Blade & Soul Review

What happens when you mix World of Warcraft and kung fu? You get Blade & Soul, a free-to-play MMORPG from NCSoft, makers of Aion and Guild Wars.

Sticking close to tradition, Blade & Soul offers an experience that any seasoned MMO player should instantly be familiar with. This is both to its benefit and detriment, as you will see.

Story

Players begin their journey at the Hongmoon School, a martial arts academy led by the unassuming Master Hong. Your character is affectionately referred to as “Cricket” by those in the school. You complete a quick tutorial where you meet the other students. But then, the ruthless Jinsoyun attacks the Hongmoon training ground Heaven’s Reach and systematically murders everyone you’ve just met.

Now without a school or master, you get rescued when found floating adrift in the sea. The main game begins here. Cricket vows to get revenge for the Hongmoon massacre and take down Jinsoyun once and for all.

Quests

Quests stay within the standard fare of MMORPGs. You take X thing to Y place, kill X amount of a monster type, etc. Though the quests don’t offer much in the way of excitement or story, they don’t overstay their welcome. So, it’s quick and easy to gain experience and level up solo or with a friend.

In fact, most of the game feels like a quick and easy way to gain experience and level up. Many enemies fall over at the slightest suggestion of an attack. The first large boss I encountered at the end of a quest line gave me hope for a challenging fight. But then I felled the monster in a measly three hits.

It’s a shame, as the combat feels responsive, requiring strategy and patience to combo moves together. But none of that comes through in the PvE encounters.