Lost Ark Impressions
As the Lost Ark Closed Beta comes to a close, i find myself wanting to play more and explore more of its vast world. The first Western experience with this Korean MMORPG, has been everything i hoped for.
Sure, a few bugs were present during the limited Closed Beta but overall the endeavor can only be described as successful.
Classes & Skills
What really helps Lost Ark to stand out from the competition is its amazing fast paced combat and the almost endless customization. Flashy and Deadly skills that you can alter and upgrade in any way you like as you level up create an one of a kind experience with unique builds for any type of content.
Every Class has several skills at its disposal, all with amazing effects and animations. Getting familiar with those skills can be hard at first, but experimenting and trying to understand what each skill does adds to the magic of the game. Finding the right combination/order to cast your skills for the best results is part of the fun of Lost Ark.
Speaking of Classes, this is another well made aspect of the game. The Closed Beta had only five classes to choose from:
- Warrior
- Mage
- Martial Artist
- Gunner
- Assassin
However each one of those classes offers more options in the form of Advanced Classes. So there are plenty of things to consider when making your character.
Resembling several other Asian MMORPGs, Advanced Classes in Lost Ark are gender locked. At least for now! The developers have expressed their desire to allow players to play their favorite class with the gender of their choice in the future.
And of course more classes will be added down the line.
Character Customization
Another strong aspect of Lost Ark is its robust Character Customization system. It is possible to create the character of your choice by adjusting everything, from the shape and angle of the eyes to wrinkles on the face!
The freedom to create exactly what you want is refreshing.
Gameplay & Activities
Combat is fantastic and heavily into AOE and beating large groups of enemies. Which makes it even more flashy and fun! Leveling can be slow and some good old fashioned grind is required.
There are plenty of activities you can do in Lost Ark. Follow the main story of the game while grinding alone or join a group of other players to defeat stronger opponents and clear Dungeons. And of course there is PVP down the line, which is an entire world of its own.
Outside of combat there are crafting, gathering professions and lifeskills you can level up and use to make money or you can even build up your rapport with various NPC around, trying to develop their romantic interest for you.
It is even possible to get a boat and sail around the vast world. There are plenty of things to do and explore in Lost Ark! Collecting Mounts and Pets is another one of those!
The flashy top down, Diablo-like, combat system is what makes Lost Ark an amazing MMORPG but there are plenty of other “distractions” that will keep you occupied.
A free to play title that offers more than the competition to players before you have to spend money to its store. A store that according to a previous announcement will not go down the P2W route but will focus on cosmetics and convenience items.
To be honest Lost Ark looks like a great f2p title already. If things do not change significantly before its release, it might be a hit in the West as well.
The game is scheduled for an early(March?) 2022 Western release.