Ubisoft isn’t exactly very beloved nowadays, but if you go way back to 2015…well, things weren’t that different. Facing backlash after Watch Dogs and Assassin’s Creed Unity in 2014, the company entered the new year with something to prove. However, say what you will about the company, it was willing to experiment and try new things, namely For Honor.
Announced at E3 2015, For Honor would venture into a genre that the company had remained relatively unknown for – Fighting games. It featured three factions – the Iron Legion, the Warborn, and the Dawn Empire – fighting for supremacy. The concept was straightforward, simply asking, “What would happen if Knights, Vikings, and Samurai battled it out?”
Each faction consisted of different heroes in varying roles – the Vanguard, with its balance between offense and defense; the speedy Assassin; the Tank, slow but possessing more damage resistance; and the Hybrid, who mixes properties from the other classes, fitting specific niches with their skills.
Of course, For Honor wasn’t your average side-scrolling 2D fighter. It was a third-person title with modes like Dominion, where players fought real players and AI minions to capture and hold zones on a map. When engaging in battle against another player (or equivalent AI opponents), the Art of Battle would begin, with the perspective changing. Opponents could reposition their weapons to block, parry and attack while observing each other for their next moves. You could accidentally hit teammates during fights, grab or shove opponents, and even take advantage of environmental hazards.
As a result, the most noteworthy modes were the player-focused ones, like Duel, a best-out-of-five matches 1v1 affair; Brawl and its 2v2 battles; and Skirmish, which focused on 4v4. Then there was Elimination, a battle to crown the last player standing. Sure, there was a campaign to explain why these factions were at war, but it ultimately prepared players for multiplayer.
For Honor launched on February 14th, 2017, for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. Its Metascores ranged from 76 on PC, the lowest, to 79 on Xbox One. It topped US sales charts for the month and UK physical charts in its first week. Digital sales were also decent, with over 700,000 copies sold across all platforms. For a new IP geared primarily towards multiplayer, that too at $60, it’s not bad.
As with any multiplayer title, however, the real journey begins after launch, and at the time, For Honor had several issues to deal with, including cheating and AFK farming in the game’s Battlefields. The developer warned of sanctions and bans against both. However, there were still balance issues, leading to reverts to guard break and changes to classes like Berserker, Conqueror, Peacekeeper, and Valkyrie (who faced a hefty amount). Perhaps the most underrated change is that bots who joined a match in progress would remain dead, thus preventing your opponent from receiving some unlikely reinforcements.
Players still encountered more than their fair share of desyncs in maps, but another issue related to the progression quickly picked up steam: The Steel payouts. Steel unlocks cosmetics and new heroes. At the time, the payouts – especially with Campaign and Training giving one-time rewards – were pitiful, and it would take years to unlock everything, even for the base roster.
If that weren’t enough, it also cost Steel to upgrade gear (which is essential for leveraging perks) and even change its visuals. You could play matches to get random gear drops…or, you could spend Steel to obtain loot boxes with the same. Naturally, the company sold Steel Packs for real money because, of course, it did.
Less than two months after launch, the development team would increase payouts for Steel from matches, Daily Orders, Side Orders, and Community Orders, though there are still complaints about how long it takes. Meanwhile, new cosmetics continued to be added, further accentuating the grind. On the bright side, other subsequent changes made it possible to complete Daily and Contract Orders in PvP and PvE. Daily Orders were also added that didn’t require playing a specific mode.
The next major issue with the title revolved around connectivity. For Honor didn’t run on dedicated servers in its first year, instead relying on peer-to-peer. It resulted in some issues, and changes ensured “more resilient” data exchanges even during connection fluctuations (on top of improving performance in menus and matches and dynamically adjusting ambient FX level of detail during matches). However, demands for dedicated servers continued.
But enough about that because Season 2 was coming in May 2107 and adding two new characters: The Centurion and the Shinobi. The former is a Hybrid for the Knights, and the latter an Assassin for the Samurai. Two new maps, Forge and Temple Garden, an increase to the max gear score, a new Epic rarity for gear, and an overhaul of the gear system were also inbound.
Before the season dropped, the developer also adjusted the amount of XP earned from matches, thus increasing the pace of Reputation leveling. It also lowered the cost of Salvage used in upgrading gear across all rarities to help when leveling new heroes.
June would arrive, bringing balance changes to Guard Switch across multiple heroes and ensuring that guard break follow-ups were more consistent overall. Heroes like Warden, Kensei, Shinobi, and Warlord would see balance changes – Shinobi would see several nerfs to its moves. Projectile feats with various weapons also saw multiple damage reductions.
A subsequent update also changed the Salvage system, going from three different types of Salvage (each representing a faction) to a single unified Salvage. You could now use them across any hero and their gear, cutting down on the amount of grinding required for upgrades.
Season 3, Grudge and Glory, arrived in August and added two more heroes. The Highlander is allied with the Vikings and serves as a Hybrid character that can switch between offense and defense, while the Gladiator is an Assassin for the Knights. Did either of them make much sense historically? No, but they looked cool.
