The maps not only look pretty but also offer a lot of content. This includes collectibles, like magical sprouts that you can only find by looking closely. I haven’t figured out what exactly happens when you find them all, but the description in the logbook sounded like a reward. 

Monsters on the maps leave behind certain usable items that gradually unlock new background information about the world and important characters. So if you are interested in the lore, it is always worth going back to old areas and farming for such items. 

The only thing that held me back from systematically crawling through the maps was the urge to level up quickly and get new gear.

My highlight in exploration: What I liked most were the mini-bosses and world events that can be found on the maps. The mini-bosses appear quite frequently and have special abilities compared to their normal counterparts. 

They are comparable to the elite enemies from Diablo 3. Some can slow you down, others can poison you or summon explosions. However, they all drop good loot, and it’s really fun to scour the maps for such mini-bosses. 

Then there are also big bosses that appear during random (?) events on the maps. So far, I have only seen one such boss, but he was tough. About 20 players were pounding on him, and it took a while before he was dead. 

In the end, there was a real piñata full of loot and the cool feeling that you just took down a real big chunk.

More on the topic

Lost Ark is getting big updates as MMORPG fans wish

von Irina Moritz

I want to spend more time with NPCs in this game

This is how NPC relationships work: This is another system that turned out to be surprisingly cool. In Lost Ark, you can build relationships with various NPCs:

• You talk to them, 
• give them advice and gifts, 
• do emotes, 
• complete their quests 
• and play music for them. 

This increases your relationship status with them and gives you background info about who they are and how their story progresses, alongside rewards. The first quest line for an NPC was very simple, but also quite funny. 

During the main quest, I met the owner of a large inn. The business lady and powerhouse wanted to learn how to cook properly. Things went as wrong as you might imagine, but it gave me some good laughs. 

On one hand, it’s due to the good Russian localization; on the other hand, the quest was fully synchronized. This gave it a special charm, and the actual fetch quest didn’t feel like one in the end. 

Interestingly, during the conversation, you often had the option to choose between multiple response options, and the NPCs always reacted differently. 

Since then, I try to visit as many NPCs as possible in cities and settlements to see if any of them belong to these relationship NPCs. This is also because the first Korean players during the open beta in 2018 said that this system is well implemented.  

There were also many smaller things that I found really well done:

• Character creator is very detailed and beautiful. Even here, Lost Ark shines, despite its age.
• The story quests provide a good red thread that gradually unlocks various features.
• The Russian localization is really well done. The language is authentic, the translation is solid, and the voice actors sound good.
• Some story quests contain instanced solo battles, which are well staged and spawn a lot of enemies you can hack through.
• Enemy design is very cool, even at lower levels. Lost Ark offers many different types of monsters, all of which look very creative.
• There are treasure maps leading to small hidden solo dungeons. Often at the end, there is a boss and plenty of loot.
• Dungeons are quite funny and have many little gimmicks, but so far, they have always been quite short.

More on the topic

A PC MMORPG is having insane success in Korea – What does that mean for us?

von Alexander Leitsch

Things I didn’t like

Of course, not everything in Lost Ark was joy and sunshine. Several times I was quite annoyed, and at other points, I was disappointed. Here are some aspects that stood out.

The quality of the story

What was the problem with the origin story? The quality of the story initially depends heavily on which class you start with. I was unlucky to choose the mage, whose origin story is really poorly done.

Even though I speak Russian fluently, it was hard to understand what the heck is going on in this game. You are thrown straight into the action without an introduction.

Some demons with a queen I allegedly need to know about, separation between the worlds that has now been broken. A busty woman who doesn’t explain who she is or where she sends me. 

The NPCs are almost all faceless and characterless at first. They had no distinguishing traits. None of them had any relevance to the main story so far. The lack of background information about the NPCs made it seem like they were designed to be “throwaway characters”.

In stark contrast stood the origin story of the hunter. It revolves around an NPC who is your partner and behaves like one. He cares about you, cracks stupid jokes, and feels very human and lovable.

While there is also little information here, it’s not necessary because the story is carried by the characters. If I had started with the hunter, I wouldn’t have had to be annoyed for 2-3 hours about the mage story.

And what about the main story? The first interesting characters and elements of the main story appeared around level 13-15. It’s also about that level range when the game starts to tell you more about the world. How it works, what its history is, and why players are actually searching for this Ark that gave the MMORPG its name. 

I was actually happy to listen and let the lore wash over me. However, the beginning presents you with a very simplistic fantasy setting: “You – good. The demons – evil. Now go and kill something.”

When Lost Ark had its soft launch in Korea, players reported that certain quest lines became really cool around level 30. And now that the story is gaining momentum, I hope my expectations will be met. 

The amount of side quests

This was the problem with the side quests: I never thought I would be thirsting for fetch and side quests in an MMORPG. MMORPG players are used to facing a forest of exclamation marks when entering a new zone. Especially at the beginning, side quests help with leveling and are also a source for new equipment.

Lost Ark, on the other hand, is really stingy when it comes to side quests. In the first large city you enter, you receive about 5 side quests. And some of them must first be unlocked. 

On higher levels, it didn’t get better; per map there were only a handful of side quests, if any. I felt like I was on withdrawal. 

However, one must also say that they are not actually that necessary from a gameplay perspective in Lost Ark. Enemies give quite a lot of EXP, and you get armor through drops. 

For me, the main reason for side quests was more the desire to learn more about the game world and lore. While that is slowly ramping up, I would love to see more.

More on the topic

How is the best MMORPG that we cannot play?

von Andreas Bertits

Other things I thought were bad included:

• Gender-lock: Give me my female demon hunter! 
• At the beginning, there is really little equipment and also no shops where you could buy it. The gear spiral only gains momentum after a few levels. 
• The enemy density could be higher. Both in the open world and in dungeons.

As you can see, the negative points have the potential to improve at higher levels or are purely a matter of taste. I can well imagine that some of you will be glad to not have to do any silly fetch quests.

Now I want even more for it to come to Europe

At first, it was hard for me to pinpoint exactly why Lost Ark pulled me in. As mentioned above, it’s not a groundbreaking innovative game. Most features have been seen in other games before. 

But the way Lost Ark implements and utilizes those features is impressive. The mixture is cohesive, and the successful loot spiral makes you crave more.

I didn’t know which elements of the game to check out first. Everything looked good and was fun.

It is also by far one of the best polished MMORPGs I have played:

• I didn’t encounter any bugs or other problems,
• no stuttering or pop-ins,
• the graphics still look nice for such an old game,
• and the textures remain sharp even when zoomed in.

Even though I couldn’t test all the features of Lost Ark, I definitely want more. There is hope that the MMORPG will eventually make it to us in Europe.

More on the topic

Is the release of Lost Ark finally coming to Europe in 2020? – That is what the developers say

von Irina Moritz

How necessary the boost items will be in the endgame is still hard to say for me. But the beginning was at least a pleasant surprise.

Gameplay is just as expected

This is how Lost Ark plays: I started with the Arcana, as promised. The melee mage plays exactly as I expected her to. She is fast and fun, but you have to time her attacks well because as a cloth user, she takes a beating if you’re not careful. 

The abilities feel good and have a lot of impact, even for mage classes. It’s really satisfying to debuff a horde of enemies with cards, then stun them and finally launch them all into the air with a finisher move. 

You also have the option to customize your abilities as you level up. Every level-up gives you 5 points to distribute among the active skills. This unlocks augmentations like:

• Higher crit chance
• Shorter cooldown
• Higher range
• More damage
• Stronger shields
• Longer stun effect

And many more. Unfortunately, I haven’t progressed far in the skill list because with increasing levels, more points are needed for unlocking.

The list of passive abilities and augmentations gives the impression that a class can indeed have a wide variety of skill builds. Especially since the stats are very versatile and you can boost them through the armors.

Loot spiral serves its purpose

This is how equipment works in Lost Ark: I played for quite a while without being able to pinpoint exactly what kept me engaged in the game. Although the combat system is fun, it was the loot spiral that sucked me right in. 

Equipment is mostly obtained from enemies or quests. There are no surprises here either: each piece of armor has an item level. Higher item level = better stats. The stats seem to be mostly randomly generated.

NPC shops are scarce, and to buy anything there, you have to sell your liver, kidney, and a lung first. Then you might have enough money for a shoe. 

But I must say that it makes it more enjoyable this way. At least at the beginning, you are not dependent on grinding money to be able to afford new stuff. The drop rates from the enemies on the map are quite high and seem to increase as you level up. 

That’s why I couldn’t stop: After several hours of playing, I suddenly realized that I had run away from the main quest of the game. The loot spiral continuously led me into areas where tougher enemies dropped better stuff. They also left behind special currency that you could exchange for new armor. There was continuously more loot.

The whole process was so fluid and natural that I completely forgot everything else in the game for some time. So it served its purpose well. 

My hope here is that both the combat system and the loot spiral remain fun at higher levels and in the endgame.

The little things make a big difference

This is why exploring the maps was so much fun: Interestingly, it was the many small things on the map that contributed a significant part to my enjoyment of the game. There are a lot of maps, and they look nice. 

You might think that the isometric perspective gives developers options to cut corners: save development time here and there and not design the assets beautifully and in detail, since no one notices from a distance anyway. 

But that is not the case. The world of Lost Ark is very beautiful and diverse. The textures are sharp, and the colors are saturated. This actually surprised me, considering that Lost Ark has been in development for over 5 years and is technically an older game. 

The maps not only look pretty but also offer a lot of content. This includes collectibles, like magical sprouts that you can only find by looking closely. I haven’t figured out what exactly happens when you find them all, but the description in the logbook sounded like a reward. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Monsters on the maps leave behind certain usable items that gradually unlock new background information about the world and important characters. So if you are interested in the lore, it is always worth going back to old areas and farming for such items. 

The only thing that held me back from systematically crawling through the maps was the urge to level up quickly and get new gear.

My highlight in exploration: What I liked most were the mini-bosses and world events that can be found on the maps. The mini-bosses appear quite frequently and have special abilities compared to their normal counterparts. 

They are comparable to the elite enemies from Diablo 3. Some can slow you down, others can poison you or summon explosions. However, they all drop good loot, and it’s really fun to scour the maps for such mini-bosses. 

Then there are also big bosses that appear during random (?) events on the maps. So far, I have only seen one such boss, but he was tough. About 20 players were pounding on him, and it took a while before he was dead. 

In the end, there was a real piñata full of loot and the cool feeling that you just took down a real big chunk.

I want to spend more time with NPCs in this game

This is how NPC relationships work: This is another system that turned out to be surprisingly cool. In Lost Ark, you can build relationships with various NPCs:

• You talk to them, 
• give them advice and gifts, 
• do emotes, 
• complete their quests 
• and play music for them. 

This increases your relationship status with them and gives you background info about who they are and how their story progresses, alongside rewards. The first quest line for an NPC was very simple, but also quite funny. 

During the main quest, I met the owner of a large inn. The business lady and powerhouse wanted to learn how to cook properly. Things went as wrong as you might imagine, but it gave me some good laughs. 

On one hand, it’s due to the good Russian localization; on the other hand, the quest was fully synchronized. This gave it a special charm, and the actual fetch quest didn’t feel like one in the end. 

Interestingly, during the conversation, you often had the option to choose between multiple response options, and the NPCs always reacted differently. 

Since then, I try to visit as many NPCs as possible in cities and settlements to see if any of them belong to these relationship NPCs. This is also because the first Korean players during the open beta in 2018 said that this system is well implemented.  

