As you read this Smilegate RPG and Amazon Games have just completed another week-long beta test for their forthcoming western release of the Korean MMOARPG, Lost Ark. From this guy’s standpoint the “closed technical beta” test seemed to be a huge success. While we were able to take part in the beta unfortunately I only got to spend 18 hours in-game and get to level 25. And to be honest this is the furthest I’ve gotten in any beta, for any game I’ve played in the last forty-seven years. It was the type of experience that had me looking forward to logging in every day just to see what I could unlock as I leveled further. I’m thoroughly enjoying the game (I’ve already bought a Founder’s Pack) and will continue to play on release and here’s why!
It’s Diablo-esque Served On An MMO Platter
An example of some of the gorgeous artwork!
First, in case you’ve not been following the game, Lost Ark is a popular free-to-play online game from the Seoul-based development team of Smilegate RPG. The original game has been out since December 2019 in countries outside the United States with millions of active players in Korea, Russia, and Japan. The game has been getting a lot of focused attention in the States for being a hybrid of the MMO and ARPG (action RPG e.g. Grim Dawn, Diablo series, etc.) genres.
Like the majority of its competition, the game is played mostly from a top-down 2D view. I started off choosing a Mage as my starting class. In this beta, your characters start at level 10 which is where you’d normally choose an advanced class. So for this beta that choice was made right up front before killing anything in the game.
I started down the path of the Summoner but after 10 minutes into the game, I questioned my choice. The Bard, another Mage advanced class, seemed interesting and I was hoping like a traditional RPG Bard it might do some healing. So I rolled another Mage, picked Bard, and never looked back. The Bard is a caster that uses a harp to play musical spells, mostly area-of-effect spells. At Level 25 I did have a special effect heal but this was something you need to build up to by charging it. I was worried about getting tired of the melodies the Bard plays during casting but I loved the music in all of its beautiful splendid digital stereo grandeur.
There Is A Lot To Love!
During this beta-testing phase, the game ran great for me! I had no crashes or performance issues. Combat is in the form of a mouse click to move and then mapped keys for directional skills. There is Xbox controller support which I did not try. My only complaint on combat was in regards to the targeting of area-of-effect spells. In Lost Ark, you click the mapped key to bring up the targeting circle and then use the mouse to aim. To then fire the skill requires a second button press. I’d rather use the Diablo III model which is keypress, target, left-click of the mouse buttons to fire. This is one I mechanically haven’t gotten my muscles to memorize just yet.
Look at the robustness of features!
This free-to-play PvE and PvP based game already has an overwhelming amount of fleshed-out MMO features. Sure some will say Lost Ark has been around in a released form for almost two years so it should be stable. But how many other long-standing Korean-based games have been ported to English with shoddy localization? In localization Lost Ark gets an A+! You have opening line voiceovers with some top-notch voice performances and the text-based lines are impeccable! I think so far I only saw one typo and that was minor! In games like Swords Of Legends Online and Revolution Online, the poor localization killed my immersion, not here.
You start with any of five classes, which are semi-typically Fantasy MMO flare. You have your warrior, gunner, martial artist, mage, and assassin. Each class has anywhere from 2-4 advanced classes to choose from. So plenty of alternate character-building opportunities here.
The game tracks combat XP level and expedition/account level XP. For the account level XP, you’ll unlock rewards for leveling that unlock benefits, e.g. skill increases, for all the characters across your account. Of course like any good RPG, you’ll earn skill points that you can use to unlock and level up your class’ abilities. But you also build experience in areas like kindness and courage. The story actually has points where you need to make a decision, e.g. should I help save the life of this rather despicable person?
Card collection system as well!
You can also build rapport (favor) with NPCs that then unlock items, quests, etc. You collect “sheet music” which is actually attached to an in-game function, e.g. get out of this dungeon now. There are collectibles that yield rewards as well as a card collection system. There is a robust pet system that expands your inventory, provides remote storage, access to remote functions, etc. There is also a gathering and crafting system when you hit about level 22. While I didn’t unlock it at my level there is also a housing system and sailing!
Lost Ark also includes a robust Guild support system. A level one guild can hold 30 members. The members can do weekly tasks to level the guild for more perks. There is also a bloodstone contribution tab for imposing what appears to be like a tax system. As the guild acquires more bloodstones they can perform research to open up shops, etc.
Story And Leveling Wise
An example cut scene with your character portrayed.
Other complaints fall into the story and leveling categories. The game is very linear! Your best way is to follow the story quests and move from area to area as the quests dictate. Along the way, you’ll encounter “sudden quests” (a.k.a. world quests) for the area you’re passing through as well as enter story dungeons, either solo or 4-player grouped via matchmaking. I mostly used the automatic matchmaking feature for dungeons which worked wonderfully, except for one party I was in where they all voted to skip cut scenes. Also, some quests were as simple as “get me this one item” and that “item” was like a few strides away or “talk to this guy 10 feet away”. These menial quests seemed more like fillers but you can’t really avoid them.
Challenging boss mobs to encounter.
The story has a long history but essentially you and a priest you meet work together to stop the baddy Kazeros. In order to do this, you need to find the “Lost Ark”. While the story itself is not Pulitzer prize material it’s the presentation that shines. You’re treated to some beautiful 2D cut scenes along with some memorable bosses and top-notch voice acting. It’s amazing how the dungeons incorporate action and story-telling by incorporating things “jumping over crevices”, climbing walls, and using zip-lines!
In Conclusion
Like any free-to-play game, there is an in-game shop. Nothing much jumped out at me to contribute to pay-to-win. they had some nice-looking skins and mounts. You can also purchase a 30-day Crstyalline Aura sub which reduces cooldowns, makes fast travel free, etc.
Lost Ark was pushed back for release into Q1 of 2022. After this week’s beta, I think a lot of players are asking “why?” as what we played was feature-rich and stable. I for one was motivated to log in each day and play and I realize I still had a lot of feature areas to unlock. I’ve seen enough in the last week to know I’ll be there playing on day one and so should you!
