Should you play Lost Ark in 2023
Lost Ark in 2023 – Is It Still An Explosively Fun Time?
Lost Ark has been a highly anticipated MMO meets ARPG title that has finally arrived at western shores thanks to Amazon’s gaming section. For those that didn’t take the plunge when the title was exclusive to South Korean gamers, there’s the burning question of whether the game holds up now in 2023.
If you’re one of these gamers, we’ve put together all of the important reasons why you should give Lost Ark a go this year.
Punchy Combat
Lost Ark has, both figuratively and literarily, a highly impactful and explicitly punchy combat system. It’s a key quality that comes out of the visual style that makes people want to play it even in 2023.
Every blow, every skill has a distinct oomph to it that can only be rivalled by the blazing-fast combat of Diablo 3. Each class has a unique way of stringing their abilities together to form devastating combos that decimate large groups of enemies in an explosive fashion.
The fact that combat is so much fun makes more tedious aspects of the game, including grinding, an enjoyable experience. From the acrobatic stylings of the Martial Artist Advanced classes to the dazzling and explosive nukes of the spellcasting classes, it’s difficult to build a character in Lost Ark that doesn’t feel fun and engaging.
Solo Campaign
What can often turn away people from diving into an MMO is the lack of options to complete its main campaign on their own. Some folks just don’t want to always need to group up and that’s fine. Thankfully, Lost Ark has a main storyline that can be completed by a solo player without much trouble.
You may argue that this is indicative of a game that doesn’t have much to offer by ways of challenge, and you wouldn’t be entirely wrong. Lost Ark doesn’t stray far from the MMORPG trope of having easy single-player content. But that’s just for when you’re going through levels 1-50 and doing main storyline quests and most side quests.
Lost Ark’s content becomes a worthy opponent once you cross the level 50 barrier, meaning groups become a necessity. Sure, if you’d rather cut your teeth on some tougher content on your own, that’s also doable. But because Lost Ark is an MMO first and foremost, you’ll have to expect that at some point you’ll have to team up with others to get the job done.
Rich Content
Speaking of content, after several years of development in the Korean market, Lost Ark has a fairly robust and rich content ensemble in 2023. Apart from story quests, side quests and challenge quests, this high flying MMORPG has a fair bit of endgame activities to keep you occupied.
For starters, PvP is a fun and engaging experience. Compared to other MMOs, we’d even daresay your skill matters more than just your gear and ability loadout. Sure, there are optimal setups that clearly have an advantage. But with each Advanced class’s unique abilities and skills, you’ve got a fair amount of ways you can attack and defend, creating a dynamic that can’t be found in most other online RPGs.
PvE enthusiasts should also find worthy challenges across the spectrum of Lost Ark’s offerings. These are primarily divided into Weekly and Daily activities. Among other activities, each week, you’ll have tougher versions of story dungeons called Abyssal Dungeons for a more traditional MMO experience. There are also Abyssal Raids for bigger groups of players and The Cube which is Lost Ark’s version of horde mode. Daily activities have easier versions of the above as well as shorter form tasks, including developing your Rapport with various NPCs.
Pay to Win?
Like most MMOs of its calibre (read: free-to-play game), Lost Ark has been subject to the usual pay-to-win criticisms. They aren’t entirely far off. The game does offer options for paying customers to grab entire tiers of gear with real–world cash. However, this doesn’t affect PvP as much as it does PvE.
All gear tiers can still be acquired via gameplay. You’ll just have to sweat more and for longer before you can get complete sets, as most MMOs would have you do. How much this is P2W is very much up to your own opinion. Bearing in mind it only really gives people a shortcut to harder PvE content, you’ll likely find that it doesn’t take away from your own enjoyment if you’re the type of gamer who prefers to earn their power.
Should You Play Lost Ark in 2023?
This question is best answered based on your personal expectations of the game. A lot of people saw Lost Ark as a punchy Diablo–style game. Unfortunately, those thoughts need to be checked at the door as the game is nothing like Diablo. Apart from the isometric view and impactful gameplay, you’ll find very few similarities to Blizzard’s ARPG series. Essentially, don’t expect instanced segments and enemies exploding into a glorious shower of loot all the time.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for a genuine MMO experience with an open world and a large variety of activities, then Lost Ark will make you feel right at home. The game has towns, dungeons, raids, activities, events, and heaps of players hanging around every corner of the world. You’ll be able to join guilds, and even build and manage your own ship, complete with crew and other amenities.