There were also many smaller things that I found really well done:

• Character creator is very detailed and beautiful. Even here, Lost Ark shines, despite its age.
• The story quests provide a good red thread that gradually unlocks various features.
• The Russian localization is really well done. The language is authentic, the translation is solid, and the voice actors sound good.
• Some story quests contain instanced solo battles, which are well staged and spawn a lot of enemies you can hack through.
• Enemy design is very cool, even at lower levels. Lost Ark offers many different types of monsters, all of which look very creative.
• There are treasure maps leading to small hidden solo dungeons. Often at the end, there is a boss and plenty of loot.
• Dungeons are quite funny and have many little gimmicks, but so far, they have always been quite short.

Things I didn’t like

Of course, not everything in Lost Ark was joy and sunshine. Several times I was quite annoyed, and at other points, I was disappointed. Here are some aspects that stood out.

The quality of the story

What was the problem with the origin story? The quality of the story initially depends heavily on which class you start with. I was unlucky to choose the mage, whose origin story is really poorly done.

Even though I speak Russian fluently, it was hard to understand what the heck is going on in this game. You are thrown straight into the action without an introduction.

Some demons with a queen I allegedly need to know about, separation between the worlds that has now been broken. A busty woman who doesn’t explain who she is or where she sends me. 

The NPCs are almost all faceless and characterless at first. They had no distinguishing traits. None of them had any relevance to the main story so far. The lack of background information about the NPCs made it seem like they were designed to be “throwaway characters”.

In stark contrast stood the origin story of the hunter. It revolves around an NPC who is your partner and behaves like one. He cares about you, cracks stupid jokes, and feels very human and lovable.

While there is also little information here, it’s not necessary because the story is carried by the characters. If I had started with the hunter, I wouldn’t have had to be annoyed for 2-3 hours about the mage story.

And what about the main story? The first interesting characters and elements of the main story appeared around level 13-15. It’s also about that level range when the game starts to tell you more about the world. How it works, what its history is, and why players are actually searching for this Ark that gave the MMORPG its name. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I was actually happy to listen and let the lore wash over me. However, the beginning presents you with a very simplistic fantasy setting: “You – good. The demons – evil. Now go and kill something.”

When Lost Ark had its soft launch in Korea, players reported that certain quest lines became really cool around level 30. And now that the story is gaining momentum, I hope my expectations will be met. 

The amount of side quests

This was the problem with the side quests: I never thought I would be thirsting for fetch and side quests in an MMORPG. MMORPG players are used to facing a forest of exclamation marks when entering a new zone. Especially at the beginning, side quests help with leveling and are also a source for new equipment.

Lost Ark, on the other hand, is really stingy when it comes to side quests. In the first large city you enter, you receive about 5 side quests. And some of them must first be unlocked. 

On higher levels, it didn’t get better; per map there were only a handful of side quests, if any. I felt like I was on withdrawal. 

However, one must also say that they are not actually that necessary from a gameplay perspective in Lost Ark. Enemies give quite a lot of EXP, and you get armor through drops. 

For me, the main reason for side quests was more the desire to learn more about the game world and lore. While that is slowly ramping up, I would love to see more.

Other things I thought were bad included:

• Gender-lock: Give me my female demon hunter! 
• At the beginning, there is really little equipment and also no shops where you could buy it. The gear spiral only gains momentum after a few levels. 
• The enemy density could be higher. Both in the open world and in dungeons.

As you can see, the negative points have the potential to improve at higher levels or are purely a matter of taste. I can well imagine that some of you will be glad to not have to do any silly fetch quests.

Now I want even more for it to come to Europe

At first, it was hard for me to pinpoint exactly why Lost Ark pulled me in. As mentioned above, it’s not a groundbreaking innovative game. Most features have been seen in other games before. 

But the way Lost Ark implements and utilizes those features is impressive. The mixture is cohesive, and the successful loot spiral makes you crave more.

I didn’t know which elements of the game to check out first. Everything looked good and was fun.

It is also by far one of the best polished MMORPGs I have played:

• I didn’t encounter any bugs or other problems,
• no stuttering or pop-ins,
• the graphics still look nice for such an old game,
• and the textures remain sharp even when zoomed in.

Even though I couldn’t test all the features of Lost Ark, I definitely want more. There is hope that the MMORPG will eventually make it to us in Europe.

In the end, there was a real piñata full of loot and the cool feeling that you just took down a real big chunk.

I want to spend more time with NPCs in this game

This is how NPC relationships work: This is another system that turned out to be surprisingly cool. In Lost Ark, you can build relationships with various NPCs:

• You talk to them, 
• give them advice and gifts, 
• do emotes, 
• complete their quests 
• and play music for them. 

This increases your relationship status with them and gives you background info about who they are and how their story progresses, alongside rewards. The first quest line for an NPC was very simple, but also quite funny. 

During the main quest, I met the owner of a large inn. The business lady and powerhouse wanted to learn how to cook properly. Things went as wrong as you might imagine, but it gave me some good laughs. 

On one hand, it’s due to the good Russian localization; on the other hand, the quest was fully synchronized. This gave it a special charm, and the actual fetch quest didn’t feel like one in the end. 

Interestingly, during the conversation, you often had the option to choose between multiple response options, and the NPCs always reacted differently. 

Since then, I try to visit as many NPCs as possible in cities and settlements to see if any of them belong to these relationship NPCs. This is also because the first Korean players during the open beta in 2018 said that this system is well implemented.  

There were also many smaller things that I found really well done:

• Character creator is very detailed and beautiful. Even here, Lost Ark shines, despite its age.
• The story quests provide a good red thread that gradually unlocks various features.
• The Russian localization is really well done. The language is authentic, the translation is solid, and the voice actors sound good.
• Some story quests contain instanced solo battles, which are well staged and spawn a lot of enemies you can hack through.
• Enemy design is very cool, even at lower levels. Lost Ark offers many different types of monsters, all of which look very creative.
• There are treasure maps leading to small hidden solo dungeons. Often at the end, there is a boss and plenty of loot.
• Dungeons are quite funny and have many little gimmicks, but so far, they have always been quite short.

Things I didn’t like

Of course, not everything in Lost Ark was joy and sunshine. Several times I was quite annoyed, and at other points, I was disappointed. Here are some aspects that stood out.

The quality of the story

What was the problem with the origin story? The quality of the story initially depends heavily on which class you start with. I was unlucky to choose the mage, whose origin story is really poorly done.

Even though I speak Russian fluently, it was hard to understand what the heck is going on in this game. You are thrown straight into the action without an introduction.

Some demons with a queen I allegedly need to know about, separation between the worlds that has now been broken. A busty woman who doesn’t explain who she is or where she sends me. 

The NPCs are almost all faceless and characterless at first. They had no distinguishing traits. None of them had any relevance to the main story so far. The lack of background information about the NPCs made it seem like they were designed to be “throwaway characters”.

In stark contrast stood the origin story of the hunter. It revolves around an NPC who is your partner and behaves like one. He cares about you, cracks stupid jokes, and feels very human and lovable.

While there is also little information here, it’s not necessary because the story is carried by the characters. If I had started with the hunter, I wouldn’t have had to be annoyed for 2-3 hours about the mage story.

And what about the main story? The first interesting characters and elements of the main story appeared around level 13-15. It’s also about that level range when the game starts to tell you more about the world. How it works, what its history is, and why players are actually searching for this Ark that gave the MMORPG its name. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I was actually happy to listen and let the lore wash over me. However, the beginning presents you with a very simplistic fantasy setting: “You – good. The demons – evil. Now go and kill something.”

When Lost Ark had its soft launch in Korea, players reported that certain quest lines became really cool around level 30. And now that the story is gaining momentum, I hope my expectations will be met. 

The amount of side quests

This was the problem with the side quests: I never thought I would be thirsting for fetch and side quests in an MMORPG. MMORPG players are used to facing a forest of exclamation marks when entering a new zone. Especially at the beginning, side quests help with leveling and are also a source for new equipment.

Lost Ark, on the other hand, is really stingy when it comes to side quests. In the first large city you enter, you receive about 5 side quests. And some of them must first be unlocked. 

On higher levels, it didn’t get better; per map there were only a handful of side quests, if any. I felt like I was on withdrawal. 

However, one must also say that they are not actually that necessary from a gameplay perspective in Lost Ark. Enemies give quite a lot of EXP, and you get armor through drops. 

For me, the main reason for side quests was more the desire to learn more about the game world and lore. While that is slowly ramping up, I would love to see more.

Other things I thought were bad included:

• Gender-lock: Give me my female demon hunter! 
• At the beginning, there is really little equipment and also no shops where you could buy it. The gear spiral only gains momentum after a few levels. 
• The enemy density could be higher. Both in the open world and in dungeons.

As you can see, the negative points have the potential to improve at higher levels or are purely a matter of taste. I can well imagine that some of you will be glad to not have to do any silly fetch quests.

Now I want even more for it to come to Europe

At first, it was hard for me to pinpoint exactly why Lost Ark pulled me in. As mentioned above, it’s not a groundbreaking innovative game. Most features have been seen in other games before. 

But the way Lost Ark implements and utilizes those features is impressive. The mixture is cohesive, and the successful loot spiral makes you crave more.

I didn’t know which elements of the game to check out first. Everything looked good and was fun.

It is also by far one of the best polished MMORPGs I have played:

• I didn’t encounter any bugs or other problems,
• no stuttering or pop-ins,
• the graphics still look nice for such an old game,
• and the textures remain sharp even when zoomed in.

Even though I couldn’t test all the features of Lost Ark, I definitely want more. There is hope that the MMORPG will eventually make it to us in Europe.

How necessary the boost items will be in the endgame is still hard to say for me. But the beginning was at least a pleasant surprise.

Gameplay is just as expected

This is how Lost Ark plays: I started with the Arcana, as promised. The melee mage plays exactly as I expected her to. She is fast and fun, but you have to time her attacks well because as a cloth user, she takes a beating if you’re not careful. 

The abilities feel good and have a lot of impact, even for mage classes. It’s really satisfying to debuff a horde of enemies with cards, then stun them and finally launch them all into the air with a finisher move. 

You also have the option to customize your abilities as you level up. Every level-up gives you 5 points to distribute among the active skills. This unlocks augmentations like:

• Higher crit chance
• Shorter cooldown
• Higher range
• More damage
• Stronger shields
• Longer stun effect

And many more. Unfortunately, I haven’t progressed far in the skill list because with increasing levels, more points are needed for unlocking.

The list of passive abilities and augmentations gives the impression that a class can indeed have a wide variety of skill builds. Especially since the stats are very versatile and you can boost them through the armors.

Loot spiral serves its purpose

This is how equipment works in Lost Ark: I played for quite a while without being able to pinpoint exactly what kept me engaged in the game. Although the combat system is fun, it was the loot spiral that sucked me right in. 

Equipment is mostly obtained from enemies or quests. There are no surprises here either: each piece of armor has an item level. Higher item level = better stats. The stats seem to be mostly randomly generated.

NPC shops are scarce, and to buy anything there, you have to sell your liver, kidney, and a lung first. Then you might have enough money for a shoe. 

But I must say that it makes it more enjoyable this way. At least at the beginning, you are not dependent on grinding money to be able to afford new stuff. The drop rates from the enemies on the map are quite high and seem to increase as you level up. 

