If you're a fan of Asian MMORPGs, you're probably already familiar with the Blade & Soul license from Korean esports competitions, or from playing it yourself on Russian servers. Although we don't really believe it anymore, Blade & Soul is finally available in Europe, almost four years after its initial release in the Land of Morning Calm. A significant delay which is explained by commercial hesitations, by the time required to adapt the game to local customs, but also by the saturation of the market in previous years. Four years late therefore, which still poses serious problems when we dwell on the technique of the game. The engine, for example, the Unreal Engine 3, is excellent but terribly dated, hence the graphics rendering really not folichon, a fortiori for PC players who are more used to having their retinas flattered thanks to the possibilities offered by large graphics cards. The environments also bear the brunt of this great age with poor textures and large plains relatively empty of life or decorative elements. Here too, something that puts off some players, especially since the artistic direction of the title does not compensate for this defect, unlike a Guild Wars 2 for example. If you are sufficiently addicted to Asian folklore and Wuxia, you can easily pass on these visual flaws and immerse yourself in the scenario of betrayal and honor that makes up the substance of the game. The PvE mode puts you in the role of a young apprentice of the Hungmoon martial arts school who must recover a legendary sword from the hands of a group of bad guys, who took the liberty of stealing it from your master by assassinating him in the process. In short, nothing crazy, but a starting argument as valid as in any porn movie, all to put your foot in the stirrup.
YES, MASTER
Once past the fairly average story, we begin to discover the qualities of Blade & Soul. First of all, the game can run on almost any PC, due to its age, the system requirements are ridiculously low. In addition, the game is available in free-to-play, knowing that NCsoft has been careful not to turn this into a pay-to-win. Concretely, everything is accessible for free, but cosmetic items, as well as XP and money boosters will obviously be available for those who are ready to sacrifice their savings. So as not to get drunk on micro-transactions, the developers have even thought of including a so-called “Premium” subscription available for 30 or 90 days, or even for the year. The latter will allow you a whole host of advantages, knowing that a level system is present. Basically, the more NCoins you pay in the store, the more your subscription will grant you big bonuses such as promos in the store, or even a priority place in the queue of certain servers. To pay for your subscription, you will also have to go through the NCoins system which is common to all the publisher's games; handy if you already play AION, Lineage, Wildstar or Guild Wars. Otherwise, you will have to go through the box to create an NCsoft account. Once the terms are met, all you have to do is create your character, choose a server and get started. Be careful since the game was recently released, some servers have restrictions at the moment. A time rotation has been implemented on the three French servers (Dokumo, Ogong and Hogdonny), which means that for now, character creation is only possible on certain time slots, an issue that should go away with time.
Similarly, the combat system inspired by fighting games is also demanding and will require a good mastery of your character to draw the quintessence, since the different combos must be placed in order to maximize your DPS.
Blade & Soul nevertheless offers substantial content and many hours of grinding await you on the servers before you can be strong enough to face the bosses of the various dungeons. The game requires a very good teamplay since the fight revolves around blocks and other counters that must be placed at the millisecond since no class of healer exists in the game. Similarly, the combat system inspired by the fighting games is also demanding and will require you to master your character to get the most out of it, since the different combos must be placed in order to maximize your DPS. This combat system is undeniably one of the great strengths of Blade & Soul, and we realize it when we go to fight in PvP in the "Arena" mode. This mode, which is used in esports, does not take into account leveling and puts all characters on an equal footing, which means that on paper, you will have as many chances of winning as you do. any other player. Here, only your mastery of the character will allow you to gain the upper hand. Moreover, we were assured that it would be possible to fight against players from all over the world, regardless of your origin server, so fanatics can try to compete against Koreans and other Asian players who already sand the game for several years. For more details on the classes and the structure of the game, we suggest that you read our preview made last November in which we present the game in more detail.
