Original Mirror’s Edge offered us first-person parkour in a dystopian setting. Over the past seven-plus years, various developers have borrowed some ideas from her, developing them and making parkour just one of the elements of their games. The most striking example is Dying Light, where a nimble hero quickly climbs walls and runs over zombie heads. But Mirror’s Edge Catalyst cannot boast of such evolution.

Run without looking back

For some reason E.A And DICE decided not to continue the story of the main character Faith, but restarted the series, consisting of one game. Faith is released from prison and must find a job within fourteen days to avoid going back to jail. It consists of an illegal organization of sorts of couriers who deliver packages and information by moving across the rooftops of the City of Mirrors. This place is carefully monitored by the mysterious Conglomerate corporation, which controls everything around it. Faith will fight with her.

Even from the description, the plot does not seem anything outstanding, and throughout the game it will not be able to surprise you with anything. There are no unexpected twists, and the characters are as clichéd as possible. Take the hacker girl: she constantly sits on the floor, answers questions sharply, argues with her unfinished robot… Where have we already seen this?? Yes everywhere.

The problem lies not only in the plot, but also in its presentation. The developers tried to create an entire universe, but in the end they didn’t explain anything and didn’t answer many questions. The player constantly hears something about the “gray lands”, where residents expelled from the City are sent, but does not learn any details about them, and this does not play a role in the plot. The same can be said about the past of some heroes: characters more than once remember that someone has done a lot of bad things before and cannot be trusted, but what exactly this person did wrong is a mystery.

If the storyline is https://slotzocasino.co.uk/ boring and stupid, then parkour is Mirror’s Edge Catalyst was a great success. This is a big step forward from the original, and as Faith progresses through missions she will unlock more and more new features. By completing side quests and tests, the heroine receives experience points, which can be spent on improving characteristics and learning new tricks. Yes, sometimes such a system looks strange (for example, a girl learns about a roll after a fall only after studying it – what “parkourist” is not trained in this?), but the presence of “pumping” does not interfere in any way. And if at first Faith only runs, jumps and rolls up, then over time she gains the ability to cling to objects with a hook and swing, which significantly shortens the path to some locations.

Experience points can be spent on skills related to the combat system. Unfortunately, fight in Catalyst will have to quite often, as well as run away from pursuers. Faith does not pick up a weapon and relies only on the strength of her arms and legs, and therefore you should not expect variety in battles (especially considering the first-person view). In most cases, the girl either runs in circles looking for objects to climb on to jump on top of the enemy, or jumps around the enemy and hits him in the side or back. It’s hard to imagine a more boring activity, so when you see a squad of four guards ahead, it’s better to either quickly run past them, or find a workaround.

Opponents do not cause irritation only in those cases when Faith runs non-stop and pushes everyone in her path. If there is great music playing in the background (and most often it does), Catalyst begins to shine with new colors. Jump from one building to another, do a somersault, run along a wall, roll up, push a guard, rush along another wall, turn around and cling to scaffolding… If at that time a helicopter is circling somewhere nearby, and the glass is crumbling under enemy bullets, you get many times more emotions. By the way, hits from a “firearm” do not hurt Faith if the heroine runs without pauses and accumulates concentration.

Like a bird in the sky

New events take place Mirror’s Edge in an open world, while in the original the developers stuck to a linear structure. And parkour in the case of Catalyst goes well with a large city that is accessible to explore without any restrictions. Having completed one mission, most often you need to run several kilometers to the next, encountering many side quests along the way. Also, there are often people standing on rooftops who need to deliver a package to the recipient within a few seconds. They don’t explain why there’s such a rush, so such orders look ridiculous, but parkour is good, but there’s no time to delve into the essence.

There are also obvious tests in which you need to run from one point to another as quickly as possible, using hints. Runner’s Vision shows one possible path, but the game repeatedly hints that the illuminated path is not always optimal. And this is true – in some cases, following the red line and not making mistakes, I quickly lost points. Without knowing the city and without devoting enough time to each test, you will not be able to climb high in the leaderboard.

The last thing the open world has to offer is collectibles. If the plot is weak, then probably some hidden notes and audio recordings are interesting, because it would be logical! The developers have scattered several hundred things throughout the City of Mirrors: electronic parts in terminals, secret bags, stupid documents – and none of this adds even a little interesting to the story being told. Those who like to earn achievements and trophies will spend several evenings collecting items, and those who want to learn something about the “Conglomerate” and the inhabitants of the City will have to be content with missions, cutscenes and dialogues.

But the gameplay largely makes up for the shortcomings. Yes, the City is beautiful and at the same time absolutely lifeless, but it offers almost limitless freedom and many secrets and detours. Fighting is incredibly boring, but the game rarely forces you to beat up your opponents, forcing you to do this only in some story missions. The “leveling up” system is not entirely appropriate, but the feeling of progress encourages you to complete tests that would be interesting to complete even without additional rewards.

