I played Blue Protocol and say: This will be the best MMORPG of the last 9 years

The new MMORPG Blue Protocol launched on June 14 in Japan. It will only come to us in 2024 and is expected to be released for Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch couldn’t wait that long and has already played it.

Since 2019, I have been following Blue Protocol very closely and absorbing everything I can find. During the last tests, I watched live streams for hours to get a feel for the MMORPG. With the release in Japan, I sensed my chance. After all, theoretically even without a VPN, you can play from Germany.

While there were significant login problems during the first two days, I made good use of the weekend to look at the essential content of Blue Protocol. And I am very enthusiastic.

Whether it’s the combat system, movement, boss fights, or graphics – each of these aspects impresses me. Only regarding the grind do I have a bit of criticism, and I can’t comment on the story because unfortunately, I don’t speak a word of Japanese.

Fun from the first second, even if I can’t recommend every class

Even before the actual character creation, I am thrown into a kind of intro sequence. There, I slash away a few enemies as a ghost-like creature and familiarize myself with the general controls. The game is played classically in third-person view and with WASD.

Then comes character creation, where I have various options to individualize my appearance. With 14 different hairstyles and 15 different hair colors, the options are okay, but could also be more detailed. Especially when I compare the editor with Black Desert, I miss many sliders and adjustment options. What a pity.

After that, I choose my favorite from five different classes. I started my journey with the Twin Striker, who wields two axes and plays very dynamically. He – and the Bow Hunter in ranged combat – are my absolute recommendations for beginners.

However, my class choice is not final, because similar to Final Fantasy XIV, I can switch my character’s class if I want. However, I level each one independently and can only switch between them in towns. Both in Japan and with us, there are several character slots, so you can create a separate character for each class.

In the game world itself, I enjoyed every single second with my character. Right at the beginning, I get to prove my combat skills against a werewolf boss with a huge club. The enemy’s attacks are so clearly recognizable that I can easily avoid all damage with an elegant dodge roll (default the CTRL key).

I counter with two attacks on the mouse buttons and a quick axe strike on the “Q” key. The beauty of the combat system is that I can also jump and execute some attacks from the air.

I hop, roll, and slash through the first groups of enemies and haven’t had this much fun with a combat system in a long time. Overall, the number of abilities is not that large – 4 weapon abilities, 2 pet abilities, the 2 mouse buttons, and one ultimate – but somehow I’ve never missed any further abilities. This may also be because the cooldowns are quite short.

Some players report that the combat system becomes a bit repetitive over the course of the game, and that the fun diminishes. However, I can’t confirm that at least after 12 hours of gameplay and about 40 hours of watched live streams and videos – on the contrary.

Here you can check out gameplay of my class Twin Striker:

Especially due to the clear animations of the enemies, I always felt that the combat system rewards personal skill significantly, which motivated me to read the enemies even better.

Only with the Crusher – a class with a large, clunky hammer – can I understand the criticism. Here, the animations are quite slow, and after just a few minutes, I desperately wanted to switch back to my Twin Striker.

World events that create a true MMORPG feeling

A highlight of the game are the small world events that I have really enjoyed in Guild Wars 2. Right in the starting area, bosses can appear that have a lot of health points. Within a few minutes, around 15 players gathered at this boss and pounded on it – all at levels 2 to 4.

Although the bosses in the low-level range are not a big challenge, it immediately creates a multiplayer atmosphere that often gets lost in modern MMORPGs. And despite Blue Protocol being heavily instanced, I never felt alone at any time.

Especially the first city, which I have to keep returning to for the first quests, was always populated. There, up to 200 players can find their place. In the areas, only 30 players are active at the same time, but those aren’t particularly large. In fact, this number is more than sufficient; otherwise, we would constantly snatch quest mobs away from each other.

If you want to go into the areas as a group, you also have no problems. You can press a button in the group interface, and then you will all be ported together to a version of the area, similar to how it works with overflow in Lost Ark.

Dungeons are fun but quickly become challenging

At level 3, the main quest leads directly to the first dungeon, which is meant to be completed alone. It’s not really difficult, but it gives a good impression of what I can look forward to in the endgame. Because the final boss already has several abilities that can charge at me or throw me to the ground.

Already at level 9, the first dungeon managed to actually kill me. During the final boss fight, several small adds joined in, and stones rained down from the ceiling. Once these stones hit me and stunned me. Consequently, I was beaten by the adds and the boss and quickly lay in the dirt.

In attempt 2, everything went smoothly.

But these dungeons were just a taste of what’s to come. I’ve seen some videos of later instances, including raids for 20 or 30 players. The fights there look really fun. Here you can check out such a raid:

Recommended editorial content

At this point you will find external content from YouTube that complements the article.

Show YouTube content

I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms. Read more about our privacy policy.

Link to the YouTube content

Grind, Adventure Ranks, and criticism of the shop

Unfortunately, I haven’t progressed much further than level 11 with the Twin Striker and level 5 with most other classes. This is also because, in between, you need a certain gear score for the next content. Especially at level 11, you hit a barrier that needs to be overcome.

For this, I have to grind a dungeon multiple times to earn materials for upgrading the weapon and level my Imajinns. For that, there are special quests, or you kill the same elite monsters repeatedly. Since you only get mats dropped by the mobs and no better equipment, upgrading sometimes feels a bit monotonous.

Moreover, you can’t trade with other players at all. So if you need mats, you have to collect them yourself.

The developers have significantly adjusted the drop rates compared to the beta, so the grind is no longer as endless as before. However, it still happens that you have to defeat monsters dozens of times, even for some regular quests.

There are a few things I wish I had known earlier to spare me some frustration. This includes that I should collect all materials I encounter in the open world as early as possible. Additionally, the adventure boards with optional quests are important for quickly leveling up.

Leveling the adventure rank, which exists in addition to the actual class level, is also essential. Here, I unlock general things like mounts, which greatly facilitates movement in the game world.

The shop is borderline, but could be very different for us

A point of criticism for the Japanese version is definitely the shop. You can purchase items for real money that increase the chance of more gem slots when crafting weapons. Weapons randomly have between 2 and 4 slots.

Additionally, there is an item for real money that allows you to retrieve gems used in weapons to use them in new ones. There is no free version of this.

Lastly, the gacha elements are criticized. Although they are purely cosmetic – such as outfits – the chances are said to be so low that one might end up spending 500 euros or more for a favorite skin.

Amazon itself confirmed in December 2022 that they will make adjustments to the shop for our version.

Blue Protocol brings fresh air to the MMORPG drought

For almost 9 years, we have been experiencing a phase that many call the “MMORPG drought”. In 2010, it still seemed like we could expect new releases regularly:

• In 2011, SWTOR was released
• In 2012, Guild Wars 2 followed
• In 2014, ESO, WildStar, and Blade & Soul were released

But since 2014, it has been rather lean. The major highlights were Black Desert, New World, and Lost Ark. And Blue Protocol can outshine them all.

Especially in the combat system, it picks the best from all titles. It relies on action, but does without the multitude of abilities and combos from BDO. At the same time, dodging and tactics are extremely important, as in New World. When it comes to instances and bosses, it takes a little from Lost Ark. Large raids with 30 players are also their own highlight.

Of all four mentioned titles, Blue Protocol makes the best impression regarding “mass market appeal” due to its gentle introduction, third-person perspective, and lack of PvP. Also, players from other titles like Genshin Impact can find their way around here without any problems.

Since ESO and Guild Wars 2, I haven’t had so much fun