The new MMORPG Lost Ark is just around the corner and it is also the only MMORPG you must play in 2022, at least according to MeinMMO author Mark Sellner. Because Lost Ark has something for everyone and values your time.
What is Lost Ark anyway? The new MMORPG, which celebrates its release on February 8 and 11, is actually not new at all. The game has been running successfully in Korea since 2018.
It is one of the most popular online games there and, even by a significant margin, the most popular MMORPG in Korea. The title was released in Russia in 2020 and there were also efforts to launch Lost Ark in Japan.
Now the game is finally coming to Europe and even in a version that does not lag far behind the Korean one in updates, unlike the Russian version.
Lost Ark is an action MMORPG in an isometric perspective. You move with mouse clicks and look down on the game world that your character traverses.
Your character can do this as one of 15 different classes at launch, slaughtering hordes of enemies, building your own island, recruiting NPCs, sailing the seas, fighting in PvP arenas, and so on.
Lost Ark has a lot of content and offers something for every MMORPG fan to invest their time in. The game employs various mechanics to be rewarding for both hardcore and casual players.
Systems that value your time: Many of you may initially think “Oh no, timegates!” – and in principle, you are right. Annoying time restrictions are not very popular in many MMORPGs and are often just a bridge to artificially extended content.
However, Lost Ark simply offers so much content that you can actually be grateful for the timegates, as they ensure that players with little time do not fall behind. Moreover, most of these gates act character-bound in Lost Ark.
Hardcore players can simply create a second character and still access and play more content, while those with little time each day can still keep up.
Additionally, timegates are a good indicator of how much time you should dedicate to various tasks each day or week. This may sound crazy at first, but believe me, a lot of content awaits you and especially as a new player, you can quickly lose track.
But it’s not just the time restrictions that ensure your time feels well invested. Also extremely short match times in PvP and the relatively short 20-minute duration for Guardian Raids is a point that the MMORPG does very well.
Here, the fun or challenge is not diminished; you can even enjoy this content more and they can be more challenging since you can act more focused within such a short duration than is often the case in many other games.
PvP, PvE, Housing, and Role-Play – Lost Ark offers you everything
Why only Lost Ark? MMORPGs consume a lot of time. Many of my friends even tell me that they don’t want to start Lost Ark at all because they have no time for a new MMORPG.
And to be fair, Lost Ark also likes to consume some hours of your time. But if you should sacrifice some of your valuable time for MMORPGs, then it should be for this one.
Many other titles in the genre focus particularly on one aspect of their game and leave others wanting. The all-in-one MMORPG is very rare and games that can really do everything are scarce. And when they do exist, they often require monthly fees, like genre pioneers World of Warcraft or the all-rounder Final Fantasy XIV.
But Lost Ark is exactly that, only free. The MMORPG offers you well-thought-out systems and plenty of fun in absolutely every aspect of a genre title, and especially if you have too little time for a new MMORPG, you should play Lost Ark. Then you really don’t need any other.
And even if you are still playing other MMORPGs, the timegates ensure that you can also play Lost Ark as an additional MMORPG by only focusing on a single task.
What is there to do?
What content can you expect? The vast majority of content in Lost Ark features timegates that help you keep track. However, what you can do is already revealed here.
Instanced content: Going into detail here would go beyond the scope of the article. This includes countless dungeons of various difficulty levels, a tower that you can ascend, raids with tough bosses, a mode where you must survive waves of enemies, and more.
One of the main focuses of the developers is on this content, and you can tell that in the game. So there is quite a lot for you to do.
Open world: The world of Lost Ark encompasses several continents that you can freely explore. This happens in divided areas that come together to form an open world. Here, the focus is on finding collectibles, defeating world bosses, and filling the adventure compendium.
This does not stop at the continents, as sailing on the vast ocean of the MMORPG plays a significant role in the late game. Here, you discover islands, uncover treasures, and embark on new adventures.
Role Play: Lost Ark is a role-playing game at heart. Accordingly, you can also spend a lot of time optimizing your character. Collecting the right equipment and coming up with different skill builds that can be particularly strong in the right situations.
But even beyond that, Lost Ark offers a lot for true role-players. Because the NPCs in the game react to you. With many of them, you can even build a closer bond and invite them to your own island, which you can design and expand yourself.
PvP: Lost Ark can shine in this aspect as well. Because besides the completely normalized arena PvP, which awaits you in various modes, there is even more to experience here.
Even if you are not a fan of climbing the rankings, the MMORPG has even more action in store. You can challenge your friends to free duels in the open world or play matches with your own rules in the arenas.
Guild vs. Guild battles as well as the PvP continent Rowen, which features open-world PvP and gigantic battles with 96 players, are not available at launch. However, these will be added later and expand the PvP repertoire.
Life Skills: Besides all the fighting, Lost Ark has even more up its sleeve, namely the life skills and relaxation moments of the game. You can fish, go treasure hunting, mine stones, and harvest herbs. Hunting wild animals is also part of the life skills.
It’s especially fun to do this together, as felling a tree with a friend goes much faster. Here, you do not compete for resources, but share them.
You can invite your newly made friends to your island, which can accommodate up to 50 people at the same time as a chill-out area.
If you want to play an MMORPG this year, it should be Lost Ark. It values your time and gives you all the means you need to be happy in an MMORPG.
What do you think about it? Will you play Lost Ark or do you think Mark is wrong and that the MMORPG is not worth your time? Feel free to let us know in the comments here at MeinMMO.
By the way, at launch, Lost Ark was called “Moewe Online” in Korea and the reason might disturb you.
