Kindred Fates: Combat Arena

[h3]UPDATED: 8th JUNE 2025[/h3] Small edit just to address the devs recent behaviour on their discord which has been both disingenuous and worrying to say the least. They are now claiming that kickstarter is simply a donation, that they were and are under no obligation to abide by their promises or to respond to the communities request for accountability and transparency as "Kickstarter states delays and changes can happen." This is factually incorrect, a pledge is NOT a donation and this is just another excuse for them to try and make off with peoples money. They now cut back the already lacking updates and have moved further away from updating kickstarter itself, instead preferring platforms where there is less forced transparency and they can freely delete responses they dislike such as bluesky and discord. If they are allowed to fade themselves into obscurity with the publics money that will be a great loss to both future kickstarter projects and the monster taming genre as a whole. If you previously backed this project please consider reporting it on kickstarter or however you are able. They should not be allowed to get away with this. Apologies for my lengthy updates, stay safe all! [h3]UPDATED: 15th MAY 2025[/h3] Coming back to edit this with the release of the beta as I aim to be fair and was willing to edit my review if the devs had proven themselves. Unfortunately lacking was the nicest term I can give the 'beta'. After 5 years we get a marginally expanded combat arena and a handful of kinfolk, almost all of which had already been available for testing in the 'alpha' for years already. Devs claim they are working without pay and have put more of their own money to the game than the initial kickstarter funding provided. Despite said claims and 5 years of work however there is STILL nothing new and STILL no progress on the base game or the stretch goals promised. The beta merely contains the existing combat arena as well as two small isolated and very unfinished environments to practice catching and encountering kinfolk. A mechanic that should have been completed BEFORE the combat arena 'alpha' as this was primarily supposed to be a single player creature collector, not a pvp game. On top of all of that and numerous other 'expected' bugs, the character I created was not the character the game loaded when I started the beta and during testing of red letter mode my character model changed for a third time. Again not the design I had created this time either. If this is all they have to show after 5 years, the game is nowhere near even 5% complete yet- even without taking stretch goals into consideration. Speaking of stretch goals? these are still yet to be started, Switch development has yet to be commented on and backers have received no further information since the release of the Switch2. Despite this however the devs felt it necessary to include a 'red letter mode' in the beta. A game mode which functions similarly to call of duty zombies, battling hoardes of enemies. My issue with this however is this game mode was never asked for, was not a stretch goal, and yet the devs felt the need to prioritise that over actually completing the product backers have supported? It's absolutely ridiculous. If they haven't even been able to complete the base game they shouldn't be messing around with additional game modes and features nobody asked for. Its clear to see with choices like this why they've burnt through their money so fast and suffered so many delays. Terrible management choices. I feel bad for anyone who wasn't able to get a refund for this in the short time space that they were allowing them as at this rate I am even more doubtful than I had been initially that there ever will be a finished product for this kickstarter and am now at the stage of expecting legal action to be taken against SkyMill. [h3]TLDR? Once again, buyers beware. After 4 years I gave them a second chance to review the 'games' progress and little to no progress from my last review. I still cannot in good faith recommend anyone to support this game or these devs in the slightest.[/h3] [h2]ORIGINAL REVIEW: Buyers beware and please think carefully before purchasing.[/h2] Hefty promises were made during the kickstarter campaign and little to no progress has been made since then. Since the kickstarter, devs have refused to provide any significant updates or trailers for the games progress, leaving their original backers in the dark. It is highly unlikely this will release on time if at all as nearly all of the promised features from the kickstarter have yet to be seen or mentioned at all and the quality of the new updates somehow seems worse than the 'pre-alpha' footage. In terms of the combat arena? feedback goes ignored, requested features still haven't been implemented in about a year now from what was supposed to be just a 3 year project and many bugs and issues still haven't been addressed which in some cases leave the game unplayable to a majority. The company is also now retroactively refusing refunds to people based on seemingly personal bias using a 'refund policy' that didn't exist until after a specific refund request was placed. Strange considering they had no issues allowing refunds previously regardless of whether you'd already received/redeemed your rewards or not. The lack of content is not worth the hefty price tag and speaking as a former moderator of their discord server who was in regular contact with the team? The devs many shady actions (More than what I've opted to list here, I've simply selected the most relevant.) would make me discourage anyone from purchasing this product as every update gives me less and less faith in the team itself and that a product will be received at all, let alone on time.

