Icarus M Gameplay Impressions | Official English Launch

Welcome to Icarus M, a name that probably rings a bell. It is based on Riders of Icarus, a PC game that is still going and that boasts hundreds of creatures to tame and ride. Icarus M is tailored for gaming on the go, which means that it isn’t the exact same game, but it shares highlights such as a large number of creatures called familiars, air combat, and tons of game modes. The devs allowed us to give it a go during the short pre-launch closed beta, and so we did, here's our Icarus M gameplay impressions. The release is set for September 16 and you should be able to download and play Icarus M by hitting that link in the video description – there are many in-game rewards to get as well.

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Classes cover the familiar staples of the genre, pun not intended. You get to pick from Wizard, Artist, Assassin, Ranger, and Gladiator. Could you spot the loli class by the name alone? Yep, not that difficult, right? Gender lock is in place, so thoroughly consider your selection before hopping into character creation. With a few presets and choices for face and hair, it puts forward the great character models, but I wish there were some sliders for customizing the body and creating a truly unique hero.

I’ve mentioned that Icarus M features hundreds of familiars that you can tame, mount, and summon as your battlefield companion. While I was browsing the vast selection of dragons, spiders, humans, and otherworldly creatures I was surprised to find an old acquaintance. I had to rub my eyes – it’s Hello Kitty, and a few friends. Well, that’s disturbingly cool. There’s also a bunch of Power Rangers wannabes, and I’m betting there are more special guests on their way. Anyway, don’t worry about it, these are only available at the store, so your first steps should be about focusing on the familiars that you come across.

This same menu gives you all the info that you need in order to tame a specific familiar, such as location and requirements. Taming is an easy task, as you only need to perfectly time your interaction so that you get the best score. After a few tries, you should have a new familiar in your roster, and now it’s all about growing and enhancing its potential.

There are different types of familiars to consider, depending on the mounting slot. They can participate in battle, serve as a land mount, or be used as a flight mount. Familiars come in different tiers and you must use low level creatures to increase the rating of your favorites. Large scale air combat is one of the big features in Icarus M, with gargantuan dragons and other beasts that are far beyond the fragile look of your initial familiars.

One interesting and funny feature that I wasn’t exactly expecting is the Familiar island. This is a paradisiac resort where your battle-hardened familiars are free to enjoy some leisure time. It’s like a small town management game where you get to add houses, statues, roads, and all kinds of objects. This isn’t just for fun either; every little addition raises your battle power, so don’t go shy on it.

But Icarus M isn’t just about familiars, although you spend most of your time trying to get the cool ones. You know, the limited-edition lollipop Debby that we can get at launch looks a bit freaky, but she’ll have to do until we lay our hands on this magnificent collection of godlike familiars. It takes you through tried-and-tested staples of the mobile MMORPG genre, with more challenges and events than you can shake a familiar at. Sure, it follows the trend of starting on auto, but steadily opens up as you progress, and that is when you start to see its potential. You have World Raids which can be on land or up in the skies, various types of dungeons and raids, you can create your own skill chains, and there’s always something worth pursuing.

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