Spells can be aimed, and attacks must be swift and precise, as you’ll use a handy crosshair to engage enemies. Blade and Soul employs a combat camera mechanic, allowing you to control your character much like you would in a third-person action game.
All of the available classes and movements coincide with different schools of Martial Arts mastery, which helps to create a very engaging and visually-entertaining combat system. Gameplay for Blade and Soul is heavily influenced by traditional martial arts legends and fighting styles. The finished product should mesh together elements of old-world China, laced with unique fantasy landmarks and environments. According to developers, the visual inspirations were purely meant to resemble medieval Chinese engineering, but the use of Unreal Engine 3 has allowed the team to implement varying styles into the upcoming release. You’ll find yourself traveling to dense jungles, rocky mountain ranges, seaside towns, and a variety of other unique locales. The architecture fits amazingly well within the fantastical landscapes strewn across the in-game world. Traditional Chinese-style tea houses and elaborately-decorated strongholds are sprinkled among quaint cities and villages. Those interested in the enthralling and magical folklore from China’s middle-ages will find much beauty in Blade and Soul. A lot of MMOs employ traditional archetypes, usually taking place in medieval-inspired fantasy settings or employing heavy sci-fi impressions in far off galaxies. From a visual standpoint, Blade and Soul is so deeply rooted in Asian culture that it may seem a bit overwhelming to Western gamers. Martial artists, ninjas, traditional Asian warriors, and magic-bending creatures run rampant across a large, mystical world. Because of its successes, we’re starting to see more and more titles target globalized releases, in an attempted to become the “next big thing.” Blade and Soul is a new contender inthe free-to-play market, and while the title has already seen a solid amount of beta-based success in Asian countries, it’s pushing its way into Western markets.īlade and Soul can be best defined as a story of revenge and adventure, with heavy Asian overtones and lore. It seems as if the era of subscription-based MMOs is slowly coming to a close, and even releases that have started out with subscription fees and purchase options are making the leap into a free-to-play model. Free-to-play games have become increasingly popular throughout the MMO genre in recent years.