Dragon Nest Open Beta Impressions
As if there are not enough time sinkers and distractions in your life already, here comes another contender: a free-to-play fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) from Eyedentity Games called Dragon Nest.
Dragon Nest is a fast-paced online game wherein players assume the role of different characters. You can choose between playing as a Swordsman, Archer, Priest or Sorceress. As of the moment, however, gender choice is restricted. Only Swordsmen and Priests are males, Archers and Sorceresses are females. This doesn’t bother me much, but some players may have issues with this. As typical of MMORPGs, these classes gain levels and advance to more powerful forms. Take the Archer, for example. Once you hit level 15 (achievable within a day or two of playing), you can choose to become either an Acrobat or Bow Master. Each has its own strengths, weaknesses and different playing styles. Bow Masters have access to devastating long-range attacks while Acrobats specialize in pummeling their opponents at close range with a variety of swift attacks.
Moo.
Players tromp though the land of Lagendia through a third-person, over-the-shoulder perspective which is quite different from typical MMORPGs. The game is surprisingly story driven unlike most MMORPGs that commonly demand hours of grinding through the game to gain levels and discover items. While Dragon Nest certainly requires quite a number of hours to advance, it does offer a promising main storyline that players can follow. On the other hand, there are also numerous side quests to finish.
Deckard asks that you help a pretty lady for him. Good guy.
What I particularly liked about Dragon Nest is that it is absolutely newbie friendly. After the opening cut-scene and first battle, you are introduced to the game through a comprehensive interactive guide. After this, you are seldom on your own as the game offers helpful hints and trick whenever a loading screen appears. I mentioned that there are many quests to finish. After accepting the quest, there usually is an arrow on the screen that points you to where your destination should be. Also, there’s a notification on the side on how near you are actually to your target. This is very useful for those people (like me) who can easily get lost. Also, the map shows exactly where NPCs (non-player characters – those characters who are controlled by the computer) are and there are even NPCs that “teleport” you to the NPC you are looking for. This saves quite a lot of time and aids a newcomer adjust to the game.
There's plenty of loot to grab.
I mentioned that the Dragon Nest is a fast-paced game. Unlike most MMORPGs, it’s not point, click, use skills and wait till the target falls. I play as an Archer and with the third person point-of-view it feels more like an action game. I have to actively point the crosshair at the enemy (it doesn’t lock on the target), click the mouse to shoot (or press a shortcut key to use devastating special attacks) then move around to dodge or better position myself to hit targets. And you would really have to be mobile or else be overwhelmed by monsters whose role in life seems to be to stop you from your goal and drop loot for you to sell or use. It’s frantic and it’s fun. Boss battles are particularly challenging and require concentration and fast reflexes. Since potions can’t be used repeatedly because of a certain amount of cool-down before reuse, player skills play a large role in survival. Click here for a video of a typical battle in Dragon Nest.
Exploring hostile areas (those outside the towns) can be a daunting task. But Dragon Nest made it simpler and better. Every time you try to enter a dungeon (or other places where your presence is unwelcome) you get to choose what in what difficulty you want it to be. The harder the difficulty the more experience is gained, and the chance to acquire good loot improves. The game also recommends a party size and at what level you should explore the area. There’s also an indication of what kind of treasures you will find, which is a welcome relief for those who hunt. No more guessing and relying on third party information (which can be inaccurate) in Dragon Nest. The hardest level of difficulty, Abyss, is so challenging that it may require several cooperating players to finish the level.
Boss battle.
Enemies normally would attack you in groups and they act and react differently. Some of them attack straightforward. Some will try to flank and overpower you. Some prefer to injure you with long range attacks or magic from afar. Foes in Dragon Nest are an unforgiving lot, especially in Abyss mode areas where they are even more powerful, more numerous and more durable.
Since dungeons tend to be completed in less than 30 minutes and you are assured of rewards afterwards, this is a game you can play casually. There’s little pressure to spend too much time. And since this is free to play, no need to spend money on it either, unless you want premium items and upgrades to enhance your experience.
The graphics are truly splendid and the background music and sound effects are great. During cut-scenes, however, subtitles and voices are often not synchronized, which is quite annoying. I noticed that translation is pretty good; there are few grammatical errors to be found. I also found that the game has very helpful and accurate tooltips. Here’s a tip for Windows 7 users: run Dragon Nest as an administrator to avoid some errors I experienced before.
Since this is an MMORPG, there’s a community of players whom you can interact in the game. I’m playing with Dragon Nest SEA, which accommodates players from the South East Asian region. Most players are friendly and courteous enough but here and there are Filipino players who cuss and whine. And I thought they are restricted to Ragnarok Online.
Leonidas Goblin (who appears after you defeat 300 Spartan Goblins) is just one of many quirks in the game.
Overall, I am pleased with Dragon Nest. I started playing it because I can’t download Ragnarok Online client (all that’s available is a direct download and no torrent, unlike Dragon Nest which offers that option) and I saw someone mention the game in the forums. It’s a good thing I tried it. It’s an excellent MMORPG that will enchant you with its friendliness and charm, but won’t require you to be enthralled in front of the monitor for long hours daily.
Should you wish to try it, download the SEA client here, create an account and character, and join me at Springwood where my Bow Master Zharilee stalks her prey.
Discuss the game in our forums!!!
Dragon Nest is a surprisingly good story-driven MMORPG.
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