Bless Unleashed is a new MMORPG that was released for PC on Steam in August. MeinMMO author Alexander Leitsch has tested it extensively and even had a lot of fun. However, 2 problems make it likely that he will not play Bless Unleashed permanently.
What kind of MMORPG is this? Bless Unleashed is a classic theme park MMORPG:
- You experience the game’s story through linear quests
- You explore an open world
- You have 5 different classes to choose from
- In the endgame, the focus is on dungeons, world bosses, PvP, and grinding for the perfect equipment.
Bless Unleashed is free-to-play and offers a shop and a battle pass through which it finances itself. There are also founder packs that provide some bonuses at the start.
Is Bless Unleashed really fun? Yes, and that surprised me a bit. I am well aware of Bless’s past, and the name is justifiably tarnished. Bless Online started catastrophically and was shut down after just under a year.
The new Bless Unleashed, which comes from a different studio but essentially from the same company, is by no means flawless. Anyone who looks at the game with an open mind can have many hours of fun with it. However, this fun is somewhat clouded in the endgame.
Good start and fun time questing
This is how the start of the game goes: At the start, you have the choice of 5 different classes, which are partially bound to specific races:
- Light Knight – Only Human or Ippin, a small and cute race
- Berserker – Only Warg, a mix of Human and Wolf
- Ranger – Only Elf
- Wizard – Only Human or Elf
- Priest – Only Human or Ippin
The cool thing about the start is that each class is played at max level during the tutorial. This way, you can already use combos and skills that are unlocked much later. This is ideal for getting to know the class and deciding on a main class. If you are not satisfied with the class, you can delete it right away and try another one.
There isn’t a classic holy trinity, although the melee fighters Light Knight and Berserker usually act as a kind of tank in dungeons, while Priests can heal and shield allies. However, Priests primarily have offensive abilities that deal damage.
We have already compiled some tips on classes and builds for beginners from MeinMMO.
Caution at level 30 in Bless – PvP becomes active
This is what you can expect while leveling in Bless Unleashed: With your freshly created class, you can experience the leveling process. The max level is 45, with important milestones in between:
- With level 5, you can face the first bosses in instanced content with other players.
- The first dungeon for 5 players comes with level 15.
- At level 25, the first main chapter of the story ends, and features such as housing are unlocked.
- From level 30, there is then PvP in the open world, which is difficult to defend against. This is one of the aspects that unfortunately makes the game worse than it actually is.
The leveling itself is fairly linear but offers some interesting side aspects. You follow a main quest (blue) that tells you the story and is exactly the same for every class.
Everywhere in the world, you encounter numerous side quests that are partially quite entertaining. For example, you have to listen to a bard sing, go fishing, sneak through an area, or find the right “Bambi” among hundreds of deer.
The quests are not mega innovative, but they aren’t the worst that MMORPGs have ever produced either.
That’s why side quests are worth it in Bless Unleashed: An interesting aspect of the quests in Bless Unleashed is that they provide different amounts of experience points:
- There is classic experience that increases your level
- There is skill experience, through which you get skill points that can be invested into your abilities
Some side quests provide a lot of skill experience and little XP for your level. But this is exactly what makes them important, because it can happen that you eventually reach a high level, but your skills haven’t developed at the same rate. Therefore, it’s worth taking on side quests and even returning to old areas to complete them afterwards.
You can find more useful tips here: 15 tips for Bless Unleashed that I wish I had known earlier.
What else happens while leveling? All over the world, there are bosses and small world events. These are time-based, so they don’t always take place. However, Bless Unleashed uses a channel system, so there are multiple versions of each map.
This means that certain bosses and events may be active on other channels or that there are more players there. Those who switch cleverly can experience some exciting challenges in addition to the main and side quests.
Some of the small events are also excellent for obtaining useful equipment.
The combat system makes you want more – Bosses bring a real MMO feeling
How does the combat system work? Bless Unleashed relies on an action-packed combat system. You need to target enemies and can use different skills and combos. The MMO also uses a dodge roll and offers the option to sprint.
