There is something special about an RPG that makes you feel as though you have stumbled into a world that existed long before you arrived. Beyond the familiar roads and settlements, secrets wait to be uncovered, strange characters with stories to tell, and dangerous places that reward those willing to venture beyond the safety of civilisation. Everlast: Undying Tale, developed and published by InSpades, sets out to capture that old-school sense of adventure, combining open-world exploration with traditional skill progression, resource gathering, crafting and multiplayer elements. Set in the troubled fantasy realm of Sarkis, it offers a world where the dead have returned, an ancient catastrophe has left its mark, and your own resurrection comes with a rather unpleasant complication.
Available in Early Access, Everlast: Undying Tale draws inspiration from classic massively multiplayer RPGs while offering the flexibility to experience its world alone, with a private group of friends, or alongside as many as 100 players on public servers. That flexibility is one of its most appealing qualities. Not everyone wants their adventure dictated by other players, and the option to explore independently gives the experience a more personal feel. Equally, those who enjoy the social side of online RPGs have opportunities to work together, contribute to shared events and help rebuild a world that has fallen into ruin.
The premise is familiar enough, but there is an interesting twist at its centre. You play a resurrected hero bound to an eldritch curse, meaning that your greatest threat is not necessarily the monsters waiting around the next corner. Your own condition requires attention, adding a survival element to the adventure and giving exploration an additional sense of danger. It is a promising foundation for an RPG that aims to offer more than simply another collection of quests and enemies.
A World Worth Getting Lost In
Sarkis is presented as a bright fantasy world, with a darker history lurking beneath its colourful appearance. From the bustling capital of Kal Crossing to the gloomy Southern Swamps, the varied environments offer plenty to explore and secrets to uncover. There is a pleasing contrast between the more welcoming settlements and the unsettling locations beyond their boundaries. That contrast helps establish the world’s identity, suggesting a place that has not entirely surrendered to the catastrophe that brought the dead back to life.
Exploration is central to the experience, and Everlast: Undying Tale encourages players to take their time rather than rushing from one quest marker to another. Hidden locations, points of interest and unusual characters provide reasons to stray from the obvious route. Some encounters might involve helping townsfolk with the everyday business of running farms and shops, while others send you in search of arcane objects or to deal with creatures with rather more sinister intentions. It is a welcome mix of ordinary activities and darker fantasy adventures.
The characters and quests also lend the world a little personality. You might find yourself communicating with the dead, helping friendly monsters locate unusual items, or assisting people whose problems have very little to do with the fate of the entire realm. These smaller tasks are important because they make the world feel more lived in. Not every adventure needs to involve saving civilisation, and sometimes helping someone with an everyday problem can be just as satisfying as defeating another terrifying creature.
Progression Through Doing
One of the most appealing aspects of Everlast: Undying Tale is its skill-based progression. Rather than relying entirely on conventional experience points and character levels, the game encourages you to improve individual abilities by using them. Spend time fishing and your fishing proficiency develops. Work with timber and your woodworking improves. Mining, occultism and the various combat disciplines each offer their own progression paths, creating a character whose abilities reflect the activities you choose to pursue.
It is an approach that will feel familiar to anyone who remembers older MMO systems, where becoming proficient in a particular trade required patience and dedication. There is something satisfying about watching a skill gradually improve through regular use, particularly when that progress eventually unlocks new crafting possibilities and more advanced equipment. It also encourages players to experiment with activities they might otherwise ignore. Fishing or woodworking may not sound particularly exciting when there are undead creatures to fight, but developing these skills can make a meaningful contribution to your wider adventure.
Crafting is another important part of this progression loop. Gathering resources and turning them into useful equipment provides a practical reason to explore the world, while skill-based crafting minigames add an extra element of involvement to the process. The quality of the finished item is influenced by how successfully you complete these activities, giving players an opportunity to demonstrate their developing abilities. Producing a particularly good weapon or piece of equipment feels more rewarding when it is the result of time spent improving the relevant skills.
There is also a pleasing relationship between crafting and character development. More advanced equipment requires the appropriate skills and attributes, meaning that players cannot necessarily bypass the progression system simply by finding something powerful. It encourages a longer-term approach, where improving your character and developing your trades go hand in hand. The downside is that the early stages can feel demanding, particularly when several skills need attention before your character becomes properly equipped. Those expecting immediate rewards may need to adjust their expectations.
Combat With Consequences
For all its gathering, crafting and exploration, Everlast: Undying Tale remains an action RPG, with plenty of dangerous encounters beyond the safety of its settlements. Combat centres on stamina management, requiring players to think carefully about movement, attacks, dodges and parries. Simply charging towards every enemy and swinging a weapon repeatedly is unlikely to end well. Even relatively ordinary opponents can become dangerous if stamina is mismanaged or several enemies are drawn at once.
