Why Babylon's Fall Completely Bombed
Gamers will soon say RIP to "Babylon's Fall," as it has been announced that the game will be shutting down its servers on Jan. 18, 2023. A failure in the eyes of critics when it was released on March 3, 2022, "Babylon's Fall" was destroyed in the public square due to its litany of issues. These problems included virtually every component of the game, be it gameplay, graphics, or its grindy live-service model. Some even named it among the worst game they've ever played (via TomsGuide). And less than a year after its rough release, "Babylon's Fall" will cease to exist short of its one-year anniversary and be remembered as one of the worst flops of its time.
When it comes down to why the game failed, there are multiple factors why. Yes, many of them are obvious, but some of them aren't. At the end of the day, "Babylon's Fall" was a flop not only due to its poor execution, but because of its incredibly bad timing. Here's every reason why "Babylon's Fall" completely bombed and went under in less than 365 days on the market.
Babylon's Fall didn't match the PlatinumGames standard
The developers behind "Babylon's Fall" — PlatinumGames — is actually quite renowned and respected in the action genre. The Japanese developer has been behind some incredibly well-received games such as "Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance," "Nier: Automatica," and the "Bayonetta" series, to name just a few. These are obviously high-quality action games. However, with "Babylon's Fall," PlatinumGames fell way short of the mark from a gameplay perspective.
Writing for TheGamer, Santi Leguiza was highly critical of the gameplay and virtually everything else in "Babylon's Fall." "Even with PlatinumGames' signature combat and some mechanics brought in from its past work, Babylon's Fall babylon-falls short in every department," Leguiza said. "Any hopes I had were quickly dragged down by wonky combat mechanics, a below-average narrative, poor graphics, and even worse aesthetic choices that only make the whole experience even more unenjoyable and frustrating." Even YouTubers dismissed "Babylon's Fall" on account of its slow and clunky gameplay. In his review, MrMattyPlays lambasted the title for its poor execution. "This combat has you so glued to the ground, I can scarcely believe this is PlatinumGames," Matty said.
The title's live-service model was also highly criticized. At release, "Babylon's Fall" was sold at the next-gen standard price of $69.99 (via DualShockers). Some argued that the game did not justify such a steep price point and would've been better suited as a free-to-play title.
The graphics are abysmal
Graphics aren't everything, but given the current state of gaming where developers are pushing the boundaries in terms of power each passing year, there is a certain standard that most gamers would prefer developers meet. Whatever this standard is, "Babylon's Fall" has fallen (pun intended) well short of it. Even in its demo stage, players weren't too impressed with the title's visual legibility, forcing PlatinumGames to pledge that the company would improve them (cia GamesRadar+). But after release, the graphics — which were intended to follow the style of an oil painting — were still ripped to shreds by critics and gamers, prompting PlatinumGames to seek feedback in improving the graphics for a second time (via RockPaperShotgun). Unfortunately, it was too late.
By the time "Babylon's Fall" came out, it seemed that a vast majority of critics and gamers weren't impressed with how the game looked. "Right from the beginning, the art style in this game grabbed my attention, but unfortunately for all the wrong reasons," Santi Leguiza of TheGamer said of the game's visual style. "There is a clear intent to make this game look like a painting, and you can perceive invisible brush movements and a canvas-like filter as you move the camera. Sadly, it's implemented in such a messy way that it looks like you're getting your head violently shaken while playing the game[.]" On Reddit, some users said the graphics in "Babylon's Fall" were similar to the visuals you'd see in a PlayStation 3 title.
There's only room for one Elden Lord
Yeah, "Babylon's Fall" did itself no favors by releasing in a poor state in terms of visuals and gameplay. But even had it avoided being anything but awful in the eyes of gamers, surely it stood no chance of directly competing with fantasy-action RPG "Elden Ring." Some might not remember, but "Babylon's Fall" came out a week after FromSoftware's critically acclaimed masterpiece — a game that not only sold extremely well, but might go down as one of the best ever made. Even had PlatinumGames and Square Enix delivered a solid product, it just had no chance of competing.
As written by CJ Wheeler of Rock Paper Shotgun, the "Elden Ring" gamer hangover loomed large in its wake, creating an extremely difficult situation for "Babylon's Fall" and any other fantasy-centric game that would've been out immediately after. "The game had the misfortune of arriving within a week of 'Elden Ring,' another fantasy action RPG that dominated the early months of this year," Wheeler wrote of "Babylon's Fall" and its failure. "Despite asking players for their feedback on 'Babylon's Fall's' graphics, and doubling the length of its second season to reevaluate its future in May, it's now clear that nothing Platinum or Square Enix had hoped to do was going to save the game."