Blade & Soul is one of these free MMORPG that was highly expected by the western community. Indeed, this title that came with a lot of promises, is considered it as one of the greatest successes in the recent years, with large tournaments taking place in Korea. The game is regardless rather dated, having taken over 3 years to make it to the west. This is largely due to the fact that the developers have taken the time to rebalance the game to a Western audience, especially in regards the scenario and dubbed voices.
China: its culture, its architecture
With a Wuxia setting, Blade & Soul's scenario remains relatively conventional. This does not mean that it was poorly designed, as you will soon discover. Specifically, the bulk of the story focuses on betrayals and the quest for power. Specifically, the frame is centered on two nations that are the country Woon in the West and the Empire Poon-je to the east. Divided into four continents, one of the four leaders decided to bear allegiance to the dark forces, releasing the darkness and evil in every corner of the world. Our martial arts master went into battle to prevent the spread of darkness but was, unfortunately, defeated. As an apprentice martial artist, our role will be to avenge our master and try to end the terror that hangs over the country. The game consists of several well-distributed acts that progressively move the plot. This requires several cutscenes highlighting the main protagonists and their implications in the conflict. The opening scene seduced many, thanks to the graphics and spectacular effects, all with a soundtrack that borders on perfection. In any case, if you enjoy the world of martial arts and ninjas, Blade & Soul's setting will definitely interest you.
A deep character creation
Obviously, before controlling their martial arts young prodigy, players will need to create one through a rather complete editor. While it is no Black Desert, the options of the character creator offered by Blade & Soul are simply gargantuan. First, we start by selecting one of the four races that we are offered: the Gon, Jin, Yun and Lyn. Each of these races is associated with a number of classes that suit their lore. For example, in the case of the Gon, they represent a particularly robust people, involving methods of combat-related related classes that require a high physical and mental strength. As such, the Destroyer class is restricted to their race. We will not get into the specifics of each class, but note that they all have a background that will be totally different from one to another, some being more difficult to play than others. As such, it shouldn't be too hard for players to create a unique character that suits their playstyle.
A colorful world
Everything should now be ready for you to live an incredible adventure. Players wake up in a small villa from where they are summoned by a chief instructor to continue their training in martial arts chosen during the character creation. What is obvious during our trips from one NPC to another, it is that, despite the game being rather dated, the graphics displayed by Blade & Soul are not going to beat around the bush: the title is a true work of art. The environments are very detailed, while the visual effects are absolutely spectacular. It is not uncommon to stop every few minutes to admire the scenery you will encounter. It must be said that this MMO is based on engine CryEngine 3, which has already proven itself in the past (Crysis, Cabal 2 and Warface, in particular). Also, while the character modeling is certainly a little cliche, it is perfectly consistent with the universe in which the game is set. As if that were not enough, the interface is simple and intuitive, besides being customizable at will.
A dynamic combat system
As a Korean MMORPG, it is obvious that you can not escape phases where you will kill monsters one after another. Thankfully, the combat system helps make this less tedious. As you’d expect of a martial arts MMO, clashes are based primarily on combos, giving an extremely dynamic side to the game. Classes also have a gauge: the Focus, the Chi or the Spirit. Represented by a dozen spheres, this gauge lets use combos to activate the different powers you have, knowing that it regenerates after each successful combo chain. In conclusion, the combat system is particularly fluid and is very respectful of the Wuxia culture, making it particularly suited to the proposed universe.
The character development is well designed
If you are familiar with the MMORPG genre, you should have no trouble taking Blade & Soul in hand. Indeed, completing various quests (the latter often asking to go kill monsters, useless to deny it), you'll earn experience points that allow you to level up. In terms of features, everything is automated, with your only role being which skills and class competencies to learn and upgrade. This aspect allows for numerous character builds in regards to the fighting, but this free MMORPG incorporates another welcomed feature: customizing skills. In other words, every attack and every ability can change depending on a number of multiple choices. This means that skills will obtain new effects according to your playstyle, for example, allowing a capacity to deal a devastating blow, or to add a bleeding effect. Skill personalization is reversible, which is all the more interesting because you can adjust the build of your avatar according to the tasks you want to accomplish (quests, PvP, dungeons, etc). In fact, a player would not, and should not, use the same fighting style in PvP and in PvE. A PvP style would focus on large single target damage, rooting and knockdowns, while a PvE one would focus on crowd control skills and devastating AoEs.
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If you were paying attention, you should know that the adventure is divided into acts cut into several chapters, advancing the story slowly but surely towards its end. Dungeons, with a total of 25 being available at launch, will be your best source of PvE content. These dungeons are not to be taken lightly, as they represent the main recovery method of rare equipment. This is especially true when you get to the boss room, usually requiring a very good team cohesion. As a reminder, no healer class is offered in Blade & Soul, asking a very good management of your potions, as well as knowing when to attack, and when to block or dodge. Unfortunately, this does nothing to attenuate the feeling that the questing system, on which you will be spending the majority of your time, is awfully dated. Far from being original, the quests will ask you to kill monsters, fetch items, talk to NPCs, complete objectives in instanced areas, and so on. While this is not unusual for MMORPGs, it remains quite tiring, especially for MMO veterans that have played over a dozen of similar games.
PvP saving the day
If you need some motivation to get through the quests of Blade & Soul, the PvP features might do just that. By far one of the best aspects of the game, the PvP system, and especially the 1 vs 1 arena fights, is extremely well thought. To the point where there are Koren tournaments that are on par with MOBA competitions. The reason behind this is that, unlike what you’d expect of other games, here it is your skill as a player that matters the most, not the quality of your gear, or the amount of upgrades you gave them. While these do help with your damage and defense capabilities, they have little impact against a skilled opponent that is constantly knocking you down. In addition to this, early on in the game, players are offered the choice between several factions. Once selected, you will be given a special outfit that, when worn, immediately puts you in a PvP mode. Put simply, when wearing this outfit, you can attack, and be attacked by, players from other factions that are also wearing their outfits, and that anywhere on the map. That way, players that wish to delve into PvP can do so to their heart’s content, while those that only wish to quest peacefully can do so unbothered. Personally, I believe Blade & Soul to have a PvP system that is close to perfection, assuming that you stay long enough to reach the max level.
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If the game still holds your interest, you'll be pleased to know that the game is purely free-to-play. There are items in the cash shop that will allow you to reach the max level faster, but there is no question here of being more powerful than a player not spending money. Blade & Soul uses the Ncoin cash shop currently, already used in other games NCsoft. This currency also gives players the opportunity to purchase various potions experience or expand slots in your inventory, but also to acquire cosmetics and exclusive familiars. However, all these objects can also be obtained in the game using a standard currency (granted, it takes time to acquire). Finally, remember that a premium subscription is also part of the economic model and has its advantages, still limited to progression boosts, however. Blade & Soul, without a doubt, benefits from a healthy economic model in a sea of Pay-to-Win MMORPGs.
Conclusion
Blade & Soul gave the 2016 F2P MMORPG scene a strong start. With a catchy universe, an extensive character customization, a dynamic combat system, an interesting progression, several dungeons and outstanding PvP content, the title shouldn’t have had anything to envy of the competition. Unfortunately, the dated questing system put a heavy strain on the community, mostly due to their high expectations of the game. Nonetheless, if you manage to get through the storyline to truly enjoy the PvP aspect, the game truly holds a lot of potential.
Score: 8.1/10
