The new anime MMORPG Blue Protocol: Star Resonance has launched in the West and is seeing good player numbers on Steam. However, the reviews on the platform do not look good at all.
How did the launch go? The launch of Blue Protocol: Star Resonance went well. On Steam, over 94,000 players were online at peak time (via SteamDB), and surely many more were playing on the in-house launcher, Epic Games Store, or on mobile devices.
There were neither queues nor server issues. Many players had feared this beforehand because the developers only offer a mega-server in North America, where all Western players are supposed to find a spot.
For players from Europe, this means a ping of around 100 ms, but the MMORPG was playable on release day without issues. However, there was still frustration from many players who tried the new Blue Protocol.
Here you can watch the trailer for Blue Protocol: Star Resonance:
Poor reviews on Steam
How is the game received? On Steam, Blue Protocol: Star Resonance currently holds an average rating of only 45% positive, which is considered “Mixed.” Players are also discussing the negative aspects of the new MMORPG on Reddit.
The most common criticisms from players in the reviews are:
- Auto-combat and auto-navigation
- Massive real-money shop with Pay2Win
- Battlepass and VIP system
- Boring quest design
- Mobile HUD with full-screen menus
- Dozens of currencies for dozens of systems
- Time-gating and uncertainty about what to do next
- High ping due to gameplay on a central server in North America
For many players, this is not an MMORPG they want to play, which is why some have already turned their backs on the game shortly after launch, according to reviews on Steam. This criticism is not new; on the contrary.
What was the beta feedback like? All points criticized by the players were already mentioned by beta testers in a now-deleted forum on Discord. MeinMMO author Cedric Holmeier also addressed the issues of the MMORPG in his preview report.
However, the developers did not sufficiently heed the suggestions for improvement and released the game without major adjustments. Now they receive the same criticism as about a month ago after the beta on Steam, which tarnishes their positive player numbers.
Blue Protocol: Star Resonance commits the typical mistakes that other MMORPGs have made in the West before it. The developers have not worked enough on the localization of shops and systems and are now experiencing how this is received in the West. You can learn more about the typical mistakes here: 5 mistakes that MMORPGs from Asia must avoid to succeed here
