The South Korean MMORPG Lost Ark (PC) has introduced a new raid: The raid will be so ambitious in graphics and mechanics that it will advance the entire MMORPG genre. Every developer and player will take a look at it, says the lead developer. This sounds like a battle cry to Western MMORPGs like The Elder Scrolls (ESO), Final Fantasy XIV, or World of Warcraft (WoW).
This is the situation:
- The MMORPG Lost Ark is already running in Japan, South Korea, and Russia. Lost Ark is also set to come to Europe this autumn: An initial alpha has started, but it is not yet allowed to be publicly reported on.
- In South Korea, Season 2 of the MMORPG is already ongoing, and a major summer update is coming. Smilegate has introduced a new class and, above all, presented a new raid.
- They seem particularly proud of the raid. There is a strong statement from the lead developer: The raid is supposed to advance the entire MMORPG genre.
What kind of raid is this? The raid comes from the new summer update of Lost Ark. The update is called “Astalgia.”
The trailer for the update shows a new class, the Sorceress, who appears to be a classic mage. And a new raid “Abrelldshud,” featuring boss fights against a dragon and a giant monkey.
According to a fan translation (via google.docs), the raid is expected to be released on July 28 and will raise the item level cap. The raid consists of 6 phases and is the longest raid in Lost Ark so far.
We want to grab the attention of every MMO developer and player
This is a statement from a developer about the raid: In the English forum “resetera,” it is stated that the lead designer said about the raid:
“[The raid is] so ambitious. We want to push the graphics and mechanics of MMO raids forward for the entire genre. We want to grab the attention of every MMO developer and player for this raid.”
Lead Developer Lost Ark, (quoted from fan translation ResetEra)
Lost Ark continues to evolve strongly even 3 years after full release
This is what lies behind it: The MMORPG genre seems to have somewhat stagnated in recent years. The last major attempt to “advance raiding in MMORPGs” was probably WildStar, with a focus on more action. However, the MMORPG failed before most players even reached the raid phase.
The other major MMORPG of the last 5 years, Black Desert, did not focus on PvE.
The established “PvE” MMORPGs like Final Fantasy XIV, WoW, or ESO have long found their raid systems. A new MMORPG like Lost Ark, which still seeks to prove itself and has a greater focus on action, could really advance the genre. The isometric perspective allows for other ideas anyway.
In any case, Lost Ark seems to be the most exciting new MMORPG we have seen in the last 5 years. And we can already see: In South Korea, the MMORPG is still being well developed 3 years after its full release. That should give us positive expectations.
93% rate Lost Ark positively on Steam, even though one is not actually allowed to
