Game-A-Week Episode 5: Black Desert
Starting this week, we here at Game-A-Week enter a new arc
I had an idea to Game-A-Week all the way back when I was still in college
For the same reason too, to get the full use out of my computer.
But it was on a much smaller scale. I had a list of seven games I wanted to try out but I wouldn't have time to do that until after college.
Now, we're at a much different story with Game-A-Week containing 80-something games total.
But I digress.
Starting this week, we're finally delving into that list of seven games.
This is the Future Seven arc!!
The first of which was (is?) Black Desert!
This one caught my eye because of how gorgeous the graphics were
Normally, MMOs come with a drawback sacrificing graphical power for the ability to host hundreds, maybe even thousands of players at once.
But not this one.
No, this one is VERY pretty.
And that alone was enough to sell me on the game.
And when it finally came out, I was not disappointed.
The character creator has endless possibilities to mess around in. The MMO genre as a whole seems to draw in a rather creative crowd and this was heaven.
It is the coup de grace for those creative types that love to fine tune their characters to their exact liking.
Myself included.
As for the gameplay, I liked it. It wasn't super amazing but it was fun nonetheless.
There's no targeting, your attacks are 100% free aim and playing as a Ranger, I personally loved sniping enemies from afar. It was almost like I was playing a third person shooter/MMO hybrid. Almost.
One thing I really like, is that the game actually rewards you for having alts.
And there's no max level either so you don't feel like you're wasting time playing an alt.
You feel free to just play whatever strikes your fancy at that particular moment and I like that a lot.
But wait, there's more!
Not only that, but leveling up is super easy too.
I counted how many days I played, while this episode took 2 weeks, I played exactly 7 days. That's one week. And only a couple hours each day too.
In that time, I reached level 40 through just regular ol' casual play
So, I've got no issue trying out a different class when I return to the game. I don't feel like I'm abandoning progress on my main to do so like I would in any other game.
Like I said, this game is very alt friendly. Not only that, but you get better daily attendance rewards the more alts you have and the higher levels they all are cumulatively.
The game rewards you for experimenting.
And I love that.
Another thing I really like is the story but I understand this is a rather unpopular opinion.
From the very start of the game, you hear the whispers of a Black Spirit
This creature gives you your quests, enhances your gear, all sorts of stuff.
But while he's very helpful and seemingly friendly, you're constantly told he's not to be trusted.
And when that happens, he freaks out. He gets in your head (literally) and tells you not to listen to them "They're lying!" he whispers to you.
He guides you to places of power where he absorbs the energy and grows stronger.
Becoming more physically developed as well. He starts as a black misty cloud with eyes but as you progress, he develops a face, teeth, arms, hands, a torso, etc.
This really makes you wonder if you should trust him or not.
On one hand, he helps you and seems to show concern when things get dire. On the other hand, he might just be using you to get what he wants.
I noticed he's even tried to scare me into not turning against him.
"If I die, you will as well. We are one in the same!" he said to me when one NPC said they could cleanse my soul of darkness.
He makes you feel like you need him. He's controlling you. He wants you to feel like you'd be lost without him.
You clearly can't trust him, that much is certain. But he has all your quests. You NEED him. You HAVE to feed his desire for power.
Will you regret it? I don't know what body part he's going to grow next. But what I do know is that I've got to see where this goes.
Is he a benevolent spirit that has just set down a ton of red flags or is jhe truly a malicious spirit manipulating my soul.
I honestly don't know and that this point, I can't tell.
For now, he seems to be on my side and he's willing to help me fight the monarch of darkness. He at least seems to care that much.
But he cares in a playful way. "Did you see that? The monarch of darkness has awoken! Edan must be pissed! Hehehe"
But then literally two quests later "We have no time! Go, to Calpheon. We have to stop the monarch of darkness!"
You're sending me mixed signals here, bud.
He's also a sociopath. Anyone who is not you or him are worthless and whether they live or die is of no concern to him. But if it'll make YOU happy, we might as well help these people. "Helping people feels good, huh?" "They're weak. Why should we help them?" "Killing them would be more fun but you're the boss! Just don't forget our deal, okay?"
I can't ever get a read on this guy.
The rest of the story is kinda meh. But the Black Spirit alone makes it incredibly interesting, at least for me.
In the one week I played, he's got a fully developed upper body. He's pretty creepy looking. I wonder how he's going to change next?
But that's enough of the Black Spirit even though I could talk about him endlessly.
One thing I don't like about this game is that it's buy to play here in the west but in Korea, its country of origin, its free to play.
The game plays like a free to play game and while this isn't a bad thing, I'm not okay paying for a free game.
It just doesn't feel right to me, you know.
When a gamer is pay to play or buy to play, there's a certain amount of quality you need to meet in order to justify the purchase.
Other than graphics, Black Desert does not meet that.
It's a fantastic free to play game but I wouldn't pay for it like I would Guild Wars 2 or World of Warcraft.
What I'm trying to say is that its was designed to be free to play and it feels that way too.
I can't justify paying for that.
Not that I mean to say the developers don't deserve to be paid, not at all. It's just.. It's complicated. I think you understand what I mean anyway.
If I want to spend money on a free game, its because I like the game and feel like its something I want to support. But I wouldn't pay right at the gate like I would with the other two games I mentioned when I KNOW its free elsewhere.
I feel like I'm making this sound more complicated than it is trying to justify my logic so I'm just gonna shut up about it.
Bottom line, its free in Korea but its not free here. And I wouldn't want to pay for something that's meant to be free.
Buuuut, what if I told you that you could get the game for free?
Just like it was always meant to be?
Well, as it turns out, you can. And don't worry, I'm not a scumbag that'll tell you to pirate it. (Can you even pirate an MMO?) If you pre-register for Black Desert mobile, you can get the PC version of Black Desert entirely free. And what's the worst that could happen. You get a free game at the cost of receiving an email somewhere down the line for a game you'll never play?
Sounds pretty good to me.
In fact, that's what I did.
And I'm glad I did because I love this game.
I give Black Desert a 8/10. It's a solid action MMO and I was able to nab it for free like it was always meant to be. In fact, https://www.world.blackdesertm.com/Intro/prereg
Here's the link.
I recommend you do so as well.
I ended up loving this game but I wouldn't pay for it. So I'm glad I'm able to play it for as long as I want instead of just playing a 7 day free trial like I originally intended for this week's episode. And if you didn't believe me when I said this was the prettiest MMO to date.... Well...This game is so beautiful in fact, I ended up taking like 200 million screenshots. These are only just a FEW of my favorites.
Here's a bonus JoJo pose!
And with that, this episode of Game-A-Week comes to a close. Yare yare daze, its a good game. To be continued!
December 20, 2019
