NosTale has now been around for 16 years and is an essential part of a number of MMORPG classics. We at MeinMMO take a look at the game that was once so popular and consider it from today’s perspective.
NosTale is an anime MMORPG developed by Entwell, which was released in Korea in 2006 and as a global version in 2008. It is considered a classic within the genre, still available online and even playable on Steam.
When GameForge became the publisher shortly thereafter, there were several servers where different languages were spoken, including German. GameForge is still the publisher of NosTale and is also known for Metin2, Runes of Magic, 4Story, and the new MMORPG Swords of Legends.
For this article, we draw on the experience of numerous NosTale players as well as about 20 of our own gaming hours.
On to NosVille!
In NosTale, you first land in character creation. You choose your gender, male or female, and select one of 2 hairstyles. After all, there are several hair colors to choose from. You don’t set your class at first, that comes a bit later.
Then you enter the colorful, cute village of NosVille, where an NPC named Mimi Mentor greets you and explains the basics of the game.
After a few levels, you can tame your first companion: a small chicken. Shortly thereafter, an upgrade to a sheep follows. This way, you always have a cute little creature with you that accompanies you on your travels.
Sometimes you can feel quite lost as a beginner. Because an arrow shows you the way to the quest, but only if you are on the right map. If you are on the wrong map, you are lost because the quest does not indicate which map you need to go to. The task then indicates, for example: “Find a sheep”. Where that is, you have to find out for yourself, unless you are on the right map.
NosTale also makes you run a lot from A to B and complete very similar quests. Initially, there were no mounts; they were only introduced in 2010. So you were on foot.
With the mounts came a clear improvement in mobility. Initially, there was the Magic Carpet and the Magic Scooter, which you traveled with. Meanwhile, there are additional mounts.
Simple combat system and initially few classes
You quickly have to engage in your first fight. You hold a weapon in hand and smack a few tubers. You click on an opponent to automatically attack them. Alternatively, you press the spacebar twice to select and attack an opponent next to you. The animations look rather static and clunky, and you have only a single attack. Later, more attacks are added.
Every few levels, you must also complete a dungeon, called “Timespace” in NosTale. Unfortunately, they all look quite similar and feel static as well. “We go to the next Timestone, go in and… it’s the same as the first one,” says YouTuber Josh Strife Hayes.
You select your class when you reach level 15. There are swordsmen, archers, and mages. In 2018, the martial artist was added. According to players, this class is not as strong as the others, can barely keep up, and is therefore less worthwhile.
To become stronger in combat, you can equip a specialist card starting at level 36, which levels up with you from now on. This way, you specialize your character in a specific direction. For example, a swordsman can become a warrior or gladiator, an archer can become a hunter or ranger, and a mage can become a fire mage or seer.
In the video, you see 5 old but active MMORPGs:
An endless grind
The aim of the game is to level up and continuously improve your character. NosTale feels like an eternal grind that never ends. You level up in the starting areas to level 55. From that point on, you can enter the Land of the Dead, where you encounter (still quite cute) skeletons as opponents. You then level on this map until level 90.
“You think you’ve come far, but in reality, you’re just at the beginning,” says YouTuber GerryTV. You then reach the first hero level and have arrived at the endgame. The maximum has been hero level 60 so far, but now you can even reach hero level 80.
In the past, according to GerryTV, players had more options to develop in the low-level area. Nowadays, the game mainly takes place in the endgame, leaving you with fewer options at the beginning. You are left with the grind until you finally manage to reach the hero level.
In a real-money shop, you can purchase items that are not necessarily needed but significantly ease the grind. Therefore, NosTale is often referred to as “Pay2Win”.
Players love NosTale for the community
Guilds in NosTale are called “families” and are said to feel that way to many players. Together with family, you can complete raids, farm, or just be online to chat.
There wasn’t a dungeon finder in NosTale. So if you wanted to play with others, you indeed had to use the chat, something that is often not the case in today’s MMORPGs. There, you may play together, but communication is completely absent.
NosTale still has a charm for many players that brings them back to the MMORPG time and again. “Every time I plan not to play anymore, I return at the latest after 1-2 years,” writes the user Gym Kicker in the comments of GerryTV’s video. User Amstel612 adds: “Once caught in the game, it’s hard to break free.”
“10/10, I would invest 18 hours anytime to level up,” writes AsTrO on Steam in a positive review. Overall, the user has spent 500 hours in NosTale.
Where does NosTale stand today? In the past, the MMORPG had many more players, but even today an active player base logs in. Since 2017, NosTale has also been available on Steam.
According to SteamDB, nearly 500 players logged in within the last 24 hours. The GameForge client is an additional factor, so it can be assumed that at least 1000 players log in each day.
Even though NosTale has many shortcomings, it is a classic among MMORPGs that continues to be loved and played today.
Did you play NosTale in the past or are you perhaps still playing the MMORPG today? Or did you prefer to play Metin2, Fiesta Online, or Runes of Magic? How do you find NosTale from today’s perspective? Which current MMORPG is it most comparable to? Feel free to let us know in the comments here on MeinMMO!
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