Leafling

About

Leafling is a multiplayer hack and slash game. It was developed by Celtaria Productions and was released on December 15, 2020. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Leafling Online is a free to play 2D Action MORPG with an evolving world. Explore, fight, craft, cast, and delve your way through dangerous dungeons and discover new areas on the Overworld.

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69%

Audience ScoreBased on 456 reviews

story9 positive mentions

grinding36 negative mentions

Large variety of classes with unique gameplay styles and gear spells allowing extensive build customization.
Active and responsive development team providing frequent updates and engaging with the community.
Fun combat and progression system with nostalgic pixel art style, accompanied by great music and a helpful community.

Game suffers from frequent server instability, lag, and crashes affecting gameplay experience.
Balance and content issues including overpowered classes, buggy features, excessive grind post level cap, and slow progression for solo players.
Toxic community interactions and controversial developer behavior including poor handling of criticism and favoritism harming player retention.

story
74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
83%
5%
The game's story is currently incomplete and inconsistent, with many quests buggy, poorly explained, or unrewarding, leading to softlocks and player frustration. While the main storyline is often disabled or very short, the community and progression pacing receive praise, and there is anticipation for future story content as the game is still in early development. Overall, the story aspect needs significant work but shows potential once fully implemented.
- “Really fun game, good story and progression pacing.”
- “It's not pay-to-win, there is a good story, nostalgic feeling, good combat mechanics, it's all there!”
- “Well thought through, everything makes sense and nothing seems unnatural. At the moment the main quest is not active but will be in the future (it's in beta). When you start the game you get a cutscene with info.”
- “Quests cannot be turned in, some give no rewards, many are poorly worded or have bad progress tracking (e.g., quest mobs with same name but different colors, only one counts), quest bubbles appear in the wrong place, and some quests softlock you (e.g., main quest line interaction bug locks gameplay for a long time).”
- “But I wasn't able to progress anywhere once I got past the main story.”
- “The story (or main story quest) in Leafling is inconsistent and barely exists, despite the lead developer's insistence that it is relevant.”
grinding
37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3%
97%
Grinding in this game is heavily emphasized, offering rewarding and addicting group experiences with fun events, challenging dungeons, and PvP, though it can become monotonous and frustrating due to RNG loot, repetitive content, and occasional developer imbalance. While early gameplay feels like a tutorial, true progression demands extensive farming, often leading to competition over resources and feelings of grind fatigue, especially at endgame. Fans of classic MMO grind and cooperative play will likely enjoy it, but the grind-heavy nature and occasional unfairness may not appeal to everyone.
- “But if the loot is not end tier, it isn't worth grinding for because it is about to get outclassed.”
- “This leaves me farming old content solo, or farming the PvE new zones mobs which just feels unrewarding and not fun.”
- “Grinding gear for marginal increases based off of an RNG looting and enchanting system can at times feel a little monotonous, but the group play and community involvement from the staff and dev teams really makes this game worth sticking with.”
graphics
37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
60%
8%
The graphics are generally described as simple 2D pixel art that fits the game's aesthetic but lacks originality and polish. While some players appreciate the charming, nostalgic style with features like day-night cycles and smooth visuals, others find the art uninspired or basic. Overall, the graphics are passable and functional, appealing mainly to fans of pixelated indie games rather than those seeking high-end visuals.
- “Absolutely amazing graphics and pink mushroom final boss battle.”
- “Banger MMO RPG with beautiful graphics.”
- “The graphics are really good for a 2D game; it's not crowded and nothing seems out of place. There are also night and day cycles, which is really nice.”
- “The graphics are pretty low-end but passable in terms of giving the sprites personality, the gameplay is very basic and straightforward (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), and the servers are really bad with rubberbanding constantly.”
- “The art style is just terrible as well, legit not even original, has no charm to it for being a jRPG pixel game while also having a mediocre character customization.”
- “To be honest, I would like to have settings for graphics or just the game frames drops cause whenever I cast a spell or just in unpopulated places with little enemies and players.”
gameplay
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
72%
9%
The gameplay offers a variety of classes with simple, straightforward mechanics focused on grinding, combat, and loot, which some find nostalgic and fun but others see as repetitive and monotonous. While the combat and leveling systems show promise and avoid pay-to-win elements, numerous bugs, quest issues, clunky UI, and server lag negatively impact the overall experience. Early gameplay can be enjoyable, but content and progression feel limited, with some players frustrated by unclear developer decisions and unbalanced mechanics.
- “There are a lot of classes to choose from with a wide variety of gameplay from each class.”
- “The gameplay, and end game is there, and for a free-to-play (non pay-to-win) it's worth checking out for sure.”
- “Good leveling system, fun mechanics, only issue I see is when I eventually reach level 30 (the current level cap) I won't have much else to do in the game.”
- “This dramatically contributes to a boring facetank-mashkeys-drink potion vs hit sponge type of gameplay.”