Two more maps, Sentinel and The Viking Village, joined the fray, but the biggest addition is probably the Ranked Duel Tournament. Though launching in beta form, it allowed players to participate in 1v1 matches with qualifiers and playoffs, affecting their ranking in the process. Balance-wise, Revenge attacks saw some buffs while chip damage increased across the board, turning blocking into a riskier affair than before (which was a good thing).
Season 4, Order and Havoc, went live in November, bringing two more heroes – the Bleed-focused Shaman and the quick-moving Aramusha – and two new maps – The Gauntlet and Marker Town. It also introduced a new core game mode: Tribute. It encompassed 4v4 matches with players obtaining offerings (by fair means or otherwise), and ultimately defeating the opposing team. There were a vast number of balance changes, reworked Feats and a whopping five new weapon visuals and two new armor variation visuals for every hero before Season 4 (not counting the swathe of cosmetics for the Shaman and Aramusha).
In February 2018, For Honor celebrated its first year on the market and thus took a different approach with Season 5, Age of Wolves. Instead of adding new heroes, it focused on quality-of-life updates and new features. Dedicated servers finally arrived, arriving first on PC and then on consoles. There were also reworks for existing heroes like Kensei, Berserker and Conqueror, alongside changes to parrying to make it less threatening.
March 2018 also saw the game taking a page out of Rainbow Six Siege’s playbook with a Starter Edition. Available for just $14.99, it offered everything from the base game, but only six playable heroes. The rest could be unlocked by spending Steel – 8,000 for launch characters and 15,000 for those released in Seasons. And yes, those Steel Packs are still being sold for real money. At least the in-game Steel earnings went up.
Another good decision in April 2018 was to add a new Training Arena, where players could face off against any hero as an AI opponent, configure their moves and difficulty, and fight it out. You could also view the timing of parries and counter guard breaks, turn gear stats on or off, and even view the damage and stamina costs of every move. It’s almost unbelievable that For Honor did all of this as a free update in 2018. That’s not including the Trials for learning different mechanics in various scenarios or the three new maps for training that were also added to the Brawl and Duel modes.
With Season 6, Hero’s March, two more heroes – Peacekeeper and Orochi – saw reworks while a new map, Beachhead, was added. On top of the usual bug fixes and improvements, it also updated the Change Look function in a great way. Depending on the rarity of your gear, you could apply any visual unlocked of the same rarity or below without having to keep that armor in your inventory, helping with inventory space issues significantly.
Not all patches were strictly focused on balance or new content. In June 2018, the development team added a departer player as a Raider Bot that could pop up during games. Of course, this was in addition to a new range of bug fixes and adjustments to Side Dodge and Revenge Shield, but it was a nice gesture.
Two months later, Season 7, Storm and Fury arrived, providing reworks to two more base roster fighters – Valkyrie and Warden. It also added two new divisions to the Rankings – Master and Grandmaster – with the top 100 players of the former falling into the latter. All heroes also received two new weapons visuals while max reputation went from level 50 to 60, awarding a new outfit.
At this point, For Honor was actually on somewhat of a roll. For Honor did what seemed like the next logical thing – announcing an expansion. Marching Fire was unique for many reasons, including introducing the game’s first new faction in the Wu Lin, consisting of the Nuxia, the Shaolin, the Tiandi, and the Jiang Jun. It also added an Arcade Mode with random enemies, modifiers and objectives with co-op support. Breach Mode, a new 4v4 attack and defense mode, coincided with its release but was made available for free alongside three new maps.
The update also changed how gear stats worked. They were replaced by Perks, which could be activated by reaching 600 points for it on any gear and there were even Perk Combinations to activate depending on the rarity.
As 2019 rolled around, Year 3 kicked off in January with the addition of the Black Prior, who could adopt the Bulwark Stance for maximum defense and special counters. The season also saw reworks to the Peacekeeper, Warlord, and Shugoki, along with a new map, Harbor. Another patch followed in March 2019, adding a new map to Arcade mode and new objectives for Weekly Quests. It also balanced out Revenge Attacks, Feats like Soothing Mist, and continued changes to Perks.
May saw the arrival of Hitokiri, Samurai executioners who could infinitely chain Heavy attacks in the Mugen-ryu stance, and a new map, Canopy, befitting the mythical tone of the new season. As you might have guessed, hero reworks would arrive, this time for Lawbringer and Raider. A subsequent patch would change the logic for fighters out of stamina while buffing the rewards from Arcade Mode.
Another new hero debuted in August, this time for the Vikings: the Jormungandr. Specializing in heavy damage on out-of-stamina opponents, their Light attacks couldn’t be interrupted when blocked. Storr Stronghold was the latest new map – a Viking fortress available only in Breach – while Ranked Duel received a competitive version of The Sanctuary focused purely on 1v1 combat with minimal fleeing or gimmicks. The update also saw escaping and roll distance standardised across the board while capping forward and backwards strafing in combat.
The final season of the year introduced a new hero in Zhanhu, who chained together dodge attacks and possessed unblockable finishers. Qiang Pass was the latest map, but most notable is that forthcoming Materials and Embossings could be unlocked with Steel. Season 12 also finally added a Spectator Mode (albeit in beta form) and updated the user interface.