That’s why I couldn’t stop: After several hours of playing, I suddenly realized that I had run away from the main quest of the game. The loot spiral continuously led me into areas where tougher enemies dropped better stuff. They also left behind special currency that you could exchange for new armor. There was continuously more loot.

The whole process was so fluid and natural that I completely forgot everything else in the game for some time. So it served its purpose well. 

My hope here is that both the combat system and the loot spiral remain fun at higher levels and in the endgame.

The little things make a big difference

This is why exploring the maps was so much fun: Interestingly, it was the many small things on the map that contributed a significant part to my enjoyment of the game. There are a lot of maps, and they look nice. 

You might think that the isometric perspective gives developers options to cut corners: save development time here and there and not design the assets beautifully and in detail, since no one notices from a distance anyway. 

But that is not the case. The world of Lost Ark is very beautiful and diverse. The textures are sharp, and the colors are saturated. This actually surprised me, considering that Lost Ark has been in development for over 5 years and is technically an older game. 

The maps not only look pretty but also offer a lot of content. This includes collectibles, like magical sprouts that you can only find by looking closely. I haven’t figured out what exactly happens when you find them all, but the description in the logbook sounded like a reward. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Monsters on the maps leave behind certain usable items that gradually unlock new background information about the world and important characters. So if you are interested in the lore, it is always worth going back to old areas and farming for such items. 

The only thing that held me back from systematically crawling through the maps was the urge to level up quickly and get new gear.

My highlight in exploration: What I liked most were the mini-bosses and world events that can be found on the maps. The mini-bosses appear quite frequently and have special abilities compared to their normal counterparts. 

They are comparable to the elite enemies from Diablo 3. Some can slow you down, others can poison you or summon explosions. However, they all drop good loot, and it’s really fun to scour the maps for such mini-bosses. 

Then there are also big bosses that appear during random (?) events on the maps. So far, I have only seen one such boss, but he was tough. About 20 players were pounding on him, and it took a while before he was dead. 

In the end, there was a real piñata full of loot and the cool feeling that you just took down a real big chunk.

I want to spend more time with NPCs in this game

This is how NPC relationships work: This is another system that turned out to be surprisingly cool. In Lost Ark, you can build relationships with various NPCs:

• You talk to them, 
• give them advice and gifts, 
• do emotes, 
• complete their quests 
• and play music for them. 

This increases your relationship status with them and gives you background info about who they are and how their story progresses, alongside rewards. The first quest line for an NPC was very simple, but also quite funny. 

During the main quest, I met the owner of a large inn. The business lady and powerhouse wanted to learn how to cook properly. Things went as wrong as you might imagine, but it gave me some good laughs. 

On one hand, it’s due to the good Russian localization; on the other hand, the quest was fully synchronized. This gave it a special charm, and the actual fetch quest didn’t feel like one in the end. 

Interestingly, during the conversation, you often had the option to choose between multiple response options, and the NPCs always reacted differently. 

Since then, I try to visit as many NPCs as possible in cities and settlements to see if any of them belong to these relationship NPCs. This is also because the first Korean players during the open beta in 2018 said that this system is well implemented.  

There were also many smaller things that I found really well done:

• Character creator is very detailed and beautiful. Even here, Lost Ark shines, despite its age.
• The story quests provide a good red thread that gradually unlocks various features.
• The Russian localization is really well done. The language is authentic, the translation is solid, and the voice actors sound good.
• Some story quests contain instanced solo battles, which are well staged and spawn a lot of enemies you can hack through.
• Enemy design is very cool, even at lower levels. Lost Ark offers many different types of monsters, all of which look very creative.
• There are treasure maps leading to small hidden solo dungeons. Often at the end, there is a boss and plenty of loot.
• Dungeons are quite funny and have many little gimmicks, but so far, they have always been quite short.

Things I didn’t like

Of course, not everything in Lost Ark was joy and sunshine. Several times I was quite annoyed, and at other points, I was disappointed. Here are some aspects that stood out.

The quality of the story

What was the problem with the origin story? The quality of the story initially depends heavily on which class you start with. I was unlucky to choose the mage, whose origin story is really poorly done.

Even though I speak Russian fluently, it was hard to understand what the heck is going on in this game. You are thrown straight into the action without an introduction.

Some demons with a queen I allegedly need to know about, separation between the worlds that has now been broken. A busty woman who doesn’t explain who she is or where she sends me. 

The NPCs are almost all faceless and characterless at first. They had no distinguishing traits. None of them had any relevance to the main story so far. The lack of background information about the NPCs made it seem like they were designed to be “throwaway characters”.

In stark contrast stood the origin story of the hunter. It revolves around an NPC who is your partner and behaves like one. He cares about you, cracks stupid jokes, and feels very human and lovable.

While there is also little information here, it’s not necessary because the story is carried by the characters. If I had started with the hunter, I wouldn’t have had to be annoyed for 2-3 hours about the mage story.

And what about the main story? The first interesting characters and elements of the main story appeared around level 13-15. It’s also about that level range when the game starts to tell you more about the world. How it works, what its history is, and why players are actually searching for this Ark that gave the MMORPG its name. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I was actually happy to listen and let the lore wash over me. However, the beginning presents you with a very simplistic fantasy setting: “You – good. The demons – evil. Now go and kill something.”

When Lost Ark had its soft launch in Korea, players reported that certain quest lines became really cool around level 30. And now that the story is gaining momentum, I hope my expectations will be met. 

The amount of side quests

This was the problem with the side quests: I never thought I would be thirsting for fetch and side quests in an MMORPG. MMORPG players are used to facing a forest of exclamation marks when entering a new zone. Especially at the beginning, side quests help with leveling and are also a source for new equipment.

Lost Ark, on the other hand, is really stingy when it comes to side quests. In the first large city you enter, you receive about 5 side quests. And some of them must first be unlocked. 

On higher levels, it didn’t get better; per map there were only a handful of side quests, if any. I felt like I was on withdrawal. 

However, one must also say that they are not actually that necessary from a gameplay perspective in Lost Ark. Enemies give quite a lot of EXP, and you get armor through drops. 

For me, the main reason for side quests was more the desire to learn more about the game world and lore. While that is slowly ramping up, I would love to see more.

Other things I thought were bad included:

• Gender-lock: Give me my female demon hunter! 
• At the beginning, there is really little equipment and also no shops where you could buy it. The gear spiral only gains momentum after a few levels. 
• The enemy density could be higher. Both in the open world and in dungeons.

As you can see, the negative points have the potential to improve at higher levels or are purely a matter of taste. I can well imagine that some of you will be glad to not have to do any silly fetch quests.

Now I want even more for it to come to Europe

At first, it was hard for me to pinpoint exactly why Lost Ark pulled me in. As mentioned above, it’s not a groundbreaking innovative game. Most features have been seen in other games before. 

But the way Lost Ark implements and utilizes those features is impressive. The mixture is cohesive, and the successful loot spiral makes you crave more.

I didn’t know which elements of the game to check out first. Everything looked good and was fun.

It is also by far one of the best polished MMORPGs I have played:

• I didn’t encounter any bugs or other problems,
• no stuttering or pop-ins,
• the graphics still look nice for such an old game,
• and the textures remain sharp even when zoomed in.

Even though I couldn’t test all the features of Lost Ark, I definitely want more. There is hope that the MMORPG will eventually make it to us in Europe.

The maps not only look pretty but also offer a lot of content. This includes collectibles, like magical sprouts that you can only find by looking closely. I haven’t figured out what exactly happens when you find them all, but the description in the logbook sounded like a reward. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Monsters on the maps leave behind certain usable items that gradually unlock new background information about the world and important characters. So if you are interested in the lore, it is always worth going back to old areas and farming for such items. 

The only thing that held me back from systematically crawling through the maps was the urge to level up quickly and get new gear.

My highlight in exploration: What I liked most were the mini-bosses and world events that can be found on the maps. The mini-bosses appear quite frequently and have special abilities compared to their normal counterparts. 

They are comparable to the elite enemies from Diablo 3. Some can slow you down, others can poison you or summon explosions. However, they all drop good loot, and it’s really fun to scour the maps for such mini-bosses. 

Then there are also big bosses that appear during random (?) events on the maps. So far, I have only seen one such boss, but he was tough. About 20 players were pounding on him, and it took a while before he was dead. 

In the end, there was a real piñata full of loot and the cool feeling that you just took down a real big chunk.

I want to spend more time with NPCs in this game

This is how NPC relationships work: This is another system that turned out to be surprisingly cool. In Lost Ark, you can build relationships with various NPCs:

• You talk to them, 
• give them advice and gifts, 
• do emotes, 
• complete their quests 
• and play music for them. 

This increases your relationship status with them and gives you background info about who they are and how their story progresses, alongside rewards. The first quest line for an NPC was very simple, but also quite funny. 

During the main quest, I met the owner of a large inn. The business lady and powerhouse wanted to learn how to cook properly. Things went as wrong as you might imagine, but it gave me some good laughs. 

On one hand, it’s due to the good Russian localization; on the other hand, the quest was fully synchronized. This gave it a special charm, and the actual fetch quest didn’t feel like one in the end. 

Interestingly, during the conversation, you often had the option to choose between multiple response options, and the NPCs always reacted differently. 

Since then, I try to visit as many NPCs as possible in cities and settlements to see if any of them belong to these relationship NPCs. This is also because the first Korean players during the open beta in 2018 said that this system is well implemented.  

There were also many smaller things that I found really well done:

• Character creator is very detailed and beautiful. Even here, Lost Ark shines, despite its age.
• The story quests provide a good red thread that gradually unlocks various features.
• The Russian localization is really well done. The language is authentic, the translation is solid, and the voice actors sound good.
• Some story quests contain instanced solo battles, which are well staged and spawn a lot of enemies you can hack through.
• Enemy design is very cool, even at lower levels. Lost Ark offers many different types of monsters, all of which look very creative.
• There are treasure maps leading to small hidden solo dungeons. Often at the end, there is a boss and plenty of loot.
• Dungeons are quite funny and have many little gimmicks, but so far, they have always been quite short.

Things I didn’t like

Of course, not everything in Lost Ark was joy and sunshine. Several times I was quite annoyed, and at other points, I was disappointed. Here are some aspects that stood out.

The quality of the story

What was the problem with the origin story? The quality of the story initially depends heavily on which class you start with. I was unlucky to choose the mage, whose origin story is really poorly done.

Even though I speak Russian fluently, it was hard to understand what the heck is going on in this game. You are thrown straight into the action without an introduction.

Some demons with a queen I allegedly need to know about, separation between the worlds that has now been broken. A busty woman who doesn’t explain who she is or where she sends me. 

The NPCs are almost all faceless and characterless at first. They had no distinguishing traits. None of them had any relevance to the main story so far. The lack of background information about the NPCs made it seem like they were designed to be “throwaway characters”.

In stark contrast stood the origin story of the hunter. It revolves around an NPC who is your partner and behaves like one. He cares about you, cracks stupid jokes, and feels very human and lovable.

While there is also little information here, it’s not necessary because the story is carried by the characters. If I had started with the hunter, I wouldn’t have had to be annoyed for 2-3 hours about the mage story.

And what about the main story? The first interesting characters and elements of the main story appeared around level 13-15. It’s also about that level range when the game starts to tell you more about the world. How it works, what its history is, and why players are actually searching for this Ark that gave the MMORPG its name. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I was actually happy to listen and let the lore wash over me. However, the beginning presents you with a very simplistic fantasy setting: “You – good. The demons – evil. Now go and kill something.”

