What's good, it's Fevir.
Today I'm.. well, finally going to talk about Lost Ark after having played it a ton during
the recent korean closed beta.
This was the second time the game has been playable.. the first beta was close to a year
ago and so there really hasn't been a lot of information besides the odd trailer here
or there- and even less opinions.. in english.. from people who have played it.. and this
has caused hype and anticipation for the game to dwindle.. hurt even more by the fact that
we don't know if or when north america may see it.. but I did play it..
I do speak english.. and I tend to have opinions.. so let me let you in on.. what's good about
Lost Ark.
So to get some of the boring stuff out of the way..
Lost Ark is an aRPG - MMORPG hybrid.
It features a lot of the same things you associate with other aRPGs - like the fixed, isometric
type camera.. taking on large numbers of filler type enemies.. with assorted and augmented
skills with heavy itemization... mixed with some more MMORPG based things.. like it's
not lobby based.. you see people out in the world.. there is a pretty extensive life skilling
feature set..
Raids.. dungeons with bosses and mechanics.. and much more features that FEEL like an MMORPG
is present.
This is important because there have been quite a few games that try to hybrid these
two genres together.. and I've played them...
whether it was ELOA, Devilian, Guardians of Ember, Mu Legend, Marvel Heroes or Path of
Exile.. they all end up feeling like just an aRPG with more things to do... where as
Lost Ark doesn't.
Lost Ark - Isn't Asian Diablo.
It really does feel like a themepark MMORPG with a fixed camera.. one of the main reasons
I've kind of dragged my heels on making this video.. aside from being lazy.. is because
I've racked my brain trying to figure out how to explain why that is.. and I can't come
up with something that isn't.. it just does.
Now a couple of notes..
I played this game on a completely Korean client using only the google translate phone
app to help me figure out what I was doing..
I played it for roughly..
30-40 hours.. which is quite a bit.. but not enough to reach and unlock all the different
types of content.. and I am connected via VPN to Korean servers so mind any ping or
lag issues you see.
And after this unhealthy amount of time to play in the like..
10 days that the beta was even open for.. 3 things really stood out to me as the strengths
of the game.
Scope, variation.. and polish.
Scope.
The scope of the game.. in many different aspects this really took me by surprise.
In terms of what the game offers and has for you to do..
I think it might be suffering.. with a bit of feature creep, honestly- it's been in the
works for 7 ish years now.. and each time we see and hear about the game.. there are
these added systems.. like right now you can get a boat.. train the crew, visit islands
that you can eventually take over, find treasure, ghost ships.. manage resources.. there is
also a card system, song system, individual NPC relationships and wooing system, apart
from standard life skills.. we have hunting and archaelogy.. with whatever Astrology and
Conversationlist are in the pipeline as well.. and in this closed beta we had, Esther's Weapons..
which was basically World of Warcraft's Artifact weapon system .. and it's gotten to the point
where each time Lost Ark is spoken about in Korea.. even the fans there are kind of wagging
there finger that they keep delaying the game to hop on whatever trend is happening and
assimilate popular systems.
The other kind of scope that made me go hmm.. was that of the dungeons and.. important areas.
So the maps when you move around the world.. are very aRPG-like.. similar also to maybe
Final Fantasy XIV.
You have these large zones.. with some strict borders.. that are self contained.. with specific
entry and exit points.. to new maps.. to portals that bring you to a town- to a dungeon.. to
a whatever.. that are separated by loading screens.
But the dungeons.. or I guess the scenario areas.. they play with size, scope and scale
in a way that isn't done in most games.
So for instance.. say you have a dungeon with many floors.
A lot of games.. will have you almost move through and reach portals or stairs or something
else that separates floor 1.. from floor 2.. with, generally a loading screen.
Lost Ark doesn't.
These game spaces.. exist as these massive levels that you walk around in and traverse..
sometimes in really cool ways.. and where a fixed camera is a bad point sometimes..
it also allows them to have very cinematic moments..
I'm just showing you a clip of this crazy ass castle siege.. but to really get my point
across.. check out Steparu's video on this specific dungeon.. it's absolutely crazy..
you walk the battlements.. you fend off people climbing the walls.. you slide down the chain..
you storm the castle.. there is also so many things happening and enemies to fight.. it
was just.. something special.. and most of the dungeons have that feel to them.
For me..
I always hate in games.. they are like.. ok, this army is waiting for you.. and then in
the gameplay portion where you take on the army.. it's like 15 NPCs.. when scale is done
right- it resonates... and separate to the rest of the game.
The important areas in Lost Ark.. feel important, feel special.
This is aided as well throughout all of the game with a very cinematic use of the camera.
This sometimes is in areas where you'd imagine it.. like cut scenes or story points.. but
it also plays around during places in maps.. during movement.. and it gives the whole experience
a very movie like feel at times... it works to add this adventure.. over the top feel..
without resorting to black bars and explosions.
Next.. variation.
So I was pleasantly surprised to see variation of how you can build your character as well
as.. just variation in the world.
For your character.. there are number of classes.. that each spec out.. in a similar way to almost
World of Warcraft.. where the specs are basically separate classes.
There are quite a few options.. quite a few cool.. more uncommon options.
