Black Desert Online: Land of the Morning Light Edition Image
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
6.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 7 Ratings

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  • Summary: The Land of the Morning Light Edition is now available in Black Desert!
    Embark on exciting new adventures in the Land of the Morning Light, an upcoming expansion celebrated with the Land of the Morning Light Edition.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. Jun 14, 2023
    90
    BDO Land of the Morning Light succeeds most of what it delivers us for a magical journey which gives Pearl Abyss’mmo a new dimension. The Korean inspirates and the story we live give us what we expect : pleasure and fun.
  2. Jun 13, 2023
    85
    BDO: Land of the Morning Light delivers an immersive experience based on traditional Korean folklore that are hard to see in any MMORPG. Its heavily focused story driven gameplay unlike the original game feels fresh enough to expect more about the world of Black Desert in the future.
  3. Jun 14, 2023
    80
    Land of the Morning Light is a gorgeous and engaging love song to ancient Korea. However, it suffers from the same problems as genre rivals. You don’t just catch up with almost nine years of previous history, and the amount of data to process is almost intimidating.
  4. Jun 14, 2023
    80
    The setting based on Korean folklore of the Chosun era is wonderful, represented with great detail and a necessary, but respectful, charge of imagination. Obviously, given its massively multiplayer nature, the success of the DLC will depend on how new and returning players perceive the changes.
  5. Jun 15, 2023
    80
    Land of the Morning Light is a change of pace for Black Desert, but it works pretty well. The folklore stories are beautiful and set players up for the endgame-system, although new players don't learn a lot about combat. The new area is also beautiful, with traditional Korean architecture and gorgeous sceneries. And the expansion is free for all players.
  6. Jun 29, 2023
    80
    Land of the Morning Light delivers a captivating and enchanting adventure, making it an essential expansion for Black Desert Online veterans. While it doesn't address all long-standing issues, it offers compelling content, immersive storytelling, and intense boss battles. It also serves as a great entry point for newcomers seeking a smaller and accessible experience. Overall, it's a must-play MMO expansion that immerses players in the folklore of South Korea.
  7. Jun 22, 2023
    75
    This isn’t going to fully replace the normal Black Desert grind, but Pearl Abyss delivered in creating a gorgeous new place to quest in for new and returning players alike. It’s a good expansion, and a good direction for potential content in the future.

See all 9 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 4
  2. Negative: 1 out of 4
  1. Jun 18, 2023
    10
    This is arguably the only Korean-made game that has improved by leaps and bounds since its initial release in the West.

    PearlAbyss was a
    This is arguably the only Korean-made game that has improved by leaps and bounds since its initial release in the West.

    PearlAbyss was a small developer with a mere 10 million US$ budget back when it started developing Black Desert in Korea in 2010 and people don't realise how amazing a feat it was to develop such an intricate and complex character creation system back in the early 2010s with such a meagre budget. PearlAbyss' head of studio, Kim Dae-il, was an award-winning game director and game designer [he received multiple awards even before BDO was released and received the Presidential Award by the Korean government in 2017 for his contribution to the propagation of Korean culture in the global scene through Black Desert] before he founded PearlAbyss. Kim's dream since he was a child was to create games, and his aspiration is to create a title, as a Korean, that will one day win the Game of The Year Award.

    Unfortunately, due to the financial circumstances of PearlAbyss at the time of its founding, Kim was unable to publish Black Desert on their own so they signed a publishing contract with the infamous and unscrupulous KakaoGames, who was called Daum Games back then.

    Some of the P2W elements that were in the game when BDO was initially released in the West were an inevitable result of having to work with KakaoGames, and PearlAbyss knew that in order to realise its aspirations, it had to become independent. That's why in 2019, when the contract with KakaoGames finally ended, PearlAbyss, against most industrial speculations, made the decision to not renew the contract and publish Black Desert globally on its own, even though BDO was already immensely popular worldwide at that time.

    It was a risky decision, because PearlAbyss had no publishing experience back then, but with great risks, come great rewards.

    PearlAbyss' independence has given it almost limitless freedom in removing and improving old systems, reducing P2W elements [which, to a small extent, still exists within the game], and its tireless efforts over the years to make Black Desert into the game that it deserves to be is clear as day.

    PearlAbyss is the only game company that, against common expectations, created a traditional Korea-culture based massive expansion for its flagship game title even though the majority of its users are not Koreans.

    The dedication to doing what the studio has aspired to do since its creation is, in itself, inspiring.

    Perhaps many non-Korean users might not be able to fully understand the idiosyncrasies of the ancient Korean culture depicted in the new Land of the Morning Light region but this is merely the first step in a multi-decade effort to improve the understanding of traditional Korean culture around the world.

    As a non-Korean living in Korea, and who has witnessed countless money-grabbing Korean companies doing the exact reverse of what PearlAbyss has been doing over the years, I would like to sincerely applaud this effort by PearlAbyss because it touched me, even as a non-Korean, which is also why I am sharing this little-known history of PearlAbyss with the rest of the world.
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  2. Jul 3, 2023
    8
    Gorgeous game, terrible pay wall, if you like grinding there is tons to do. And jobs are really cool
  3. Jul 3, 2023
    7
    Amazing graphics, fluid gameplay but sadly terrible monetization, if you wanna be casual this is the place for you, but competitive scene isAmazing graphics, fluid gameplay but sadly terrible monetization, if you wanna be casual this is the place for you, but competitive scene is highly pay2win. Expand
  4. Jul 28, 2023
    0
    Imagine an MMORPG whose goal is to improve the strength of equipment and characters, but in which most pvp activities have a huge limits onImagine an MMORPG whose goal is to improve the strength of equipment and characters, but in which most pvp activities have a huge limits on the level of equipment, and those that do not have are consistently killed by developers. That's what bdo is at the moment. Expand