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst – absolutely not what fans of the original expected from the second part of the series. In the background Dying Light the game looks a little faded, but that doesn’t make it completely hopeless. Despite the banal plot and shortcomings of the gameplay, this is the best tracer simulator, where running on walls and jumping from one pipe to another is fun even after several hours. And the open world, although it seems out of place at first, can offer several additional hours of gameplay that you won’t have to regret. But after Catalyst the series is unlikely to be continued, and players will probably not see the perfect Mirror’s Edge.

Pros: improved parkour mechanics; freedom of movement and excellent sense of speed; Lots of fun in the open world.
Cons: boring plot with banal characters; fights remain the weakest part of the game.

Remember, in the year Shadows of Chernobyl was released, a game like Stalker Mobile was released on old (then still new and popular) Java phones? So to speak, the only full-fledged Stalker released on mobile devices, and, in principle, released on another platform besides PC.

Mobile phones were gaining popularity at that time; in 2007, as far as I remember, even the iPhone was shown to the world for the first time. That is, the era of smartphones began. It’s no surprise that GSC Game World and THQ decided to release a mobile version of their game as an advertisement for the main product. True, they jumped onto a train that had already left the platform. Oddly enough, this game gave absolutely the opposite effect to the intended one. For example, I first played Stalker on a PC, and then a friend told me that the game is also available on the phone. For me, as a person who was impressed by the game, this sounded very tempting, because what could be better than killing time in your favorite game on a device that fits in your pocket? True, I didn’t buy the game. At that time I didn’t know, and I still don’t know, how you could buy Java games.

The development, due to the absolute ignorance https://simonsayscasino.co.uk/ in working with mobile games by GSC, was undertaken by a small, also Ukrainian, studio Qpazle, which announced the project on March 19, 2007, showing 6 screenshots, and which by that time already had impressive experience in mobile game development and was either posing as a reputable office, or under the influence of GSC on July 11, 2007, at the exhibition E3 released a trailer for this “port”, which, by those standards, could really impress, but what’s more, the phones that the studio used could not withstand their creation due to the fact that the already difficult game used unique lighting. Therefore, an emulator was used to record the trailer, which attentive users quickly discovered.

Andrey Baranovsky, head of Qplaze, later stated: “This game (S.T.A.L.K.E.R. SoC – auto.) became a hit long before its release, and our vast experience in creating high-quality mobile games will guarantee that its mobile version will be no less expected and interesting. Naturally, given the specifics of the mobile platform, simple porting will not do – we will create our own, unique mobile project, fully consistent with the plot and spirit of the original"

In a way, he was lying. No, they really tried their best to make a quality game, but something somewhere didn’t quite work out. The plot, which is a prequel not even to Shadows of Chernobyl, but to Clear Sky, clearly did not correspond 100% to the original in everything, the spirit also disappeared somewhere..

It’s interesting that numerous reworkings of the concept, replacement of everything and everyone, as well as many interesting things cut out, accompanied not only the original game, but also this mobile port. The game was released on December 5, 2007, very stripped down, what can we say if Qpazle even had to cut out the GSC logo for the game to work properly. Apparently this is contagious, because if you remember the history of Stalker, you can notice one peculiarity – the games in the series changed their appearance seven times a week and still ended up being unfinished, cut down and completely different from the original idea. Even the not yet released S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 managed to change several times in 2011-12, but only Grigorovich knows what will come out in the end, and that’s not a fact. By January 8, 2008, to revive interest in the project, the studio released a release trailer.

When I started the game for the first time, I realized that my casual nature could not stand to complete it to the end. The controls were very inconvenient, but that’s not surprising, and the shooting didn’t look so great at all. It would seem that the game was so progressive for its time that even in the studio they could not find a suitable device to run it, but it felt completely different. And just imagine that a friend comes to me, a person who for several weeks could not pass one underground level and says that he passed it without straining. It was nonsense. Although I do not rule out that I simply had both left hands and therefore could not pass it.
Well, okay, let’s put aside my crookedness and remember why everyone loves Stalker so much? That’s right, for the atmosphere. Was this atmosphere in the mobile version?? There was, but in very small quantities. The combat was reduced to a shooting range, where your dexterity and ability to hit the button in time were tested, looting is generally a quiet horror, I’m generally silent about the plot, dialogues, etc. The only thing that really gave me pleasure was the underground locations, which at the same time I simply hated. But even here the developers managed to spoil everything, since soon it all came down to a dull corridor door opening in each room.
And despite everything, the game managed to remain a bright childhood memory, like its “big brother”. If I were offered to play Stalker Mobile or some modern “masterpieces” of mobile games, I would choose the first without hesitation..

You will most likely see this phrase during the first two or three games. You might accidentally spend all your money creating a “Dream Game” © in subsequent games. And this is the main complaint about the game. She doesn’t make Challenge too easy to play.
And yet, I would advise you to buy it on sale (if the session is not imminent, you have no family, you don’t need to go to work and, in general, no one needs you). Why? I’ll tell you about this in my mini-review.

Game dev tycoon – This is a business simulator, more precisely a tycoon or a time killer with a non-standard theme. Here you must develop a gaming company, which means releasing games. And it’s really exciting.

