Blue Protocol celebrated its release in Japan on June 14, 2022, and is set to come to the West in 2024. However, the MMORPG is currently under strong criticism. There are discussions about missing content and problems in the endgame. Recently, the developers embarrassed themselves with the presentation of the latest class.
What is going on with Blue Protocol?
- In 2019, the first closed alpha test for the game took place. Since then, we at MeinMMO have regularly reported on Blue Protocol and its progress. It made headlines back then primarily with its stylish anime graphics and action combat system.
- After a rather calm phase between 2020 and 2022, several tests took place in Japan this year, culminating in the release.
- The hype was initially great. The entry looked really good, and the fun combat system led me to describe Blue Protocol as the best MMORPG since 2014 after 12 hours of gameplay.
- However, the longer you play, the more problems and content gaps emerge. Hardcore players criticized this after just two weeks, but now most casual players have reached this point as well.
While the developers are already working on content updates, they are not setting the right priorities here, at least according to players in the forums.
However, the biggest criticism was directed at the presentation of the new class. A video clip was shown without explanations from the developers. They then held a Q&A but were unable to answer many questions. The question arose several times: “Do the developers even play Blue Protocol themselves?”
Hard Grind and Nothing to Do at the End
What are players criticizing? While it is incredibly fun at launch to slash enemies, use jumping attacks, and enter the first dungeons as early as level 4, it becomes clear over time that many elements are simply missing or not functioning.
One example is the taunt in dungeons, through which you often do not get the attention of the enemy. This makes group play difficult because in the end, everyone just plays DPS, and a random person has to somehow survive.
Moreover, Blue Protocol relies on a few skills during battles that you can take along. There is theoretically a large selection that fits into these slots. However, since most of them are rather weak, there is a lack of build diversity. Additionally, Bandai Namco has now announced the nerf of the best skills instead of buffing the weak ones.
Another point of criticism is the grind. Many dungeons must be visited dozens of times to acquire the materials needed for upgrading gear. Since there is absolutely no trading system, you have to earn everything yourself and in the stipulated way.
Lastly, the adventure board is criticized. It is said to be too complicated and “player-unfriendly”. You need to complete numerous tasks to reach new ranks, but tracking them is very cumbersome and urgently needs an upgrade.
From the perspective of the Japanese community, there is also a general lack of content. This includes new dungeons and raids, new areas, but also side aspects such as housing or more incentives to play as a guild.
Moreover, the new event in August did not help. There was no new story; instead, players had to hunt down a ton of goblins and were presented with old dungeons in a new look.
What criticism is there of the shop? Blue Protocol is Free2Play and relies on a gacha system in the shop. While you can only acquire armor skins, emotes, or mounts through it, they can still cost a lot. On Reddit, there are reports that you might need to invest up to 100 euros for a certain emote and up to 500 euros for an armor skin if you’re unlucky.
Bandai Namco has announced the introduction of a guarantee (after 110 attempts), but the number is still considered too high by many.
Weapons tickets, which increase the chance of more gem slots in weapons, and the extraction of gems from weapons are also criticized. Both can be bought for real money in the shop.
Developers Show the New Class but Don’t Know It
What was the problem with the new class? In Dev Stream 10, the developers presented the new class Blitz Lancer. However, there was supposed to be no “in-depth presentation” because the press would take care of that.
Instead, the developers simply played the class for 10 minutes without commenting on it. During the stream, mainly the sounds of the mouse and keyboard could be heard. This caused confusion, especially since the gameplay was not very good, as many players commented.
It got even more bizarre during the concluding Q&A. Players asked questions about the Blitz Lancer, but the developers could not answer many of them. According to translations, many answers were supplemented with sentences like “That’s what the skill does, right? At least I thought so.” Other developers reportedly also answered with “I can’t remember either” at times.
This segment was reportedly a huge disappointment for Japanese players. You can learn more about this and generally about Dev Stream 10 in this video:
What happens next? Blue Protocol is set to receive an update every month and will initially continue to be supplied with new content. The game launched with over 600,000 players, but some have already turned away.
When will the game come to us? Blue Protocol is expected to be released in 2024. By the way, there is still no exact release date for us. Until its release, a lot can change regarding content, and it is also clear that we will not receive the identical shop as in Japan.
What do you think of the current state of the MMORPG? Are you still actively following Blue Protocol?
Amazon also made negative headlines recently regarding censorship in the game: Amazon removes a feature from the new MMORPG Blue Protocol: Acceptable in Japan, not with us.
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