On May 30, Bless Online will be released on Steam in Early Access. But what makes this MMO from South Korea worth considering? We give you five reasons to take a closer look at this online role-playing game.
Before the release of the new role-playing game, we want to look at the “good sides” of Bless Online today, after we have pointed out critical points repeatedly over the last few weeks – and the game has been controversial discussed by our community.
Reason 1: A comprehensive taming system
Traveling through the game world on cool mounts and fighting side by side with your exquisite pet is something special. Not only do you differentiate yourself from the crowd with special mounts, but you also have a cool ride.
What is special about the taming system of Bless Online? In Bless Online, you can tame a large number of monsters and add them to your collection. At the start of the Early Access version, you will be able to catch 660 different monsters. Taming itself is quite simple. You walk to a tamable enemy, apply a taming scroll on it, and complete a short mini-game.
A few seconds later, you can ride your new companion across the landscape or cause chaos among enemies side by side with your captured pet. The variety of monsters is impressive. From three-legged lizards to seductive succubi to powerful dragons, Bless Online offers a lot of options for tamable monsters.
Once you have captured a monster, you can train it and teach it new abilities. Your trained monster not only looks really cool but also grants you, for example, an increased experience point gain or improves your swimming speed.
Ideal for: Pokémon fans, collectors, and animal whisperers who love mounts, pets, and everything related in MMOs!
Reason 2: A completely revamped combat system
You will spend a large part of your time in MMOs fighting. Therefore, it is crucial that the combat system feels good.
A rhythmic combat system: Starting as a Tab Target hybrid, the combat system of Bless Online has been completely revamped for our version. Testers from the community report that the new combat system feels smoother and more direct compared to the old system.
The developer Neowiz has reduced the number of skill slots from 11 to 7 and introduced a combo system. This is intended to give players more creative freedom while also making the gameplay feel better.
In order to fully utilize the new combat system, Neowiz has revamped all classes in the game and fundamentally changed some of their core gameplay. For example, the mage was more stationary before the revamp, but since the update, he has been constantly jumping around and hurling lightning and fireballs. Despite the revamp, the classes still adhere to the Holy Trinity of tank, healer, and damage dealer.
At launch, five different classes will be playable, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The Mystic and Assassin classes will follow during Early Access.
Ideal for: Fans of action MMOs, tacticians, and combo enthusiasts.
Reason 3: PvP in the open world
For many players, the thrill of potentially being killed at any moment is the only reason they wander through the digital lands of an MMO.
Two factions in an endless war: In Bless Online, two factions are at war. Hieron is more conservative, while the Union seeks new solutions and believes that clinging to old values only leads to decay. The factions represent entirely different approaches, and there is much potential for conflict.
In the Japanese version of Bless Online, you must choose one of the two factions before creating your character. You can only create characters of one faction per server. If they adopt this system from the Japanese version, it is essential to choose wisely at the start about which side you want to fight for.
In Bless Online, you can challenge other players to combat in arenas, besiege one of the main cities with several hundred players, or hunt other players in contested areas.
Ideal for: Fans of PvP games who love large battles and guild wars.
Reason 4: A large and vibrant fantasy world full of quests
The world of Bless offers high fantasy in its purest form. Huge dragons, ogres, and other beasts threaten the peace of the civilized peoples. Gigantic cities invite you to explore, and dark dungeons await to be cleansed of evil.
Bless Online offers its players the following content at launch:
- You can play as one of 7 races. 3 races are tied to one faction each. One race can be created across factions.
- 5 classes with their own strengths and weaknesses that you can level up.
- The maximum level is 45.
- You can explore 9 dungeons and face nasty opponents.
As you travel through the world of Bless Online, you are accompanied at every step by the music of Hans Zimmer. This composer has often composed music for video games. His pieces are known from games such as Crysis 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Beyond: Two Souls. For Bless Online, he created a fantastic soundtrack together with composer Lorne Balfe.
Ideal for: Players who love to get lost in atmospheric worlds and hum along to great soundtracks.
Reason 5: Craft what you can
In Bless Online, you choose two professions. One primary and one secondary profession. To practice all professions, you need to create three different characters. However, it is advisable to practice all professions as this allows you to create some useful items.
These are the primary professions:
- Blacksmithing: Allows you to create armor and repair items.
- Jewelry crafting: You can create rings and necklaces.
- Enchanting: In this job, you create runes and taming scrolls.
In addition, the game allows you to choose a secondary profession:
- Cooking: You create buff food that increases your stats for a certain period. You can also produce food for your pet or mount that restores its stamina.
- Alchemy: You create potions that restore health and mana or temporarily increase your stats.
In the game, you can find the “Turban Brothers.” These are two small, jewel-encrusted rascals that guide you to a dungeon. This dungeon is filled to the brim with materials you can mine. But the brothers only give you a few minutes. You need to be quick and collect as much as possible.
With the collected materials, you enhance your equipment, craft powerful items, and thus increase your chances of survival in the beautiful but dangerous world of Bless Online. You can also sell your created items through the internal auction house for in-game money.
Ideal for: Collectors, shrewd traders, and crafting fans.