- “If you're looking for a game that's chock full of poor mechanic decisions, butchered scaling, and unusable classes, then you'll feel right at home.”
- “There are some major bugs affecting the gameplay that after half a year haven't been solved (simply because they can't).”
music
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game's music is widely praised for its high quality, thematic fit, and immersive soundtracks that enhance various zones and boss fights. Many players highlight the soundtrack as a standout feature, with some saying they'd listen to it even outside the game. Overall, the music contributes significantly to the game's atmosphere and player engagement.
- “The game has its own soundtracks for each zone and boss fights.”
- “As a supporting note, I'd honestly play just to hear the soundtrack, that's how good it is.”
- “Music is also very well styled to fit the game theme.”
stability
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
91%
The game in early access shows promising visuals and gameplay but is plagued by frequent bugs, glitches, and stability issues like freezing and lag. While some users find it enjoyable despite these problems, many note it can become frustrating due to its buggy and sometimes broken state. Overall, stability remains a significant concern requiring improvement.
- “While I understand the game is early access, it was quite buggy.”
- “It looks lovely, it really does, but it won't open and freezes past login.”
- “Buggy, laggy, fun at first but quickly becomes a pile of garbage.”
replayability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
20%
20%
The replayability is mixed, as the game offers new challenges and class leveling options, but progression often feels like a grind focused on optimal experience farming rather than diverse gameplay. Many players stick to repetitive, efficient tasks rather than exploring varied content, limiting the sense of replay variety.
- “Infinitely replayable.”
- “✅ Infinitely replayable.”
- “While the development team has shared their decision to carry out this drastic change and put forward that it adds replayability to the game, taking your main classes to the highest level still remains a grind where players go to the optimal source of experience in each zone and don't explore anything else. For example, leveling some classes from 40 to 45 can be a real pain, and instead of entering the dungeon (where the boss has the highest experience of the zone) and killing countless mobs with high HP and no experience value, some prefer doing a repeatable woodcutting quest. Safe to say the rest of that zone is still unknown to many players.”
- “While the development team has shared their decision to carry out this drastic change and put forward that it adds replayability to the game, taking your main classes to the highest level still remains a grind in which players go to the optimal source of experience in each zone and don't engage with anything else. For example, leveling some classes from 40 to 45 can be a real pain. Instead of entering the dungeon (where the boss has the highest experience of the zone) and fighting countless mobs with high HP but no experience rewards, some players prefer doing a repeatable woodcutting quest. It’s safe to say the rest of that zone remains unknown to many players.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The game generally runs smoothly on slower computers, offering good initial performance, but server stuttering and lag during intense battles significantly impact the experience. Optimization issues hinder gameplay, especially in solo performance and multiplayer fights.
- “It is a simple game to start playing and it still runs smoothly on a slow computer.”
- “I stopped playing this game, there are few players, poorly optimized and when fighting against Dragon T there is a lot of lag. Warspear, Curse of Aros, and Skylore are much better than Leafling.”
- “This nerf fell at the same time as a general armor nerf, which meant that I went from having quite poor solo performance to utter and complete garbage solo performance (as in, I can barely kill a monster that DPS classes kill in 1-3 hits).”
- “The game runs well, but servers are constantly stuttering, making the game extremely slow.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The game's monetization is praised for being fair and non-intrusive, offering a fully free-to-play experience without pay-to-win elements. While it involves some grinding, this is seen as part of the game's charm rather than a cash grab.
- “100% free to play, so no need to worry about player advantage via money or in-game purchases. It all takes time, and although it can be a bit of a grind, that's what adds to its charm.”
- “Might be a cash grab?”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a deep emotional connection to the game, valuing its community and shared experiences, though they feel saddened by its decline and fading player base. There is hope for a revival, but also frustration over communication rules and early judgments from new players during the game's launch phase.
- “I have played this game for over 159 hours and plan to spend even more time on it. Returning after a break due to work, I felt heartbroken seeing the community slowly fading. It used to be amazing, with lively chats and active players, but now it's much quieter. I hope the community flame can be rekindled because the connections and memories made here are truly special.”
- “As of now, there are only five active players left, which is really heartbreaking. Maybe people will come back someday, and we can relive the days when the community was together, but it feels like that might just be a hopeful dream.”
- “The game offers a deeply emotional experience through its community and shared history. Despite challenges, the bonds formed with other players create lasting memories that make leaving the game difficult.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Players appreciate the game's effort to address environmental themes, particularly photosynthesis and oxygen production, which adds depth and a positive tone to the overall atmosphere. This thoughtful approach helps create a more engaging and meaningful experience.