Crystal Saga is a browser based MMORPG with anime style graphics. Players can fight, tame pets, and adventure through many different quests. Explore a dungeon with you friends, battling bright, cartoonish enemies and learning new skills.
Gameplay
The character customization is limited. Players pick from standard five classes: Knight, Rogue, Priest, Ranger, and Mage. You can pick your gender and your preset face (out of 5 faces for each gender). Beyond those choices there isn’t much customization.
The tutorial quests give you some general knowledge about mechanics and get you set up with gear and weapons; basically you run around talking to NPCs, no action for the first 4 quests or so. There isn’t much story line when you start out, but some of the text dialogue can be humorous; this style adds to the games existing casual feel.
Characters move around with a click of the mouse, but skills and access to different screens (like inventory) are controlled by keyboard hotkeys, which reduces the dependency on the mouse. When traveling to quest related NPCs, players can click on the name on their quest tracker and automatically go there. At level 10 players receive their first pet. At level 14 players will earn their first mount, and at level 21 players will gain a set of wings.
Each class has skill trees, so after leveling you can pick which skills to upgrade, which can be imperative as a strategic choice for PvP. The game is somewhat PvP centric after level 20, at which point Crystal Saga supports open world PvP. Players can be in one of five PvP modes: Peace, players cannot attack other players; Justice, players can only attack players with red names(meaning they have attacked a player recently);Evil, players can attack anyone, but they will be stained with a red name; Guild and Party, which both act similarly protecting groups of players from attack. Loot can be earned from defeating a red named player. There are also battlegrounds which allow players to gain additional rewards and ranks.
Atmosphere
The 2D graphics are a blend between cute anime and realistic. The ground textures and landscape tend to be more realistic, while the characters and enemies hold the anime appeal. The audio is both peaceful and annoying. The music generally is soft and melodious, but the battle sound effects are harsh and repetitive.
Bottom Line
For the most part Crystal Saga is like every other MMORPG on the market. There isn’t much that makes this game stand out. The controls are convenient for the browser style and the automatic movement appeals to a casual style gamer. If you are looking for a serious, in-depth MMORPG, then you could probably find better free-to-play games (like maybe Drakensang). However, if you are looking for a fun, casual MMORPG, then Crystal Saga is worth a try.
