Elsword

Game overview

After making several games exclusively for the Korean market, Gameforge has finally released Elsword to the rest of the world, breaking it out from 4 long years of exclusivity for our Asian counterparts.

The game follows a fairly linear plot, with lightweight gameplay that’s just entertaining enough for beginners without the demands of complex gameplay or narrative. Starting up, you choose from six characters who must immediately go off in search of fragments of the El stone, a powerful crystal that brings life and prosperity to the land.

The gameplay itself is a mix of action and side-scrolling platforms where, within various dungeons, you’ll punch up monsters with a flick of your fingers across the keys.

Graphically, the game puts up a cheery disposition but really lacks in detail, appearing more like a badly animated comic strip than an actual 3D game up to the standard of modern titles.

Elsword is a game that’s lightly fun but far from excellent, catering mainly to those who are happy to make do for free and spam punches at any beast or human within reach. You know what they say - without infamy and without praise.

Full review

It took four years, but free-to-play, action MMO Elsword has finally landed on the continent, ready to give thousands of people an excuse to switch on their computers.

As soon as you play, it becomes obvious that the title is aimed at a younger audience, which might be frustrating for an increasingly demanding legion of experienced players. Both in mechanics and presentation, Gameforge has given Elsword a light, earnest atmosphere to make it as appealing as possible to a new generation of young players.

In a land once considered a hell on earth, a powerful crystal called the El has brought restoration, permitting prosperity and life in a place that had none.
As it so often happens, however, the balance was broken and a massive explosion shattered the gem to all corners of the kingdom of Elios. Obviously, finding the fragments that make up the stone and rehabilitating the fortunes of the world has somehow fallen to you, the player.

As is traditional, starting the game involves choosing and building a character. Unlike many MMORPGs, where players are given various levels of customisation, Elsword offers only 6 preset archetypes to choose from, with no further control over the appearance or attributes of your hero.

Fair enough, each character represents a class, although it would be nice to see something other than the same 6 characters over and over throughout the world.
The classes themselves have been decently customised, complete with backstories and - more importantly - different sets of specific skills and styles of combat.

In terms of gameplay, Elsword has a strong action component that in many ways is a departure from the typical free-to-play MMO format. For one, the action takes place only in two directions, tying the game instantly to the side-scrolling platforms that are making a comeback in the indie scene. The fighting (which constitutes 80% of the game), is all in real-time, controlled by the touch of a few keys to unleash dozens of combos with surprising ease and intuitive-play, even for a new player.

Unfortunately, when it comes to variety, the developers seem to have spent too much time on creating interesting mini games and hobbies within the world, none of which have much depth. Most tasks and quests are inevitably solved by cleansing some new area of enemies - even the locations all start looking the same after a while.

The PvP is more noteworthy - although far from revolutionary - involving battles with other players in an arena setting. Though unoriginal in format, it manages nevertheless to be entertaining and challenging where the PvE and its hordes of computer-generated monsters fails.

An aside on the cash shop - free-to-play fans are certainly no stranger to games asking you to pay for certain privileges, but Elsword goes a little too far. While many games sell shortcuts to let players skip a few hours of monster-farming, the bonuses offered in Elsword’s shop are overpowered, offering a significant advantage that upsets the balance of the game in favour of paying players.

Graphically, Elsword has a colorful and lively style populated with anime-inspired characters. But on closer examination, the setting and pretty much every other visual aspect of the game lack details, and lag behind the general standard of new releases. However, for the inexperienced gamer which Elsword is no doubt targeting, the subpar graphics will be less apparent, helped along by a graphical style that sneakily downplays its flaws.

Elsword overall is not a bad game, though it does feel worse the longer you play. The fighting, while pleasant at first, quickly becomes boring after you've wiped out half a multitude of enemies in the same way. Its appeal isn’t helped by an overpowered cash shop that prefers paying players. If you’re not picky with your games or are simply looking for a time waster for an odd afternoon, you might find Elsword enjoyable. Otherwise, there’s not much here to capture the imagination.

Ready to enter the world of Elsword? Click here to play now!

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Review summary