Online game "Rappelz"

Rappelz was released in South Korea in 2006, two years later it appeared in Russia, and a year later - in the U.S. and Europe. And, in principle, immediately acquired a cult status - at least in Russia. For many people just with Rappelz began familiarity with the massive online role-playing - after Lineage such projects have formed the standard genre of MMORPG. Besides that the game looked like that time chic, pleased with interesting mechanics, a huge, open world for free exploration and the possibility in almost every corner of it to challenge other users. And the surprising thing is that Rappelz is still alive and growing. How can it attract modern gamers?

In the fictional fantasy universe where the game unfolds, three races have long coexisted peacefully. Initially there were Gaius, a people of brave and strong human warriors, somewhat reminiscent of the Vikings - they are just as good with axes and go on a rampage in battle. Then the gods of creation and destruction created two other races to aid Gaius. Asur was precisely the responsibility of the gods of destruction, for they are the spawn of darkness, swift and ruthless killers. The Maidens, on the other hand, represent the valiant warriors of Light - knights, crusaders, clerics, and so on.

You'd think that the three such different peoples should have gone to war with each other immediately (Maiden vs. Asur for sure!), but as we've said, for a long time they coexisted quite peacefully. But then the trouble started, because of a woman of the Gaians who called herself "The Witch". Her unbridled ambition caused numerous conflicts, she was extremely strong in magic, and managed to convince quite a few of her kin to go to war against the rest of the world.

Not all of Gaius supported her, let alone the other two races. The world fell into chaos, and it took the efforts of the heroes of all three nations to capture and destroy the villain. And then Gaia, Maiden, and Asura went on to live peacefully. And so for us Rappelz begins quietly - after choosing a race and class of the newborn hero is sent to the training island to learn the basics of gameplay and hunt for different animals - some parrots, wolves, turtles and other feathered and furry.

Then we get to the mainland, to the city of our race, and continue to run fairly disparate local errands. There are many of them, they are interesting in their own way (although, of course, are mostly reduced to the genocide of the said monsters, beasts and humans), but lack the scale, or something, and a common enemy. However, gradually tasks related to the Witch begin to appear in one way or another - because according to rumors, some of her cultist followers have survived and are going to resurrect their mistress.

Such global story quests will appear on the key levels of character development - on the 50-th (although the first missions concerning the Witch, as it turned out, is even on the training island, we just do not know about it until the time), on the 70-th, 90-th, 120-th, etc. This allows us to stay intrigued - what's going to happen next - practically throughout the game. And in the process we have to face really interesting events: to fight cultists in different locations scattered around the continent; to fight the Witch's students and herself; to investigate terrible murders; to defeat a vain magician; to reveal the secret of a warrior enclosed in ice; to explore the secret labs of the Templar Order and come to terms with the results of the nightmarish experiments of a wicked priest.

As you have already realized, Gaia, Maiden, and Asura are quite seriously different from each other in combat techniques and abilities. In addition, each nation has its own class specializations (called professions here). Therefore, the starting choice of race and class does matter. However, you should keep in mind that at first only three basic archetypes are available - warrior, mage and summoner, relying on the help of their pets in combat.

And then, as your character develops, those very specializations open up. And for each race, again, they are different. So, the first profession will be available at level 10 of the hero. If you play as Gaius, you can choose between Cadet, Shaman and Spellskite. If you belong to Devas, then you'll be offered the options of wizard, paladin or beastmaster. Asur's dark assassins can become mercenaries, adepts or neophytes, all with different combat skills.

To learn the latter you have to raise not only the character's level, but also his, let's say, "professional skill": the higher the level of specialization, the steeper the techniques open.

Further, at level 40, even more advanced subclasses will become available. For example, the same "asurians" can turn into fast and bloodthirsty assassins; dexterous hunters who can hide in the shadows and hit enemies with poisoned arrows; ruthless witch doctors and mages of Chaos; or wizards who can reach the darkest parts of their pets. The other races also have a wide range of choices - there are archers, druids, herbalists, knights and crusaders, and chaplains and trainers.

