Born Again is a very worthy contender against Realm of the Mad God. I very much enjoy being able to play something so similar to RotMG again without all the poor game balance and mechanics that cripple new players.

I stopped playing RotMG a long time ago for previously stated reasons plus shady business practices, and stepping into Born Again gameplay is refreshing and it is different in all the good ways.

As a former RotMG fan, I strongly recommend you give it a try.

Also, the fact that there are people leaving negative reviews because of permadeath, in a PERMADEATH GAME, is honestly hilarious. It's like... could you imagine giving Minecraft a 1 star rating just because you don't like cubes? Seriously, what are you hoping to achieve? Lol

Edit:
Your jester awards only benefit me by giving points, so thanks ❤ (Also cope harder)

Updating this review to address some of the outdated negative reviews:
People were worried about the time it takes to unlock new classes. I started playing yesterday, and it took me 30min to unlock a second class and another hour to unlock a third class, and given how much there is to explore about the classes I would say it is plenty fast. There is a lot to learn as Samurai for example, as the damage output can be very good but moving effectively is difficult. EDIT: It took me about another hour to double the item bank space, which I think is pretty fair too

People were also complaining about cosmetics (hats) not being permanent, and the dev has addressed this as being something they want to address. I also haven't found a way to remove a hat once you put it on, excepting overriding it with a new hat. IMO, I think if hats were permanent it would be fair if the paid ones costed more, but a lot of the really cool hats are very rare drops from enemies which I think sucks the most to lose.

A couple people have also complained about the amount of grind to get to late game, which I think is somewhat fair as I have played a lot but getting 4 blessings to (basically) level six is really time consuming, especially if you want red or black blessings. However, I also think that this is fine in it's current state, as it seems like there isn't much to do beyond maxxing blessings, and I still want to have a goal to work towards. My hope for the game is that eventually we can get side objectives or even daily objectives, so we can have something else to work towards. I'm not sure what kinds of rewards could be offered other than XP in the current system, but having that extra goal would be very motivating.

Overall compared to other permadeath MMOs like RotMG and Survived By, this game is actually much more F2P accessible and it has a whole lot more style. I've never wanted to feel like an actual Samurai before but I am really feeling it. Play now before it gets killed, and bring at least one friend

I haven't played Realm of the Mad God yet, however as most of the reviews are comparing apples to oranges – I would like to write a review that focuses on Born Again as the unique game that it is. To begin with, I will focus mainly on providing a review that can help new players understand this game better and how it has changed during the updates.

For new players who just started the game – the first thing you need to know is that once your character dies, so far as I know, you will lose all your equipped items, cosmetics, and blessings. You will also be able to start with a fresh character from level 1.

What are blessings you ask? Blessings are items that give you a perk of some kind like a 10 percent block chance when equipped. You usually get them from boss drops. One thing you need to know is that you start with enough space in (I think it is called a sash) – for four blessings.

So know that you need to choose them wisely. Later, when you reach your max level of 30 (without dying hopefully) – there will be a way to increase that capacity which you will soon learn on your own.

One rule of thumb I would give anyone while playing is that if you ever go into Hammurabi’s chamber and you are below level 30, it is best to stay away from him until he dies and drops his precious loot. And even if you are level 30, it is best to stay at a safe distance until you are better equipped.

This is a game where you will find it easier to stay alive the longer you stay alive and get better equipped. So it is always wise to step back when you know you need to.

There is so much more that can be said about this game, but hey – why ruin the surprise right?

If you do decide to try this game - I hope you enjoy your first time being Born Again.

Starting over is not so bad, there is always something to learn from starting over, once you know the pitfalls and what you need you work on.

Even though you lose your character and start over, the one thing you won't lose that is paramount is your knowledge about this game. So with that in mind, I hope the idea of permadeath is less scary to most of you.

This review says "Yes, I recommend" but I highly recommend also reading the review in full and coming to your own conclusion at the end.

This is a Realm of the Mad God inspired permadeath MMO which it wears on its sleeve with cheeky references TO RotMG, and unfortunately that came with a lot of the baggage associated with RotMG's unpopular business decisions over the years pretty much immediately. You have a pitiful amount of free bank space to work with which immediately gets filled up by unstackable crystals and rares (just like how potions used to not stack in chests in RotMG) and the game has an unfathomably long grind just to unlock other classes & expand the bank if you don't slide your mom's credit card. After playing for 4 hours and having a maxed character, I've earned about half of what it takes to buy an additional class. Other than the lack of bank spaces though, there isn't really any "P2W" mechanics in the game- which I think is a plus in today's gaming environment. There are purchaseable cosmetic hats for your character however.

The new player experience can be frustrating because the starter class isn't built for learning, with its low reach, and sluggish initial movement speed. Classes like the warrior should have been for more experienced players who are familiar with bullet spread patterns and shotgun spreads, not the only class a new player can be at the start. Shotgun spreads are EVERYWHERE in this game and can quickly kill a player if they aren't attacking an enemy with the exact knife edge of their hitbox so they can react in time. Healing items drop really rarely for some reason, but you don't have to play too conservatively due to the game's innately high health regeneration.

The unique gimmicks of this RotMG-inspired game set it apart from other clones, though. The standout are blessings (of which you can have up to 6 at a time) which grant your character boons and are further improved by using crystals which randomly upgrade a boon of that type in your blessing sheet. The "Nexus" button taking time to charge as opposed to being instant is also certainly a choice that I appreciate since in RotMG it felt too much like a get out of jail free button. Having multiple abilities associated with a class rather than just 1 like RotMG gives the game more variety, especially with classes having multiple tools they can swap in.

I wish a review could be Informational instead of a straight yes/no. It's plainly obvious that the game has low amounts of content and the grind will be agonizing for purely free players. People who were burned by RotMG would find this fun though, since it's not chock full of the same in-your-face microtransactions. I'm definitely on the fence.

potential

You can't beat 20+ hours of fun for free 👍
I've heard that in the PAST they added payed cosmetic hats that you could lose upon death, this has been RECTIFIED. As of date, there is also no P2W, everything is unlockable with the in-game currency Honor.
The game loop is simple:
Level Up -> Beat Bosses -> Get Better Loot -> Max Blessing -> Blessing Reset -> Repeat.
Upon dying or resetting you gain Honor which you can unlock new classes or Bank Slots.

⠀

I hate it.
Great game.

Dear Dev, cometics must be saved after death!

Surprisingly fun game but there is no "end game" content to do outside of just rinse and repeating the overworld boss fights for rare drops. I got loot from the final boss fight of the game on a level 15 new character and the only incentive to make progress after is to "max" out a character for the sake of maxing. The blessings and maxing concepts are cool but as of now the grind is really slow and with no content hard enough to necessitate maxing anyway