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I’ve played my share of MMOs and for the last… (holds up 10 fingers and starts counting) eight years there have been only a few times that I’ve been left awed by certain online games (i.e. Ultima Online, Diablo II’s Battle.net Service, and World of Warcraft).
As usual, I kept my eyes peeled on anything new and when I heard that Granado Espada, the newest 3D MMORPG from Hakkyu Kim, the creator of Ragnarok Online, just went on local closed beta testing, I flipped. I’ve been hearing some good buzz about it and it’s all good, plus its pedigree is undeniable. Kim is considered as the father of Korean online games and his creation Ragnarok Online put
Is Granado Espada the next Ragnarok Online when it comes to groundbreaking gameplay? Yes and I daresay more.
A grand game
Granado Espada is set in an alternate 17th century where a post-Renaissance technology world and
Now I’ve played in medieval fantasy worlds and they’re pretty much run-of-the-mill when it comes to sword and sorcery, monsters and villains. GE is different as this is the first MMORPG that is set in pseudo-realistic world where characters still use swords but also utilize rifles and muskets. And it works as the period it ensconces uses the appropriate technology. Your characters can use hard cold 17th century-crafted steel to dispatch enemies but you can also use rifles, muskets to dispense destruction. Magic is also a staple in GE and you’ll be using it to heal characters, demolish dastardly demonic foes, and/or enhance your skills.
I don’t know about you but other MMOs which use fantasy medieval settings and then integrate rifles and guns as weapons are stretching the fantasy level way too much. It doesn’t work for me but that’s just the fantasy RPG purist talking.
Graphics galore
When it comes to eye candy, GE is a sight to behold. The characters and non-player characters are dressed up in period costumes albeit with way more flash (and some a bit fleshy on the side). But it is gorgeous and looks flat out amazing. I had to keep rotating the camera just so I can see the details on the character costumes. Facial graphics is superb as well. The male fighter’s facial features are different from the female fighter. Ditto with the other male characters. When they move, character animations are so fluid it’s almost lifelike. Even the costumes sway as your character walks and runs. The game’s looks are similar to the Playstation game Final Fantasy series. If you like Final Fantasy, you are going to like GE.
The closed beta test had us playing in the fictional colony settlement of Reboldeux and the world is utterly fleshed out. There is a sense of believability as the structures have Baroque designs which were used in real-life 17th century European architecture. It was pretty evident that a lot of work was put into it. There is also a sense of realistic depth and feel as you move around the map. The world that GE puts you in is utterly immersive.
Monsters that come in droves are imaginatively designed and quite eerie as they move to disembowel your characters. There are the usual earthly monsters like wolves, oversized flying insects and creepy crawlies, yet they are so wicked looking, I wasted no time in dealing out virtual death.
But there are also the weirder looking enemies and all of them are designed so beautifully, that I spent time just looking at them (much to my dismay as they pounded my team to useless pulp).
The gameplay
In the GE closed beta test, you create a family where your characters will belong to. There are five classes: Fighter, Musketeer, Wizard, Elementalist, and Scout. These classes have female and male versions. The Fighter is your swordsman, equipped for CQB (closed quarter battle). The Musketeer is your rifleman, dealing out damage from distances. The Wizard and Elementalist use magic and the elements, respectively, to their and the party’s advantage. The Scout is considered as the healer and can set traps on higher levels.
GE provides a tutorial to get you acquainted with the interface and controls. It uses a smart path finding engine so moving around the map is quite easy but it would have been better if you can click on the map to move your characters from one point to another. Hopefully they’ll think of integrating it in the commercial version.
But the really cool thing about GE is the MCC which stands for Multi Character Control. This enables you to control three characters at once. This feature is found in most RPGs and integrating it in an MMORPG is absolutely genius. You can get a character for CQB, one that does magic or deals out damage from a distance plus one character that heals or supports. I chose a male fighter, a female musketeer and an elementalist for maximum monster cleanup, then I switched the musketeer for the Scout so I didn’t have to worry about punching the heal potion button every time my characters got seriously wounded.
The MCC allows players to do more but it doesn’t mean that you won’t need a party. In higher level areas, you will really need a party with you just to survive (and a good sign of careful planning and pragmatism). Some monsters are so tough, having a bunch of other players with you will make it easier in beating these terrible foes.
So what about the interface? GE’s controls are easy to understand. You can have characters attack enemies automatically by combining keys or just clicking on the Combat Order menu. You can also harvest monster item drops automatically. Every control is within a mouse click but it would have been better if they devised an easier way of attacking monsters then picking up the items the dead uglies dropped with one click. I found the left clicking a bit tiring (not to mention damaging to the mouse).
When I played in the GE closed beta, there were tons of quests to be done. Some were the standard protect, find me, deliver, kill monster quests. But some were innovative in the way the quests were completed. I won’t spoil it here. You just have to find it out for yourself. Hopefully they’ll integrate more interesting tasks and quests which have repercussions on the gaming world itself.
Starcade verdict
So is GE a game worth playing? Definitely. I haven’t scratched the surface of GE and the MMORPG is still in close beta testing so there are still some bugs to be ironed out but otherwise, the game is bloody solid and undeniably addictive. Granado Espada is one of the better MMORPGs to come out this year. Hopefully, they’ll make the interface better and I wish IP e-Games hosts a local server here. And we hope it’s still free to play. But if it becomes pay-to-play, then I’ll happily gobble up this game. As long as it’s cheaper than the rest.
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