Finally, after some time there will be an opportunity to learn and the coolest professions, which belong to the so-called "master class" - depending on the race and specialization, you can become berserks, supreme druids, necromancers, knights of light or, conversely, lichs and even demons.

Separate mention about the summoners. This is just one of the key features of Rappelz - the ability to first defeat monsters, then tame them with special creature cards and use them in battles. Do it all the classes can, but to fully reveal the potential of pets are able to summoners, and the creatures subordinate to them, as a rule, stronger than they are. Animals also grow and evolve with the character - each creature has three levels of development. After some updates to the game almost any monster can be tamed, including even bosses.

As you develop the level of your character and acquire new professions, new, more advanced ranks of equipment and weapons become available, which can be assembled into particularly powerful sets (the so-called "sets"). As should be in these games, equipment in Rappelz need to improve and enchant - in this case with the help of special soul stones, magic splinters and cubes. And by visiting the blacksmith or energy wizard, we can use unnecessary equipment to improve the characteristics of the hero.

Another feature of the game is the ability to combine different items to get stronger ones. For example, pieces of iron are used to make steel, which is already polished steel. It is necessary again to create and upgrade the equipment. On the same principle improved potions and some other advanced items are made.

Naturally, powerful equipment and many professional skills are the key to winning battles. But shards of Force, Soul, and Moon are also important. They give a serious advantage in battles, especially in heavy ones, reducing the defense of even the most terrible monsters. Shards are created by various wizards (not for nothing, of course), obtaining them from Laks - the magical energy of the defeated monster, which is transferred to the player and accumulated in special necklaces.

By the way, the battles in Rappelz are implemented quite traditional for the Korean MMORPG genre mid-to-late "zero years": the choice of an enemy, after which the character automatically attacks him, and we have to activate the skills on time on the "hot keys" and drink potions life. However, thanks to the same shards and taming creatures in this combat system has its own charm. In addition, from the very beginning, from the Training Island, many enemies give a decent response, so just to yawn, while your hero or heroine "zaklivatsya" enemies, exactly will not work.

Raids, instances, battles with world bosses - all this, of course, is in Rappelz. But a special emphasis, it should be emphasized, the developers have made on the dungeons of varying difficulty, which is better to pass in groups with other players - we get there through special portals and immediately meet a lot more fierce than in normal locations, resistance. But victories in the dungeons allow to get the most valuable and useful trophies.

There is, of course, in Rappelz and the guilds (the permanent union of users). Among the main attractions for them - just the opportunity to compete for the right to possess one of the dungeons, which not only gives access to rare items, but also allows you to collect "taxes" from other players trying to enter it. To capture such a location is not easy: first you need to defeat two boss guards faster than the opponents from another guild, and then to engage in a siege - it will be a battle between the current owners of the territory, and the attacking faction, which made the best raid and now claims this dungeon.

Another type of mass battles between users is the so-called "Bloody Battles", unfolding on special arena islands. Up to 64 people can participate in them: if in the normal channel players are distributed to arenas according to their ranks, then in the free channel the level is not taken into account, and there is not always fair, but always very gambling and fun "mess".

In addition, in Rappelz, as in many Korean MMORPG, the principle of almost free PK (that is Player Killing, or "player killing") works. Having switched on the PK-mode, you can attack other users almost everywhere except cities and training island. But prepare for the fact that for this you will lose morale points, get a red nickname and become a red rag for other users who can attack you with impunity - i.e. they will not worsen their morale index and will not lose their items in case of defeat. By the way, in the world of Rappelz there is a place called the Abyss, which are placed all violators of the rules. This is also one of the chips project: to get out of there will only be able to prove their innocence to the Game Masters.

Rappelz has really evolved so far - special events are held, actions are arranged, holidays like Halloween are celebrated. Periodically, there are new global events - for example, attacks by hordes of monsters on certain regions and cities. And in the internal chat room communication never stops. And the secret of longevity is not only in the fact that many loyal fans stay with the game - in Rappelz the spirit and charm of free, open and hardcore MMORPG classic school is preserved. And all this at the same time is combined with clear rules, an intriguing story, interesting mechanics like taming creatures and a lot of opportunities for character development and interaction with other users.

November 2020