Lost Ark Review – Dungeons And Demons
Smilegate and Tripod Studio’s newly localized Action/RPG Lost Ark initially launched in South Korea several years ago, and thanks to its western publisher Amazon Games, English territories are now getting their hands on it. While Lost Ark may look and play like Diablo or Path of Exile, it’s an MMO through and through, featuring engaging group content like dungeons, raids, and world bosses within a vast, explorable globe. Although there were some setbacks in my time with Lost Ark, I found myself wanting to stay with the game more and more.
The open hours of Lost Ark are sometimes dull but necessary, setting the stage for what’s to come. After I created my character, I was taken away to seek out an Ark mythical artifact, which lies at the heart of a somewhat sloppy fantasy tale. A military campaign is the basis of much of the leveling adventure. It involves a battle against demonic forces and helping a prince regain his territory. Although the plot isn’t very engaging, there are some wonderful moments. I was often captivated by the compelling stories that were told about important characters such as Arden (half-demon priest) and Prince Thirain (magnanimous prince).
The rest of the world opens up eventually, which allows for easy travel on ships to explore other continents with more interesting themes and aesthetics. I found the critical path to places such as an island featuring a Honey I shrunk the Kids-like adventure with diminutive Mokokos, where I was reduced down to a ladybug size, a tournament of martial arts in Japan, and a continent filled with futuristic robots and mechs. When I was ready to set sail, these were the places that my journey took me. The Lost Ark world lost its identity. However, I found myself ready to see a dramatic change of scenery after just a few hours. This is why I love the variety of late-game content more than the fact that one country has cyberpunk body modifications and others live in the past. I’m constantly looking forward to the surprises that await on islands I haven’t yet visited.
As an isometric game, Lost Ark’s world lacks some of the environmental splendor of other MMOs, though it shines in set-piece moments where we get a new angle on the world. Highlights such as the dungeons or the dramatic moments in the story are spiced up with more detailed camera shots. These images give you a deeper understanding of the world. When cutscenes show me exploring ruins and the hundreds of fiends storming castles, the world is made more fascinating. These moments go a long way to making it feel like there’s much more to Arkesia – that this is a fleshed-out world that’s lived in and not just a primarily flat dungeonesque landscape.
I’m astonished by the level of customization available for each of Lost Ark’s 15 classes, thanks to the Tripod system. Each class skill has three levels of perks that can modify its abilities. While some perks can modify a skill’s attack speed and resource consumption, others may apply elemental bonuses that change the character of an attack or spell. With my Soulfist character, I’ve set up my skill bar to focus on capturing enemies near me in stunning AOE attacks and finishing them with massive meteoric palm strikes or shredding them down with machinegun energy blasts. The Tripod perks and Skill Points can both be modified at anytime, so I enjoyed endless hours of experimenting with new combos that saw hordes upon hordes explode into a satisfyingly gory mess.
Much of the game’s content can be completed alone, including dungeons, which I appreciate as a mostly solo MMO player. It is much more enjoyable to explore a dungeon together with other adventurers. Although players can create guilds or group together with their friends, it can sometimes be annoying to level with your friends. When playing with a group, you’re often forced to separate when moved into a story instance, causing the team to have to re-invite and regroup when the infringing narrative content finishes. Arkesia is more lively and dynamic when other players are present, such as the time I joined an eclectic group to battle a massive missile-loaded walk tank or brutish boss in the middle a desert. The map is loaded with these types of encounters, and they’re a joy to find every time.
Lost Ark offers many different activities, and I was always excited to find new items. There are many things to do in Lost Ark: World bosses (dungeons), raids; PvP; naval exploration. I also enjoyed card collecting and item crafting. Material farming is possible. It’s easy to spend endless hours talking with NPCs. Nearly every task has its own rewards, making it worthwhile. There’s even an entire island stronghold to build out and customize that feels like an entire game in and of itself. I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface with my collection of items, which thankfully in many cases carries over progress to the other characters I’ve created on the server. Although any regional achievements that are tracked in the Adventurer’s Tome will have to be completed on each character.
Amazon Game’s second run at the MMO market is very impressive. Lost Ark’s years-old content makes it a tempting package full of exciting activities and locals. The classes are all unique. You can customize them to suit your play style. I’ve had a great time with Lost Ark in these early days, and I’m looking to sink many more hours into it with friends over the coming weeks and months. Those looking to scratch an Action/RPG itch or sink time into an MMO won’t go wrong giving this adventure a fair shot.
#Lost #Ark #Review #Dungeons #Demons
