What became of Inferna, the MMORPG on Steam that players refer to as “Metin 3”?

Inferna is a MMORPG from 2019. Gameplay, graphics and many details are strongly reminiscent of the classic Metin2 from 2005, which is why Inferna is often referred to as “Metin3”. But what became of the game?

The MMORPG started in 2019 and can be played via Steam, but is still in Early Access. The development team is called Inferna Limited, a studio that was founded in 2016 and consists of only 3 employees, like the Steam page reveals.

Players affectionately refer to Inferna as “Metin3”

What kind of game is this? Inferna is a fantasy MMORPG that reminds many players of Metin2, which is why it is often compared to it. It focuses on PvE, but also offers some PvP content. Inferna uses a mixture of tab targeting and hack & slash for the combat system.

You create a character and choose one of 4 classes: warrior, mage, half demon and assassin. Later you decide on one of two specializations.

You enter an open world in which you can move freely. There are mounts for that – players get a wolf as a mount for 3 days at the beginning.

How is it similar to Metin2?

• Both games don’t have the best graphics and a similar user interface.
• In Metin2 you farm metin stones that you beat, defeat monster waves and get a lot of loot at the end. In Inferna these are so-called rifts.
• The combat system works almost the same.
• At the beginning you run back and forth between NPCs that are almost identical except for the names. The quests are also similar. In Metin2 the city guard gives you the task of killing 9 wild dogs, in Inferna it’s 6 foxes.
• The map is also divided up similarly in the two games. You walk to the portal on the map to get to the next area, from there to the next and so on. There are no waypoints or teleporters in the middle.
• In both MMORPGs you read skill books to improve your skills. They can fail.

On the left you can see Inferna, on the right Metin2:

Even the release was bumpy, developers don’t give up

Upon release in December 2019, Inferna had an all-time peak of 2,900 concurrent players (via SteamDB). From there it went steeply downhill – in January there were only 300 simultaneous players per day, in February 130. Since then the MMORPG has been stumbling around with numbers between 20 and 100 – in today’s peak there are 61 players (as of February 01, 2023).

But the developers don’t give up the MMORPG even with a small number of players. Inferna receives regular updates. First weekly, since 2023 only monthly. There are many balance updates and bug fixes in the patch notes, after all the game is in Early Access. The user interface is also constantly being improved.

Events also take place – for example, there was a raffle at Christmas and the Halloween event was even divided into 4 different phases. In between there are events with increased experience points and drop rates.

New content is gradually coming to the MMORPG. It takes time, but they come. In the meantime, a new dungeon has been added, players can now craft gems and improve their equipment with them, equipment glitters from an improvement of +7 and so on. New quest lines are also added.

Here you can see the trailer of Inferna:

Wanted to be free from Pay2Win, now brings everything to the item shop

Metin2 is heavily geared towards Pay2Win, while Inferna was said to be less the case. “Metin3 without Pay2Win in good”, writes someone in the reviews on Steam.

The developers write: “[Dem] Indie development team is particularly important to create a free and fair game whose content is accessible without any barriers to purchase. For this reason, the focus of the in-game shop is on cosmetic items such as mounts, pets and skins.

For the update in January 2023, they no longer seem to hold this opinion, because the item shop is suddenly full of useful items that can be purchased with real money. Including which to read more skill books and for higher chances of success. Items for better bonuses in the equipment are also included. There are also useful potions that make you stronger in battle.

This means that the purely cosmetic approach that the developers had followed for their item shop is lost. “This is going in the wrong direction again. Metin2 got it wrong as well…Pay2Win,” reads a comment below the patch notes on Steam.

Steam reviews are more positive than negative

Overall Steam reviews are 62% positive, giving Inferna an overall rating of Balanced. Positive voices feel the nostalgia as it reminds them of Metin2, others see great potential in the game and look forward to future updates. Others are less enthusiastic. We summarize a few of the votes for you:

• Habugili: “Anyone who used to like playing Metin2: Inferna is strongly based on this game and works on the same principle.”
• Hidefff: “Really not good (yet).”
• Gmeirer: “Well, I really like the game. Reminds me of Metin2 which I was looking for a lot in my earlier years. You have to keep in mind that the game is still in Early Access and is represented by a small, new team. Of course you have to live with the fact that not everything is 100% error-free and that the concept is still being worked out.”
• MrPain: “The game has great potential, based on Metin2. […] quite good for early access, worth checking out if you like Metin2 and MMORPGs in general.”
• Kanna Kamui: “It’s still in its infancy, but I’m sure it will be. You can see that the developers care about it and want to advance the game with the community.”

What do you say about the MMORPG Inferna? Do you also see a “Metin3” in it or is it a completely different game for you? Have you tried Inferna or are you currently playing it? Write it to us in the comments here on MeinMMO!

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