The Destroyer is BnS's heavy class, with a huge axe and the ability to literally pick up enemies and throw them around. The Blade Master is your jack-of-all-trades, using their swords to provide solid offense and defense. The classes are divided between the four humanoid races: the basic Jin and Yun, the massive Gon, and the diminutive Lyn. The Western client launched with seven classes: Blade Master, Destroyer, Force Master, Kung Fu Master, Assassin, Blade Dancer, and Summoner. Unfortunately, balance seems to be a struggle for the game. I don't particularly enjoy PVP in MMOs, but in Blade & Soul it's rather fun. You'll find some very tense matches, where a perfect counter will take you from a near-loss to victory. There's a strong give-and-take, waiting for your foe to overcommit so you can exploit their weaknesses with a stun or grapple. Tactics and tight reflexes unpin the entire PVP system, leading to some great matches if you find an equally skilled opponent. The PVP mode, which is split between 1v1 Duels, 3v3 Matches, and world PVP, is where the game shines the brightest. That's why Blade & Soul's PVP is where the magic is at. Blade & Soul's combat is active in the strongest sense of the word, even more so than other action-oriented MMOs like TERA and Guild Wars 2. Once you've mastered the combat system, you'll find there's a flow state of basic combos, counters, stuns, grapples, throws, and follow-up attacks. Did another player just knock down that target? If you use the right attack, you'll create a combo with them! If you've stunned an enemy, perhaps you want to grapple for an alternate set of attacks. Is your opponent down? Here's a follow-up attack to stomp them into the dirt. You'll have one set of attacks and as the battle progresses, what's available to you changes. (You hold Alt to change mouse movement from camera to cursor, so you can select menu items.) When you're in combat in Blade & Soul, things are constantly shifting. You have to aim at the enemy you want to attack with the game's camera, so if you visually miss a strike, it misses in-game. There's no tab-targeting, no auto-focus, and no static action bars. Where Blade & Soul excels and innovates is in its combat. Honestly, given the audience this game seems to be reaching, I think it might have been better for NCSoft just to leave the Korean voice acting in place, because it's much, much stronger. It probably doesn't help that Blade & Soul's Western release is plagued by poor voice acting and rough translations. It's certainly not up to snuff compared to games like Final Fantasy XIV or Guild Wars 2. That's pretty much the outline of the quest and while the game will touch upon your true mission here and there, it's mostly background to the leveling experience. So begins your quest to master the Hongmoon way and bring an end to Jinsoyun. When your entire school is destroyed by the power hungry Jinsoyun, you're found floating in the ocean and saved by an old war veteran. Д«lade & Soul's plot is threadbare and mostly forgettable: You're the last student of Hong Sokyun, master of the Hongmoon style.

Blade & Soul looks really good when it wants to. You can even wall dash! Finally, there's static Dragon Pulses in each region that will launch you from place to place. Instead, the player character is completely self-sufficient, able to float through the air, push themselves forward off of nothing, and walk on water. Getting around those vistas is equally enjoyable. Mountainside cities stretch into the clouds, waterfalls dot the landscape, and vast deserts stretch out before you. This is a Korean MMO and that culture is painted upon every surface, alongside some heavy wuxia influences. Sure, Unreal Engine 3 shows its age here with relatively poor textures if you look at anything closeup, but the general artstyle is wonderfully unique. It depends on what you're looking for in your MMO.Д«lade & Soul is visually striking right from the beginning.

Those fans have been asking for a Western localization for years and NCSoft West finally delivered in January. The game has since been distributed to China, Japan, and Taiwan, but North American fans have had to muddle through a different language to enjoy the game. It's an MMO built from NCSoft's best and brightest, featuring the art of superstar Hyung Tae-Kim and a robust action combat system. Nearly four years ago, NCSoft launched Blade & Soul in South Korea.

Blade and soul online homepage