Posted in: Games, Recent Updates, Review, Video Games | Tagged: Black Desert Online, game review

A Review Of 'Black Desert Online' After A Year On The Market

DEVELOPER: Pearl Abyss/Kakao Games
REVIEW PLATFORM: Windows
RELEASED: 3/3/16

Black Desert Online was released one year ago today in North America, after already becoming a hit in South Korea and getting a worldwide release. This massive sandbox MMO is a beast unto its own with some elements taken from other games of the same genres, but incorporating them into different aspects so that it doesn't come off as a clone of other well-known games of the same genres. Since the game has already been out for a year, a straight-up review of it is kinda pointless, especially since the game has had that time to iron out all the flaws and make some new additions over time. So instead we're going to review how it is today compared to before and look at where the game is one-year later.

So the issue with reviewing an MMO is that it's always slow to start out of the gate. Sure, there's a community behind it at launch, but all communities have a period where they need to find themselves. People don't just automatically come in, know what they're doing and move along like life didn't skip a beat—there's a grace period where everyone is feeling out the game and the players around them. After a year it feels as if the people in the game are well connected and have a sense of what's around them for whatever they feel like doing.

After you spend an hour customizing your character down to the dilation of their pupils, you're given a tutorial from a creature made of black smoke, as if the monster from Lost decided to be friendly. Stick with this character as long as possible, because they will be the best way for you to learn everything you can and can't do with your particular race and job. I know, it's very tempting to go off and adventure, but after seeing other people at lower levels get killed by simple wolves outside a village, trust me, you need all the help you can get. You'll take care of some minor quests to get all the mechanics and commands down, as well as character interaction with the NPCs and your fellow players. This is one of the many areas that got ironed out over time and made interactivity flow better.

The storyline between the Kingdom and the Republic is cool, which you can follow if you wish or ignore to do other quests, it's truly up to you. Some of the cut scenes drag on and make you wish you hadn't chosen it, but the quests themselves make the gameplay worthwhile. The story itself is pretty good, but you need to pay close attention to what's happening because the game will throw pieces of info at you that can be ignored quickly. Some of it is hidden in menus that hold the information, some of it gets lost with the bad acting from the characters—but essentially there's a lot of text that sets up what you need to do, which in most cases will be grinding. Patience is going to be key to learning all that you need to know before jumping into battles, and unless you consult another player, there's no fast-track way of making it through the game.

The combat itself is glorious and feels like a fireworks show. You're approaching enemies less from a tactical standpoint and more from a hack-n-slash one, even with magic-based characters. Surprisingly, it doesn't take too much away from the game, and you can still employ tactics from a far, but most of your combat is going to be up close and personal. The different colors and effects that surround your character and the enemies is just a fun show to watch, but if you have a graphics card or a connection that isn't up to par, you may lose some of the majesty. You may even lose it if there's a slow server, sometimes you can't predict for what may come. The battles definitely have a rhythm to them and can become tedious if you don't change it up, but they still have ranging difficulty that can catch you off guard.

The world that you're exploring is gorgeous. Some of the early footage of the game made it look spectacular, but you always assume that's just a demo that someone put an extra layer of spit-polish on. But that's not the case here as the cities and pavilions you travel to are well designed and have a sense of being among them. Some of the inhabitants could use a little work, how many vendors do you require to have a snarky attitude? But the experience of going around and finding what else this place has to offer is quite invigorating.

Dealing with enemies and dealing with other players will be more of the bane of your existence. The enemies are purely based on where you're physically at as far as difficulty. You'll get the occasional high-powered character once in a while, but nothing too severe. It's only when you jump into the fray with an enemy you shouldn't even be near challenging that things get complicated and you'll find yourself dying a lot. A far as player-on-player combat, there's no real question over who wins: it's whoever has the best gear and skills. So if you're wandering around thinking you'll get some easy pickings in combat off players still learning, you might want to pick people who can't beat you simply by standing still and letting the armor take the blow until they can stab you properly.

Overall, Black Desert Online has had some great improvements to a lot of their systems, but ultimately it hasn't progressed any further than what the community has explored and taken advantage of. Which is a shame considering the sandbox aspect should have spawned a dozen different community challenges and Reddit-friendly tidbits for the lone-wolf explorer. That's not to say it's bad, the game by itself is quite good, it just doesn't feel the same way other MMOs feel when you walk into them. There's still a sense of "I don't know what I'm doing, do you?" among the community. Maybe a couple updates and some improvements to the story would help it out. If you love MMOs and need a challenge, this is your kind of game. If you worry it won't hold up to other titles you've enjoyed playing, maybe hold back for a bit.

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