This creates a more deliberate style of combat than some action RPGs offer. Timing and positioning matter, and knowing when to retreat can be just as important as landing another successful strike. Dodging and parrying offer ways to avoid incoming attacks, but they also demand attention to available stamina. It is a system that rewards patience and observation rather than simply encouraging players to overwhelm everything through brute force.
There is an obvious learning curve, however. Early encounters can be particularly unforgiving, especially for newcomers who have not yet developed their combat skills or acquired better equipment. The combination of stamina limitations and enemy aggression can make mistakes costly, and players may need to approach seemingly straightforward encounters with considerable caution. That can be frustrating at first, but it also gives progression a tangible purpose. Becoming stronger is not simply about increasing numbers on a character sheet; it can make the difference between surviving an encounter and ending up back where you started.
The Curse That Refuses to Go Away
The adventure’s most distinctive feature is undoubtedly the curse affecting its resurrected protagonist. This is not merely background lore that occasionally surfaces in conversation. It is an ongoing condition that shapes how you interact with the world and adds another responsibility to your travels. Left unchecked, the corruption can impose increasingly severe penalties and environmental dangers, making it something players cannot afford to ignore.
Managing the curse involves consuming Ichor collected from fallen undead, cleansing totems found throughout the world, and completing quests for the people living in Sarkis. These approaches encourage engagement with several aspects of the game rather than relying on a single solution. Combat becomes a way of maintaining your humanity, exploration can reveal opportunities to cleanse your condition, and helping settlements can offer another route to keeping the corruption under control.
The consequences of neglecting the curse are particularly interesting. Certain environmental hazards can become potentially fatal, including dangerous reactions to water. This adds an unusual complication to exploration, as places that might otherwise seem harmless can become serious threats depending on the state of your character. It is an effective way of connecting the central story premise with the actual gameplay, making the curse feel like a genuine part of the adventure rather than an arbitrary narrative device.
An MMO Without the Obligations
The MMO-lite structure gives Everlast: Undying Tale considerable flexibility. Players can explore Sarkis alone, invite friends to a private experience, or venture onto public servers supporting up to 100 players. That range of options is particularly appealing because it allows people to enjoy the game in the way that suits them. Those who prefer a quieter, more personal RPG experience are not forced into constant multiplayer interaction, while players who enjoy the social side have a larger community to explore alongside.
Shared dynamic events provide an additional reason for players to work together. These activities can range from large-scale harvesting efforts to major battles, with players contributing as much or as little as they wish. The events are player-triggered and appear on the shared map and quest tracker, making it easier to see where help is needed. It is a promising system because it encourages cooperation without necessarily demanding that everyone commit to a lengthy group activity.
The idea of a world that gradually comes back to life through the efforts of its inhabitants also fits the game’s wider themes. Rather than simply completing quests for personal rewards, players can contribute towards something that benefits the wider community. It gives the multiplayer elements a sense of purpose and helps distinguish the experience from a conventional single-player RPG with a few online features attached.
The Verdict
Everlast: Undying Tale has the foundations of a very appealing fantasy RPG. Its use-based skill progression captures the satisfaction of older MMO systems, while its crafting, exploration and deliberate stamina-based combat give players plenty of ways to develop their characters. The curse mechanic is particularly effective, adding a personal survival concern that connects directly to the story and encourages players to remain engaged with the world around them.
The flexible multiplayer structure is another considerable strength. Being able to explore alone, play privately with friends or join public servers supporting up to 100 players gives the experience a welcome degree of freedom. Shared events also provide opportunities for cooperation without making multiplayer participation feel compulsory. Combined with the varied activities and colourful fantasy setting, there is plenty of potential for an adventure that can be enjoyed at different paces.
There are some understandable concerns, particularly for players who prefer faster progression and more forgiving combat. Developing skills takes time, early equipment can feel inadequate, and stamina management makes even relatively modest encounters potentially dangerous. These systems demand patience, and the Early Access nature of the release means the experience is still developing. However, the underlying ideas are strong, and the combination of traditional RPG progression and MMO-lite flexibility gives InSpades something worthwhile to build upon.
Ultimately, Everlast: Undying Tale is an appealing throwback to a style of RPG that places considerable value on patience, personal progression and the pleasure of discovering a world for yourself. It is not trying to rush players towards an endgame or shower them with constant rewards. Instead, it invites you to develop your skills, make your own way through Sarkis and gradually uncover the secrets behind its troubled history. There is a promising adventure here, and one that fans of old-school, skill-driven RPGs should certainly keep an eye on as development continues.
