Blade & Soul Soul from Korean video gaming giant NCSoft is a martial arts-driven, Korean mythology-inspired downloadable game. It is action role-playing title in the guise of a massively multiplayer role-playing game. It bears has all of the hallmarks of a Korean MMORPG in terms of polish and graphics as well as the action one would expect from a bona fide action blockbuster on a console.
How to Download Blade & Soul
You can download Blade & Soul for Windows-based PCs or for mobile devices. The game is available as an Android or iOS download and you can get it from Google Play Store and Apple App Store respectively. To start downloading click on the Download button at the end of this review.
The Game Review
In South Korea, massively multiplayer online role-playing games occupy an outsized presence in their domestic video game market. Not only does this lead to a huge number of MMORPG games in the Republic of Korea but also it leads to every conceivable type of MMORPG finding a publisher in one way or the other.
As you can imagine, this environment lends itself to the creation of some very innovative fare in the RoK, Blade & Soul being among them.
Making use of a real-time battle system, Blade & Soul puts players in the shoes of a martial artist that is building his skills and exploring the world around him. A lot of the combat in the game seems inspired by the classic martial arts movies of yesteryear while also taking a heavy dose of spiritual guidance from the fighting game genre.
Like we said before, the MMORPG market in Korea tends to be one of the most diverse in the world and a lot of unique concepts get bandied about, Blade & Soul being one of them. The main draw for many Western players will be in its unique execution of action that both mirrors a fighting game but is nonetheless firmly rooted in the conventions of an MMORPG as established in World of Warcraft.
Indeed, one analog to the action-heavy combat found in Blade & Soul would be The Elder Scrolls Online, itself a distillation of an action-heavy experience into an MMORPG format.
Graphics and art style lend themselves heavily to the overstylized aesthetic often found in this genre. Fans of Korean manhwa should have nothing to complain about but for those of us weaned on Western MMORPGs it does seem a bit overwrought at times.
One thing that players should be aware of before beginning Blade & Soul is its overtly grindy nature. If you do not enjoy a classic, good old fashion grind fest then the action-heavy combat in Blade & Soul probably won’t be enough to keep you entertained. That said, for fans of East Asian mythology and martial arts movies this game is almost a no-brainer.
Incorporating both player versus player elements as well as player versus environment, Blade & Soul gives users a huge amount of latitude in how they choose to design their character in terms of appearance and play style.
This freedom comes at a price, however, as a lot of the game is locked behind hours of playtime that need to be accomplished before you can advance. This steep learning curve might be a hindrance for some players but for most, it should prove no problem as this is par for the course in most MMORPGs.