When Lost Ark had its soft launch in Korea, players reported that certain quest lines became really cool around level 30. And now that the story is gaining momentum, I hope my expectations will be met. 

The amount of side quests

This was the problem with the side quests: I never thought I would be thirsting for fetch and side quests in an MMORPG. MMORPG players are used to facing a forest of exclamation marks when entering a new zone. Especially at the beginning, side quests help with leveling and are also a source for new equipment.

Lost Ark, on the other hand, is really stingy when it comes to side quests. In the first large city you enter, you receive about 5 side quests. And some of them must first be unlocked. 

On higher levels, it didn’t get better; per map there were only a handful of side quests, if any. I felt like I was on withdrawal. 

However, one must also say that they are not actually that necessary from a gameplay perspective in Lost Ark. Enemies give quite a lot of EXP, and you get armor through drops. 

For me, the main reason for side quests was more the desire to learn more about the game world and lore. While that is slowly ramping up, I would love to see more.

Other things I thought were bad included:

• Gender-lock: Give me my female demon hunter! 
• At the beginning, there is really little equipment and also no shops where you could buy it. The gear spiral only gains momentum after a few levels. 
• The enemy density could be higher. Both in the open world and in dungeons.

As you can see, the negative points have the potential to improve at higher levels or are purely a matter of taste. I can well imagine that some of you will be glad to not have to do any silly fetch quests.

Now I want even more for it to come to Europe

At first, it was hard for me to pinpoint exactly why Lost Ark pulled me in. As mentioned above, it’s not a groundbreaking innovative game. Most features have been seen in other games before. 

But the way Lost Ark implements and utilizes those features is impressive. The mixture is cohesive, and the successful loot spiral makes you crave more.

I didn’t know which elements of the game to check out first. Everything looked good and was fun.

It is also by far one of the best polished MMORPGs I have played:

• I didn’t encounter any bugs or other problems,
• no stuttering or pop-ins,
• the graphics still look nice for such an old game,
• and the textures remain sharp even when zoomed in.

Even though I couldn’t test all the features of Lost Ark, I definitely want more. There is hope that the MMORPG will eventually make it to us in Europe.

How necessary the boost items will be in the endgame is still hard to say for me. But the beginning was at least a pleasant surprise.

Gameplay is just as expected

This is how Lost Ark plays: I started with the Arcana, as promised. The melee mage plays exactly as I expected her to. She is fast and fun, but you have to time her attacks well because as a cloth user, she takes a beating if you’re not careful. 

The abilities feel good and have a lot of impact, even for mage classes. It’s really satisfying to debuff a horde of enemies with cards, then stun them and finally launch them all into the air with a finisher move. 

You also have the option to customize your abilities as you level up. Every level-up gives you 5 points to distribute among the active skills. This unlocks augmentations like:

• Higher crit chance
• Shorter cooldown
• Higher range
• More damage
• Stronger shields
• Longer stun effect

And many more. Unfortunately, I haven’t progressed far in the skill list because with increasing levels, more points are needed for unlocking.

The list of passive abilities and augmentations gives the impression that a class can indeed have a wide variety of skill builds. Especially since the stats are very versatile and you can boost them through the armors.

Loot spiral serves its purpose

This is how equipment works in Lost Ark: I played for quite a while without being able to pinpoint exactly what kept me engaged in the game. Although the combat system is fun, it was the loot spiral that sucked me right in. 

Equipment is mostly obtained from enemies or quests. There are no surprises here either: each piece of armor has an item level. Higher item level = better stats. The stats seem to be mostly randomly generated.

NPC shops are scarce, and to buy anything there, you have to sell your liver, kidney, and a lung first. Then you might have enough money for a shoe. 

But I must say that it makes it more enjoyable this way. At least at the beginning, you are not dependent on grinding money to be able to afford new stuff. The drop rates from the enemies on the map are quite high and seem to increase as you level up. 

That’s why I couldn’t stop: After several hours of playing, I suddenly realized that I had run away from the main quest of the game. The loot spiral continuously led me into areas where tougher enemies dropped better stuff. They also left behind special currency that you could exchange for new armor. There was continuously more loot.

The whole process was so fluid and natural that I completely forgot everything else in the game for some time. So it served its purpose well. 

My hope here is that both the combat system and the loot spiral remain fun at higher levels and in the endgame.

The little things make a big difference

This is why exploring the maps was so much fun: Interestingly, it was the many small things on the map that contributed a significant part to my enjoyment of the game. There are a lot of maps, and they look nice. 

You might think that the isometric perspective gives developers options to cut corners: save development time here and there and not design the assets beautifully and in detail, since no one notices from a distance anyway. 

But that is not the case. The world of Lost Ark is very beautiful and diverse. The textures are sharp, and the colors are saturated. This actually surprised me, considering that Lost Ark has been in development for over 5 years and is technically an older game. 

The maps not only look pretty but also offer a lot of content. This includes collectibles, like magical sprouts that you can only find by looking closely. I haven’t figured out what exactly happens when you find them all, but the description in the logbook sounded like a reward. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Monsters on the maps leave behind certain usable items that gradually unlock new background information about the world and important characters. So if you are interested in the lore, it is always worth going back to old areas and farming for such items. 

The only thing that held me back from systematically crawling through the maps was the urge to level up quickly and get new gear.

My highlight in exploration: What I liked most were the mini-bosses and world events that can be found on the maps. The mini-bosses appear quite frequently and have special abilities compared to their normal counterparts. 

They are comparable to the elite enemies from Diablo 3. Some can slow you down, others can poison you or summon explosions. However, they all drop good loot, and it’s really fun to scour the maps for such mini-bosses. 

Then there are also big bosses that appear during random (?) events on the maps. So far, I have only seen one such boss, but he was tough. About 20 players were pounding on him, and it took a while before he was dead. 

In the end, there was a real piñata full of loot and the cool feeling that you just took down a real big chunk.

I want to spend more time with NPCs in this game

This is how NPC relationships work: This is another system that turned out to be surprisingly cool. In Lost Ark, you can build relationships with various NPCs:

• You talk to them, 
• give them advice and gifts, 
• do emotes, 
• complete their quests 
• and play music for them. 

This increases your relationship status with them and gives you background info about who they are and how their story progresses, alongside rewards. The first quest line for an NPC was very simple, but also quite funny. 

During the main quest, I met the owner of a large inn. The business lady and powerhouse wanted to learn how to cook properly. Things went as wrong as you might imagine, but it gave me some good laughs. 

On one hand, it’s due to the good Russian localization; on the other hand, the quest was fully synchronized. This gave it a special charm, and the actual fetch quest didn’t feel like one in the end. 

Interestingly, during the conversation, you often had the option to choose between multiple response options, and the NPCs always reacted differently. 

Since then, I try to visit as many NPCs as possible in cities and settlements to see if any of them belong to these relationship NPCs. This is also because the first Korean players during the open beta in 2018 said that this system is well implemented.  

There were also many smaller things that I found really well done:

• Character creator is very detailed and beautiful. Even here, Lost Ark shines, despite its age.
• The story quests provide a good red thread that gradually unlocks various features.
• The Russian localization is really well done. The language is authentic, the translation is solid, and the voice actors sound good.
• Some story quests contain instanced solo battles, which are well staged and spawn a lot of enemies you can hack through.
• Enemy design is very cool, even at lower levels. Lost Ark offers many different types of monsters, all of which look very creative.
• There are treasure maps leading to small hidden solo dungeons. Often at the end, there is a boss and plenty of loot.
• Dungeons are quite funny and have many little gimmicks, but so far, they have always been quite short.

Things I didn’t like

Of course, not everything in Lost Ark was joy and sunshine. Several times I was quite annoyed, and at other points, I was disappointed. Here are some aspects that stood out.

The quality of the story

What was the problem with the origin story? The quality of the story initially depends heavily on which class you start with. I was unlucky to choose the mage, whose origin story is really poorly done.

Even though I speak Russian fluently, it was hard to understand what the heck is going on in this game. You are thrown straight into the action without an introduction.

Some demons with a queen I allegedly need to know about, separation between the worlds that has now been broken. A busty woman who doesn’t explain who she is or where she sends me. 

The NPCs are almost all faceless and characterless at first. They had no distinguishing traits. None of them had any relevance to the main story so far. The lack of background information about the NPCs made it seem like they were designed to be “throwaway characters”.

In stark contrast stood the origin story of the hunter. It revolves around an NPC who is your partner and behaves like one. He cares about you, cracks stupid jokes, and feels very human and lovable.

While there is also little information here, it’s not necessary because the story is carried by the characters. If I had started with the hunter, I wouldn’t have had to be annoyed for 2-3 hours about the mage story.

And what about the main story? The first interesting characters and elements of the main story appeared around level 13-15. It’s also about that level range when the game starts to tell you more about the world. How it works, what its history is, and why players are actually searching for this Ark that gave the MMORPG its name. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I was actually happy to listen and let the lore wash over me. However, the beginning presents you with a very simplistic fantasy setting: “You – good. The demons – evil. Now go and kill something.”

When Lost Ark had its soft launch in Korea, players reported that certain quest lines became really cool around level 30. And now that the story is gaining momentum, I hope my expectations will be met. 

The amount of side quests

This was the problem with the side quests: I never thought I would be thirsting for fetch and side quests in an MMORPG. MMORPG players are used to facing a forest of exclamation marks when entering a new zone. Especially at the beginning, side quests help with leveling and are also a source for new equipment.

Lost Ark, on the other hand, is really stingy when it comes to side quests. In the first large city you enter, you receive about 5 side quests. And some of them must first be unlocked. 

On higher levels, it didn’t get better; per map there were only a handful of side quests, if any. I felt like I was on withdrawal. 

However, one must also say that they are not actually that necessary from a gameplay perspective in Lost Ark. Enemies give quite a lot of EXP, and you get armor through drops. 

For me, the main reason for side quests was more the desire to learn more about the game world and lore. While that is slowly ramping up, I would love to see more.

Other things I thought were bad included:

• Gender-lock: Give me my female demon hunter! 
• At the beginning, there is really little equipment and also no shops where you could buy it. The gear spiral only gains momentum after a few levels. 
• The enemy density could be higher. Both in the open world and in dungeons.

As you can see, the negative points have the potential to improve at higher levels or are purely a matter of taste. I can well imagine that some of you will be glad to not have to do any silly fetch quests.

Now I want even more for it to come to Europe

At first, it was hard for me to pinpoint exactly why Lost Ark pulled me in. As mentioned above, it’s not a groundbreaking innovative game. Most features have been seen in other games before. 

But the way Lost Ark implements and utilizes those features is impressive. The mixture is cohesive, and the successful loot spiral makes you crave more.

I didn’t know which elements of the game to check out first. Everything looked good and was fun.

It is also by far one of the best polished MMORPGs I have played:

• I didn’t encounter any bugs or other problems,
• no stuttering or pop-ins,
• the graphics still look nice for such an old game,
• and the textures remain sharp even when zoomed in.

Even though I couldn’t test all the features of Lost Ark, I definitely want more. There is hope that the MMORPG will eventually make it to us in Europe.

In the end, there was a real piñata full of loot and the cool feeling that you just took down a real big chunk.

I want to spend more time with NPCs in this game

This is how NPC relationships work: This is another system that turned out to be surprisingly cool. In Lost Ark, you can build relationships with various NPCs:

• You talk to them, 
• give them advice and gifts, 
• do emotes, 
• complete their quests 
• and play music for them. 

