This weekend we sharpened our staves and picked up arms against a new wave of mobile villains and got a hands preview of the upcoming Seven Knights 2.
After releasing the original Seven Knights back in 2015, Netmarble found time between superhero antics and epic MMORPGs to prepare a new outing in this fantasy adventure series. Due to arrive on iOS and Android in barely a week’s time, Seven Knights 2 is a fantasy free to play adventure that looks likely to build on the existing framework of Seven Knights series while adding plenty of new action and upgrades.
High Def Hard Hitting
With plenty of eager heroes queued up to pre register for Seven Nights 2, Netmarble raise the bar right from the moment Seven Knights 2 loads. The opening cinematic in Seven Knights 2 is an obvious indicator of quite how far Netmarble’s on the go offerings have come in the last few years. Visually, Seven Knights might have been a stylized escapade but Seven Knights 2 seems to break free from the limitations of earlier mobile hardware and leans towards realism, like Netmarble’s more recent Marvel Future Revolution and Lineage 2 Revolution. The second of the Seven Knights series doesn’t change the fundamental design of the world or its heroes. Instead, it cranks up the visual splendor, adds new textures, vastly improves character models, and makes the entire experience feel less animated. When chaos erupts across a village street, the combat animations, crowded plazas, and character designs all look crystal clear and the top-down perspective gives a great overview of graphics that would easily see off comparisons to late stage Xbox 360 RPGs like Fable 2. Likewise, there’s an attention to detail that is certainly striking, character models are detailed, environments feel varied, and characters are even voiced acted, giving the entire game a premium feel that other adventures might lack under the guise of cute retro concepts.
While the presentation of this world has changed drastically, Seven Knights 2 is still a title that fans of the first will recognize. Rudy is just one of the many characters to come back to battle in this second quest, standing alongside a plethora of new champions. Starting out in the shoes of Lene, players will build a party from old and new faces as they escape calamity and battel for survival, wading into yet another wave of evil and unravelling a story that stands apart from the first Seven Knights. Accompanying players on this quest is a range of characters, each falling into the traditional trio of support, dps, and defensive types at first. Filling up a four person squad, each of this seemingly endless array of warriors bring their own weapon, attack type, active skills, interacting buffs, and alignments to the battlefield and it’s up to players to pick and choose wisely for any particular encounter. Borrowing a number of play mechanics from turn based RPGs this collect and build party system is a change to simpler side scrolling party combat and provides a satisfying level of depth, even allowing players to set squad formations before getting into the action. This squad system, and its intricate party interactions, is one of the game’s deepest elements. To dive deep on this system wouldn’t suit this first look, but suffice to say it remains as important here as it is in Seven Knights.
Rudy Returns
Fight Time
When action does break out then Seven Knights starts to distinguish itself from the competition, mixing real time combat with the strategic party mechanics of many JRPGs to carve out a niche that feels refreshing. Players can easily switch between party members setting off active skills and ultimate abilities, changing party dynamics, and giving attack orders. Thankfully this is as easy as tapping through the active skills at the bottom of the screen and won’t overwhelm anybody who is used to many of Netmarble’s current mobile combat system. It does, however, mean combat isn’t as intensely focused as a traditional single character MMORPG like Lineage 2M, but it does provide a ton of flexibility to encounters. While the monstrously big roster of potential recruits and party members does give plenty of ways to play, allowing you to go full DPS whenever you feel like and burn down the enemy, it does have some disadvantages. More troops require more equipment, more levelling, and more gacha. Aside from a prolonged period of repeated levelling to get new characters up to speed, geared appropriately, and upgrading their various skills,
Seven Knights has a character draw gacha system. In a move that we entirely expected, Netmarble has linked this recruitment system to one of many in game currencies, of which there are plenty, and pushed the in game. If you’ve experienced any Eastern MMORPG or mobile adventure of late then this will not be any surprise. Expect the character draws, upgrade roulette, and gear grind that purveys plenty of mobile offerings.
Despite the less than encouraging monetization, Seven Knights fans are likely to love a game that propels the franchise into a new era. Seven Knights 2 looks incredible and when it hits its stride combat and lore intertwine to put players on a path to success. If you want to see a little of what we experienced, check out the latest teaser trailer or head over to the Seven Knights 2 website to pre register for lots of free loot ahead of the imminent launch.