A developer’s career begins in the garage. You are free to choose the name of the company, the name of the hero and his appearance.

if you choose the real name of a large company, for example ubisoft or EA, then you will receive an “achievement” for this

After this you are released into free swimming. You yourself choose the game genre, its theme and platform (and later the engine, target audience and sometimes publisher) and begin development. Development looks like moving sliders, so you choose how much effort will go into each element of the game. In total, during the development of each game you will be given three opportunities to choose the direction of work. The success of the project depends on the correct distribution of forces – its assessment by game publications and sales of the game. Between development stages, the hero will create "design", "technology" and "research" points. The first and second ones influence the evaluation of the game and the development of the main elements of the game, and the third type of points is spent on research, for example, you can discover new game themes or improve graphics for future games.

Soon your company will grow and you will be able to hire several employees and then everything will be wrapped up..

It will be difficult to tear yourself away from the game. The simple mechanics seriously hook you and hold you in, not letting you “get off” the game, but all you need to do is move the sliders, look at getting points, discover a new technology, develop an engine, go to G3 and do something new. At the end of the game you can even design your own console and host your own exhibitions.

Now a little about the technical performance: the graphics are pleasant, but without pretensions to anything more, the offices are drawn with humor, the player’s entire attention is given to the gameplay. With sound, things are somewhat worse, the music quickly gets boring, and the sounds at the end of the game, together with the flickering “research” and “technology” points, can cause an epileptic seizure even in a healthy person.

Surprisingly, while writing the review, I learned that the official build of the game has Russian, so even those who do not know European languages ​​at all will be able to play this game without problems understanding the content.

While the game is on your computer, you will go from a garage game developer of the 80s to a huge corporation of 2015-2018 more than once or twice. You will discover the secrets of next-gen graphics, welcome the arrival of PlayStation 5 and be able to develop your own steambox.

Now let’s move on to the ratings, https://pantasiacasino.co.uk/ since the game still cannot be called a masterpiece:

Gameplay – 9, for interesting but not innovative gameplay and unusual themes
Sound – 6, the melody quickly gets boring, the sounds are informative, but after some time they merge into general white noise
Graphics – 7, a picture that doesn’t stand out at all
Value for the genre – 8, I have not yet seen worthy games about games.

Result: 7.5\10. The game is worth buying on sale and you will not regret spending time and money on it. It is guaranteed to take you away from your life for several days, and most importantly, it will bring you back without a hangover.

Achievement – “Welcome the dawn with the words: one more game and sleep”.

Game Dev Tycoon

Best comments

Accordingly, 100 points – 100, this increases the accuracy of the assessment, and with the right system, objectivity.

Objective opinion on games. funny joke. Forget objectivity. Only a robot with special algorithms can write objectively. If a person writes, there will be no objectivity. All the same, somewhere the author and the author’s point of view will be visible.

More options. If the stopgame system involves only 4 options for evaluating the game, then the 10-point system is 10. Accordingly, 100 points – 100, this increases the accuracy of the assessment, and with the right system, objectivity.

But the entire review is your subjective opinion. And these numerical estimates at the end are presented without any idea of ​​the standards that the author is guided by. That is, for the reader these are just numbers, the real significance of which can only be guessed at. Unlike the same rating system of the SG team, where each rating is much more capacious and understandable for the reader.

In particular, there is a certain objective standard chosen by the majority, for example, graphics or female beauty, if you like, and this standard is taken as 10, respectively, the opposite side, the phenomenon least corresponding to the standard, is taken as 1. Therefore, the assessment system is, as far as possible, objective.

But for the minority, it turns out that this is subjective, because it does not coincide with their standard? After all, how can this be objective if different people have different points of view on it?? Objectivity – when at all points of coordinates and moral systems – 10 is 10, and 1 is 1.

Where is it and where can I find it?? This is the point, everyone has their own, just like with the female beauty you mentioned. Moreover, if such a thing exists, then why did you suddenly decide that your tastes exactly coincide with this standard?? As a result, as I wrote, all these numbers that you took as estimates don’t tell me anything at all personally. Useless pacifier. So what are they for then?? To confuse the reader? But the notes for these assessments are much more informative.
What can we say about the 100-point scale?.

But again, this is not the answer. Whatever you call these numbers, in this case they are useless, incomprehensible and never objective. They don’t make sense at all.
The text already contains coverage of specific facts and features. There are also indications of the author’s attitude towards various elements. Quite objective and subjective, as far as possible, parts. Why the hell do you need anything else??

Consider that this is an assessment for advanced users; to be more precise, the review comes out as “amazing” or, at the very least, “commendable”, but this is not amazing and not commendable, it’s something in between. So I’m just adding an extra element of game appreciation for myself. As I wrote above, additional ratings will soon appear that will be more familiar to you (like amazingly, etc.).

Seller 100 level. You masterfully have sex with your brains. After an hour or two of continuous bombing like this, you will buy a Kirby, and join the pyramid, and take out a loan)))

it turns out “amazing” or, at the very least, “commendable”, but it’s not amazing or commendable, it’s something in between

Isn’t it easier to write it in words?? This will convey the idea better and leave less ambiguity. And not just any “commendable”, “amazing” or “something in between”. This is how it is in the part about assessments, but without the poor numerical assessments.

