Royal Blood (Android) is a new AAA mobile game from South Korea. The game impresses with action gameplay that pleasantly deviates from the usual auto-grind orgies typical in mobile MMORPGs. Our author Jürgen is pleasantly surprised after a first test of what is happening on the phone.
What is it about? Royal Blood is not only the name of a British rock duo but also the latest AAA mobile MMORPG from South Korea. More than 100 developers at Gamevil are working solely on Royal Blood.
Your goal: To establish a full MMORPG experience like on PC on mobile.
Royal Blood faces tough competition from the already released Lineage 2 Revolution. It’s been available in this country since 15.11. 2017, while Royal Blood is only just in its first beta in the West. The race for the first major mobile MMORPG has already been lost. Therefore, it is even more important that Royal Blood stands out from the competition in its MMORPG approach.
That’s why I played the beta of Royal Blood and can already say: “Yes, Royal Blood really is something different!”
Only at first glance a typical Asia auto-grinder!
All mobile MMOs are the same, right? Shortly after the launch of Royal Blood, I was a bit disappointed. The game’s interface layout and initial gameplay reminded me strongly of Lineage 2 Revolution and its auto-grind.
Auto-grind is a feature in which the character fights enemies independently while the player watches. Lineage 2 Revolution excels in this. We called L2R a “MMORPG manager.”
At the beginning of Royal Blood, my hero was auto-grinding through some monsters attacking the home castle.
Sure, the graphics and effects of Royal Blood are superior to those of the competition from Netmarble thanks to the award-winning Unity engine, but in the first minutes, one does not notice much that Gamevil wants to provide a “real PC MMORPG experience” here. However, that quickly changes with the first boss!
More like WildStar than Lineage 2 Revolution
What makes Royal Blood different from Lineage 2 Revolution: In Lineage 2 Revolution, it takes a long time before the enemies are strong enough that you occasionally have to look at the screen to avoid taking too much damage.
In Royal Blood, however, I would have died at the first boss in the tutorial!
Because the demon servant at the end of the first level could not be simply beaten in autopilot mode.
Rather, the creature frequently unleashed special boss moves that appeared in red telegraphs. Since I initially didn’t want to dodge, I took massive damage, and my health bar shrank significantly!
“Wow, this is just like in WildStar!” came to my mind, as I had to actively dance around the boss with my hands on the touchpad to dodge its attacks. With a little practice, this works quite well because each hero has a unique dodge skill that moves you out of the line of fire at the push of a button. But since this skill has a cooldown, you still have to pay attention.
Simple skill system
How does the combat and skill system work? Like in Lineage 2 Revolution, you have three skills and a special support skill at the lower right corner of the screen. This is usually the dodge, but it can also be a buff or something similar.
The three active skills can be triggered at the push of a button and require a cooldown before they are active again. Skills do not have their own energy resource. However, if you take down enemies, you get energy orbs and can immediately use skills again even if the cooldown is still active.
Combat system rewards you for not using auto-grind
This is how the auto-grind works in Royal Blood: Like in mobile games usual, you can let Royal Blood run in autopilot mode. Then your avatar automatically grinds through enemies, optionally only with standard attacks or by using skills.
But while auto-grind is essential in Lineage 2 Revolution, it is rather a workaround in Royal Blood when you don’t want to pay full attention or just want to do mindless grinding.
In the many more challenging fights against bosses or in events, you have to take action yourself. This is important not only to avoid taking too much damage but also to achieve optimal DPS. Because only by doing so can you secure the coveted first place in the event and the best loot.
Tactical depth through stances
What about the stances? Another argument against autopilot mode is the stances. Your hero has two different stances that you can switch at any time. Each stance has unique skills. For the magician, this is an AoE DPS path that deals massive damage with fire magic to many enemies.
Alternatively, you switch to the second stance and then have ice magic. This deals less damage but is optimal for controlling enemies. You slow down your enemies and freeze them.
Dynamic quest gameplay like in Guild Wars 2
This is how questing works in Royal Blood: While you follow the quite exciting main story – you are a dethroned heir and must reclaim your kingdom – you roam through a lovely fantasy world where there is always something happening.
There are dynamic events: Besides the standard grind quests that you can indeed do with a good conscience in autopilot mode, there are constantly dynamic events like in Guild Wars 2 or WildStar. The events take place alongside on the map. If you want, you can interrupt your grind and join other players in completing a small event or take down a boss.
Especially lucrative loot awaits if you perform well during the event.
There are even raid bosses!
These are the raids in Royal Blood: Early in the game, you can participate in raids and face a gigantic boss. In my case, it was a massive dragon! The creature took an immense amount of damage and required real MMORPG teamwork.
The holy trinity is also present: The tank had to hold the aggro while I and another damage dealer attacked fiercely. We were supported by a bard with buffs. However, from time to time, the tank made mistakes, and my poor mage perished in seconds from the dragon’s fire breath.
Although I could respawn after a short time and continue, it costs valuable time and potentially the reward.
Fun PvP like in Battlerite
Is PvP fun? Besides all the PvE action, Royal Blood has a strong PvP focus. It mainly relies on massive 70vs70 battles, which I have not played in the beta yet. However, early on, 3vs3 arena matches are already available.
These duels were surprisingly fun and strongly reminded me of the arena brawler Battlerite. In PvP, it is particularly important to master your class well, dodge optimally, and switch between skill sets at the right moment.
Thus, I was able to take down an entire group of enemies because I first slowed them down with ice magic and then hit them hard with my fire AoE skill. Thankfully, my teammates took advantage of this tactical advantage, and we were able to win quickly.
Jürgen’s conclusion – This is how a mobile MMORPG should look!
I admit that I initially had absolutely no desire for Royal Blood. I thought Lineage 2 Revolution was good, but over time, the auto-grind and “MMO hero manager” did not motivate me. I expected the same from Royal Blood, just in green.
How wrong I was! Royal Blood only superficially resembles Lineage 2 Revolution and Co. The gameplay is clearly much closer to a “real” PC MMORPG than other mobile MMOs. Just through the fun and engaging action combat system, I actually don’t want to play any other mobile MMO.
And then there are the exciting raids, events, and PvP features. Even the story motivates me. I really want to explore this world further and reclaim my kingdom! I am really looking forward to the release of Royal Blood, which hopefully takes place soon in 2018.
