Introduction
Black Desert is a upcoming MMORPG by Pearl Abyss. In development for more than 2 years, Black Desert has released trailers that captured the hearts of mmo gamers with its stunning graphics and lighting. Pearl Abyss was established in September 2010 as a Korean stand-alone game developer targeting MMORPG players worldwide. The CEO of Pearl Abyss, Daeil Kim, has set high bars for Black Desert to be a global hit due to its creative and action-based stimulating gameplay.
Black Desert was released for its 1st Close Beta Testing on the 17th till 23rd of October 2013, from 1500 hours to 2400 hours daily (Korean time zone). I was lucky enough to obtain a CBT code and this impression is to share with you my experience. Players who has seen the trailers all held high expectations for the game. So is this the start of a glorious MMORPG or is it the downfall of a super hyped game?
Graphic and Sound
Below is a Night view tour of my starting area.
Dawn view tour
Whoever has seen the trailers would know that Pearl Abyss has a very strong character modeling and landscape design team. As you see me visiting the towns, you should be able to observe all breath-taking details happening in the background while I interacted with the environment. Long grass swaying in the wind, flowers' pollinate the air, seagulls spreading their wings towards the sky and the beautiful glistening waves as it greets the morning shores. Coupled with detailed audio, the world is coming alive right in front of your very eyes! I was pampered and overwhelmed by the world Pearl Abyss created until I realise a burning smell coming from my graphic card. (just kidding)
During this 1st Close Beta Test, the game only provides 2 graphical settings, High or Very High. I believe this was done with a purpose so players can experience the world in its entirety. The hardware requirement is high and if you are using an older system, you risk running the game at a single digit frame rate. As this is just the first close beta, I do expect the developer to offer more graphic settings in the upcoming beta tests.
Classes
There are 4 classes for this CBT with the usual suspects, Archer, Mage, Knight and Barbarian-style Dwarf. In this CBT, I played the Mage. The Mage is a ranged attacker, which uses melee skills and magic spells.
Gameplay
This game has a semi targeting system and plays very much like Blade and Soul. You need to actively time your dodges and counter-attack the enemies effectively. The key to playing a Mage is not to get hit as a well placed heavy attack by a mini-boss can decapitate me instantly. There is a penalty to dying as you lose items whenever you die. (I don't like this penalty ==)
Environment, Time and Weather
Between the safe havens of towns there is the dreadful and exciting desert. The grassland and sandy areas are usually populated by wild monsters wandering about to catch any unwary traveler. Black Desert has a morning and night environment, which the inhabitants react to. For example, it is extremely dangerous to wander about in the forest at night as animals will pro-actively hunt you down in packs. (Die you will young one~) I find it interesting to see players gathered together at night in towns lit with dim camp fires while repairing their weapons, selling items and sharing stories with friends over a cup of ale. The realistic lighting makes for a cosy experience that is so unique to Black Desert. Thankfully. the game is 5 hours night time and 19 hours day time so you spend majority of your time in action, questing and leveling. (Hours here refer to in game hours, and one day in game is equivalent to 2 real-time hours)
Weather also plays apart in this game, you could be fighting an Ogre while drenched in heavy downpour or stumbling around in a foggy forest looking for a NPC. The weather changes as you travel the world to give you a different experience every time.
Foggy Weather:
Skill Trees
As you level up, your character gains Skill Points which you can use to learn new skills from a NPC. The skill tree is diverse and from what I can see, it equips the player with an arsenal of skills at a higher level.
User Interface
The User Interface has a very simplistic look that is easy to navigate. It looks a little plain for now, but I guess they will beef up the UI in the next beta test.
Things I missed out
There I was killing some random mobs and suddenly I was cut down by another player. As I do not understand Korean, I believe I was in a GVG zone when the Guild versus Guild session started. As I read from steparu's review, I realised that there are safe zones that protect the players from GVG. Due to time constraint, I wasn't able to go through all the game components, like buying a house, pvp or buying a horse. I concentrated on the core gameplay like combat sequences, landscape, day/night and weather system.
In Conclusion
After experiencing this game, I am very proud to say that this game lives up to its hype. I totally dig the combat sequences as it is interesting to do battle and tactically take down my opponent. The key word here is tactical. You need to choose your battles carefully and there is no shame in running away as dying means loss of items. I do not know if the item loss is random or there is a certain order to it. This game is creative in trying to adopt a different lighting system and daring enough to push the graphical limits of the contemporary MMO Standards. I am extremely interested to watch this game as it continues to build on its foundation. This might be the start of one of the best MMO in the market.
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Things that needs improving and what might be good to have
- While attacking, I noticed that some of my attacks were bugged, meaning the attack landed but the hp of the mob remains the same.
- An epic game should follow with a more attractive User Interface, which i believe would change in the next CBT
- There is also a bug where my skill keys from 1-0 reset after I restart the game, hope this can be solved in the next CBT.
- GVG. To make this game more epic, I think the GVG system can change up a bit. The current system requires players to attack eachother and the first guild to destroy the statue/defending statue of the opposing guild wins the castle. Rather than running head on against other players flashing weapons, I would suggest incorporating war equipment like battling rams, arrow towers, huge beast mounts (fiying or non-flying). As the game is set in the Middle Ages, these items would suit the theme well. Also it would be more interesting to kill the opposing Guild Leader rather than a statue rooted defenseless at a spot.
- More flashy skills. I think more details could be given to combat to make them more stylish. Little effects like sword swings could be enhanced to give the combat a more flashy experience.
- More character customisation options, like different starting uniforms, faces and such.