This increases your relationship status with them and gives you background info about who they are and how their story progresses, alongside rewards. The first quest line for an NPC was very simple, but also quite funny. 

During the main quest, I met the owner of a large inn. The business lady and powerhouse wanted to learn how to cook properly. Things went as wrong as you might imagine, but it gave me some good laughs. 

On one hand, it’s due to the good Russian localization; on the other hand, the quest was fully synchronized. This gave it a special charm, and the actual fetch quest didn’t feel like one in the end. 

Interestingly, during the conversation, you often had the option to choose between multiple response options, and the NPCs always reacted differently. 

Since then, I try to visit as many NPCs as possible in cities and settlements to see if any of them belong to these relationship NPCs. This is also because the first Korean players during the open beta in 2018 said that this system is well implemented.  

There were also many smaller things that I found really well done:

• Character creator is very detailed and beautiful. Even here, Lost Ark shines, despite its age.
• The story quests provide a good red thread that gradually unlocks various features.
• The Russian localization is really well done. The language is authentic, the translation is solid, and the voice actors sound good.
• Some story quests contain instanced solo battles, which are well staged and spawn a lot of enemies you can hack through.
• Enemy design is very cool, even at lower levels. Lost Ark offers many different types of monsters, all of which look very creative.
• There are treasure maps leading to small hidden solo dungeons. Often at the end, there is a boss and plenty of loot.
• Dungeons are quite funny and have many little gimmicks, but so far, they have always been quite short.

Things I didn’t like

Of course, not everything in Lost Ark was joy and sunshine. Several times I was quite annoyed, and at other points, I was disappointed. Here are some aspects that stood out.

The quality of the story

What was the problem with the origin story? The quality of the story initially depends heavily on which class you start with. I was unlucky to choose the mage, whose origin story is really poorly done.

Even though I speak Russian fluently, it was hard to understand what the heck is going on in this game. You are thrown straight into the action without an introduction.

Some demons with a queen I allegedly need to know about, separation between the worlds that has now been broken. A busty woman who doesn’t explain who she is or where she sends me. 

The NPCs are almost all faceless and characterless at first. They had no distinguishing traits. None of them had any relevance to the main story so far. The lack of background information about the NPCs made it seem like they were designed to be “throwaway characters”.

In stark contrast stood the origin story of the hunter. It revolves around an NPC who is your partner and behaves like one. He cares about you, cracks stupid jokes, and feels very human and lovable.

While there is also little information here, it’s not necessary because the story is carried by the characters. If I had started with the hunter, I wouldn’t have had to be annoyed for 2-3 hours about the mage story.

And what about the main story? The first interesting characters and elements of the main story appeared around level 13-15. It’s also about that level range when the game starts to tell you more about the world. How it works, what its history is, and why players are actually searching for this Ark that gave the MMORPG its name. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I was actually happy to listen and let the lore wash over me. However, the beginning presents you with a very simplistic fantasy setting: “You – good. The demons – evil. Now go and kill something.”

When Lost Ark had its soft launch in Korea, players reported that certain quest lines became really cool around level 30. And now that the story is gaining momentum, I hope my expectations will be met. 

The amount of side quests

This was the problem with the side quests: I never thought I would be thirsting for fetch and side quests in an MMORPG. MMORPG players are used to facing a forest of exclamation marks when entering a new zone. Especially at the beginning, side quests help with leveling and are also a source for new equipment.

Lost Ark, on the other hand, is really stingy when it comes to side quests. In the first large city you enter, you receive about 5 side quests. And some of them must first be unlocked. 

On higher levels, it didn’t get better; per map there were only a handful of side quests, if any. I felt like I was on withdrawal. 

However, one must also say that they are not actually that necessary from a gameplay perspective in Lost Ark. Enemies give quite a lot of EXP, and you get armor through drops. 

For me, the main reason for side quests was more the desire to learn more about the game world and lore. While that is slowly ramping up, I would love to see more.

Other things I thought were bad included:

• Gender-lock: Give me my female demon hunter! 
• At the beginning, there is really little equipment and also no shops where you could buy it. The gear spiral only gains momentum after a few levels. 
• The enemy density could be higher. Both in the open world and in dungeons.

As you can see, the negative points have the potential to improve at higher levels or are purely a matter of taste. I can well imagine that some of you will be glad to not have to do any silly fetch quests.

Now I want even more for it to come to Europe

At first, it was hard for me to pinpoint exactly why Lost Ark pulled me in. As mentioned above, it’s not a groundbreaking innovative game. Most features have been seen in other games before. 

But the way Lost Ark implements and utilizes those features is impressive. The mixture is cohesive, and the successful loot spiral makes you crave more.

I didn’t know which elements of the game to check out first. Everything looked good and was fun.

It is also by far one of the best polished MMORPGs I have played:

• I didn’t encounter any bugs or other problems,
• no stuttering or pop-ins,
• the graphics still look nice for such an old game,
• and the textures remain sharp even when zoomed in.

Even though I couldn’t test all the features of Lost Ark, I definitely want more. There is hope that the MMORPG will eventually make it to us in Europe.

The maps not only look pretty but also offer a lot of content. This includes collectibles, like magical sprouts that you can only find by looking closely. I haven’t figured out what exactly happens when you find them all, but the description in the logbook sounded like a reward. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Monsters on the maps leave behind certain usable items that gradually unlock new background information about the world and important characters. So if you are interested in the lore, it is always worth going back to old areas and farming for such items. 

The only thing that held me back from systematically crawling through the maps was the urge to level up quickly and get new gear.

My highlight in exploration: What I liked most were the mini-bosses and world events that can be found on the maps. The mini-bosses appear quite frequently and have special abilities compared to their normal counterparts. 

They are comparable to the elite enemies from Diablo 3. Some can slow you down, others can poison you or summon explosions. However, they all drop good loot, and it’s really fun to scour the maps for such mini-bosses. 

Then there are also big bosses that appear during random (?) events on the maps. So far, I have only seen one such boss, but he was tough. About 20 players were pounding on him, and it took a while before he was dead. 

In the end, there was a real piñata full of loot and the cool feeling that you just took down a real big chunk.

I want to spend more time with NPCs in this game

This is how NPC relationships work: This is another system that turned out to be surprisingly cool. In Lost Ark, you can build relationships with various NPCs:

• You talk to them, 
• give them advice and gifts, 
• do emotes, 
• complete their quests 
• and play music for them. 

This increases your relationship status with them and gives you background info about who they are and how their story progresses, alongside rewards. The first quest line for an NPC was very simple, but also quite funny. 

During the main quest, I met the owner of a large inn. The business lady and powerhouse wanted to learn how to cook properly. Things went as wrong as you might imagine, but it gave me some good laughs. 

On one hand, it’s due to the good Russian localization; on the other hand, the quest was fully synchronized. This gave it a special charm, and the actual fetch quest didn’t feel like one in the end. 

Interestingly, during the conversation, you often had the option to choose between multiple response options, and the NPCs always reacted differently. 

Since then, I try to visit as many NPCs as possible in cities and settlements to see if any of them belong to these relationship NPCs. This is also because the first Korean players during the open beta in 2018 said that this system is well implemented.  

There were also many smaller things that I found really well done:

• Character creator is very detailed and beautiful. Even here, Lost Ark shines, despite its age.
• The story quests provide a good red thread that gradually unlocks various features.
• The Russian localization is really well done. The language is authentic, the translation is solid, and the voice actors sound good.
• Some story quests contain instanced solo battles, which are well staged and spawn a lot of enemies you can hack through.
• Enemy design is very cool, even at lower levels. Lost Ark offers many different types of monsters, all of which look very creative.
• There are treasure maps leading to small hidden solo dungeons. Often at the end, there is a boss and plenty of loot.
• Dungeons are quite funny and have many little gimmicks, but so far, they have always been quite short.

Things I didn’t like

Of course, not everything in Lost Ark was joy and sunshine. Several times I was quite annoyed, and at other points, I was disappointed. Here are some aspects that stood out.

The quality of the story

What was the problem with the origin story? The quality of the story initially depends heavily on which class you start with. I was unlucky to choose the mage, whose origin story is really poorly done.

Even though I speak Russian fluently, it was hard to understand what the heck is going on in this game. You are thrown straight into the action without an introduction.

Some demons with a queen I allegedly need to know about, separation between the worlds that has now been broken. A busty woman who doesn’t explain who she is or where she sends me. 

The NPCs are almost all faceless and characterless at first. They had no distinguishing traits. None of them had any relevance to the main story so far. The lack of background information about the NPCs made it seem like they were designed to be “throwaway characters”.

In stark contrast stood the origin story of the hunter. It revolves around an NPC who is your partner and behaves like one. He cares about you, cracks stupid jokes, and feels very human and lovable.

While there is also little information here, it’s not necessary because the story is carried by the characters. If I had started with the hunter, I wouldn’t have had to be annoyed for 2-3 hours about the mage story.

And what about the main story? The first interesting characters and elements of the main story appeared around level 13-15. It’s also about that level range when the game starts to tell you more about the world. How it works, what its history is, and why players are actually searching for this Ark that gave the MMORPG its name. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I was actually happy to listen and let the lore wash over me. However, the beginning presents you with a very simplistic fantasy setting: “You – good. The demons – evil. Now go and kill something.”

When Lost Ark had its soft launch in Korea, players reported that certain quest lines became really cool around level 30. And now that the story is gaining momentum, I hope my expectations will be met. 

The amount of side quests

This was the problem with the side quests: I never thought I would be thirsting for fetch and side quests in an MMORPG. MMORPG players are used to facing a forest of exclamation marks when entering a new zone. Especially at the beginning, side quests help with leveling and are also a source for new equipment.

Lost Ark, on the other hand, is really stingy when it comes to side quests. In the first large city you enter, you receive about 5 side quests. And some of them must first be unlocked. 

On higher levels, it didn’t get better; per map there were only a handful of side quests, if any. I felt like I was on withdrawal. 

However, one must also say that they are not actually that necessary from a gameplay perspective in Lost Ark. Enemies give quite a lot of EXP, and you get armor through drops. 

For me, the main reason for side quests was more the desire to learn more about the game world and lore. While that is slowly ramping up, I would love to see more.

Other things I thought were bad included:

• Gender-lock: Give me my female demon hunter! 
• At the beginning, there is really little equipment and also no shops where you could buy it. The gear spiral only gains momentum after a few levels. 
• The enemy density could be higher. Both in the open world and in dungeons.

As you can see, the negative points have the potential to improve at higher levels or are purely a matter of taste. I can well imagine that some of you will be glad to not have to do any silly fetch quests.

Now I want even more for it to come to Europe

At first, it was hard for me to pinpoint exactly why Lost Ark pulled me in. As mentioned above, it’s not a groundbreaking innovative game. Most features have been seen in other games before. 

But the way Lost Ark implements and utilizes those features is impressive. The mixture is cohesive, and the successful loot spiral makes you crave more.

I didn’t know which elements of the game to check out first. Everything looked good and was fun.

It is also by far one of the best polished MMORPGs I have played:

• I didn’t encounter any bugs or other problems,
• no stuttering or pop-ins,
• the graphics still look nice for such an old game,
• and the textures remain sharp even when zoomed in.

Even though I couldn’t test all the features of Lost Ark, I definitely want more. There is hope that the MMORPG will eventually make it to us in Europe.

How necessary the boost items will be in the endgame is still hard to say for me. But the beginning was at least a pleasant surprise.

