The Steam hit Naraka Bladepoint is a lot of fun, but that is mainly due to the tireless efforts of thousands of bots. They joyfully run to their deaths every round to give us players a great time. MyMMO editor Jürgen Horn admits: “In the past, I thought you were stupid, but now you bots are my best friends!”
After a demanding day, I finally took the time to check out the release version of Naraka Bladepoint. I was tired and exhausted and just wanted to have some fun and joy. And that is exactly what the smallest beings in the game enabled me to do: The bots.
What is Naraka Bladepoint? Naraka: Bladepoint is a fast-paced Battle Royale that was released on Steam on August 12, 2021. The game mainly focuses on melee weapons and fast, acrobatic stunts reminiscent of the solo hit Sekiro.
The various weapons allow for different moves and combos that you must master before really getting started. Naraka Bladepoint has been a huge hit on Steam since the beta with consistently over 100,000 players at peak.
Bots sacrifice themselves so we can have fun
That’s why I didn’t like bots before: Bots in PvP games are nothing new, and I encountered AI comrades in earlier games. But back then, they really got on my nerves!
I remember well my first rounds in the hero shooter Paladins. There, I pretty much rocked the lobby and took out opponents one by one. I had a lot of fun, but then came the realization that a colleague told me back then: “In the beginning, you mainly play against bots; it only gets challenging later”.
That was it for me. Because facing bots was like cheating for me back then. I had no fun mowing down evidently weaker opponents and feeling like a top player.
Instead, I felt ashamed and didn’t touch Paladins after that. I had a similar experience later with short excursions into PUBG and a return to Fortnite. The bots insulted my pride as a gamer and felt like a bully who takes toys away from small children in the sandbox while feeling great about it.
This is why I think differently now: However, the situation is different now. When I recently started with Naraka Bladepoint, it was already stated on the start screen that you initially have many bots as opponents. So I was already aware, and it didn’t come as a surprise later.
And then I simply noticed that I had to practice the quite complex gameplay of Naraka Bladepoint so that the various attacks, counters, and special moves would be done correctly. The bots that willingly charged at my sword were essential to practice the gameplay of Naraka.
And then it was just a blast! As I mentioned at the beginning, I had a really tough day and finally found some peace late at night when my child was asleep, and all other daily tasks had been completed. I just wanted to relax and have a good time.
And that was made possible by the sacrifice of the bots. By leaving my first round with double-digit kill counts and as the score list leader, I felt great and fulfilled. My self-esteem got a significant boost, and I was really excited to dive further into the game and finally compete with real human opponents.
If I had encountered seasoned and experienced players right away in my first round, they would have wiped the floor with me in the first fight, and I wouldn’t have touched the game again that night (and probably later).
Every game should have bots: Of course, it would be boring in the long run to always fight against incapable AI opponents, but as skill increases, the bots eventually become fewer, and you are ready to take on the real challenge against other players.
Therefore, I actually wish every PVP and Battle Royale game would implement bot training rounds. Especially complex games with challenging gameplay – like Apex Legends – would benefit greatly from this and would certainly motivate even more players to play the game longer and gain expertise in a gentle and motivating way.
So much for my opinion on the topic of bots, the truly unsung heroes of every PvP game. Do you see it differently or share my opinion? Let me know in the comments!
Curiously, I recently had a lot of fun in the Warzone of CoD, even though the bots there are actually terrible players.