5 years later nothing has changed. Current opinion... Officially, I think I'm done with the beta. The "Open World" aspect is underwhelming, with only two large areas to explore. The Red Letter Mode feels like a "COD Zombies" experience, but instead of zombies, you just battle Kinfolk. In the overworld, you can fight a few NPCs and solve a puzzle, but there's not enough content to create a long, episodic experience. The available Kinfolk in the overworld seem limited to Lumala, Shovlet, Meckid, Skulken, and Kodoki—at least, that's all I encountered. A fellow Kindred backer ventured a bit further inland, but overall, there are three starters, and we essentially completed everything fairly quickly. It's akin to the Combat Arena mode, but with about five minutes of story added on top. As for the arenas, there are six in total—three carried over from the alpha and three new ones. There's also a dedicated PvP menu. However, the overworld feels like two oversized arenas with a minimal plot, bringing the total number of arenas to eight. Unfortunately, there are no new Kinfolk aside from the two starters, which is disappointing. It would have been nice to encounter the starters in the wild, but that's not the case. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Old Review ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please read all the reviews and think carefully before buying. The Kickstarter almost landed $700k which is incredible, but a lot of tiers and promises were made. Little progress has been made since the Kickstarter. Since the Kickstarter, Skymill has refused to provide any meaningful updates. What do I currently think about the current combat arena? Lack of controller support. The controllers are bugged and force users to use mouse and keyboard. I do not see how this game will play on the Switch since there is not enough buttons and currently playing on a controller is near impossible. Player feedback goes ignored, requested features still have not been implemented in about a year now. Many bugs and issues still have not been addressed which in some cases leave the game unplayable to a majority. Another issue I see is how is this game going to be DRM-free when you must register on Skymill’s Account System to play? This was promised in the Kickstarter and Web Store currently. DRM-free, then, refers to files that do not contain such restrictions and can therefore be accessed by any program capable of opening that type of file, regardless of who the content provider originally was. So, forcing players to use the Account System is a form of DRM. Furthermore, nobody is online to play the game and game-play gets boring and frustrating. “The company is also now retroactively refusing refunds to people based on seemingly personal bias using a 'refund policy' that did not exist until after a specific refund request was placed. Strange considering they had no issues allowing refunds previously regardless of whether you had already received/redeemed your rewards or not.” Completely agree with Charlieon on this statement she made on another review. As a former moderator of their discord server who was in regular contact with the team? Skymill ignored most of their mods and their advice. Skymill does have tendencies of shady practices which I will not list here. All I can say is please read all the reviews and make your own decision. If I had to tell a friend or person looking for a game like this, I would tell them to stay away and look elsewhere. Lastly, I have been pressured to take my review down.

Scam. Don't waste a single penny. - A Kickstarter backer who wasted 250$

PLEASE IT'S BEEN 3 YEARS AND NOTHING HAS CHANGED

EDIT as of May 12, 2025: My old review was from the Combat Arena Alpha. Now this listing is for the Combat Arena Beta. The sentiment of what I said still stands, but some extra notes: - The Beta was initially just going to be an extension of the Alpha with new arenas and Kinfolk. The devs have decided to also include a small amount of singleplayer content. But still, this is not the full game, and is not a representation of what the full experience will feel like. The full game is still going to be a story-driven open world RPG. - The cost of this includes Beta ($15) and the future full game/Early Access ($30) and some extra goodies like digital wallpapers. You can look at this by logging in to the Skymill website with your Steam account. OLD REVIEW: ----------------------------------------- I recommend the game in its current state to people who enjoy PVP real-time combat, who want to support the future release of the full game. It's currently in Alpha, and already looks visually appealing. The combat itself feels pretty good, and the devs are receptive to constructive criticism about balance changes. The game often receives updates as the devs add features and polish existing content. The game currently requires other people to play (PVP). If you're having trouble finding someone, the Kindred Fates Discord server is a good place to do it. The devs are currently working on a solo dojo mode for the Alpha, so PVP won't be required once that's complete. (EDIT: The solo practice arena is now complete, and you can fight against AI, no other players required). For people reading this, the game is currently the Alpha Combat Arena. This is an early taste of the game's future combat mechanics. This is not the full game, and is not a representation of what the full experience will feel like. The full game is estimated to release sometime in 2023, and is still going to be a story-driven open world RPG. About the price: At the time of this review, the game costs $55 USD on Steam. This may seem high for a game in Alpha, but you're actually getting more than that. When you buy the game on Steam, you get: -Closed-Alpha Combat Arena Key (currently playable) -In-Game Title: "Champion" -Closed-Beta Combat Arena Key (Expected release sometime in 2022) -Digital Copy of The Game (Expected release in 2023) -Forebears’ Hoodie In-Game Cosmetic -Official Soundtrack (2023) -Access to the Progress Board -Digital Wallpapers This means you're paying approximately $30 for the full game, $15 for Beta, and $10 for Alpha. If playing early is not worth the extra cost for you, you can preorder the full game alone for $30 on the Skymill website. As a side note, if you purchase the game here, you can view your extra rewards (such as the wallpapers and progress board) on the Skymill website by logging in using Steam, or the email tied to your account.