Gameplay is just as expected

This is how Lost Ark plays: I started with the Arcana, as promised. The melee mage plays exactly as I expected her to. She is fast and fun, but you have to time her attacks well because as a cloth user, she takes a beating if you’re not careful. 

The abilities feel good and have a lot of impact, even for mage classes. It’s really satisfying to debuff a horde of enemies with cards, then stun them and finally launch them all into the air with a finisher move. 

You also have the option to customize your abilities as you level up. Every level-up gives you 5 points to distribute among the active skills. This unlocks augmentations like:

• Higher crit chance
• Shorter cooldown
• Higher range
• More damage
• Stronger shields
• Longer stun effect

And many more. Unfortunately, I haven’t progressed far in the skill list because with increasing levels, more points are needed for unlocking.

The list of passive abilities and augmentations gives the impression that a class can indeed have a wide variety of skill builds. Especially since the stats are very versatile and you can boost them through the armors.

Loot spiral serves its purpose

This is how equipment works in Lost Ark: I played for quite a while without being able to pinpoint exactly what kept me engaged in the game. Although the combat system is fun, it was the loot spiral that sucked me right in. 

Equipment is mostly obtained from enemies or quests. There are no surprises here either: each piece of armor has an item level. Higher item level = better stats. The stats seem to be mostly randomly generated.

NPC shops are scarce, and to buy anything there, you have to sell your liver, kidney, and a lung first. Then you might have enough money for a shoe. 

But I must say that it makes it more enjoyable this way. At least at the beginning, you are not dependent on grinding money to be able to afford new stuff. The drop rates from the enemies on the map are quite high and seem to increase as you level up. 

That’s why I couldn’t stop: After several hours of playing, I suddenly realized that I had run away from the main quest of the game. The loot spiral continuously led me into areas where tougher enemies dropped better stuff. They also left behind special currency that you could exchange for new armor. There was continuously more loot.

The whole process was so fluid and natural that I completely forgot everything else in the game for some time. So it served its purpose well. 

My hope here is that both the combat system and the loot spiral remain fun at higher levels and in the endgame.

The little things make a big difference

This is why exploring the maps was so much fun: Interestingly, it was the many small things on the map that contributed a significant part to my enjoyment of the game. There are a lot of maps, and they look nice. 

You might think that the isometric perspective gives developers options to cut corners: save development time here and there and not design the assets beautifully and in detail, since no one notices from a distance anyway. 

But that is not the case. The world of Lost Ark is very beautiful and diverse. The textures are sharp, and the colors are saturated. This actually surprised me, considering that Lost Ark has been in development for over 5 years and is technically an older game. 

The maps not only look pretty but also offer a lot of content. This includes collectibles, like magical sprouts that you can only find by looking closely. I haven’t figured out what exactly happens when you find them all, but the description in the logbook sounded like a reward. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Monsters on the maps leave behind certain usable items that gradually unlock new background information about the world and important characters. So if you are interested in the lore, it is always worth going back to old areas and farming for such items. 

The only thing that held me back from systematically crawling through the maps was the urge to level up quickly and get new gear.

My highlight in exploration: What I liked most were the mini-bosses and world events that can be found on the maps. The mini-bosses appear quite frequently and have special abilities compared to their normal counterparts. 

They are comparable to the elite enemies from Diablo 3. Some can slow you down, others can poison you or summon explosions. However, they all drop good loot, and it’s really fun to scour the maps for such mini-bosses. 

Then there are also big bosses that appear during random (?) events on the maps. So far, I have only seen one such boss, but he was tough. About 20 players were pounding on him, and it took a while before he was dead. 

In the end, there was a real piñata full of loot and the cool feeling that you just took down a real big chunk.

I want to spend more time with NPCs in this game

This is how NPC relationships work: This is another system that turned out to be surprisingly cool. In Lost Ark, you can build relationships with various NPCs:

• You talk to them, 
• give them advice and gifts, 
• do emotes, 
• complete their quests 
• and play music for them. 

This increases your relationship status with them and gives you background info about who they are and how their story progresses, alongside rewards. The first quest line for an NPC was very simple, but also quite funny. 

During the main quest, I met the owner of a large inn. The business lady and powerhouse wanted to learn how to cook properly. Things went as wrong as you might imagine, but it gave me some good laughs. 

On one hand, it’s due to the good Russian localization; on the other hand, the quest was fully synchronized. This gave it a special charm, and the actual fetch quest didn’t feel like one in the end. 

Interestingly, during the conversation, you often had the option to choose between multiple response options, and the NPCs always reacted differently. 

Since then, I try to visit as many NPCs as possible in cities and settlements to see if any of them belong to these relationship NPCs. This is also because the first Korean players during the open beta in 2018 said that this system is well implemented.  

There were also many smaller things that I found really well done:

• Character creator is very detailed and beautiful. Even here, Lost Ark shines, despite its age.
• The story quests provide a good red thread that gradually unlocks various features.
• The Russian localization is really well done. The language is authentic, the translation is solid, and the voice actors sound good.
• Some story quests contain instanced solo battles, which are well staged and spawn a lot of enemies you can hack through.
• Enemy design is very cool, even at lower levels. Lost Ark offers many different types of monsters, all of which look very creative.
• There are treasure maps leading to small hidden solo dungeons. Often at the end, there is a boss and plenty of loot.
• Dungeons are quite funny and have many little gimmicks, but so far, they have always been quite short.

Things I didn’t like

Of course, not everything in Lost Ark was joy and sunshine. Several times I was quite annoyed, and at other points, I was disappointed. Here are some aspects that stood out.

The quality of the story

What was the problem with the origin story? The quality of the story initially depends heavily on which class you start with. I was unlucky to choose the mage, whose origin story is really poorly done.

Even though I speak Russian fluently, it was hard to understand what the heck is going on in this game. You are thrown straight into the action without an introduction.

Some demons with a queen I allegedly need to know about, separation between the worlds that has now been broken. A busty woman who doesn’t explain who she is or where she sends me. 

The NPCs are almost all faceless and characterless at first. They had no distinguishing traits. None of them had any relevance to the main story so far. The lack of background information about the NPCs made it seem like they were designed to be “throwaway characters”.

In stark contrast stood the origin story of the hunter. It revolves around an NPC who is your partner and behaves like one. He cares about you, cracks stupid jokes, and feels very human and lovable.

While there is also little information here, it’s not necessary because the story is carried by the characters. If I had started with the hunter, I wouldn’t have had to be annoyed for 2-3 hours about the mage story.

And what about the main story? The first interesting characters and elements of the main story appeared around level 13-15. It’s also about that level range when the game starts to tell you more about the world. How it works, what its history is, and why players are actually searching for this Ark that gave the MMORPG its name. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I was actually happy to listen and let the lore wash over me. However, the beginning presents you with a very simplistic fantasy setting: “You – good. The demons – evil. Now go and kill something.”

When Lost Ark had its soft launch in Korea, players reported that certain quest lines became really cool around level 30. And now that the story is gaining momentum, I hope my expectations will be met. 

The amount of side quests

This was the problem with the side quests: I never thought I would be thirsting for fetch and side quests in an MMORPG. MMORPG players are used to facing a forest of exclamation marks when entering a new zone. Especially at the beginning, side quests help with leveling and are also a source for new equipment.

Lost Ark, on the other hand, is really stingy when it comes to side quests. In the first large city you enter, you receive about 5 side quests. And some of them must first be unlocked. 

On higher levels, it didn’t get better; per map there were only a handful of side quests, if any. I felt like I was on withdrawal. 

However, one must also say that they are not actually that necessary from a gameplay perspective in Lost Ark. Enemies give quite a lot of EXP, and you get armor through drops. 

For me, the main reason for side quests was more the desire to learn more about the game world and lore. While that is slowly ramping up, I would love to see more.

Other things I thought were bad included:

• Gender-lock: Give me my female demon hunter! 
• At the beginning, there is really little equipment and also no shops where you could buy it. The gear spiral only gains momentum after a few levels. 
• The enemy density could be higher. Both in the open world and in dungeons.

As you can see, the negative points have the potential to improve at higher levels or are purely a matter of taste. I can well imagine that some of you will be glad to not have to do any silly fetch quests.

Now I want even more for it to come to Europe

At first, it was hard for me to pinpoint exactly why Lost Ark pulled me in. As mentioned above, it’s not a groundbreaking innovative game. Most features have been seen in other games before. 

But the way Lost Ark implements and utilizes those features is impressive. The mixture is cohesive, and the successful loot spiral makes you crave more.

I didn’t know which elements of the game to check out first. Everything looked good and was fun.

It is also by far one of the best polished MMORPGs I have played:

• I didn’t encounter any bugs or other problems,
• no stuttering or pop-ins,
• the graphics still look nice for such an old game,
• and the textures remain sharp even when zoomed in.

Even though I couldn’t test all the features of Lost Ark, I definitely want more. There is hope that the MMORPG will eventually make it to us in Europe.

Our author Irie was able to preview the Korean MMORPG Lost Ark . The game delivers what it promises, but also has areas for improvement.

What is Lost Ark? Lost Ark is a Korean free-to-play MMORPG from an isometric perspective. Gameplay-wise, it can be most compared to Diablo 3, but with many additional features typical of MMORPGs:

• Learning gathering professions
• Dungeons and raids
• Open-world bosses
• PvP with and without rankings
• Housing 

The setting is high fantasy with elves and demons, mixed with strong elements of steampunk. It also offers 4 base classes, which split into three specializations starting at level 10.

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It has long been known that Lost Ark is not particularly groundbreaking in terms of gameplay. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel but, according to players, delivers a really solid and fun MMORPG experience. 

This statement accurately describes Lost Ark. It is a thoroughly polished MMORPG that combines many different features of the genre.

What I liked about Lost Ark

Lost Ark recently entered open beta in Russia, and since I speak fluent Russian, I took the opportunity to take a closer look at the MMORPG. Here are the aspects that I found positive at first.

Real money shop? What real money shop?

What about the shop? Lost Ark is known to be a Korean free-to-play game. Accordingly, Western players have repeatedly worried that it might not become pay-to-win to finance itself.

The first thing I immediately noticed positively was the complete absence of the usual “HERE YOU CAN SPEND MONEY!” pop-ups, which frequently occur in free-to-play MMORPGs. In fact, I only accidentally found the real money shop after several hours of gameplay when I pressed the wrong key. 

The shop in Lost Ark is very pleasantly unobtrusive. While in other F2P MMORPGs I often faced “Limited Time” offers for cosmetics and boost items upon logging in, Lost Ark holds back on that. 

The MMORPG is published in Russia by Mail.ru, which has a certain reputation for strong monetization of content in the gaming community. Yet, I haven’t noticed this in Lost Ark so far, which is a pleasant development and gives hope for the Western release. 

You will find in the real money shop: The offerings in the shop are surprisingly minimal. Especially for cosmetics, I was amazed at how few there were. Two costumes per class, a handful of mounts, and that’s practically it. 

The bulk of the shop consists of boost and consumable items that can accelerate your progress. However, at no point during my playtime did I run into a wall that forced me to grind where these items would have been enticing or even necessary. 

Quite the opposite; if I did grind, it was voluntary because I wanted something badly. Progress in the game was not influenced by this, and I found that really cool. 

And what about the main story? The first interesting characters and elements of the main story appeared around level 13-15. It’s also about that level range when the game starts to tell you more about the world. How it works, what its history is, and why players are actually searching for this Ark that gave the MMORPG its name. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I was actually happy to listen and let the lore wash over me. However, the beginning presents you with a very simplistic fantasy setting: “You – good. The demons – evil. Now go and kill something.”

