Initial thoughts on Project:Gorgon
3 February 2026
Project:Gorgon is an MMORPG that has been in development for around ten years I think? And for many of those, in early access to backers. I was not a backer, I only found out about it when I chanced upon Aywren's blog post about the game. As a fan of Runescape, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 1 and 2, and somebody who enjoyed but didn't play to the same extent Elder Scrolls Online and Star Wars: The Old Republic... I like MMOs.
Project:Gorgon is aesthetically similar to the early MMOs of the 2000s, a lot of people equate it to Everquest but I never played it, so I can't say if it's true or not. Graphically though it does look dated and it's on purpose. What P:G has that's unique is the skill system, it's like Runescape's skills on steroids. EVERYTHING is a skill. Sword combat, unarmed, shield are the obvious ones. But it doesn't stop there. How about psychology? Mycology? Pig? Yes, pig. Being a pig. Even dying is a skill.
In this way, P:G doesn't have stereotypical classes that you choose at character creation, you have way more customisability. Find the types of combat skills you enjoy and level them up, the more you level them the more skills you unlock. You can equip two combat styles at a time, so find a pair that synergises well. Changed your mind? You don't need to reroll, just level some other skills. You can freely swap between whenever you like. You do not start with knowledge of skills, you have to discover them. Sometimes you'll find an item that gives you your first experience, sometimes an NPC will teach you.
Character creation is quite detailed, the descriptions of the Elven race is... unique. The transition from character creation to the game's story is flawless and I love it. Speaking of story, the quest writing is enjoyable and often humorous, I've never picked up a quest where I don't read all the text. I also like the notes system, your quest log has a built in notes area so you can jot down anything you think might be relevant for a quest. For example, on the tutorial island a quest involves finding a set of coordinates by finding four different obelisks, each one containing one coordinate. The game doesn't remember these for you, you have to write them down and then recite them to an NPC later. The game doesn't have quest markers either, if an NPC tells you something is in a certain direction, then you'd better start scouting in that direction. I really enjoyed this too, I was in Serbule Hills when an NPC told me to go "North East" to find a logging camp, and I genuinely had to go search the North East region to find it.
It feels like a big world. I feel like a total noob. This is a good thing. It reminds me of when I first played World of Warcraft, and how vast, detailed, complicated the world felt. I love that game, but now that I know practically every detail, every quest, every location, every meta, it's not the same. What I love about P:G is that I don't know any of that stuff. I am just a random nobody running around Serbule Hills, trying to make a werewolf like me so she'll give me a skinning knife, so I can skin some pigs to get a nose so I can turn in a quest. (That is true, by the way)
When I first started writing this blog a few days ago I was going to talk about how the one big drawback to P:G is the fact it crashes on me every thirty minutes. I tried everything to fix it, swapping between native Linux and Proton, lowering graphics, updating drivers, nothing. On Discord I could see others with a similar problem, and the devs knew about it but I didn't see any advice. I was going to say how this blocks me from playing the game, but yesterday the devs released an update that seems to have stopped it. I've since gone three hours playing without a single crash, so my confidence is growing. The devs are pretty active in Discord, and they're working really hard to make this a smooth launch. I appreciate that.
If Project:Gorgon sounds like a game you'd enjoy, a demo is available through Steam and allows you to level skills up to 15 (I left the tutorial with most around level 5) so don't worry, you'll be able to figure out if it's for you before spending money.