Blade & Soul: NCSoft’s MMO Gets Fresh Gameplay and Graphics With ‘Neo’ Update

The Wuxia-inspired fantasy MMORPG will be updated on February 25, combining classic gameplay elements with new and optimized features.

Blade & Soul: NCSoft’s MMO Gets Fresh Gameplay and Graphics is developer NCSoft’s attempt to recreate the excitement of a Wuxia-inspired massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Given the success of nostalgic remakes like Classic Everquest, Old School Runescape, and World of Warcraft Classic, this move is not surprising. However, “Neo” is not a direct translation.

But do veterans also want this change? We’ve got a hands-on demo of Blade & Soul | Free to Play | MMORPG to see the changes and improvements you can expect when the MMORPG launches on PC on February 25 exclusively via NCSoft’s Purple Game Launcher.

What Is Blade & Soul?

The original Blade and Soul is a wuxia action game that takes you, the last surviving member of the Hongmoon clan, on a journey to avenge the deaths of your master and teammates. It launched in South Korea in 2012 and worldwide in 2016.

Blade & Soul Wikipedia is a unique MMORPG in that it incorporates thrilling elements into its gameplay. Outside of Terra, other MMORPGs have battle strategies and game modes that allow you to outsmart, crush, and defeat enemies or fight enemies and bosses like Blade and Soul. Instead, Blade and Soul have developed a combination of both play-to-earn (PvE) and steal-to-steal (PvP) modes.

The graphics of the game are another highlight due to Hyung Tae Kim’s character design. The name may sound familiar to Nikkei fans: the Victorious Woman and the Star-Spangled Banner are the Original Entities of Change. Although Hyung Tae Kim left NCSoft in 2013, his style still exists in the Blade and Soul series.

What Is Blade & Soul Neo?

Blade & Soul has undergone several level changes, expansions, and engine upgrades to Unreal Engine 4 over the years of its development. Unfortunately, this development time (about 13 in Korea!) means there’s a lot to keep new players interested in and not much focus on the original elements that made the game so enjoyable to begin with. There aren’t many people navigating old dungeons or spending time in old locations – which is a shame considering the environments and challenges.

Neo starts the game and starts everything from square one. In it, he’s a freshman in Hong Kong grieving the loss of his family and searching for answers to the genocide. Blade & Soul: NCSoft’s MMO Gets Fresh Gameplay and Graphics will only be set in two locations: the beautiful Viridian Coast and the arid Cinderland. By comparison, the current version has seven states. The story closely follows the plot points set in the original game, but the development team didn’t commit to sticking to the canon that existed during Neo’s expansion. This opens the floodgates for more twists and turns, which is interesting, considering the current main story is still pretty good.

Unfortunately, this means that the cosmetics you collected and earned through combat in the original game will not carry over to Blade & Soul: NCSoft’s MMO Gets Fresh Gameplay and Graphics. The new release is a standalone game, not based on the original game.

What Changes Does Blade & Soul NEO Introduce?

The biggest change is the visuals, with Blade & Soul: NCSoft’s MMO Gets Fresh Gameplay and Graphics running smoothly on Unreal Engine 4. This means better graphics, better lighting, and a cleaner UI. In addition to the fidelity of the UE4 graphics and visuals, Neo also adds new graphics.

Blade & Soul: NCSoft’s MMO Gets Fresh Gameplay and Graphics starts with seven playable modes: Assassin, Player, Battlemaster, Destroyer, Force Master, Kung Fu Master, and Summoner. Many classes that have been introduced in recent years, including Astroman, Dual Blade, Rifleman, Air Fighter, Ranger, and Sorcerer, will not be available at launch.

For example, the Blade Master class uses Thunder Drake Slash when in Special Mode. It can be upgraded to hit more often to deal more damage or hit enemies harder. The range for multiple hits is great when dealing damage in PVE mode. Meanwhile, the surprise mode is useful in PvP situations where team attacks are essential to deal damage to enemies.

The spell system is still new, but it works similarly to the Guild Core system in the current game. For rewards, you can add gems to your inventory. The most important position, for example, has a 5% or 8% chance to refocus.

A simple and important change: you can now jump continuously without losing energy. With the sword and spirit style of Wuxia, it’s no surprise that you’ll spend a lot of time running and jumping in the air (or jumping off walls and trees). The wind walking agent is a positive and previously avoided exercise by endurance athletes.

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