When Lost Ark had its soft launch in Korea, players reported that certain quest lines became really cool around level 30. And now that the story is gaining momentum, I hope my expectations will be met. 

The amount of side quests

This was the problem with the side quests: I never thought I would be thirsting for fetch and side quests in an MMORPG. MMORPG players are used to facing a forest of exclamation marks when entering a new zone. Especially at the beginning, side quests help with leveling and are also a source for new equipment.

Lost Ark, on the other hand, is really stingy when it comes to side quests. In the first large city you enter, you receive about 5 side quests. And some of them must first be unlocked. 

On higher levels, it didn’t get better; per map there were only a handful of side quests, if any. I felt like I was on withdrawal. 

However, one must also say that they are not actually that necessary from a gameplay perspective in Lost Ark. Enemies give quite a lot of EXP, and you get armor through drops. 

For me, the main reason for side quests was more the desire to learn more about the game world and lore. While that is slowly ramping up, I would love to see more.

Other things I thought were bad included:

• Gender-lock: Give me my female demon hunter! 
• At the beginning, there is really little equipment and also no shops where you could buy it. The gear spiral only gains momentum after a few levels. 
• The enemy density could be higher. Both in the open world and in dungeons.

As you can see, the negative points have the potential to improve at higher levels or are purely a matter of taste. I can well imagine that some of you will be glad to not have to do any silly fetch quests.

Now I want even more for it to come to Europe

At first, it was hard for me to pinpoint exactly why Lost Ark pulled me in. As mentioned above, it’s not a groundbreaking innovative game. Most features have been seen in other games before. 

But the way Lost Ark implements and utilizes those features is impressive. The mixture is cohesive, and the successful loot spiral makes you crave more.

I didn’t know which elements of the game to check out first. Everything looked good and was fun.

It is also by far one of the best polished MMORPGs I have played:

• I didn’t encounter any bugs or other problems,
• no stuttering or pop-ins,
• the graphics still look nice for such an old game,
• and the textures remain sharp even when zoomed in.

Even though I couldn’t test all the features of Lost Ark, I definitely want more. There is hope that the MMORPG will eventually make it to us in Europe.

In the end, there was a real piñata full of loot and the cool feeling that you just took down a real big chunk.

I want to spend more time with NPCs in this game

This is how NPC relationships work: This is another system that turned out to be surprisingly cool. In Lost Ark, you can build relationships with various NPCs:

• You talk to them, 
• give them advice and gifts, 
• do emotes, 
• complete their quests 
• and play music for them. 

This increases your relationship status with them and gives you background info about who they are and how their story progresses, alongside rewards. The first quest line for an NPC was very simple, but also quite funny. 

During the main quest, I met the owner of a large inn. The business lady and powerhouse wanted to learn how to cook properly. Things went as wrong as you might imagine, but it gave me some good laughs. 

On one hand, it’s due to the good Russian localization; on the other hand, the quest was fully synchronized. This gave it a special charm, and the actual fetch quest didn’t feel like one in the end. 

Interestingly, during the conversation, you often had the option to choose between multiple response options, and the NPCs always reacted differently. 

Since then, I try to visit as many NPCs as possible in cities and settlements to see if any of them belong to these relationship NPCs. This is also because the first Korean players during the open beta in 2018 said that this system is well implemented.  

There were also many smaller things that I found really well done:

• Character creator is very detailed and beautiful. Even here, Lost Ark shines, despite its age.
• The story quests provide a good red thread that gradually unlocks various features.
• The Russian localization is really well done. The language is authentic, the translation is solid, and the voice actors sound good.
• Some story quests contain instanced solo battles, which are well staged and spawn a lot of enemies you can hack through.
• Enemy design is very cool, even at lower levels. Lost Ark offers many different types of monsters, all of which look very creative.
• There are treasure maps leading to small hidden solo dungeons. Often at the end, there is a boss and plenty of loot.
• Dungeons are quite funny and have many little gimmicks, but so far, they have always been quite short.

Things I didn’t like

Of course, not everything in Lost Ark was joy and sunshine. Several times I was quite annoyed, and at other points, I was disappointed. Here are some aspects that stood out.

The quality of the story

What was the problem with the origin story? The quality of the story initially depends heavily on which class you start with. I was unlucky to choose the mage, whose origin story is really poorly done.

Even though I speak Russian fluently, it was hard to understand what the heck is going on in this game. You are thrown straight into the action without an introduction.

Some demons with a queen I allegedly need to know about, separation between the worlds that has now been broken. A busty woman who doesn’t explain who she is or where she sends me. 

The NPCs are almost all faceless and characterless at first. They had no distinguishing traits. None of them had any relevance to the main story so far. The lack of background information about the NPCs made it seem like they were designed to be “throwaway characters”.

In stark contrast stood the origin story of the hunter. It revolves around an NPC who is your partner and behaves like one. He cares about you, cracks stupid jokes, and feels very human and lovable.

While there is also little information here, it’s not necessary because the story is carried by the characters. If I had started with the hunter, I wouldn’t have had to be annoyed for 2-3 hours about the mage story.

And what about the main story? The first interesting characters and elements of the main story appeared around level 13-15. It’s also about that level range when the game starts to tell you more about the world. How it works, what its history is, and why players are actually searching for this Ark that gave the MMORPG its name. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I was actually happy to listen and let the lore wash over me. However, the beginning presents you with a very simplistic fantasy setting: “You – good. The demons – evil. Now go and kill something.”

When Lost Ark had its soft launch in Korea, players reported that certain quest lines became really cool around level 30. And now that the story is gaining momentum, I hope my expectations will be met. 

The amount of side quests

This was the problem with the side quests: I never thought I would be thirsting for fetch and side quests in an MMORPG. MMORPG players are used to facing a forest of exclamation marks when entering a new zone. Especially at the beginning, side quests help with leveling and are also a source for new equipment.

Lost Ark, on the other hand, is really stingy when it comes to side quests. In the first large city you enter, you receive about 5 side quests. And some of them must first be unlocked. 

On higher levels, it didn’t get better; per map there were only a handful of side quests, if any. I felt like I was on withdrawal. 

However, one must also say that they are not actually that necessary from a gameplay perspective in Lost Ark. Enemies give quite a lot of EXP, and you get armor through drops. 

For me, the main reason for side quests was more the desire to learn more about the game world and lore. While that is slowly ramping up, I would love to see more.

Other things I thought were bad included:

• Gender-lock: Give me my female demon hunter! 
• At the beginning, there is really little equipment and also no shops where you could buy it. The gear spiral only gains momentum after a few levels. 
• The enemy density could be higher. Both in the open world and in dungeons.

As you can see, the negative points have the potential to improve at higher levels or are purely a matter of taste. I can well imagine that some of you will be glad to not have to do any silly fetch quests.

Now I want even more for it to come to Europe

At first, it was hard for me to pinpoint exactly why Lost Ark pulled me in. As mentioned above, it’s not a groundbreaking innovative game. Most features have been seen in other games before. 

But the way Lost Ark implements and utilizes those features is impressive. The mixture is cohesive, and the successful loot spiral makes you crave more.

I didn’t know which elements of the game to check out first. Everything looked good and was fun.

It is also by far one of the best polished MMORPGs I have played:

• I didn’t encounter any bugs or other problems,
• no stuttering or pop-ins,
• the graphics still look nice for such an old game,
• and the textures remain sharp even when zoomed in.

Even though I couldn’t test all the features of Lost Ark, I definitely want more. There is hope that the MMORPG will eventually make it to us in Europe.

The maps not only look pretty but also offer a lot of content. This includes collectibles, like magical sprouts that you can only find by looking closely. I haven’t figured out what exactly happens when you find them all, but the description in the logbook sounded like a reward. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Monsters on the maps leave behind certain usable items that gradually unlock new background information about the world and important characters. So if you are interested in the lore, it is always worth going back to old areas and farming for such items. 

The only thing that held me back from systematically crawling through the maps was the urge to level up quickly and get new gear.

My highlight in exploration: What I liked most were the mini-bosses and world events that can be found on the maps. The mini-bosses appear quite frequently and have special abilities compared to their normal counterparts. 

They are comparable to the elite enemies from Diablo 3. Some can slow you down, others can poison you or summon explosions. However, they all drop good loot, and it’s really fun to scour the maps for such mini-bosses. 

Then there are also big bosses that appear during random (?) events on the maps. So far, I have only seen one such boss, but he was tough. About 20 players were pounding on him, and it took a while before he was dead. 

In the end, there was a real piñata full of loot and the cool feeling that you just took down a real big chunk.

I want to spend more time with NPCs in this game

This is how NPC relationships work: This is another system that turned out to be surprisingly cool. In Lost Ark, you can build relationships with various NPCs:

• You talk to them, 
• give them advice and gifts, 
• do emotes, 
• complete their quests 
• and play music for them. 

This increases your relationship status with them and gives you background info about who they are and how their story progresses, alongside rewards. The first quest line for an NPC was very simple, but also quite funny. 

During the main quest, I met the owner of a large inn. The business lady and powerhouse wanted to learn how to cook properly. Things went as wrong as you might imagine, but it gave me some good laughs. 

On one hand, it’s due to the good Russian localization; on the other hand, the quest was fully synchronized. This gave it a special charm, and the actual fetch quest didn’t feel like one in the end. 

Interestingly, during the conversation, you often had the option to choose between multiple response options, and the NPCs always reacted differently. 

Since then, I try to visit as many NPCs as possible in cities and settlements to see if any of them belong to these relationship NPCs. This is also because the first Korean players during the open beta in 2018 said that this system is well implemented.  

There were also many smaller things that I found really well done:

• Character creator is very detailed and beautiful. Even here, Lost Ark shines, despite its age.
• The story quests provide a good red thread that gradually unlocks various features.
• The Russian localization is really well done. The language is authentic, the translation is solid, and the voice actors sound good.
• Some story quests contain instanced solo battles, which are well staged and spawn a lot of enemies you can hack through.
• Enemy design is very cool, even at lower levels. Lost Ark offers many different types of monsters, all of which look very creative.
• There are treasure maps leading to small hidden solo dungeons. Often at the end, there is a boss and plenty of loot.
• Dungeons are quite funny and have many little gimmicks, but so far, they have always been quite short.

Things I didn’t like

Of course, not everything in Lost Ark was joy and sunshine. Several times I was quite annoyed, and at other points, I was disappointed. Here are some aspects that stood out.

The quality of the story

What was the problem with the origin story? The quality of the story initially depends heavily on which class you start with. I was unlucky to choose the mage, whose origin story is really poorly done.

Even though I speak Russian fluently, it was hard to understand what the heck is going on in this game. You are thrown straight into the action without an introduction.

Some demons with a queen I allegedly need to know about, separation between the worlds that has now been broken. A busty woman who doesn’t explain who she is or where she sends me. 

The NPCs are almost all faceless and characterless at first. They had no distinguishing traits. None of them had any relevance to the main story so far. The lack of background information about the NPCs made it seem like they were designed to be “throwaway characters”.

In stark contrast stood the origin story of the hunter. It revolves around an NPC who is your partner and behaves like one. He cares about you, cracks stupid jokes, and feels very human and lovable.

While there is also little information here, it’s not necessary because the story is carried by the characters. If I had started with the hunter, I wouldn’t have had to be annoyed for 2-3 hours about the mage story.