I have played 107 hours on the licensed version and about the same on the pirated version. It’s better to play first before judging, because “this kind of game” is quite addictive.

Perhaps later a 100-point system and additional ratings will be introduced, for example (“masterpiece”, “editor’s choice”, “I would play more”).

How?! How did you calculate that?. Well, that’s okay, I’ve sinned like that myself. A long time ago, really.

My main complaint is something else. What is this “mini-review” format anyway?? Why mini?! For what? There is no way to write the full version? Why then take it at all??

Unfortunately, you are bankrupt. “Electronic Mass” bought out “Company Name”. You will definitely see this phrase during the first two or three games.

And as usual, I’ll start with a short introduction. I searched for a suitable image on Google for a long time, but could not find it. At the request “helloween”, he gave me pictures that disgust me from the inside. At the subconscious level, so to speak. In particular, there were children dressed as Mario, pumpkins (very, very, very many pumpkins smiling evilly. ) and painted Chinese. This is extremely disgusting! Just terrible! Martyns have nothing else to look at during Halloween?
Closer to body business. In general, I was wandering around blogs and the Internet and remembered about one interesting toy called FOnline. Of course, I decided to play, but then Akafzhrus called me and offered to chop it into dotka. I, of course, refused, but he begged me so much, rolled on his knees and asked that I could not refuse such an unfortunate creature. Having gathered a team, we started playing and I didn’t like it. I went back to the fall, but didn’t close Steam and he meanly informed me about the updates. Among them was the Team Fortress 2 update. Well, why not play?? Well then..
I decided to write a little about the update and Folache to make it fun. And also, I want to talk to you about such a foreign holiday as Halloween. Next there should be a lot of text, pictures, well, as usual. And remember, your reviews and comments are like a balm for my soul. I just don’t have it. MWAHAHAHAHA.

Team Fortress 2: Halloween Update

Well, perhaps the girl will be the first to be torn apart by the bear.
I am undoubtedly sure that most people know what Team Fortress is and there is no need to write a whole blog about it. Therefore, I will briefly outline all the quirks of the new update.
As far as I know, the update contains not just new items, but rather a new game mode in which you will have to fight a big, big green asshole with a skull on his head. In general, the update contains new maps, I only played one, so there’s nothing to say about the maps. Two respawns, no trolleys – only hardcore.
The essence of the regime is to overthrow the green crap that periodically appears on the server and kills everything. Yes, there’s just one raisin. This tramp is so powerful that it can only be taken down by the joint efforts of both teams. That is, you will have to unite red with blue and bring him down all together. I played on two servers. In Russian and foreign languages.
Actually, I didn’t expect any kindness from the Russian server. There was just a Gryforai. Everyone killed each other and sometimes killed the green magician. No, well, of course I understand that there are frags and all that, but the trees are green… Why kill each other when you can get a good amount of points and gear if you kill the green bastard? Such is the Russian people. Can’t go anywhere without griffinism. Oh well, it’s not that scary yet. Then it was more fun. After the server holder arrived, he started kicking half of the enemy team for no reason. Someone killed him in the back – he kicks. Someone killed him at point blank range – he kicks him. It was funny, but it got boring and I decided to go abroad.
It’s much calmer on a foreign server. Nobody killed anyone. Occasionally someone indulged, but it’s forgivable. We called the green reptile in two teams and tried to overwhelm him. Personally, I like it better.
Now about the little things. Green is very cunning. If you approach him, he will throw you up and set you on fire. Or he’ll just hit you with a stick so hard it doesn’t seem like enough. The damage dealt to him is extremely small, and his HP is very high. But there is a good side. One of the players becomes a bomb and runs towards the green one. Reminds me of serious Sam, by the way. When the bombhead reaches his destination, he flies up, stuns the green one and deals -300hp damage to him, and he himself becomes invulnerable for a while. While green is stunned, he does not move and takes double damage. I love these moments, because the mess begins to be utter.
Well, one more little raisin – the wheel of fortune. I didn’t go into detail about the time the wheel appeared, so I’ll just tell you the general principle.
The wheel spins, choosing some kind of nasty thing or bun for both teams. This could be either weak gravity or immortality for a while. Or maybe it will be minimizing goals or, conversely, increasing them. You cannot change the effect or reject it, and in general, it should somehow enhance the gameplay.
Oh, by the way, there are still ghost gifts. Find one and you might get some spell or potion. Potions and spells are applied to weapons and provide a variety of effects. For example, you can make burning trails or slightly intensify the flame by making it green. But if a set of bones and other rubbish falls out, rejoice. From 7 pieces of such rubbish you can make yourself a pile of crap and open it like a box. Cool goodies fall out of there. I got two medic souls. By the way, souls, if you put them on, turn a character into a zombie. It looks funny. I didn’t look at the effects, but it’s really funny.
This is the small part I wanted to tell you about the update. If you decide to play, you can call me! Stingy and steam in profile. I’m not sure about Steam though.

Fallout Online

Now to another game. Follach.
Many of my acquaintances have not played the second game and have no idea what it is. I really feel sorry for them, because it’s just terrible to miss such a game. You should be ashamed.