Year 4 began in February 2020 and marked a peculiar occasion for the title – a ceasefire, at least in the lore. There were the usual bug fixes, Spectator improvements, balance changes, improvements, and whatnot, but otherwise, the Truce of Wyverndale saw the addition of new armor and weapons. The base roster and Year 3 heroes received new armor variations; the Wu Lin received brand new armor; and each hero had a new Rare weapon set.
And the next season, Tyranny, saw the addition of the Warmonger, part of the same faction as Astrea (the campaign’s antagonist). Wielding a two-handed Flamberge, they specialized in Corruption, Bleed damage, and pressuring their foes. New armor and weapons also arrived, while the Centurion received several changes.
In September 2020, the Resistance formed, determined to fight back against the Order of Horkos. New gear and weapons were a given at this point, while a new Wu Lin map, The Belvedere, was added for Duels, Brawls and Training. However, the revamps to team identification were most noteworthy, adding teammate outlines, team colored health bars, and allowing players to use any color palette without dividing them into Attacker, Defender or Neutral tabs.
By October 2020, For Honor revealed support for Xbox Series X/S and PS5, bringing improvements in texture filtering, level of detail, water reflections, and 4K (though Series S is stuck at 1080p). It would add 60 FPS support for these consoles in December when the next season dropped. While cross-gen play and progression between the same console families were available, cross-platform play was sadly missing. For now, at least.
The next season finally arrived, with Gryphon joining the Knights. Though providing team healing, he also excelled in mix-ups with Chain Finishers. New customization items also arrived, and though there were balance changes and the like, this was perhaps For Honor’s least packed update to date. Fortunately, January 2021 saw new features like a target cycling option, the ability to bookmark specific outfits, patterns, and looks, and multiple changes for Peacekeeper and Nobushi.
It wouldn’t be long before Year 5, Season 1, aka Asunder, launched in March 2021, featuring a new 4v4 themed mode, Carousel of Horkos, which removed revives, Perks and Feats and added a “Horkos Challenger” bot that would attack both sides. It also brought new customization, Warden updates, and new Paired Emotes. If you ever wanted to chest-bump teammates after obliterating some poor fool, now was the time.
Year 5, Season 2, “Mirage”, came and went. Going live in June 2021, it brought several updates for Shugoki, Berserker, Aramusha, Hitokiri, and other heroes. The other attraction was the Visions of Kyoshin event, where players battle Kyoshin fighters in a game of Dominion. Of course, Kyoshin would join the Samurai mid-season while new Lore Orders were also available.
In the next season, the development team brought improvements to the Raider and Orochi, a Shinobi rework, and other changes. It also added a new event, Storm Tides, and an unlikely collaboration with Dead by Daylight in October. The Dominion-like mode saw players capturing Generators while dealing with The Trapper, a level 3 Centurion bot with double damage and unblockable attacks.
Bizarre? Sure, but it brought new Dead by Daylight cosmetics for players to earn. Year 5 finally came to a close with Frozen Shores, adding a new event, Frost Wind Celebrations, and several changes to Orochi, Raider, Shugoki, Shinobi, and more. There were also hints of a new hero, but it turned out to be something: A new faction.
In Year 6, Lost Horizons, the Outlanders would join the fold. They consist of the Ocelotl, the Afeera, the Medjay and the Pirate. Each was of the Hybrid class with brand new weapon types to master. Of course, the year would only see two of them deployed, starting with the Pirate, who could cancel all Attack recoveries into dodges and use Feats within Chains.
The year also saw the launch of cross-play, allowing Xbox, PlayStation and PC players to matchmake with each other. Grouping and playing with friends in cross-play would go live later. The Medjay went live in Season 2, offering multiple fighting styles through weapon transformation, and unique Feats catering to the same.
The second phase of crossplay went live in Season 3 with new side dodge attacks for specific heroes, some now possessing tracking breaks while others would receive i-frames. Hero updates would continue into Season 4, with Afeera going live in February 2023 as part of a mid-season update. As a rushdown character, she possessed unique dodges and could adjust Heavy Attack speed based on guard direction.
Year 7, Swords of Injustice, would kick off in March 2023. The year saw the addition of the final Outlander, Ocelotl. In terms of balance changes, the Lawbringer saw a revamp, Reflex Guard was removed from all Assassins, Heavy Attacks saw multiple changes, and balance adjustments continued for the entire roster.
This brings us to the current year of content, Forged in War. It sees two maps reworked and added to the Dominion pool and a new Samurai hero – Sohei, who wielded seven blades. New and returning events, a 1v1v1 free-for-all mode called Last Hero Standing, and much more went live. The most recent update titled “The Serpent Sword” added Testing Grounds, General Zhi: Zhanhu Hero Skin along with new options for customization.
Overall, For Honor has had a surprisingly extensive journey through the years. Though it has a “Mixed” rating on Steam, with 69 percent of reviews positive, it still has a player base, while the developer remains dedicated to taking community feedback and implementing changes accordingly. While it might not shine all that much compared to other games, the fact that For Honor has survived this long while delivering a fighting game experience unlike so many other titles is worthy of note. As the adage goes, there’s never been a better time to jump in.