Blade And Soul Player Count 2021

Is Bract & Soul Worth Playing in 2021?

Alright, I know what you guys are thinking.

And you'd be right. This is an MMORPG that caters to a very specific demographic of player: .. pretty much all of you. And me, too, of course, otherwise I wouldn't have spent the last couple weeks streaming it.

Now welcome back to another episode of "Is it worth playing" – where nosotros sift through every MMORPG available correct now in an attempt to find the all-time MMORPG in 2021. Today, we're taking a look at what is arguably one of the all-time gratis to play MMORPGs available: Bract & Soul.
I mean, sure it's considered by many to be heavily pay to win, but let's be existent here…. what free MMOs aren't pay to win to at least some extent, am I right?

I beloved Blade & Soul. This is the first MMORPG that Mrs Stix and I played together total-time every bit a couple dorsum in 2017 earlier I made the journey from Commonwealth of australia to America to be with her.
I remember, very clearly, Mrs Stix asking me to log in to play with her during her busy week when we only had a few hours to do anything together. I too distinctly recall wanting to go on cam with her too… to conversation, of class. C'monday, guys. Don't make this weird.
Nosotros spent several weeks playing through the unabridged story together, farmed every outfit nosotros maybe could, ended up wasting a ton of money purchasing outfits from the cash shop. Died repeatedly in PvP because Australian ping had a multi-second delay between input and recognition of that input from the server.
This is one of, maybe 10 MMOs that I take hundreds of hours experience in. One of maybe 5 MMOs I oft concluded upwardly coming back to at least once a year to see the state the game is in.

You might recollect I'm crazy, given this game released in Korea all the way dorsum in 2012 and both Northward America and Europe in 2016.
I mean who has the energy to dedicate that much time to an MMO that dated, that sometime, that… oh wait. Even nearly a decade subsequently releasing, Bract & Soul both looks and plays better than most MMOs released in 2021? Huh. If you told me Blade & Soul would outperform current-gen MMOs a decade subsequently release, I'd have laughed at you.
But the proof is in the pudding. Blade & Soul just underwent a massive overhaul when NCSoft rolled out their Unreal Engine 4 update. This brought with it a slew of new or contradistinct features and mechanics.
Most notably were the operation issues that improved functioning for some players… kinda. This i was really debated quite a bit and has been rather hit and miss with players.
The drastic reduction in loading times, which has made transitioning between areas and so much easier. No more twenty to thirty second loading screens. At present they're 4 to 6 seconds on average, which is a quality of life change yous never thought y'all needed.
And finally, the graphical changes, which while they aren't drastic, are definitely like shooting fish in a barrel to discern when compared to what they once were.

Speaking of the graphics, Bract & Soul is an admittedly gorgeous MMORPG.
Yes, the game utilizes a segregated world, which means that zones are asunder from 1 some other by a minor loading screen, but imposing a minor load between zones allows for them to reduce lag quite substantially. Or at to the lowest degree that's how information technology's supposed to work in theory.
There are a plethora of different regions, each with their ain unique aesthetic look and feel. Abilities all take high quality special effects.

And permit me utilize that every bit a segway into the gainsay, which many players believe is the pinnacle of the activeness MMO genre. Or at the very to the lowest degree, was at one indicate.
Every class has their ain unique style of play. And I genuinely hateful this. In typical MMOs you have "the tanky sword and shield guy," "the greatsword or axe wielding berserker guy," "the dude that keeps you alive," "the abrasive elemental dude that stands in the AoEs," "the pew-pew archer," and sometimes the "stabby-stabby dagger dude."
And, while, yeah, Blade & Soul is much the aforementioned in terms of utility and what each class provides, I feel like at that place'south more.. personality? That the classes themselves provide more… of a uniqueness to them than what I'chiliad traditionally used to.
Like the Gon Destroyer is a grade that can literally option you upwardly by the head and spin you lot around like Trunks did to Imperfect Cell back in Dragon Ball Z. Or the Soul Fighter which is an affiliation of telekinesis and martial arts. Simply.. unusual class archetypes that you don't typically encounter.
And that – at least in my stance, helps set the classes apart from what I'k used to.
My just result is that classes are race-locked. As an instance, Summoner'south are restricted to Lyn only, meaning if y'all want to play equally one, you lot're required to create a walking potato. Which I'thousand not really fond of, and I'm certain people will viciously scold me for stating. I've already prepared myself for that outcome.