80 years after the events of https://peachygames-casino.co.uk/login/ Fallout, the secluded village of Arroyo, founded by the Vault Dweller. Vault Dweller), began to fall into disrepair. New strength was needed to breathe life into the fields. The village elder sends the Chosen One. Chosen One) in the wasteland behind the miracle of pre-war engineering technology – GECK. GECK, Garden of Eden Creation Kit – GECK, Generator of the Edenic Tabernacles Compact; unlicensed versions also use translations of “Group of Edenic Structural Components” and “KoSoGoR” – “Kit for the Creation of a City-Paradise”), created so that the inhabitants of the shelters who came to the surface could establish a new life.
The Chosen One goes on a dangerous quest..

I advise you to read what’s in the spoiler.
In general, the online fall game is actually fall 2, but only online and not step-by-step, but real-time. You appear at the replication station and freely stomp around the wasteland. Completely naked, without weapons and with a flower in his hands. This is the beginning of a long, aimless journey, but nevertheless extremely interesting. If you have not played the second game, then you can safely read everything that is written here, and if you have played, scroll to the end.

The game’s interface is a little unfriendly, but this is quite forgivable and you can get used to it. All character control and interaction with the world occurs using the mouse and only. At the bottom of the screen there is a small control panel with the most important buttons and windows. Chat is on the left. On the right is a window for interacting with weapons and other objects that you can pick up and do whatever you want with them.
Honestly, it’s difficult for me to describe this game, since I haven’t studied all its details, but it’s still worth doing. I don’t think it’s worth going into the details of character control and combat methods. I’ll just tell you the story of how a lonely traveler went on a journey. Upon arrival in the provincial town of Klamath, the traveler immediately headed to the nearest tavern or bar, which does not matter. There he met a bar owner and a local trapper. He hunted geckos and skinned them. Having rented a room for the night and learned how to remove skins, our traveler goes to work. It’s hard work, but you need money more than ever. Armor and weapons are very expensive.
On the way to the exit, the traveler heard drunkards talking about how some woman had lost her husband, who was also a trapper. Well, it’s worth looking for it. Karma is still not rubber.
Taking with him a rusty knife that looked more like an iron stick, our hero goes to the trapper caves. While cutting down silver geckos along the way, he finds two lost hunters. Having asked what happened to them, it turns out that this is the same missing husband. It also turns out that he was irradiated and urgently needs help. With this news the hero goes back to the city. So his days pass, until one fine moment a decent amount of caps accumulates. Having earned money and experience, the wanderer moves on to other cities and settlements. Meets different people, travels with caravans, captures bases, etc.
Something doesn’t work for me in the “review” of Fallach… Strange, but oh well. Will do. :7
By the way, if you want to play, I run my own server. Just ask in the comments and I will include it. We can get together and play.

Halloween

So, people… Explain to me why it has become so fashionable to celebrate and discuss the Breton-Irish holiday?! No, your holidays are not enough for you? Or is this another reason?
Let’s figure it out. This “holiday” originated somewhere in Breton. In general, this is a pagan holiday that was associated with death and the supernatural.
No, there is nothing wrong with accepting pieces of foreign cultures. I want to say that in my opinion people do not understand why and what they are celebrating. They just heard that this is a holiday about evil monsters from under the bed. It is unrealistic to organize a Breton halluin in Raska, because this can only be organized in Britain.
Around the 16th century, the tradition of gaising developed – begging for sweets on the night of October 31st.
Hah. I would look at this in Russia. I have no doubt that the kids would be sent to three funny letters. Or they just called them idiots and closed the door. And it’s probably worth considering that in another country, the same Breton, children and adults didn’t just go from house to house in costumes and beg for sweets, they also played petty pranks! Now let’s remember TF2 and griffins in Rushka. And now this “little naughtiness” magically turns into 15 days in a pre-trial detention center. Although I know Rashkin’s mentality, they will simply break your legs or arms.
So why has it become so fashionable on the Internet to celebrate this extremely strange holiday??
There are pumpkins, idiots in costumes, themed parties, etc. everywhere. Well, seriously, there’s nothing else to celebrate or what?? No, let’s celebrate everything. Oh look! The moon is hidden behind clouds today! Let’s celebrate this! Let’s send a bunch of messages on Twitter and start a party about it! Woohoo!
Yes, yes? Well, how can you celebrate a completely worthless holiday??!
Okay, let’s say… The people of Breton believe that on the 31st all evil spirits take to the streets and kill people. OK. And this is where the extremely amazing Breton ingenuity comes into play..

-ABOUT! Monsters roam the streets!
-Let’s dress up as monsters and ask for candy, throwing toilet paper at home?
-Let’s!

Bad tactics, yeah? Oh, let’s dress in the enemy’s clothes during the war? They’ll never notice us like that, yeah?
And the question is, if everyone knows that there are no monsters, then why does everyone continue to celebrate this holiday?? For freebies? No, the Bretons are not capable of this, only Russians can lick an iron pole in forty-degree frost for a freebie. And again, costumes… This is where the Chinese have freedom… There are a lot of them, they know how to sew… The Internet is generally teeming with Chinese in costumes of zombies and corpses. This is fucking terrible… These pictures make me sick.
In principle, I have nothing against themed parties. It’s even fun to dress up in some ridiculous costumes and have a blast on the dance floor. There used to be masquerade balls. It’s very similar. But again, it came from behind the hill. As the wiki told me, this is Americanization.

