Ragnarok Online Preview
We try out the beta of Gravity's stylized online role-playing game. Details inside.
To role-playing purists, the term "video game RPG" is a bit of a misnomer. The original pencil-and-paper RPGs, like Dungeons and Dragons, encouraged players to build their characters' stats, amass riches and magical weapons, and explore all the possibilities of the open-ended environment they presented. Playing an RPG in video game form still lets you assume the role of a character and build up his or her strengths as a fighter, but in terms of movement and behavior, you're constrained to the clearly defined path the developer has laid out for you. Completing your next objective and advancing the plot is a matter of going from A to B, and if you talk to anyone along the way, your character will spout out exactly what he or she is scripted to say. Video game RPGs are fun, sure, but their inherent lack of freedom runs contrary to the true spirit of role-playing.
For those purists out there, those who want to assume their sword-wielding identity and run free across the land, the massively multiplayer online RPG is the answer. Nothing beats the endless possibility and downright randomness of interacting with other real, live people. Nearly every MMORPG on the market right now makes use of the Tolkien-esque fantasy milieu, which is to be expected given the tabletop roots of the genre. Fortunately, fans of console-style RPGs like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy who are yearning for some online variety now have an alternative in Gravity Corp.'s Ragnarok Online. Based on the manga-style comic by artist Myoung-Jin Lee, the Korean developer's new game takes the MMORPG concept and imbues it with elements of console RPG gameplay and a refreshingly Asian aesthetic.
The original Ragnarok comic takes place in Midgard, a land based loosely on Norse mythology. All manner of classic mythological beings make an appearance, such as Fenris the wolf god and the mischievous Loki. Midgard is otherwise peopled by the typical assortment of RPG characters--fighters, thieves, and mages, among others. It's from this pool of mortal beings that the population of Ragnarok Online is derived. With character designs and other art by Myoung-Jin Lee, the game is full of player-controlled characters of all types going about their business--questing, monster slaying, bartering--in a fully realized and persistent world.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Ragnarok Online, aside from its living, breathing gameworld and its unique cultural influences, is that the game is at this moment free to download and play. Gravity has been putting the game through the beta-testing wringer, and it's rightly decided that it can best do this by making the game freely available to its intended audience and letting thousands of gamers pound away. Of course, once the game is finished, it will go to retail and assume a pay-for-play structure, but for now, anyone is invited to take part in the game. By the time you read this, Gravity should be nearly finished upgrading the English servers and relocating them from Korea to the United States, making for smoother gameplay and a larger population.
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