Originally released back in 2019 by a team in South Korea, Lost Ark has been making its way around the globe with a Japanese and Russian version but unavailable in North America until now. Thanks to the team at Amazon Games, they are bringing this genre-bending title to English speaking gamers for the first time in a complete free-to-play format with in game bonuses and early access with paid founder’s packs. With a massive amount of content, let’s take a quick look before launch day arrives.

Gameplay

To describe the gameplay of Lost Ark could be a bit of a challenge as it doesn’t fit neatly into any category. Part ARPG, part MMORPG, and a bit of MOBA controls thrown in really make Lost Ark stand out among the crowd when it comes to different genres. It truly is a unique blend but I would say it’s more MMORPG mixed with real-time ARPG style action with MOBA style controls. Confused yet? Well, if I had to compare, I would say it’s a bit of TERA mixed with Diablo and a few other titles sprinkled in.

After creating a character in the stunningly good creator, you embark on a skippable prologue/tutorial. Honestly, the first several hours feel like a big tutorial regardless of the prologue. You have an overall arching story line in the land of Arkesia where you embark on fetch quests, hunting down baddies, and defeating small instanced dungeons while tracking down… a lost ark as your main quest. That isn’t all though, there is card collecting, items to add to collections, and so much more. Best of all and at the root of the experience is the stellar combat. The combat controls work extremely well and combat overall is meaty and satisfying so far. The gorgeous graphics and punchy sound effects really add to the experience and put a smile on my face more than once during my playtime.

Expectations

With the game already launching this week, I’ve basically been playing a near-final build but on a press only server on and off for weeks. There is a ton of content and a bunch of classes I haven’t been even been able to see or experience yet. It’s stunning to see the overview of everything the game has to offer. That being said, I’ve been looking forward to this game for years and it’s a lot different than I ever expected. I was thinking the game was going to be more Diablo-esque but instead, it’s much more MMORPG than anything. Depending on your expectations, this could be a good or bad thing. Either way, it is a truly well done mix of genres that isn’t like anything out there so far.

Verdict

So far, I am loving my time with Lost Ark, and with the grand entry fee of ZERO dollars, I don’t see why any fan of the genres I mentioned shouldn’t check it out. While there is some questionable voice acting, eyebrow-raising outfits, and some slow pacing in the beginning, there is a ton of stellar combat, fantastic graphics, a massive amount of content, and the game that just gets better and better as you progress, it’s more than worth your time. As Lost Ark is such a unique blend of styles and genres as mentioned, your mileage may vary but I highly recommend it because of said uniqueness.

Lost Ark will launch for free on February 11th but Early Access is available for purchase.