Now the time has come, the closed beta of Lost Ark has started and everyone who received a key is allowed to take a peek. Many fans are currently criticizing on reddit that the class-specific prologues have been removed. MeinMMO author Mark Sellner, however, says that the entry is much better because of this.
On November 4th, the closed beta for the new MMORPG started. Anyone who has pre-ordered the game or was lucky enough to win a key is allowed to participate.
We have also spent the first hours in the beta of Lost Ark and had a lot of fun. One thing stood out particularly positively for MeinMMO author Mark, namely the removed prologues of the individual classes.
Attention fans may have noticed a particular point in the last developer update of Lost Ark. In addition to numerous improvements and smaller adjustments, the new prologue stood out.
This is not a decision from Amazon but from the developer Smilegate. At the same time, the prologues had to be removed from the Korean and Russian versions of Lost Ark as well.
This made many fans sad at first. The class prologues were actually an exciting and engaging introduction to the game. They provided more background knowledge about the story of the individual classes and what they did to end up where they are now.
The new prologue completely disregards the previous individuality. It is colorful instead of dark and focuses on bringing you closer to the main story of the game, in contrast to the old prologue, which referred to your character’s story.
As all characters experience the same main story, the new entry is the same for all classes. As a result, it feels more generic than the individual stories but is nonetheless a more suitable introduction to Lost Ark.
Fans complain about the new prologue, wishing for the old ones back
On reddit, you can find several threads about why the new entry is not good. Many players wish for the old beginning to return, as it would make more sense. Players miss the old prologue, which revealed more about their character.
User Pariah writes on reddit: “The only criticism I have is that the start feels really weird. You get told a story that sounds like it would have been really fun to play yourself. Then you have to choose a class, 20 seconds later an advanced class, and you start at level 10. Why should I even choose a base class?
I have no idea what’s going on here, but it feels like I’m starting with Act 2 of the story.”
With this opinion, Pariah is not alone; another thread is titled “I’m really disappointed that they removed the unique prologues; they were really much cooler.” (via reddit).
Yes, they were. The old prologues were really cool and beautifully staged. When I read that they would no longer exist, I was initially disappointed too. But the new entry is much better and explains much more.
Thanks to the new entry, I understand just as well who my character is and what he has lost in the story as before. With the new prologue, I am no longer completely confused when a weird raven-demon-human type burns down a whole city an hour later and then relentlessly pursues me.
The new entry mainly tells me more about the story of Lost Ark. It reveals to me who this raven guy is, why he burns down the city, and what his motives are for constantly following me. All this information was withheld from me by the old intro, and that did not do the main story any good.
The new prologue is the same for everyone – equally good
Instead of the old prologue, which was different for each class, now everyone plays the exact same beginning. The old prologues are not lost, however. Before you really start playing, you will be told the story of the old prologues.
This happens in atmospheric images in a drawn style. A voice-over takes on the role of the narrator and explains to us how we got into this situation. This video remains different for each class.
After you have seen this video, it starts, and the new prologue begins. No longer dark and rather evil-looking like the old prologues, but flashy and colorful. On a ship heading to Trua. In this, you are part of an expedition group searching an island for a mysterious artifact.
Alongside the pirates and scoundrels you are traveling with, there is also a priest by your side who looks just as confused as you do. He takes on the role of your guide and tells you things about the church, the island, the Ark, and more.
Thanks to the new prologue, you finally understand the story
In Lost Ark, it’s all about nothing less than what the name already reveals. You are searching for an Ark that has been lost. This lost Ark has the power to either save the world or destroy it.
People have been searching for this Ark for so long that many consider it a mystery. But now, due to your emergence, there is new hope.
However, it’s not just you searching for the Ark. The previously mentioned raven-demon-human also wants to get his hands on the artifact, and his most effective way to do that is you. All this makes the new prologue the topic.
As a fan of the old prologue, I struggled to let go, but the new one is simply better. It fits more comfortably into the world that the game throws us into shortly after.
Although Lost Ark is a dark game in many places, the start in the village of Prideholm is colorful and pleasant. The new prologue picks up on this mood, is more colorful, and clearly shows why we are going to Prideholm.
Also, the game’s main villain gets much more face and character with the new prologue. Because in the new, roughly 30-minute prologue on the island, we are also introduced to the villain of Lost Ark, his intentions are explained, and it is revealed that he is more than just the bad guy.
At the end of the prologue, you will know why you are searching for the Ark, why you have to go to Prideholm specifically, and why the church spends so much money to find the Ark.
All of these are factors that the old intro did not reveal and more or less left us aimlessly traveling to Arkesia. Now you have a goal, a task, and a plan, and all of this is already done before the actual game starts.
Before the revision, there was a feeling of just appearing in this world. It felt like a short story, just without a proper introduction.
You knew who you were but had no idea what you were doing, searching for, or supposed to do in this place. The new prologue delivers this introduction much better than the old ones and gives the story much more support than you would attribute to these 30 minutes.
Starting at level 10 feels wrong
Gameplay-wise, I have to agree with Pariah. Starting directly at level 10 with your subclass makes choosing a base class completely obsolete and feels rather unbalanced.
It can also be overwhelming for many players that you no longer learn new skills gradually but start directly with several of your skills. Priest Morpheus is present in the prologue to explain the basic mechanics, but it is still a lot to take in in a short time for genre newcomers.
The lack of progression is also tiring. While I fought my way through the old prologue level by level to become a powerful level 10 hero at the end of the intro, I now do not level up at all throughout the prologue.
I start the entry at level 10 and leave it at level 10 as well. Furthermore, the new prologue also shows weaknesses in gameplay, as I have to fight much less, although fighting is what is fun.
However, these are all things that can be relatively easily revised. I have not lost hope that these key issues will be refined by the time the game comes to us.
Lost Ark still offers you the option to simply skip the prologue. That was already possible before. Then you land directly in Prideholm after selecting your subclass instead of on the island of Trua, but you also miss a lot of story.
For story-averse individuals, this is of course the simpler and more sensible way. However, we can advise anyone who wants to explore Arkesia along with its stories not to miss this new prologue.
It offers much more than one might think in the first few minutes and also enhances your gaming experience afterward because you can understand much better.
After the new prologue, everything remains the same, and you can explore the world of Lost Ark and do the same as usual, although with some minor improvements and new side quests.
The new prologue sets the right focus
The new entry into the game gets to the point of the story of Lost Ark. It ensures that much less confusion arises in the following hours and does not take away any information that the old intro had.
However, it is less spectacularly staged than the class prologues before. Nevertheless, Smilegate is taking the right step here by focusing the introduction on what it should be, namely an introduction to the world, the story, and the characters of the game. The new prologue does this significantly better than any of the old ones.
What do you think of the new prologue in Lost Ark? Did you play the old ones? Which do you prefer? Are you, like me, a fan of the new intro, or do you miss the class-specific prologues? Feel free to let us know in the comments here at MeinMMO.
Even before the beta, the developers explain what the MMORPG Lost Ark still has to do before it can be played.
