Fantasy ARPG Vaultbreakers starts new playtest and secures Square Enix backing

Everyone at PCGamesN adores a good action RPG. While I love the ancient mythology that imbues Titan Quest, my colleague Ken is also obsessed with the build variety in games like Path of Exile 2 and Diablo. The genre is so diverse these days that you can find anything you want, and Vaultbreakers is no exception. With a new playtest running for the fantasy ARPG right now, you can even give it a try for yourself. The future of the game is looking bright, too, as Final Fantasy studio Square Enix is now backing it.

If you've played Diablo, Path of Exile, Last Epoch, or any number of ARPGs recently, you'll find something to love in Vaultbreakers. You take up arms as a champion of the Vaultguard, and it's your job to protect the world from forces older than time itself. This means you set out on dynamic missions, explore the vibrant fantasy world around you, and customize your character to your liking.

Vaultbreakers differentiates itself from our picks for the best RPGs with one key feature, though: Changelings. This chaotic faction of shapeshifters are often in the way of your goals, and can take the form of either advanced AI or even other players. You can either work with these Changelings, fight them, or avoid them entirely; the choice is yours.

If you're a long-time Diablo buildcrafter, Vaultbreakers also has something for you. You start the game by picking between one of various champions, each of which has their own specific perks and abilities for you to use. From here you can both loot and craft myriad items which will boost your power, give you new abilities, or even offer up game-changing passives.

With no launch date locked in yet, developer Betadwarf has just started a new playtest that you can get involved in right now. This version of the game has both solo and duo queues, so you can choose to squad up with a pal or go it alone.

The Haven (essentially the game's lobby) also has some new upgrades. If you help the NPCs strewn about Vaultbreakers through quests and materials, you can restore this zone and make use of it. Just like building up Kingsmarch in PoE, you'll be met with visual and gameplay changes the more you improve the Haven as you play.

As a part of the new playtest, Betadwarf also announces that Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts developer Square Enix is now backing the studio. "We are honored to welcome Square Enix to the Betadwarf family! The funding will help us improve our production capabilities and deepen Vaultbreakers' ongoing community-driven development," it writes. "We couldn't have done it without our community, so thank you again for your support throughout Vaultbreakers' early stages."

Betadwarf is running the Vaultbreakers playtest until Wednesday July 9. You can request access to play for yourself right here.

While you wait to see if you can get into the Vaultbreakers playtest, you can keep yourself busy with all the best games like Diablo on PC today. Or you can check out the best co-op games.

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