Elsword Online
by Aethyna
Jan 7, 2015 |
2
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1
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0
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8.5
rate
Platforms:
Genres:
RPG , MMOPublishers:
Gameforge , Perfect World Entertainment , Aeria Games , KOGGraphics:
2DLabels:
Anime , Player vs Player (PvP) , Fantasy Setting , Dungeon/ Instance The El Stone is missing, and Elsword has decided to find it, along the way he finds several companions including you. Pick one of the great characters and step into a stunning side scrolling action MMORPG. Play Now Similar Games Played
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Summary
Based on a popular manga series of the same name, Elsword Online is a side-scrolling fantasy/anime MMO fighting game. There are up to 5 specialized characters for you to choose from and you can upgrade their fighting styles by taking on new job classes as you progress in the game. The game also boasts of having huge immersive maps that will surely delight any explorers as well as challenging and fun PvE and PvP events for both solo and group settings. If you loved playing Grand Chase, you’ll also be interested to know that Elsword Online is developed by the very same developing team! So, don’t wait - sign up and fight your way up the ranks today!
Plotline
In the mystical land of Elrios, a powerful gem, called the El Stone, was stolen! The Stone is vital to the land as it functions to nurture the life in Elrios. Thankfully, brave heroes, namely Elsword and his allies, volunteered to help bring back the El Stone and to drag the thieves back to face retribution! In this game, besides Elsword, there are other characters like Aisha, Rena, Raven, Eve and Chung. Each character has a personal story that unfolds with each class’s advancement at level 35.
Due to the noble nature of his quest, there will be new allies who are interested to join Elsword and his team, dubbed as the “El Search Party”, as he journeys through all the 8 regions in the world. By completing dungeons in each region, the side stories in each respective region will be uncovered as well.
Gameplay
To start playing, you’ll need to choose your character first. As mentioned above, there are 9 main characters that you can choose from, namely Elsword with his massive great sword, Aisha that blows people away with magic, Rena the elemental magic-wielding marksman, Raven with his awesome-looking Nasod arm, Eve the queen of Nasods, Chung the Destroyer-toting youngster, Ara the spear-wielding master arts specialist, Elesis the “Red-haired Knight”, Add with his Nasod Dynamos and lastly, the recently released, duo character tag team – Lu/Ciel. Each of these characters has their own strengths and weaknesses and these characters have 3 class paths respectively that you can later specialize in as you progress in the game.
It’s interesting to note that players will be able to watch their character mature as they play in Elsword Online, giving its characters a certain depth. The looks of the character will evolve, fighting styles will change (slightly) and there are also voice changes! Each character is however gender-locked and free customization is only provided for your character’s clothes. You’ll need money to customize anything else.
The combat controls in Elsword are very simple – you only have to memorize a string of zany combinations, consisting of ‘Z’s and ‘X’s along with some other rarely-used keys as well as the arrow keys. All the rather mindless button-smashing, in addition to the potion chugging and spamming your highest damage move whenever the cooldown is off, adds up to a light-hearted game that requires little to no skills to play. This made the game very accessible to both experienced gamers and casual players alike. They can just jump right into the game, pick up the controls and start thumping enemies into oblivion!
However, the learning curve for controls will get slightly tougher later on. You’ll unlock new combos that utilize your character’s special skills as you gain new classes, and gradually you’ll need to start managing your mana pool (MP). You’ll need to effectively aim your shots and use your various attack skills to perform better combos without draining out your MP and leaving your character defenseless. Combat varies from character to character as well, since each character will have their respective combos, specialization classes and special skills. Thus, if you’re bored with playing your main character, why not create a new one and enjoy a whole different gameplay?
Furthermore, similarly to the repetitive dungeons in Dragon Nest, the dungeons in Elsword are super repetitive. Finished the dungeon on normal? Great, move on to hard. Then, after completing hard mode multiple times, you’ll move on to very hard, so on and so forth. After completing all modes for a dungeon, you’ll be asked to repeat the same process for the new dungeon and the one after that. It is practically a beat ‘em up grind fest, but it is a rather frantic grind fest.
However, Elsword Online compensates for the mindless repetitiveness of running dungeons by offering a very interesting and fast-paced PvP setting. There are 1-vs-1, 2-vs-2, 3-vs-3 and group PvP matches for you to test your mettle in. You can even set up fights against your own friends by creating custom matches too!