In general, you have 10 active abilities per class. However, you can only pull 4 into your skill bar and use them in battle. Additionally, there are about 15 other abilities that you can use through combos.
Combos are created by pressing the left and right mouse buttons. Depending on the order in which you press them, you use different abilities. This system is clearly optimized for consoles, for which Bless Unleashed was first released, but over time you get used to it on PC as well.
With the dodge roll, actively targeting enemies, and the sometimes really heavy attacks, fighting in Bless Unleashed is really fun.
However, the best thing about the combat system isn’t how I fight myself, but how the enemies are designed. All enemy attacks are clearly marked with telegraphs and animations. This makes dodging easy but also necessary, as these attacks can easily take away 50% or more of my health.
I really need to play actively and can’t take my hand off the keyboard to eat. Especially not against world bosses and in dungeons.
Boss fights are the most fun: The world of Bless Unleashed is full of bosses. Already in the starting area, you encounter a wolf that cannot be defeated alone at level 3. However, many players usually gather there to defeat it together.
This system runs throughout the entire game world. At level 7, there’s a giant, at level 11 another boss, and at level 14, you encounter the harpy, which has probably claimed the lives of every player at least once.
The harpy is part of the main quest and is an incredibly strong boss. The fight against her often takes 15 minutes or more. Usually, dozens of players gather there, some even already level 20 or higher. Rarely have I seen so many players working together to defeat a boss in modern MMOs. This gave me a real MMO feeling.
But the open world doesn’t only offer interesting boss fights. Already at level 5, you can defeat the first boss together with another player through a kind of dungeon finder, a holy soldier. There are further 2-player bosses at levels 7, 10, 13, and 17.
From level 15 – The Goblin Cave – there is the first dungeon for 5 players. Leveling up to that point takes about 4 to 8 hours of gameplay, depending on how quickly one progresses. There are 2 more dungeons and 5 boss instances for 5 players. Additionally, there are time-limited dungeons that are only available at specific times.
A little highlight for me was the final boss from the Goblin Cave. He is a clear reference to chef Gordon Ramsay and has a nasty ability where Ramsay drums on the floor with a pot for a short time, dealing a lot of AoE damage around him. If you don’t run out fast enough, you quickly find yourself in trouble.
The map of the first dungeon. 
Chef Ramzy.
What else does Bless Unleashed offer? In addition to the previously listed content, there are:
- 3 additional story campaigns after reaching level 25
- A taming system for mounts that can be tamed either through achievements or in the open world
- Various professions through which equipment, buff food, and potions can be crafted
- A system through which you can upgrade your equipment
- A simple housing system
- A 15v15 PvP battlefield
- A 3v3 PvP arena
- Open-world PvP from level 30
Some of this content is extremely cool, such as taming or the PvP arena, which is also set to receive seasons.
However, other aspects, such as upgrading equipment or open-world PvP, are some of my major points of criticism.
Equipment and PvP ruin the fun in Bless Unleashed
What’s the problem with the equipment? Equipment in Bless Unleashed is rated based on several aspects:
- There is equipment ranging from “E” (very weak) to “S” (super great), with “S” being released on consoles only in spring 2021.
- Each tier comes in different rarities, gray to red (mythic), unlocking additional effects.
- The respective equipment can be upgraded, allowing better stats or an upgrade to a higher rarity.
The upgrade system itself is pretty cool, as you get the materials for the upgrade by dismantling old equipment. However, while the equipment is always upgraded 100% at lower levels, there is only a certain chance for higher-level equipment. This system bothers me a lot.
It’s well-known from other MMORPGs like Black Desert or Elyon. In Bless Unleashed, equipment can be damaged or even destroyed when attempting to upgrade it. And nothing is more depressing than grinding for hours only to lose equipment and end up weaker than before.
There are definitely better alternatives, like Swords of Legends or older games like Guild Wars 2, WoW, or FFXIV, which do not feature such negative mechanics.
