Lost Ark
Setting: Fantasy/Steampunk | Developer: Smilegate | Platform: PC | Release Date: February 11, 2022 | Model: Free2Play
What kind of game is this? Lost Ark is a free2play MMORPG in the iso perspective. You look down on your character from above. Accordingly, the controls are also adapted, as you use the mouse for movement and normal attacks. As you progress through the game, you unlock numerous skills for which you can then use the keyboard.
While the controls and the aesthetics are reminiscent of Diablo, Lost Ark otherwise offers primarily MMO features, including:
- 15 different classes at launch
- Hundreds of quests
- Dozens of dungeons and raids
- Shipbuilding and seafaring
- Relationships with NPCs
- Housing
- An auction house for trading
- PvP in special arenas and with a leaderboard
Players from Germany can expect a complete localization and even voice acting in their language.
What is special about it? In addition to the iso perspective, the MMORPG impresses mainly with the mass of content. Already at launch, there were 15 different classes and three tiers of equipment that would keep players busy for weeks.
The max level is also special. You quickly reach level 50 and can then experience all content. However, even a month after release, no one has hit max level 60.
How has it been since the release? The launch of Lost Ark went excellently, and the MMORPG peaked at over 1.3 million players on Steam. However, this also came with long waiting times.
A month later, a large portion of those players are still present. On March 9, there were still over 820,000 players online concurrently at peak. On March 10, the first major content update in the West was released.
In the meantime, additional updates have followed, including a challenging raid in October. The player numbers in November are around 280,000 concurrent players at peak per day.
Who is it interesting for? Lost Ark is primarily aimed at fans of action-packed MMORPGs who have no problem with the iso perspective. You follow a story and have various options to equip your character starting at level 50. The focus is mainly on group activities such as dungeons, raids, and PvP.
So, you should like instances and not have a problem with grind. Because Lost Ark offers a lot of that.
However, if you have issues with the controls, the linear areas, the changing settings of dark fantasy, high fantasy, and steampunk, or the grind, you should ignore Lost Ark.
However, there are plenty of alternatives on the market: The 7 best MMORPGs with action combat systems.