MMORPG is a genre of multiplayer online games; the main feature of MMOs is the interaction of a large number of players within the game world. And as befits any RPG, the player takes on the role of a (usually) created character with a variety of abilities.

Blade&Soul was developed by NCsoft (Team Bloodlust), better known as the creators of the great Lineage and AION.
BnS is a truly Asian MMO with an emphasis on martial arts and a plot that is not inferior to a good Korean series.

The world of BnS is a colorful oriental fantasy RPG with tall pagodas, golden palaces decorated with dragons and towering statues of deities. The bright and “anime” style of the game may turn off people who haven’t been through JoJo’s baptism of fire, but the complex and at the same time varied combat system will appeal to fans of fighting games and action games.

Each hero’s adventure begins with choosing a race and class, fortunately there are plenty to choose from. There are 4 races to choose from: Shen – an analogue of ordinary people, Wang – larger people and wearers of the most provocative clothes, Lin – a race of small children with ears and tails, and Feng – a race without men (there are really no male characters there).

If the choice of race turned out to be meager, then in choosing a character class there are 11 classes to suit every taste and style of play, since the game does not have the classic concepts of heal, tank and damage control, each of the proposed classes is a character for dealing damage, some of them have a buff that increases the boss’s aggression, which allows you to call him a tank, but in reality anyone can tank (hold the boss’s aggression) on themselves.

The character classes in the game are called masters So you can choose from 6 short rangers, 4 long rangers and one hybrid.
Melee:
Shadow Master – a typical assassin with invisibility, poisons, traps and bombs, the choice of people who prefer to strike from the shadows, fast and elusive.
Blade Master – also known as BM (blade master), a fast and agile sword-wielding class, a balanced and popular class.
Blademaster Lin – also a swordsman, but the class is intended exclusively for the Lin race and differs from the past in some abilities.
Kung Fu Master – a difficult to master but very impressive fist fighter who looks like he came off the cover of a Chinese action movie; in the game they were nicknamed LSM (lyn sword master).
Ax Master – called in the game as Destro, short for Destroyer, the class can only be chosen from the Van race, a stance and a destructive class wielding a Huge Axe, at first glance it may seem that the class is very slow, but this is just a screen for a real master, there are no speed limits.
Master of Wrath – every Asian game should have a character with a sword larger than his own size, so the Master of Wrath or in common parlance Var is one of the simplest and, in total, the most durable melee character in the game.

Ranged:
Elemental Master – this is a magician, but not in its classical sense, he is a very mobile character with high damage and abilities that will be needed in any group. Force master or Force for short
Summoning Master — Cat breeder, another class exclusively for the Lin race, from the nickname it should already be clear that the character plays together with his cat in tandem, forming one of the most dangerous combinations in the game, a good cat breeder knows how to control a cat, a master of summoning, can win with a cat.
Spirit Master – a popular class in the game, nicknamed Warlock, summons a huge spirit to its side, which helps in battle by giving a buff, attacking the enemy and other more subtle capabilities of the class, such as throwing up or resetting the cooldowns of abilities.
Marksman – or Gunner, one of the most mobile classes in the game, shooting from two pistols, the class can quickly move around the battlefield not only on the ground but allows you to hover in the air, shooting back at enemies and taking a better position.

And lastly, the hybrid class"Master Qi" – not a particularly popular class, a mixture of a kung fu master and an elemental master. So unpopular that I don’t even know what to say about it, only that it’s not the easiest class to learn.

A new 12th character class, archer, is also expected to be localized. In Korea, the archer was released at the beginning of summer, but in other localizations you can expect it in late autumn or even winter.

If someone has harmed you, do not take revenge. Sit on the river bank and soon you will see the corpse of your enemy floating past you.
Lao Tzu.

Having created a character, the game begins with a chain of training quests in which you will have to learn how to run on the third space plane, soar in the air, make simple attacks, and also obey the every whim of scripted NPCs.
But as I wrote earlier, the game focuses on the plot part and you will have to level up exclusively according to the main storyline.

Our adventure begins with awakening at https://cashpot-casino.uk/ the Peak of Dawn (not that peak), we are a student of the Way of Hon, an ancient school of martial arts masters, like several other students in the school, we study with the only teacher of the school, Hong Seokkyn. As the youngest of the students, after waking up we are immediately harnessed to gather everyone in front of the teacher’s house to begin training. After an inspiring speech about honesty, nobility and how all this is related to the teachings of the teacher, Hong Seokkyn opens for us a book with fighting techniques of the Hong’s path, mentioning that he himself would like to teach us, but his health is no longer the same, and sends us to the training ground to the mentor Yong Muk, who is also the senior student.