In PvP, the first player who manages to ‘catch’ the other player and start dishing out chains of combos will have an initial upper advantage. Trying to ‘catch’ the opponent without getting ‘caught’ yourself can be a pretty difficult feat to say the least. Moreover, during the brief down period in between combos, you’ll need to quickly get away so as to avoid getting ‘caught’ and to maintain your lead over your opponent. Not to mention, trying to complete combos while your opponent is jumping and running all over the place can be tough too. Though, PvP in Elsword Online can be rather unbalanced especially when you’re (with your complete set of end-game gear) matched with a player decked out in items from the cash shop. You will be floored… and that’s guaranteed!
Trading is a very important part in any MMORPG and, in Elsword Online, it is the only grind-able way to get your hands on certain items, such as costumes, from the cash shop. You’ll need to spend months grinding the ED (in-game money) needed, which is in the range of millions before you can trade with another player for that costume you had your eyes on. However, on the most part, ED is almost pretty much useless as it cannot buy you anything useful, with the exception of potions of course (though, if you’re a PvP-centric player, then you won’t even need potions).
In addition, due to several cases of deaths that are linked to ‘over-gaming’ (or in proper terms, a severe addiction to gaming) in Korea, the country of origin of this game, the developers of the game embedded a Stamina system that limits how many hours you can play per day. This system is only removed during the weekends. This is a rather good gesture on the part of the developers, though some players may feel that the stamina system is unnecessary.
Elsword Online is unfortunately a cash-grabbing game that sells power, not convenience, to the ones who are willing to spend real money in this game. Just take a look in its cash shop and you’ll surely agree. The items are not only over-priced, they also provide the spender with greatly increased stats and improved skills. You can also buy to have a powerful pet or mount by your side, boosting your stats up even further. Bear in mind that these items that the shop offers are nearly unobtainable in-game. You can even pay up $9 so that you can use more than 4 skills at once. This means you can perform longer and better combos and, of course, you’ll then be dealing even more devastating damage to your opponent. Guess how that’ll turn out in PvP?
Inventory space is very limited as well in Elsword Online, particularly if you take in account of the amount of essential items that you have to collect and keep in your bag, and if you want to expand it, you’ll need to shell over some real money. There’s no doubt that this is a P2W game, but if you play this game casually instead, Elsword Online can still offer you hours of entertainment.
Community
The community in Elsword Online is pretty friendly and welcoming in general, as long as you avoid the rage-prone PvP people. The game also offers guilds for you to join and meet your fellow players, as well as an in-game chat system that you can utilize to ask for help or to merely chat with other players (though, a number of the community in Elsword can be quite shy). You could even head over to the game’s Facebook fan page to participate in the many Facebook events, such as quizzes. Furthermore, from the plethora of fan art that you can see on Google, it’s obvious that a big part of the community in Elsword Online is very passionate about the game and is artistically talented too! Its community is perhaps one of the most redeeming aspects of the game!
Graphics/Sound
The 2.5D graphics in Elsword Online contains plenty of colorful and cool-looking anime characters. The fantasy environments also look intricate and awesome. There is even a Chibi mode which you can switch to by pressing F6. The background music in the game is very upbeat and catchy. It is pleasant to the ears and is not at all annoying, despite being looped. Furthermore, the oddly satisfying sound effects, such as the sound of rapidly slashing swords or the ‘hiyaahh’ from your character, that supplemented the game are what made the game feels like a fighter game. They fit the game perfectly.
Conclusion
In summary, Elsword Online is an exciting anime-inspired, platform side-scrolling MMO fighting game that has a rich character storyline that develops as you progress through the game. Although you are not given any chance to customize your character (unless you spend real money), at least you are given plenty of characters for you to choose from! The world in this game is also immersive and is filled with adventures! Combat in Elsword works pretty much like other beat ‘em up games, such as Tekken, whereby performing combos is of the utmost importance! However, combos in this game involve very little variety of keys and you can practically ‘ZX’ your way to victory! PvP is perhaps the most exhilarating and yet the most unbalanced aspect of the game. Despite being a whole lot of fun, it may put you off when you had your ass handed to you multiple times by players, who had spent real money to buy themselves the advantage they need. Nonetheless, Elsword Online is an interesting anime MMO fighting game that is worth your time. Do give it a go if you have the time! It’s free after all!
Elsword Online Blog
New Game Added: Elsword Online
by Aethyna
Jan 7, 2015
The El Stone is missing, and Elsword has decided to find it, along the way he finds several companions including you. Pick one of the great characters and step into a stunning side scrolling action MMORPG.
Read More
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