Blade & Soul
Blade & Soul from NCSoft is a colorful online RPG in anime style that is heavily influenced by Wuxia stories. This refers to typical kung fu films and tales. And like in such a Wuxia flick, our hero is an aspiring martial artist who rises to become a true master of martial arts throughout the game. Blade & Soul may not be in as bad shape as, for example, WildStar, but player numbers have been generally declining since its release in January 2016.
Kung Fu Gameplay
The martial arts theme runs like a red thread through the entire game, and each playable class has its own style. The kung fu master fights with his bare hands and feet, building on complex combos. The blade master, on the other hand, is the classic samurai who strikes with lightning-fast cuts. If you prefer something more mystical, you can pick the summoner, a dark sorcerer who throws magical paper talismans and summons demons.
Depending on which hero you play, the playstyle changes significantly. For example, the pet class of the summoner is beginner-friendly since your strange cat pet does most of the work for you. On the other hand, the kung fu master requires a fair amount of skill, as you can only unleash your best moves if you first execute certain blocks and counters. Thanks to the intuitive action-systems, the maneuvers soon become easy to execute with a little practice.
PvP in brawler style
What’s particularly cool is the gameplay in PvP mode. Here, some skills gradually change, and the entire mechanics resemble even more a classic fighting game like Mortal Kombat. This ensures that every skill makes sense in both PvE and PvP.
The PvP in Blade & Soul is so well-crafted that entire eSports leagues already exist in Korea for the game. However, if you don’t feel like beating up other players, you can also enjoy the complex story of the game in PvE mode.
Story like out of an anime
If you follow the story of Blade & Soul, you first fight against the wicked sword master Jinsoyun. She is so popular in Korea that a musical has been dedicated to her. But even after defeating the villainess, the story continues to unfold, and every month a new threat arises that you can face.
Blade & Soul pulls out all the stops of the theme park MMO. There are regular quests, group missions, dungeons, and finally raids where over 20 players can try their luck against particularly tough bosses. As a reward, you’ll always find upgrade materials with which you can continually develop your equipment. A system that somewhat resembles the artifact weapons from WoW. Clothing in Blade & Soul, however, is always purely cosmetic items that you can equip or unequip as you please without changing your stats.
Why you should play more Blade & Soul
Blade & Soul is a free-to-play MMO that primarily appeals to fans of action combat systems and light-hearted anime stories. If you also enjoy PvP, you should definitely check it out, as the duels between players are a major highlight of the game. There’s also never a shortage of new content, as NCSoft has released new content every month so far.
On page five, a game awaits that, in my opinion, deserves much more success.
