There's nothing wrong with wearing high heels and revealing clothing, but when these are your only options, it feels like the game is appealing to little more than the male gaze. There's no valid reason why you can't play as a female Paladin or a male Shadowhunter, and this backwards thinking extends to Lost Ark's portrayal of female characters in general. The only downside to character creation is the fact that the majority of classes are gender-locked. I played through the game as the Assassin's Deathblade, but Lost Ark's class-tester lets you try out as many of the game's classes as you need before finally settling on one. A Martial Artist, for instance, can choose to play as a Soulfist, utilizing both melee and ranged attacks, or pick a sub-class like the Wardancer which lets you augment your fighting skills with powerful elemental attacks. Each one is then divided into multiple sub-classes that focus on a specific playstyle and weapon type. You can create a character from one of five distinct classes: Warrior, Gunner, Mage, Martial Artist, and Assassin. Part of the reason for this is because Lost Ark's combat provides an excellent foundation for these awe-inspiring moments. From pounding on a war drum as your siege tower edges closer to the baying enemy swarm, to cleaving your way across the castle's fortifications while flaming rocks and hefty chains penetrate the walls and crash all around you, it's sheer spectacle and more than enough to get the heart pumping. The culmination of this questline sees you recruit various factions from across the region until it all coalesces in an immense castle siege that more closely resembles The Lord of the Rings' Battle of Helm's Deep than anything you'd expect to find in an MMO or ARPG. Much of the early game takes place in the region of West Luterra as you help an errant king regain his throne from a nefarious usurper. Most of the major story beats conclude with large-scale battles that encompass hundreds of warring units at any one time. Hamfisted writing and mediocre voice acting also contribute to an entirely forgettable story where you're better off skipping past most of its dialogue altogether.įortunately, the narrative's shortcomings do little to undermine Lost Ark's tremendous sense of scale and penchant for exciting set pieces. Further adding to Lost Ark's glaring narrative issue is its one-dimensional cast of characters that fail to wring anything compelling out of this familiar narrative. The story primarily focuses on a continent-spanning hunt for the seven eponymous Arks, as possessing these powerful artifacts is essential to humanity's hopes of winning the war against this demonic horde. Lost Ark's overarching plot adopts a well-worn and stale structure, pitting the mortal world against an invading army of demons. It's not without its fair share of faults, both from a design and monetary perspective, but the early signs are certainly encouraging. The fact that it's free-to-play is an obvious advantage in this sense, but this stylish Korean hybrid of MMO and action RPG has a lot more going for it, with spectacularly punchy combat and heaps of content to sink your teeth into. Based on the early returns-at least for its arrival on Western shores-Lost Ark looks like it might settle into the latter category, as its servers are already filled to the brim with eager adventurers. Plenty have come and gone in the past, disappearing into the ether as their player numbers dwindled, while others have only grown in popularity with each passing year and new expansion.
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