All is not well in the world of Strife, a planet surrounded by 6 other planes, each embodying a different fantasy genre- Gale, a world of medieval fantasy, with knights, assassins and dragons- Lyrie, a land of jungles, forests and seas- Nestra, a land cloaked in darkness- Tempra, a frozen glacier where few survive-Vorbis, the most highly advanced plain with rockets, lasers and jetpacks- and Sheol, the underworld of suffering and war. Sheol has been sealed away, but a prophecy states that one day the seal will break, and Sheol will invade the other planes. Also, the only key to opening Sheol has gone missing. The Keepers of Light, powerful beings who watch over the world of Strife band together to form the Army of Light and the Arena of Strife, where powerful beings from across the planes do battle to earn gold, test themselves, find revenge and more. As the champions of Strife do battle, the seal on Sheol weakens ever so slightly, and the fate of seven realms is at stake.
Strife was a traditional MOBA like League of Legends and Dota 2, but with a few added twists of its own: for starters, the game blended several elements from Dota and League together into one cohesive experience. League's locking camera system, emphasis on turrets doing loads of damage and boss monsters to kill in the jungle were here, while Dota's nuances like couriers, jungle farm and item dependency were also mingled in. This was also combined with Strife's nuances of it's own, such a lack of healing items, shared gold for killing creeps, its own unique boss monsters (such as Kyros, a monster that pushed a lane when killed), and an incredibly fast regenerating health/mana system that kicked in when a person stayed out of combat for long enough. Despite this, Strife had a fairly in-depth tutorial for newbies to the genre. All of these features blended together to create a fast-paced, lightning-quick MOBA that was meant to provide as much fun and as little downtime as it possibly can.
Strife was formerly available on Steam, and was its own client, but S2 Games and its games' servers closed down in 2018. Some fans put together a "Community Edition" with its own client and servers to continue playing the game, but that too sunsetted in 2021
due to lack of funds.
Not to be confused with the first person shooter of the same name. In fact, the Steam release of the FPS was retitled The Original Strife: Veteran Edition until the MOBA was shut down.
Strife provided examples of:
- Alpha Strike: Currently the most popular way of defeating a squishy character- focus them down. One of the big features of Strife is that most characters, even tanks, do absolutely absurd amounts of damage by themselves, but can be easily escaped from. Only by working together can you get gold and experience. Still, it is quite satisfying to see three teammates jump on an enemy and delete them.
- After-Combat Recovery: To some extent - for some time after a player's been hit or hit anything else, they will regenerate health and mana much faster, especially while near an allied tower. This allows players to at least hope to stay by close enough to gain experience, if not gold. Works best with a lane partner so they can get the killing blow on some minions while you can't.
- An Ice Person: Ace.
- Boss Battle: Kyros. Upon defeating his guardian, the enemy team receives him as a huge siege monster that focuses on a single lane and pushes it until he dies. Be warned, however, that he can be killed fairly easily, and his own attacks damage him for a decent bit of health.
- Dragon Rider: Bastion rides a dragon.
- Excuse Plot: Slightly averted as the game, in addition of the usual lore, features a single player campaign that chronicles the story of Bastion. However...
Multiplayer where character stories aren't considered relevant remains the biggest draw. - Expy: Ace is basically what happens when you mix Garen's spin to win skill, Darius' axe and execution ultimate, and a toned down version of Draven's egotism.
- Gratuitous Animal Sidekick: Every player gets a pet to follow them in battle, providing an activated effect and two smaller passive effects based on what it is.
- Nature Hero: Lady Tinder is the token plant-manipulating character (mostly for support)
- Pirate Girl: Caprice.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: All of the pets' young versions, which are Super-Deformed.
- Saturday-Morning Cartoon: Seems to be invoking this image in graphics and story. The entirety of the game, from characters to the environment is drawn in an exaggerated, cartoon-like approach.
- Spiritual Successor: As a 'second generation MOBA', Strife is this for Heroes of Newerth.