And what about the main story? The first interesting characters and elements of the main story appeared around level 13-15. It’s also about that level range when the game starts to tell you more about the world. How it works, what its history is, and why players are actually searching for this Ark that gave the MMORPG its name. 

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I was actually happy to listen and let the lore wash over me. However, the beginning presents you with a very simplistic fantasy setting: “You – good. The demons – evil. Now go and kill something.”

When Lost Ark had its soft launch in Korea, players reported that certain quest lines became really cool around level 30. And now that the story is gaining momentum, I hope my expectations will be met. 

The amount of side quests

This was the problem with the side quests: I never thought I would be thirsting for fetch and side quests in an MMORPG. MMORPG players are used to facing a forest of exclamation marks when entering a new zone. Especially at the beginning, side quests help with leveling and are also a source for new equipment.

Lost Ark, on the other hand, is really stingy when it comes to side quests. In the first large city you enter, you receive about 5 side quests. And some of them must first be unlocked. 

On higher levels, it didn’t get better; per map there were only a handful of side quests, if any. I felt like I was on withdrawal. 

However, one must also say that they are not actually that necessary from a gameplay perspective in Lost Ark. Enemies give quite a lot of EXP, and you get armor through drops. 

For me, the main reason for side quests was more the desire to learn more about the game world and lore. While that is slowly ramping up, I would love to see more.

Other things I thought were bad included:

• Gender-lock: Give me my female demon hunter! 
• At the beginning, there is really little equipment and also no shops where you could buy it. The gear spiral only gains momentum after a few levels. 
• The enemy density could be higher. Both in the open world and in dungeons.

As you can see, the negative points have the potential to improve at higher levels or are purely a matter of taste. I can well imagine that some of you will be glad to not have to do any silly fetch quests.

Now I want even more for it to come to Europe

At first, it was hard for me to pinpoint exactly why Lost Ark pulled me in. As mentioned above, it’s not a groundbreaking innovative game. Most features have been seen in other games before. 

But the way Lost Ark implements and utilizes those features is impressive. The mixture is cohesive, and the successful loot spiral makes you crave more.

I didn’t know which elements of the game to check out first. Everything looked good and was fun.

It is also by far one of the best polished MMORPGs I have played:

• I didn’t encounter any bugs or other problems,
• no stuttering or pop-ins,
• the graphics still look nice for such an old game,
• and the textures remain sharp even when zoomed in.

Even though I couldn’t test all the features of Lost Ark, I definitely want more. There is hope that the MMORPG will eventually make it to us in Europe.

How necessary the boost items will be in the endgame is still hard to say for me. But the beginning was at least a pleasant surprise.

Gameplay is just as expected

This is how Lost Ark plays: I started with the Arcana, as promised. The melee mage plays exactly as I expected her to. She is fast and fun, but you have to time her attacks well because as a cloth user, she takes a beating if you’re not careful. 

The abilities feel good and have a lot of impact, even for mage classes. It’s really satisfying to debuff a horde of enemies with cards, then stun them and finally launch them all into the air with a finisher move. 

You also have the option to customize your abilities as you level up. Every level-up gives you 5 points to distribute among the active skills. This unlocks augmentations like:

• Higher crit chance
• Shorter cooldown
• Higher range
• More damage
• Stronger shields
• Longer stun effect

And many more. Unfortunately, I haven’t progressed far in the skill list because with increasing levels, more points are needed for unlocking.

The list of passive abilities and augmentations gives the impression that a class can indeed have a wide variety of skill builds. Especially since the stats are very versatile and you can boost them through the armors.

Loot spiral serves its purpose

This is how equipment works in Lost Ark: I played for quite a while without being able to pinpoint exactly what kept me engaged in the game. Although the combat system is fun, it was the loot spiral that sucked me right in. 

Equipment is mostly obtained from enemies or quests. There are no surprises here either: each piece of armor has an item level. Higher item level = better stats. The stats seem to be mostly randomly generated.

NPC shops are scarce, and to buy anything there, you have to sell your liver, kidney, and a lung first. Then you might have enough money for a shoe. 

But I must say that it makes it more enjoyable this way. At least at the beginning, you are not dependent on grinding money to be able to afford new stuff. The drop rates from the enemies on the map are quite high and seem to increase as you level up. 

That’s why I couldn’t stop: After several hours of playing, I suddenly realized that I had run away from the main quest of the game. The loot spiral continuously led me into areas where tougher enemies dropped better stuff. They also left behind special currency that you could exchange for new armor. There was continuously more loot.

The whole process was so fluid and natural that I completely forgot everything else in the game for some time. So it served its purpose well. 

My hope here is that both the combat system and the loot spiral remain fun at higher levels and in the endgame.

The little things make a big difference

This is why exploring the maps was so much fun: Interestingly, it was the many small things on the map that contributed a significant part to my enjoyment of the game. There are a lot of maps, and they look nice. 

You might think that the isometric perspective gives developers options to cut corners: save development time here and there and not design the assets beautifully and in detail, since no one notices from a distance anyway. 

But that is not the case. The world of Lost Ark is very beautiful and diverse. The textures are sharp, and the colors are saturated. This actually surprised me, considering that Lost Ark has been in development for over 5 years and is technically an older game. 

The maps not only look pretty but also offer a lot of content. This includes collectibles, like magical sprouts that you can only find by looking closely. I haven’t figured out what exactly happens when you find them all, but the description in the logbook sounded like a reward. 

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Monsters on the maps leave behind certain usable items that gradually unlock new background information about the world and important characters. So if you are interested in the lore, it is always worth going back to old areas and farming for such items. 

The only thing that held me back from systematically crawling through the maps was the urge to level up quickly and get new gear.

My highlight in exploration: What I liked most were the mini-bosses and world events that can be found on the maps. The mini-bosses appear quite frequently and have special abilities compared to their normal counterparts. 

They are comparable to the elite enemies from Diablo 3. Some can slow you down, others can poison you or summon explosions. However, they all drop good loot, and it’s really fun to scour the maps for such mini-bosses. 

Then there are also big bosses that appear during random (?) events on the maps. So far, I have only seen one such boss, but he was tough. About 20 players were pounding on him, and it took a while before he was dead. 

In the end, there was a real piñata full of loot and the cool feeling that you just took down a real big chunk.

I want to spend more time with NPCs in this game

This is how NPC relationships work: This is another system that turned out to be surprisingly cool. In Lost Ark, you can build relationships with various NPCs:

• You talk to them, 
• give them advice and gifts, 
• do emotes, 
• complete their quests 
• and play music for them. 

This increases your relationship status with them and gives you background info about who they are and how their story progresses, alongside rewards. The first quest line for an NPC was very simple, but also quite funny. 

During the main quest, I met the owner of a large inn. The business lady and powerhouse wanted to learn how to cook properly. Things went as wrong as you might imagine, but it gave me some good laughs. 

On one hand, it’s due to the good Russian localization; on the other hand, the quest was fully synchronized. This gave it a special charm, and the actual fetch quest didn’t feel like one in the end. 

Interestingly, during the conversation, you often had the option to choose between multiple response options, and the NPCs always reacted differently. 

Since then, I try to visit as many NPCs as possible in cities and settlements to see if any of them belong to these relationship NPCs. This is also because the first Korean players during the open beta in 2018 said that this system is well implemented.  

There were also many smaller things that I found really well done:

• Character creator is very detailed and beautiful. Even here, Lost Ark shines, despite its age.
• The story quests provide a good red thread that gradually unlocks various features.
• The Russian localization is really well done. The language is authentic, the translation is solid, and the voice actors sound good.
• Some story quests contain instanced solo battles, which are well staged and spawn a lot of enemies you can hack through.
• Enemy design is very cool, even at lower levels. Lost Ark offers many different types of monsters, all of which look very creative.
• There are treasure maps leading to small hidden solo dungeons. Often at the end, there is a boss and plenty of loot.
• Dungeons are quite funny and have many little gimmicks, but so far, they have always been quite short.

Things I didn’t like

Of course, not everything in Lost Ark was joy and sunshine. Several times I was quite annoyed, and at other points, I was disappointed. Here are some aspects that stood out.

The quality of the story

What was the problem with the origin story? The quality of the story initially depends heavily on which class you start with. I was unlucky to choose the mage, whose origin story is really poorly done.

Even though I speak Russian fluently, it was hard to understand what the heck is going on in this game. You are thrown straight into the action without an introduction.

Some demons with a queen I allegedly need to know about, separation between the worlds that has now been broken. A busty woman who doesn’t explain who she is or where she sends me. 

The NPCs are almost all faceless and characterless at first. They had no distinguishing traits. None of them had any relevance to the main story so far. The lack of background information about the NPCs made it seem like they were designed to be “throwaway characters”.

In stark contrast stood the origin story of the hunter. It revolves around an NPC who is your partner and behaves like one. He cares about you, cracks stupid jokes, and feels very human and lovable.

While there is also little information here, it’s not necessary because the story is carried by the characters. If I had started with the hunter, I wouldn’t have had to be annoyed for 2-3 hours about the mage story.

And what about the main story? The first interesting characters and elements of the main story appeared around level 13-15. It’s also about that level range when the game starts to tell you more about the world. How it works, what its history is, and why players are actually searching for this Ark that gave the MMORPG its name. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I was actually happy to listen and let the lore wash over me. However, the beginning presents you with a very simplistic fantasy setting: “You – good. The demons – evil. Now go and kill something.”

When Lost Ark had its soft launch in Korea, players reported that certain quest lines became really cool around level 30. And now that the story is gaining momentum, I hope my expectations will be met. 

The amount of side quests

This was the problem with the side quests: I never thought I would be thirsting for fetch and side quests in an MMORPG. MMORPG players are used to facing a forest of exclamation marks when entering a new zone. Especially at the beginning, side quests help with leveling and are also a source for new equipment.

Lost Ark, on the other hand, is really stingy when it comes to side quests. In the first large city you enter, you receive about 5 side quests. And some of them must first be unlocked. 

On higher levels, it didn’t get better; per map there were only a handful of side quests, if any. I felt like I was on withdrawal. 

However, one must also say that they are not actually that necessary from a gameplay perspective in Lost Ark. Enemies give quite a lot of EXP, and you get armor through drops. 

For me, the main reason for side quests was more the desire to learn more about the game world and lore. While that is slowly ramping up, I would love to see more.

Other things I thought were bad included:

• Gender-lock: Give me my female demon hunter! 
• At the beginning, there is really little equipment and also no shops where you could buy it. The gear spiral only gains momentum after a few levels. 
• The enemy density could be higher. Both in the open world and in dungeons.

As you can see, the negative points have the potential to improve at higher levels or are purely a matter of taste. I can well imagine that some of you will be glad to not have to do any silly fetch quests.

Now I want even more for it to come to Europe

At first, it was hard for me to pinpoint exactly why Lost Ark pulled me in. As mentioned above, it’s not a groundbreaking innovative game. Most features have been seen in other games before. 

But the way Lost Ark implements and utilizes those features is impressive. The mixture is cohesive, and the successful loot spiral makes you crave more.

I didn’t know which elements of the game to check out first. Everything looked good and was fun.

It is also by far one of the best polished MMORPGs I have played:

• I didn’t encounter any bugs or other problems,
• no stuttering or pop-ins,
• the graphics still look nice for such an old game,
• and the textures remain sharp even when zoomed in.

Even though I couldn’t test all the features of Lost Ark, I definitely want more. There is hope that the MMORPG will eventually make it to us in Europe.