Divine Souls or as formidable mini-bosses represented by the Dread Souls. Importantly, these souls retain the same weapon loadout as the original player.

If I were wielding an axe during gameplay, it would be that axe. The AI for these enemies is intentionally more aggressive than for regular enemies, as we aimed for them to give the feeling of a player who either defeated you or whom you defeated. These axe-wielding enemies also bear the name of the person who left the axe behind, allowing you to boast if you manage to overcome them. When you leave behind an axe during your own gameplay, if you return to the game later on, you will receive a notification informing you of someone's triumph over your Dread Soul or of your Divine Soul aiding someone through a Rift or a similar event.

This feature offers a fantastic way to feel the presence of your friends, even though the game is primarily meant to be played solo. Moreover, the Divine Souls fight alongside you, just like the companions in the main game world. They possess their own unique abilities, skill sets, loadouts, and more, making the interaction with these creatures highly enjoyable.

Q: Are there any other intriguing combat abilities or tools in addition to the basic weapon types such as swords and bows?

Kyle: Absolutely, there are numerous options. The grappling tool is particularly exciting. It serves as an excellent maneuvering method in situations where multiple enemies are attacking simultaneously. If there's an enemy right next to you, ready to strike, you can swiftly pull away to another enemy and swiftly traverse the area. It's incredibly enjoyable once you get the hang of it.

After unlocking a certain number of skill tree points, players gain access to special moves. For instance, there's a move where you throw your shield down, then use your grappled sword to raise it up, causing it to rain down and hit multiple characters. Each hero has their own set of special moves, typically around three, which significantly alter the combat dynamics and create visually stunning effects.

A new feature introduced in Asgard's Wrath 2 is the inclusion of mounts. This allows players to engage in mounted combat, where they can grapple enemies off their mount and subsequently attack them. It's an incredibly thrilling experience to participate in mounted combat during gameplay, enhancing the overall immersion.

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Asgard's Wrath 2 is set to release in Winter 2023 for Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest 3.