Edit: With the alpha being out for almost a year now I got to say the game is still fun and the devs are great! Gameplay We will start off with the general gameplay and how it feels. The gameplay is a fast paced real-time action packed gameplay, A style very unique to a monster taming game. But Skymill does not stop there, they also have what has to be my favorite part of the game, Types as a play style. What this means is that instead of your normal “Fire deal x2 damage to grass” that we see so often Kindred fates instead makes it so that its your player style that counters the type not your damage. This leaves much more room for player skill than other games. Here is an example of what I mean when I saw types as a play style. “Fire Kinfolk's playstyle is twofold. As a zoner, they use their abilities to take control over the battlefield. Whether it be to force an opponent into close combat by trapping both combatants in a ring of fire, or split the battlefield in two using a fire wall to keep their distance from its opponent. Once control over the battlefield is established, Fire Kinfolk will mostly use a "Hit and Run" combat tactic. They will run over the battlefield, waiting for an opening (or an ability to be ready) to unleash a powerful attack on its opponent, before starting to run again, repeating the process.Fire-type Kinfolk perform well against Gaia and poorly against Water.” Vs the gaia type which is: “Gaia Kinfolk use the power of nature to overwhelm their opponent. Calling on their surroundings, they will use the overflowing stream of life to summon minions over the battlefield. Their main goal is to swarm their enemy with a large number of targets, making it difficult for them to focus on the source of the attack. A Gaia Kinfolk could try to stay away from the actual combat, relying on its minions to do the dirty work, or it can even be directly facing its opponent, using its minions to support them in battle. Gaia Kinfolk perform well against Water and poorly against Fire.” As you can see nothing can stop you from out playing your opponent and taking the win if you are good enough! The kinfolk But now I want to move on to the kinfolk themselves. I’m a big fan of pretty much every kinfolks looks myself, and even if you don’t like some of them you can’t deny that they tend to be very creative and unique! Every Kinfolk leaves me feeling excited to see more of its line! Skills Now as for the skills themselves that your kinfolk use, We once again see a variety of unique and fun to use skills, Such as the ability to steal your opponent's item use it yourself or even toss it back at them for some good damage! Another power lets you toss out rings of fire that burn enemies that enter them and my favorite at the moment is Dig which lets you quickly tunnel around the map and even go under walls and other obstacles! Items The items front is probably the weakest for kindred fates so far, most items are just not that good and leaves you feeling wanting, And the few good items are simple heals, which while not bad are not the most unique thing in the world. Graphics This has some of the best graphics I have seen for a game in alpha! As you can see from the gameplay running in the background the game look beautiful and will likely only get better! Sound We only have two songs in the game at the moment and I think both are very nicely put together and match well with the theme of the game. Until we see more of the soundtrack I can’t say for sure but I like what I’m hearing so far! Patches And lastly I wanted to talk about what is in my opinion the most important part of a game that's this early in development. The patches. We have so far seen a total of 13 patches so far. All in the span of about two months. Each of these patches contained not only bug fixes but also balance changes. Skymill has been very good about listening to player feedback and has added quite a few player suggestions to the game already! So if you have something you want to see please hop on the Kindred Fates discord and let your voice be heard! In conclusion, Kindred Fates has its fair share of bugs but the devs are always hard at work fixing them and the balance issues the game faces, for an alpha I have yet to see such detaction to the game in such a short time and I highly recommend you give this game a look! Thank you for stopping by, this has been monster tamer bloba singing off, until next time I hope you all have a wonderful, Goodbye and Godbless!