Another negative aspect regarding the equipment lies in crafting. Crafted items receive random rune colors. However, for certain builds and effects, you need specific runes. Therefore, you can only get these combos by chance when crafting.
For €1.50, you can buy an hour of peace in PvP – To me, that’s outrageous
What’s the problem with PvP? The PvP requirement in the open world is a double-edged sword. Active skirmishes must activate PvP, but even if you haven’t activated it, you can be killed by other players, with the exception of safe zones like cities.
For these players, there are penalties, including the fact that city guards will attack you. However, as in many other MMORPGs, this doesn’t bother the “griefers” much. I just reached level 30 and haven’t had any intense PvP encounters yet. Only once did a higher-level player take me out.
However, the most absurd thing about the PvP system is that the developers themselves have realized that some players don’t like open PvP. Therefore, there’s an item in the shop called the Peace Declaration. It disables PvP in the open world for 1!!! hour. It costs 200 Lumena (about €1.50). To me, this item is an absolute disgrace and an insult to any PvE player.
Fairly, it must be said that there is no PvP at bosses and in areas below level 30, so you can avoid open PvP if you want.
How is the rest of the shop? The rest of the Bless Unleashed shop is quite fair, albeit expensive. For example, there are:
- Bag expansions (10 slots for around €20)
- Name changes (for around €15)
- Various elixirs and healing scrolls, which can also be purchased in-game
- Costumes and weapons ranging from €15 to €30
Some might consider the buffs for experience points, skill points, and gold somewhat controversial. These provide 50% more than when playing without buffs. However, the prices for these are outrageous: If you want all 3 buffs and some in-game currency, you have to pay about €9 – but per week!
Additionally, there’s the option to buy and sell shop items in the marketplace. This way, you can obtain all content without spending real money, but players can also trade real money for in-game currency.
On top of that, there’s a battle pass with both a free and a paid version. The paid version contains in-game currency, cosmetic items, and additional experience points for abilities.
Positive development since the first beta on PC
How has development been lately? Since the first beta in September 2020, a lot has positively changed in the PC version of Bless Unleashed and the game itself.
There have been several adjustments to quests, drops, and the leveling process in general, making it faster and more straightforward. New content has also been introduced in the form of a new equipment tier and new story content.
Adjustments have been made specifically for the PC version regarding hotkeys, auto-run, and UI. Overall, it has been a fairly positive development in recent months.
Conclusion: 30 hours of fun, but little desire for the endgame
Bless Unleashed captivated me in the first hours. Leveling and fighting were fun for me, and especially the bosses in the open world are tough and attract many players. I haven’t felt such an MMO feeling in a long time, especially as more and more MMORPGs focus on smaller player counts and separated areas in the world. The many treasure chests you can find in the open world encourage exploration.
While I still had a lot of fun with the dungeons and quests in the midgame, I’m slowly approaching the endgame and am losing fun for that precise reason. Especially regarding equipment, I am annoyed that you can lose entire pieces of equipment when upgrading. Such a mechanic is simply unnecessary in 2021.
I see the open-world PvP as two-sided. While I could still live with the basic system, I am annoyed by this brazen peace letter that I hope no player ever buys. This item diminishes game fun for me because I prefer optional PvP in the open world, like New World aims to offer.
Overall, Bless Unleashed has given me a lot of fun and will likely bridge the time until the release of New World. It is also by far better than its predecessor Bless Online. Both the performance and gameplay have convinced me. But in the long term, it will not be my game because the two problems around equipment and PvP represent insurmountable obstacles for me.
Alexander Leitsch
MMORPG expert at MeinMMO
What are your experiences with Bless Unleashed? Have you already tried the new MMORPG on Xbox, PlayStation, or PC? Where do your criticisms lie? And did you hope that it would be significantly better than Bless Online? Feel free to let us know in the comments!
More about new MMORPGs that have just been released can be found here: These 4 new MMORPGs have already been released in 2021.
