Watching videos of gameplay, I was not impressed, but playing the game was a completely different experience. It seemed like a game with no potential for continued play, and honestly it looked kind of boring, but when I got behind the keyboard and jumped into the world of Elsword I found an engaging experience that surprised me with how fun it was.
Character Creation
There is no creation; instead you choose from one of 6 pre-made characters:
Elsword is a 13 year-old warrior who wields the Great Sword, with bright red hair.
Aisha is a 15 year-old magic wielder.
Rena is an elf woman, who fights primarily with ranged attacks.
Raven is a 24 year-old guy, who is basically a cyborg. Half of his body was remodeled into a Nasod (robot race) and he uses his Nasod arm and his blade to attack enemies.
Eve is a feminine type Nasod, which is basically a robot, and she attacks enemies by sending her Nasod drones after them.
Chung is a 13 year-old boy who wields a huge cannon (Destroyer).
Gameplay
The game is pretty story driven. You roam the world fighting through dungeons in attempt to save the world. You level up by killing “bad guys” and if you pick a server that is specific to your level range you get bonus experience points.
The controls are pretty easy to pick up. You use the keyboard for your skills, ASDC for combat skills, arrow keys for movement. Fighting is easy and fun. Each character has a unique combat style and back-story, the latter is explained in a cut scene at the very beginning of the game.
You fight dungeons, which include smaller monsters and bosses– pretty much your standard dungeon fight, except it is a little different from your standard MMORPG dungeon. These dungeons are more like your typical 2D platform boss fights. You don’t explore deep dungeons; you fight. You clear the levels of monsters prior to the boss, and then you enter the boss area and fight a giant bad guy, who has a lot of health. You can join up with other players in “parties” and fight together in these dungeons or you can go solo. I like going in by myself, because I’m just that much of a badass. I, playing as Eve– the former Nasod Queen– use my “A” attack to dispose of the horrid creatures quickly.
You smash through levels and learn skills. If you are the kind of gamer who revels in combat, you will probably love this game. If you are more of a crafter, this game probably isn’t for you. However, you might still enjoy the game. Fast-paced, combat driven, Elsword is thrilling in that I’m-screaming-at-the computer-while-trying-to-kill-everything-because-I’m-in-a super-intense-battle-moment kind of way.
Graphics
Elsword is a 2D side-scrolling platform style MMORPG, which makes it an interesting concept for the MMORPG. Graphics are child-like anime similar to Eden Eternal. The combat graphics are reminiscent of classic platform games, but with more modern anime style graphics. One game that might be comparable to Elsword is the console game Smash Bros. If you are one of the many people addicted to the fun, casual gameplay of Smash Bros, you might enjoy Elsword; it takes the action platform to a massive online scale.
When you hear “2D MMORPG” you may think negatively, but the way the perspective moves and how the game looks in general as you move about the map causes the two-dimensional aspect to be all-but forgotten. It has some 3D-like aspects that cause some to say it is actually a 2.5D game. Yes I did just say 2.5 dimensions.
Bottom Line
From fighting bad guys to fighting even bigger bad guys, Elsword online is a big box of action-packed fun. It has more of an arcade feel, but that is what makes it so addicting. It is a casual game full of intense combat, what could be better? Join the thousands of players already in Elsword, and bring some friends. We can all go beat up everything within the reach of our combat skills!