The long awaited Brown Dust 2 has finally entered early-access. After the first reveal trailer back in March 2022, Neowiz has decided to take the next step in the game’s release.
The game itself is the sequel to the ARPG Brown Dust. It’s marketed as a console-like adventure game, with an aesthetic made up of high quality 2D graphics. The game falls under the gacha sub-genre, meaning you can expect an abundance of characters, and a lengthy campaign.
The game’s early access launched on Google Play yesterday, but the fan reaction so far has been mixed.
A Promising Gacha Game?
One side of the reaction is incredibly positive. A Reddit user, @gadesabc, gave a full in-depth review of their early access experience so far. The Reddit user stated they were “quite pleasantly surprised”. The lengthy comment has so far received 60 upvotes, implying that a lot of the community share similar views.
The commenter described the game having a strong JRPG vibe, and that it felt like a “real game” in comparison to other gachas in terms of having detailed exploration. They praised the game for it’s unique characters, absence of a stamina system, the fighting mechanics, and the RPG elements, among other factors.
Another Reddit user, @Esterier, wrote that they “like it so far”. They stated that the scaling down of units from the first Brown Dust game will help keep their interest and investment in the gacha.
But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows from the gacha community…
The Dark Side Of Early Access
Whilst half of the fanbase seem quite happy with their early access experience so far, the other half don’t seem to be sold. As it turns out, the early access for Brown Dust 2 has an ugly side.
Neowiz, the developer of the game, stated that there will be a data-wipe at the end of the early access. This means that players’ progress will not be carried over between the early access and the launch of the game.
In the same Reddit post that was discussed earlier, many commentors expressed their frustration at this. One user, @YourMasterGherkyIII, wrote “What kind of early access deletes data? Call it a CBT like it is…”
Another user, @ferinsy, wrote “Looks like incompetent localization, they don’t even know the words for what they’re doing.”
The uproar stems from the fact that the branding of “early-access” is misleading, as data usually does carry over when it ends. The terms of this release of the game aligns more with an open beta test. The miscommunication from the studio is what’s lefts some fans feeling confused, upset, and frustrated.
Could the controversy tarnish the reputation of Brown Dust 2 before it’s even officially launched? Let us know in the comments.
Meanwhile, you can download the Brown Dust 2 early access for yourself on Google Play and test out the game now.