There is this arcana.. using cards and card magic to deal damage.. this caster.. who is
kind of a summoner- has summoner based abilities.. that I really liked.. because it wasn't a
summoners as in.. you're a pet class.. but just the art and assets used in the spells..
are summoning spirits and shit.. looks rad.. as well as some other cool options.. the game
isn't soley fantasy.. they have kind of this futuristic steam punk feel in a lot of it..
there are guns.. and rocket launchers.. and turrets.
I think I've heard people call it magic punk.. but those words mean nothing me.
As for building your character.. it seems like aside from some basic movement stuff..
like dodging.. each class has a list of around 15 moves.. in which they can choose 8 of them
at one time.. as well as a number of item or active slots.
These can house things like potions or bombs or ninjas stars.. and I found a good mixture
of both offensive and defensive stuff here.. and I didn't get to that point.. but you also
get.. an ultimate type ability that requires some sort of reagent that is back shit powerful.
But even within these abilities.. you also have points that you can allocate to boost
their effectiveness.. if you spend enough points.. it pushes it up a tier.. and each
tier allows you to select a bonus.. so increased range.. refunded cost.. inflict vulnerability.
Stuff like that... on top of itemization.
There is a lot of synerrgy and options you can have with builds.. and each class on top
has some sort of running mechanic that really changes up the playstyle.. and they had this
type of trainign ground where you did get a quick look and hands on time with each class
and spec.. and the variation.. is pretty crazy.
The class I was playing with I believe was the Battle Master - kind of this spiritual
kung fu type class.. and it was a really good showing of some of the combat mechanics that
allow for combo-ing.
If you remember Diablo 2 - there used to be this stat call hit recovery.
So in this game there is almost like a flinch that happens when you hit something.. you
could think of it as a mini-stun or just annoying.. but it allows certain moves to chain together
to perform combos.. certain moves open and start.. others can benefit from the.. in essence,
CC of another move to make sure it hits.. since this is all non-tab-targeted and needs
to be aimed.. hit recovery also seemed like a stat as well.. which most likely comes into
play in the PvP modes.. something interesting I'll add here.. is a lot of games if you hover
over say a monster with your mouse and hit a key.. it's like a soft select, target cofirmation..
tied to like this understanding that you want to move to him.. and then punch him.. so if
you chose a punch your character would run over and punch them.. in Lost Ark your mouse
only dictates direction.. so if you did that.. you would just start punching in that monsters
direction.
I hope you get what I mean.. but it did make PvP really cool.. and gave it a different
feel.. a more responsive.. active feel.
Keeping up with the variation.. the biomes, the levels, the dungeons, the music, the monsters..
the everything.. was so varied - and a lot of it was unique - which is sometimes tough
to do in such an overdone theme.
I don't think I saw a reskin or palette swap of a monster in the.. almost full work week
of the game I played.. and I probably saw..
20 different tilesets... and even just within each map.. it's not like they only had 1 or
2 monster types.. there were tons across each.. and not only the monsters have this.. the
doodads and objects and landscape features- as well as dungeon aesthetics.
I was impressed frankly after having played so many games that outright rely on recycled
assets.
And lastly.. and this is really where Lost Ark shines.. and this is contrary to what
you would imagine for a game I'm saying has tons of variation and suffers from feature
creep.
Polish.
Polish is something that I think is widely undervalued when you talk to some gamers,
a lot of people are willing to overlook rough edges because of this or that.. just look
at PUBG at the moment.
Incredible lack of polish.. sure, it might get there someday.. but it's not there yet-
and 2 million concurrent.. don't mind.
A lot of gamers are ok.. with games.. that play.. ok.
Polish.. used to kind of be a AAA thing.. but now you only see it in specific titles
or companies.
Take Horizon Zero Dawn.. or any Blizzard game.. or most Mario Games.. or Destiny.. or..
Lost Ark.. and they make you appreciate how well they are put together.
How it controls.. how the sounds works with everything.. how smooth the animations are..
how much thought went into the small details.. and how few moments really take you out of
the experience.
There is a solid consistency.. it's well built.
I'll also add that this isn't- great polish.. for a beta.. no no- I am comparing this to
release titles.. because that's how it plays
and looks.
This
comes off in statements like.. it feels good to actually push the buttons or as some other
intangible.. but in a lot of ways polish while being incredibly subjective.. is less about
what a game does right.. and more about what a game doesn't do wrong.
And for a different type of gamer.. like me.
This is incredibly important.
Make no mistake..
I'm not saying graphics.
Although.. the graphics are great, obviously.
But I crave polished games..
There is a lot to the game that I'm just unable to understand or touch on because of the language
barrier.. but from watching the streams during the beta of people ahead of me.. it seems
like this trend of scope, variation and polish push forward..
There is a lot to be impressed by.. but no real game breaking innovation or revolutionary
ideas.. and that's fine with me.. and if it doesn't come to NA - I said before while I
was streaming it..
I am going to play it.. in Korean.. on a VPN.. with ping issues.. because what I saw was
good.
What I saw, to speak more to it's polish, could be released with a box price.. but probably
is still is a couple years out.
Anyways.. that will do it for me.
Until next time, this is Fevir.
Peace.
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