The new MMORPG Lost Ark has launched its technical alpha on Steam. There is an NDA in place, so no details are supposed to be revealed. However, the reviews on Steam are active, and some testers have taken advantage of this.
What kind of alpha is this?
- The release of Lost Ark in the West is set for Fall 2021.
- Amazon announced this during the Summer Game Fest on June 10.
- On June 11, Lost Ark started a closed alpha that was mainly intended to stress the technology.
- The alpha runs until June 15, and there is a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) in place. It states that the contents, gameplay, and possible changes must not be discussed.
At the same time, the reviews on Steam are active, which some testers use to share their opinions. After all, tens of thousands were invited to the test through giveaways on various gaming websites and by Amazon itself. Additionally, selected streamers like Saintone were allowed to give early insights into the alpha (via Twitter). It’s no wonder that some are rightly questioning the sense of an NDA when such a large crowd is invited to the alpha.
What is still missing in the alpha? One important aspect of the game that is currently missing, according to the alpha testers, is the shop. This is being discussed a lot because some view it as pay-to-win.
How Pay2Win is Lost Ark? MeinMMO has spoken with players
How is Lost Ark received on Steam? Currently, there are 565 reviews on Steam, of which 93% are positive. This number is higher than what Steam directly shows at the top, as the platform distinguishes between pure alpha keys and pre-orders (currently 276 reviews, 94% positive). Although the total number of reviews is still quite low, the initial trend shows that Lost Ark is well-received by players.
The reviews mainly praise the good and fun combat system. However, experiences directly from the alpha are mixed with things that players have already seen in Russia or Korea.
You can get an insight into the gameplay of Lost Ark in this YouTube video where Sywo introduces you to the different classes:
Rocky start but lots of praise from players
How was the start of the alpha? In the first hours, nothing worked at all with Lost Ark. Just before the official start at 9:00 PM, Amazon announced that there would be delays. These lasted until about 3:00 AM our time.
Since then, however, there have been no significant problems. In fact, reviews on Steam praise the very stable servers of the game.
What do the positive voices say? Currently, there are 521 positive reviews. We have compiled an excerpt for you:
- Bullstone94 is thrilled with the new MMORPG (via Steam): “Awesome graphics, mega cool classes, mega story, great gameplay, and great combat system.”
- Dolo, Eater of Pancakes has already played Lost Ark and says (via Steam): “We have all tried the Korean and Russian versions, and finally, it’s here. I can only highly recommend this masterpiece. This is what Diablo should have been. If Amazon doesn’t get greedy and excludes P2W, it will keep a lot of people busy when it comes out.”
- The user Your Senpai gives the game 8 out of 10 stars (via Steam): “It’s a Korean game and it has grind, but you can skip some things if you don’t want to be perfectly equipped. […]. Good graphics, good sound, nice lore and cinematics, good gameplay. However, the community is a bit toxic, insults, and is already talking about pay-to-win. […]. In my opinion, this game will occupy me for around 5,000 hours and it will be worth its money from skins and subscriptions.”
- Gottzilla is especially impressed by the few errors (via Steam): “Significantly better than other genre representatives. Better than Diablo and completely in German, not a single crash even though it’s still in alpha, no bugs or errors found, the game runs absolutely smoothly and flawlessly. It’s just fun. All I can say is “take my money!””
What do the critics say? The 41 negative voices mainly criticize the character development and previous translations and voiceovers. The latter, however, are not yet final:
- The user Lolonoa Zolo mainly criticizes the controls and the appearance of the characters (via Steam): “You have the choice to either attack with the right mouse button and move with the left, or vice versa. There is no way to move with keys and attack. The controls are, in my opinion, both very poor and very confusing. Another thing that bothers me is that the character already looks like a clown from the beginning. What happened to the idea that you look like a farmer at first and then, after many hours of hard work, end up looking like a clown? It gives a feeling of progression… But now I’m afraid that later on, you’ll look like an even bigger clown.”
- The user 답답해 mainly writes about his experiences from Korea (via Steam): “The game has 3 major problems. Extremely weak class balancing, no DPS meter, no visual progression in character development.”
There should be a beta for Lost Ark before the release. When exactly this will start is currently unknown. With this beta, we will gain further insights into the MMORPG and also the shop.
MeinMMO editor Irina Moritz looked at Lost Ark in Russia back in 2019. You can find her experience report here: I tested Lost Ark – Yes, it plays as well as it looks.
