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Nexon at E3 2011: Could Dragon Nest be the first excellent Free-to-Play MMO?

Nexon at E3 2011: Could Dragon Nest be the first excellent Free-to-Play MMO?

Nexon at E3 2011

Nexon has always released some of the best free-to-play MMO content out there, especially with games likes Vindictus, Dungeon Fighter, and Maple Story. However, free-to-play has always suffered from some minor issues that have kept them from jumping into the worldwide mainstream. Nexon aims to change that with a new game they showed at E3 2011 last week.

The new title they showed at E3 is called Dragon Nest. Dragon Nest is an action role-playing game that is beautifully animated, fast-paced, has a great storyline, and contains familiar elements of roleplaying from both single-player RPG and MMORPG conventions.

Dragon Nest screenshot 001

The graphics are not consistent with what people expect from free-to-play

Traditionally, free-to-play games are generally associated with low graphic quality. Dragon Nest, however, looks really beautiful. Nexon is once again trying to push the graphics envelope for the genre. Dragon Nest has an animated smoothness to the environments, whereas their other high-definition title Vindictus is more brown and harsh. Even though Dragon Nest looks more cartoony, this does not mean that it is a kids game—it feels more like a really evil cartoon comes to life. Here are the recommended specs for the game:

  • Operating System: Windows XP or higher
  • CPU: Dual Core 2.0 or higher
  • RAM: 1GB or more
  • Hard Drive Space: Over 4GB free space
  • GPU: NVIDIA 7600 or higher
  • DirectX Version: 9.0C or higher
Dragon Nest screenshot 005

There are four character classes to choose from

Dragon Nest offers four gender-locked classes that you get to choose when you start the game, which can later be branched off into two sub-classes. For example, the Warrior can grow into the Swordsman (faster attacks) or Mercenary (attacks slowly but higher damage). Here is a more in-depth description for the four classes.

  • Warrior: A powerful fighter specializing in two-handed weapons and deadly up-close-and-personal melee combat.
  • Archer: An Elven sharpshooter who rains death from afar, but who can also handle herself up close with a range of powerful kick attacks
  • Cleric: He keeps himself and his friends alive through healing magic, but can also bring the pain to his enemies with his mighty hammer and lightning bolts.
  • Sorceress: The mistress of the mystic arts, the Sorceress unleashes deadly spells from afar to wreak massive damage on opponents.
Dragon Nest Screenshot 010

The Sorceress gets ready to wipe out her foes

What makes this game a bit different from all the other RPGs that Nexon has released in the past is that the control and feel of the game is more like that of a  third-person adventure game. You can use the environments to your advantage by knocking the enemies off the ground, or by pushing them up against the wall and performing a killer attack combo. Like most other MMORPGs there will be PvE and PvP for everyone’s enjoyment.

If you played Vindictus before, then you may have experienced the lag that has been a common complaint—the peer-to-peer connection system that Nexon used for it was not well implemented. Worry not,  as Dragon Nest players will be directly connected to Nexon servers.

Dragon Nest Screenshot 002

The game, it draws you in

When I was playing Dragon Nest at the Nexon booth there was a feeling that came over me—I actually enjoyed playing the game and did not want to stop. That’s a feeling that’s hard to capture and the last time I had it was when I was playing older MMOs like EVE Online and World of Warcraft—that motivation of not wanting to stop because I enjoyed it too much. Perhaps free-to-play has finally come into its own with Dragon Nest.

Comments

  1. Warshade They lost me at gender locked.
  2. lebot Its all awesome except for the gender lock.. why must they lock them gender??

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