What the heck is Elsword? Take Smash bros, give it to a Korean company and have them make an MMO out of it. Kind of.
Watch the video that instantly got me hooked:
(Please note video slightly outdated, there are 8 characters on the NA version now)
"Sweet spicy tamales Warchamp, that looks hot. What's it gonna cost me?"
This is a 100% free to play game that doesn't blow chunks, and an MMO at that. PvE gameplay revolves around running dungeons in groups of up to 4 people to complete quests and such and beating the crap out of monsters. Get loot, etc. The usual RPG stuff. PvP involves beating the life out of each other, duh.
The only things that cost money are cosmetic items, and "convenience things".
"Convenience things":
- Each character has four locked skills that have to be unlocked by completing a chain of side quests, which usually involve horrible drop rates. They're kind of a pain, and you can pay like $2 for an item that instantly unlocks the skill for that character. These skills are typically a bit better for PvP, but you can always live without them.
- Inventory space is limited, and you can buy more slots. I've been playing for over a year and the default inventory space has never really been a problem for me. Inconvenient at worst.
- You have 3 slots for consumables during dungeons that can replenish your health/mana, or give buffs or something. Can unlock it to 6 for a character via a paid item. Most replenishables are on a shared cooldown, so again it's a pretty non issue.
- You have four ability slots, and can pay to unlock a second row of 4 skills that you toggle between during play. Only really useful for a couple characters, and primarily for PvP in those cases. Not really necessary.
- If you die in a dungeon, you need to use a resurrection stone to revive, or wait for your party to finish it. Quest progress won't count if you're dead when the dungeon ends (For completion quests). If everyone dies and doesn't revive, the dungeon ends. Your character starts with 9 stones and that counter gets reset to 3 every day if you have less than 3. Non issue.
Problems with the game
Pretty minor gripes all things considered. In fact, I only have one real one.
- Stamina system. Your characters have 100% stamina which gets consumed when you play dungeons. It consumes less the more people you have in your party. When you hit 0% stamina, you can't play dungeons anymore. It gets reset to 100% each day. You might think this is a way that they milk money from you, but you'd be wrong. Stamina can't be purchased in any way, not with in-game money or real money. There are a couple ways to get 30% Stamina potions, but you can't get the tokens or the item itself in trades. Stamina is also unlimited on weekends.
- Prices. While cosmetics and above mentioned convenience things are the only paid part of the game, the prices can be a bit steep. When it comes to cosmetics, you have two choices. Buy the item for 30 days, and then it disappears forever, or buy it permanently. Permanent cosmetics cost double, and to completely outfit your character (Minus accessories) in a permanent outfit, it's about $25-$30. Still, if you have two characters, that's basically retail game price, and that's pretty damn good for an MMO, which is usually that plus a subscription.
If none of that made you think you'd hate this, and/or you like sidescrollers and/or beat 'em up games, definitely give this a try.
Website here: http://www.elswordonline.com/. Steam version here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/237310/
Watch the video that instantly got me hooked:
"Sweet spicy tamales Warchamp, that looks hot. What's it gonna cost me?"
This is a 100% free to play game that doesn't blow chunks, and an MMO at that. PvE gameplay revolves around running dungeons in groups of up to 4 people to complete quests and such and beating the crap out of monsters. Get loot, etc. The usual RPG stuff. PvP involves beating the life out of each other, duh.
The only things that cost money are cosmetic items, and "convenience things".
"Convenience things":
- Each character has four locked skills that have to be unlocked by completing a chain of side quests, which usually involve horrible drop rates. They're kind of a pain, and you can pay like $2 for an item that instantly unlocks the skill for that character. These skills are typically a bit better for PvP, but you can always live without them.
- Inventory space is limited, and you can buy more slots. I've been playing for over a year and the default inventory space has never really been a problem for me. Inconvenient at worst.
- You have 3 slots for consumables during dungeons that can replenish your health/mana, or give buffs or something. Can unlock it to 6 for a character via a paid item. Most replenishables are on a shared cooldown, so again it's a pretty non issue.
- You have four ability slots, and can pay to unlock a second row of 4 skills that you toggle between during play. Only really useful for a couple characters, and primarily for PvP in those cases. Not really necessary.
- If you die in a dungeon, you need to use a resurrection stone to revive, or wait for your party to finish it. Quest progress won't count if you're dead when the dungeon ends (For completion quests). If everyone dies and doesn't revive, the dungeon ends. Your character starts with 9 stones and that counter gets reset to 3 every day if you have less than 3. Non issue.
Problems with the game
Pretty minor gripes all things considered. In fact, I only have one real one.
- Stamina system. Your characters have 100% stamina which gets consumed when you play dungeons. It consumes less the more people you have in your party. When you hit 0% stamina, you can't play dungeons anymore. It gets reset to 100% each day. You might think this is a way that they milk money from you, but you'd be wrong. Stamina can't be purchased in any way, not with in-game money or real money. There are a couple ways to get 30% Stamina potions, but you can't get the tokens or the item itself in trades. Stamina is also unlimited on weekends.
- Prices. While cosmetics and above mentioned convenience things are the only paid part of the game, the prices can be a bit steep. When it comes to cosmetics, you have two choices. Buy the item for 30 days, and then it disappears forever, or buy it permanently. Permanent cosmetics cost double, and to completely outfit your character (Minus accessories) in a permanent outfit, it's about $25-$30. Still, if you have two characters, that's basically retail game price, and that's pretty damn good for an MMO, which is usually that plus a subscription.
If none of that made you think you'd hate this, and/or you like sidescrollers and/or beat 'em up games, definitely give this a try.
Website here: http://www.elswordonline.com/. Steam version here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/237310/