As it turned out, the teacher does not give the book to just anyone and we are chosen, and we will even be able to touch the most secret techniques of the school of the path of the khon (patifon). Yong Muk immediately warns that the training will not be easy and urges you to take a weapon in order to start training. Once the training is finished, Yong Mook talks about the final exam in the Cave of Trials, before entering the cave he will have to enter alone. There are mannequins waiting for us in the cave, which are not difficult to deal with, but this is just the beginning. I won’t tell you further what will happen in the cave “SPOILERS”. At the end of the test, we need to get out and here events begin that turn all peaceful life on Peak of Dawn upside down. A crowd of demons led by people in black clothes came for a certain ancient sword, a twilight blade, having defeated the teacher by deceit, they throw us off a cliff into the sea. From the depths of which we are rescued and transported to the Bamboo Village, but even there not everything is calm, the bamboo village was attacked by pirates and it is from here that we begin to see other players and move freely through already open locations. And all this to the accompaniment of good music, which fits perfectly into the surroundings of the local beauties.

And such plot twists in every chapter and location. As the story progresses, we will see a lot of cutscenes, which is not typical for games of this genre. The plot is reminiscent of a very good Korean series with a lot of betrayals and secrets. But there is one BUT, in this whole plot, this is a rag main character who does absolutely everything that he is told. And this is not even bad, but the plot part of the game removes any flaws in the same plot part of the game. The story is what will accompany the player until he reaches the main content of the game, and in BnS the story is a success.

From a visual point of view, BnS is outdated, the unreal engine 3 can no longer cope with the greed of the modern player, and the visual style reminiscent of Anime will alienate some people. But in general, the picture is very juicy and the visual effects perfectly emphasize the overall style of the game, bright and attractive action.

However, this may soon change, because the developer has provided a video of the upcoming visual update of the game, or rather, the transition to the Unreal engine 4.

As mentioned above, leveling up in Blade&Soul occurs through the main story quest and nothing else, this is both good and bad. The good thing is that they will take you by the hand and lead you through a really interesting story, but the bad thing is that leveling up minor characters becomes a chore and there is no way to overcome a 25-hour storyline, even if it’s a cool one.
Fortunately, in BnS having several characters is not a mandatory part for a comfortable game (hello BDO), the mandatory part is to choose the right class and create a character that will delight you with its appearance every time you enter the game. And of course, the most important thing in an MMO game is the gameplay.
Beating adversaries in BnS is a whole art, the ability panel is fixed and changes if you or the enemy are in a certain state, for example, stunning the enemy will open the ability to throw the enemy into the air and make a series of strong attacks there, although previously in place of this ability there was a dash to the enemy. Likewise, when you are knocked over, the ability to defend, somersault back, or the ability to quickly get up while being immune to any type of damage opens up. For an example, let’s go to the class I play, when using the ability true faith on the TAB keys, other abilities open on the skill panel.

This combat system is very similar to many fighting games where you choose attacks depending on your own fighting style and what the enemy is doing. Also, abilities are combined into bundles, and bundles are combined, which opens up huge scope in PVP modes, and the requirements for the player increase.

Probably everyone who has heard at least a little about BnS, not only that it is an anime game, has also heard that Blade&Soul has one of the fairest arenas in mmorpg. This is achieved through frequent adjustments to the balance of classes and the complete absence of influence of equipment on PVP modes, however, in 6v6, equipment still matters, which is why this mode is not particularly widespread. Like basically all PVP in the game. There is also open factional confrontation in the game. To start such a battle, it is enough to put on the uniform of two opposing factions in the open world and you can find out whose kung fu is better. The PVP mode in the game is not deservedly empty, because it is very interesting and difficult, and each victory is achieved through a lot of trial and error. In BnS you can win a battle in a second, a war in a minute.

I’ll tell you a little about the intricacies of the Arena and, in principle, PVP. The arena is a round platform, which is entered after the timer for preparing for the battle has expired. As soon as the preparation time for the fight expires, the fight begins. Straight arms, studying the enemy and knowledge of class timings will bring victory, but mindlessly clicking buttons will only bring pain and humiliation. Combat in BnS is a delicate execution of mechanics, quick reaction and precision of actions.
The opponent will do everything possible to win the fight, a skillfully created build will help in the battle, and experience will give the necessary advantage to predict the enemy’s actions. The battle of really strong players is a confrontation that is really pleasant to watch, but it is difficult to notice with the naked eye and only a commentator who knows his stuff will help you understand the chaos that is going on.
In 3 on 3, 6 players take part, and this mode has a couple of subtleties, the “change” and “help” abilities are added to the usual abilities. After the battle waiting timer has passed, 1 player from each team is released into the arena. They have the “change” ability, which allows them to change to the next player who has expressed a desire to fight next, the remaining 2 teammates have the “help” ability, which allows them to enter the arena for a couple of seconds to help kill the enemy or protect an ally, thereby turning the tide of the battle.
In 6v6, everything is noticeably different from the game in the arena, here victory is achieved by completing tasks on each individual map, so on the Island of Jasper Whale you need to move a fish figurine from the central fountain to one of its 3 points, the longer the figurine is on your point, the more points you earn, victory is awarded to the team that quickly scores the maximum points or to the team with more points after time has elapsed. On the other two maps the tasks are different but the general principle is the same, earn more points. There is also always the opportunity to turn the tide of the game by deceiving the enemy by starting an unnecessary fight while your teammate steals the figurine and carries it to his point. 6v6 is currently the only PVP mode in which the participation of the Guild is desirable (more on them later).