Then we spoke about the world, nosotros spoke about class identity, but something we oasis't is this game's narrative. Well-nigh MMOs accept a narrative. A story present that gives you lot a purpose. Without it, you'd simply be.. some random person existing in a world.
Then you take games like Final Fantasy Fourteen or Star Wars The Old Republic. Games that accept and so much story that at times you lot wonder if you're playing through a graphic novel. Thankfully, I'grand a fan of narrative in my games, so this has never been an outcome for me.
I'yard that guy that goes onto Wiki pages and reads through individual character history so I know who's who, who likes who, and who hates who.
Blade & Soul has a very strong narrative, with the story existence connected to every zone you move through. Actually, rather than beingness "connected to," the story is the primary reason you move to each zone.
Talking to various unlike NPCs located throughout the world, hunting bad guys, trying to ignore the mail that Hajoon sent you for the umpteenth time.
And while I express joy at how horrendous the voice interim can be at times, I can say with certainty that while the story is very.. Shounen, with super-powered characters flying through the air, launching energy at each other, exchanging blows, it still somehow retained my involvement.
Only then I'm a fan of Anime like DBZ, Yugioh, My Hero Academia, One Dial Human being. So that speaks volumes virtually the types of story I'd vibe with. Although I also love Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Lawmaking Geass, Expiry Note. Fifty-fifty Fruits Basket, Carole and Tuesday… yeah, I'one thousand a weird, mixed bag.

So I've talked nigh what I bask. Then there's what I didn't. And that is the PvP, the Hongmoon level grind, and the abiding removal of content.
On the one hand, there are various types of PvP modes available, including the option for open up-globe PvP. While I've only participated in open-world PvP when it'due south coordinated, I have done plenty of Loonshit matches. And they consist primarily of OP classes CC-locking you until yous die. Which is, in my opinion, never fun.
I know that isn't always the case, merely it happened to me by and large both in 1v1 and 3v3, so I didn't last in PvP long. I preferred PvP in games like ArcheAge, WoW and Aion. Where, while certain, there's CC, information technology isn't nearly every bit bad. Unless you vs RMD or RMP in WoW. Rogue+Mage any healer was the bane of my existence.

While most MMOs have you grind to max level, then begin having y'all queue for dungeons and raids, Blade & Soul has you.. well, do much the same, with the add-on of grinding for your Hongmoon level.
This is an additional level atop your base level, that provides yous continued, progressively more powerful statistical bonuses similar Assail Power, Defense, and HP to proper name a few. Meaning fifty-fifty if you striking max level, you'll be grinding XP to level your Hongmoon level almost endlessly, while also grinding for gear.
Swords of Legends, I believe, implemented something similar, and is a feature I believe should non be within the game, especially given how difficult it is to play catch-upwards to players that take been grinding their Hongmoon level for as long as they accept.

Finally… like TERA, Blade & Soul, for whatsoever reason, continues to introduce, but besides remove content from the game. Abilities, dungeons. I don't empathise why. Additional content is good. Less content is the verbal reverse of what nosotros want.

✔️ Bract & Soul has one of the best combat systems in the MMORPG genre.

✔️ It has a gorgeous world, an extensive character creator, and with the Unreal Engine iv overhaul, provides you a improve performing game than ever before.

✔️ At that place's a lot of class diversity, with each class having their own distinct purpose and part.

✔️ The leveling process isn't slow and tiresome.

✔️ The narrative is deep and provides a reason to navigate each zone, while providing you lot insight into the various characters you see forth the way.

❎ Even so at the same time, the narrative drags on at times and the voice interim is absolutely laughable.

❎ The PvP tin can be pay to win, and is far too unbalanced for me to savor personally.

❎ While the leveling process isn't ho-hum, grinding your Hongmoon level is ane of the almost arduous processes I've ever been put through.

❎ The population is unfortunately very depression these days. Probably numbering in the tens of thousands of active unique players per month, which honestly isn't terrible, but it isn't growing, but continuing to stagnate and decline. At least in North America.
❎ And finally, NCSoft is in charge of the game… and we all know what NCSoft cares about.

Ultimately, Bract & Soul is a very fun MMORPG. It'due south cute, it plays incredibly well, and is by far one of the best titles in the genre, especially given information technology's free.
Sure, it has its problems: Pay to win, unbalanced classes, a terrible developer and publisher that cares more about whales than information technology does almost a healthy playerbase, but at the same time it does and then many things well.
This is a game I come back to twelvemonth after year, and I've had fun every unmarried time I've chosen to.

Source: https://www.mmobyte.tv/is-blade-soul-worth-playing-in-2021/

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