Update: I removed the comments as there were plans to fix issues but that is gone now. The doxxing and stalking is all but confirmed by Andrew as he has defended the person for doing so but wont punish him for doing so. He has brought up the same concersations as evidence against me though even though he cant do it against Sir Bork for stalking me on their behalf. All I asked was a statement saying he doesnt condone this behavior and the answer was nothing. He also is saying I am spreading misinformation despite me showing their own documents backing up my claims and Andrew himself say those are wrong. I posted that he hasnt helped me and he said it is wrong as he has and then used that comment against me when he finally did try 2 months later. If you didnt catch that a post from 2 months ago is false infomration because he tried to help me last week. I am retroactively lying even though it was true at the time. I even provided dates and times of the comments and his own ticket number and that isnt enough to get through to these people. Dont buy this dont join this community as you will be subject to this companies thinking and if you disagree, then you are their enemy. No proof required by them and is solely their word against you documentation of their own words and you will still lose. I have posted a response to the publisher in the comments. Saying someone can not DM you when your DMs are open to everyone is a type of punishment especially in retaliation for not changing my review. Notice they avoid certain topics I have mentioned. Also please do go look at their updates because they very clearly say they were not working on the Beta since December 2024 and even says they were working on the Alpha still into 2025. All updates say they were working on Alpha. Just more lies from this creator and a massive disappointment. By the way for everyone that isnt in their inner circle. Sir Bork is the close friend and gets perks for sucking up to them. Neevster is Andrews Girlfriend. I would not take either of them as a serious or honest person about this game and their discord as Neevster is also a moderator. They both get perks from Andrew. I even have proof I have asked him for help as I stated repeatedly my computer is having issues running it and even tagged onto someone else having the same issue and Andrew helped them, unsuccessfully I might add as the game does not run well, and still ignored me and left a comment that he didnt while simultaneously still not telling me anything about helping the game run better. This is all on Kickstarter too so you can go see it where he is literally argueing with me about helping me on the same post he shows he still hasnt. It is literally all out in the open and he still cant see how he contradicts himself almost constantly and fumbles to fix it only after being pointed out. I have even offered to help them to which they said no a few times. Which could include ways to improve their public image and change my mind or remove my posts about they game. Instead they chose to double down and still refuse any help, compensation for my rewards they say I am not entitled to or even just being treated like a human which I was told to do to them after all of this bull they have put me through and then deny it. That is why I went back and took screen shots so they cant delete them and is why they dont like talking on kickstarter as they dont have as much control of what people say. Do not waste your money. I know it says you get all this stuff, but you don't. This has been a long time and the environment looks good but the people and movement are pretty bad. The kinfolk are better than being the human. The reason this is not worth the money is that you are not getting anything but the Alpha, save your money until it either has a much better Beta release or the actual game comes out. You will be waiting a long time to actually get the value out of a full game price for just this. They have repeatedly delayed and lied about releasing new stuff and it still hasn't happened. Just to be clear, all the updates that are happening to this are "not the Alpha but is not ready for Beta." They let people play the Beta and still are not releasing it and chopping it up to update the Alpha instead of giving anyone who paid for it the same opportunity they gave random people the chance to. You will be treated just as poorly as everyone else that supported this game and paid a lot more for this and they just constantly argue with their investors and refuse to share anything more than this with us but share a whole lot more with people at conventions and even gave them discounts. So, either wait for that discount or don't waste your money until it actually becomes something other than the Alpha they are still working on. 3.0 or not, it is still just the Alpha. . They actually discuss deleting and changing the dates on discord on here as well now. Update that the Beta is full of bugs and is not what was promised. It is very short and you don't get to do a whole lot. They even said this was tested for almost a year to run smoothly on launch. It doesn't, so don't trust this game or this company, ever. THEY GENUINELY HATE PLAYERS!!! Literally had a lying hatefull follower post a comment full of lies saying they are clear but they have documented updates saying they havent done much for years. Literally comming here to harrass me here too because they do the same. If you are not their direct friend, expect to be treated like crap as you do not matter to them. This game was publicly tunded to make a game for themselves and their close friends. By the way, one of their inner circle came on here and harrassed me. According to the creator it didnt happen and they wont do anything about it to him as they dont moderate other sites but I got punished on their discord in which he referrenced the conversation here. That is the friendly community they talk about.

To preface, this review is way overdue... I remember hearing about this game when it was just a budding concept, and having only played the PvP, I am very impressed with how far it has gone along. I love that all of the Kinfolk are unique and have their own quirks and personality and play style. The Kinfolk feel so much more like sentient beings, where in other monster battling games they feel like pets. Even from an alpha state, the aura and vibe that this game emits is astonishing. I'm loving what's happened and am incredibly excited to see where this goes.

I am hyped for the future of this game. If you wanna buy it and you are scared of the price, dont forget the price includes alpha, beta and full game access. Buy it If you believe in the devs (they are the best devs you can dream of) and you want to support them. This is only PvP but the full game will be an Open World Monster Battling RPG. Keep in mind that this game in its current state has bugs and isnt perfectly optimized (alpha). I just cant wait for the beta and hope many more people gonna buy it so the PvP community to test Alpha and Beta becomes bigger. Cya in the Arena!

Absolute garbage game and greedy devs who can't commit to any time table. Stay far away.