PVP in Blade&Soul is so important that the developer organizes an annual 3v3 world tournament with a real prize pool. In 2018, the Russian localization team, Blackout, won the finals and earned worldwide recognition by becoming the champion of Blade&Soul and taking home 50 million won (approximately 43 thousand dollars).

Also, in recent updates, Battle Royale was added to the game; in its classic form, tournaments are also held for it in all localizations.

Now we come to an equally important part of the PVE gameplay – player vs environment. PVE in BnS mainly consists of farming Dungeons (dungeons) and raiding with 12 people against especially strong bosses in order to get loot and get gold. Quests are the main way to earn money because the resources you sell can be sold at a high price, but you may also need these resources yourself.

Dungeons, as in most MMO games, are a gut, the task of the players is to get from point A to point B, simultaneously destroying the entire population of the dungeon and ultimately overwhelm the main bully. In words, everything is simple, but in reality, this is a whole test for an unprepared player. Each Bos in the dungeon has a pattern of behavior when it reaches a certain percentage of life, the so-called Phase. Bosses have different phases and each dungeon has its own specific boss. Bosses also have a timer above their health bar that indicates after what time the boss will become enraged and simply wipe (destroy) the entire group of players. In order to kill the boss and not get wiped, the whole group must work together, the tank tanks, the rest deal damage as best they can. The phases of the bosses are different, but one thing is always known, as soon as opportunities for control open up, you need to give a knockdown or stun, depending on the boss, at some moments you need to jump away from the boss and at others to press as tightly as possible. Bosses are also mechanics learned over time, but you shouldn’t be ashamed of the guides, sometimes because of the mistake of one player the whole group dies and you have to beat the boss from the beginning.

Raids are a mode for 12 people, and it is from raids that you can get the best equipment in the game. In BnS raids are complex high-level content for well-played groups, because bosses are fatter and there is a higher possibility of wipe, since the boss has mechanics in which he can kill everyone, even at the very beginning of the battle.

Also in the game there is a solo dungeon in the form of a tower or a pirate island, where you often fight 1 on 1 with a boss who knows no mercy and every mistake can be your last. A true test of your abilities.

PVE in BnS is difficult and at the same time interesting, the more difficult the boss, the higher the joy of victory and the bitterness of defeat.

In BnS, with equipment everything is quite simple, equipment affects damage to monsters, the higher the equipment, the more damage. It is only worth mentioning that the equipment differs from other MMORPGs in its appearance, for example, instead of the usual helmet or bib in the game, they are replaced by an item called bagua, pizza or pie.

Each piece of equipment can be improved, and the best equipment does not even need to be replaced, because leveling up legendary and raid jewelry can take a very long time. Likewise, weapons change their appearance and characteristics depending on what object you sharpen them with. If you want a raid weapon, please go on a raid and get the necessary item for sharpening a weapon, if you want an alternative option, you will have to fork out because it will cost you more.

And a few words about the characters’ clothing, which does not affect absolutely anything and in the game serves only as a way of self-expression and a means of earning money for the developer.

To know the chosen ones is good, and to live with them is true happiness; happy is he who does not have to deal with fools.
Buddha Gautama.

Now probably one of the most important parts of any MMO is the Community, the players are the engine of the game. The first steps towards communication and the opportunity to join a battle school, as guilds are called in BnS, begins with choosing the Honchon or Murim faction, you can choose any of them at the moment this only affects the faction chat and the battle school. Only by belonging to the same faction will players be able to join the same battle school. The combat school at this stage is mainly needed for joint raids and Guild 6v6. I can’t say much about guilds since I’m not a member of any, which is why BnS is so charming. It is not necessary to cooperate with other players; the game even has a “hide other players” button for a more complete immersion in solitude.

BnS is an excellent game with a bunch of interesting mechanics, a generous donation as much as a free2play game allows, great PVPvE, and an excellent storyline. But as with everything else, the game has many shortcomings. In PVP, for example, at the moment the strongest class is the master of wrath due to his wild vitality, which can cause the battle to drag on for a long time due to the inability to kill him. Optimization also suffers in the game, which is why even on the highest hardware you can feel drawdowns and noticeable lags. Lags are the problem with BnS, high ping dependence requires a good Internet connection, which makes players sitting a meter from the server gods. The worst thing about BnS is crashes, very frequent crashes, disconnections and the famous BnS crash report, which has been causing the entire community to burn out since the game was released.

Ultimately, BnS is an excellent game that is worth playing, if not for killing time, then for the wonderful plot and magical musical accompaniment, fortunately the localizer did their best and the game is completely translated into Russian, which makes following the plot much more enjoyable. But a very big disadvantage of the game lies in the optimization, the developers don’t care so much that every month we get a bunch of new donated costumes and we have to put up with crashes and bugs for many years now.