Black Desert Online

 PC
  • Publisher: GameOn
  • Release Date: Mar 3, 2016
User Score
6.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 1667 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,021 out of 1667
  2. Mixed: 105 out of 1667
  3. Negative: 541 out of 1667

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  1. ImSoto
    Mar 12, 2016
    4
    Edit; It has come to my attention that both an subreddit called /r/BlackDesertOnline and the Official forums participated in vote brigading(downvote negatives, upvote positives reviews) of Metacritic because people have different opinions then them. The saddest part was that both the moderators of each site allowed this to happen freely and seemed to support this action by not evenEdit; It has come to my attention that both an subreddit called /r/BlackDesertOnline and the Official forums participated in vote brigading(downvote negatives, upvote positives reviews) of Metacritic because people have different opinions then them. The saddest part was that both the moderators of each site allowed this to happen freely and seemed to support this action by not even attempting to do anything to prevent this type of thing.

    Also if you noted, it was even encouraged by them to create new accounts just to submit an positive review at the same time so they could get the average user score from 5.1/10. This just goes how immature the majority of the playerbase including lacking common decency.
    -------------------

    This review is based on me owning the conquers pack and logging 60 hours, having access to CBT1&2 and currently having an level 51 Tamer and an level 46 Archer.

    First of all, for anyone giving this game an 10/10 please don't write an review if you're just going to follow along with the flock and try to fit in. I can see other people giving this game an 8.5/10 at best, however this is simply not an 10/10 game. This also apply's to people giving this game an 0/10, lets be honest this game is no way your worst game of the year by any standards.

    So down to the review I'll be breaking it into my basic cons and pros to help shorten this list as much as possible.

    Pros:
    - Graphics (I'd say on-par with Witcher 3 on low, however for an MMORPG is very impressive of itself)
    - Combat (Currently one of the best, if not the best combat systems in any MMORPG currently out)
    - Theme park sandbox (Plenty of things like fishing,trading,crafting,harvesting,worker management, etc)

    Neutral:
    - Parkour system (An very shoddy attempt which leaves an bad taste if you've played other great parkour systems done right like Thief, Dying Light, Sleeping Dogs, AC Series, Etc)
    - Living World (It's decent, however it requires an high activity of players to feel like its immersive)
    - Plot (Great story writing, however the voice acting really ruins what the writers have achieved)
    - Customizability (Its locked behind an paywall, sadly to say so most of the time you're going to look just like everyone else, so much for that character creation)

    Cons:
    - The Community (Read the edit at the top)
    - PvP (Mostly dead due to the Karma system and this was expected, yet Daum games chose not to address this issue so most of the great PvP will be happening in GvG and not in the world itself)
    - PvE (WAY TOO EASY, from the tutorial mobs at the beginning to the end game mobs there is virtually no difference in difficulty. We're talking about those "epic" boss summons you can do, well the fact is you can do them when you're 15 levels behind and still have an easy time)
    - No real type of raids or dungeons (because the only difference between an summoned quest boss and the open world boss for guilds is literally one soaks up way more damage. That's all the challenge)
    - General game mechanics (None of them connect into any meaningful systems, which is quite disappointing given how much time must of been put into each of them)
    - Daum themselves (After seeing them banning players on forums for pointing out their mistakes and then lying about it (If you're interested I'd suggest googling there's plenty of drama on the subject), enforcing non-existent rules,dropping all communication with the community, etc. It really shows an lack of control or caring about the players in general)
    - "P2W" (This is an very hot topic and I define anything P2W that offers anything not obtainable VIA in-game methods EXCEPT for the standard EXP boosting items that help later joiners/less time available players still be able to play reasonably well. However the fact is you have abilities, stats, customizability being locked behind an pay wall which the game itself is B2P is sickening and the defenders of this have some type of Stockholm syndrome from previous games that abused these type of cash grabbing before)

    TLDR REVIEW; The game is average, nothing more and nothing less. For $60($30 base and $30 for 3 pets) its really up to you. I'd advise you to get an 7 day guest invite and play it the game until that guest period runs out to decide if you'd play this over other MMORPGs you'd like to try out    … Expand
  2. Dragon_Fly
    Nov 11, 2016
    4
    I do not recommend buying this game until the Dev's fairly release the Awakening's for all classes in the game. They like to release them a little by little over time which then creates massively overpowered classes in the game above other classes. This is a big issue in PvP and how PvPer's decide who to fight. Also, they have no system in place to deal with player harassment. There areI do not recommend buying this game until the Dev's fairly release the Awakening's for all classes in the game. They like to release them a little by little over time which then creates massively overpowered classes in the game above other classes. This is a big issue in PvP and how PvPer's decide who to fight. Also, they have no system in place to deal with player harassment. There are too few places to grind out experience and it creates viciously contested areas that leaves no place for a novice or weekend warrior to enjoy the game. For instance, Sausans Garrison is a place for level 54-56's to get experience, but oftentimes, level 58's - 59's will farm there for money; thereby cutting out the opportunity to lower levels to level their characters and improve their gear.

    So, if you do not live in your parents basement or have a real life, this game may not be meant for you. If you do have a life and you're not still living with your parents, just don't bother... the amount of time it takes to improve your gear score playing reasonably per day is not sufficient to bother playing or buying the game.    … Expand
  3. ChikatiloZ
    Jul 9, 2017
    4
    Combat is great, graphics are good.
    The cash shop greed is unreal and the grind is masochism, as in it should be illegal?
    So get this, a couple hours in you find out everyone kills monsters while you click R to loot manually most of your time, you literally spend ten times longer looting bodies than you do killing mobs, you spend $40 to buy pets (=autoloot) Then you find out your    Combat is great, graphics are good.
    The cash shop greed is unreal and the grind is masochism, as in it should be illegal?

    So get this, a couple hours in you find out everyone kills monsters while you click R to loot manually most of your time, you literally spend ten times longer looting bodies than you do killing mobs, you spend $40 to buy pets (=autoloot) Then you find out your character is overweight after about 10-12 minutes of grinding, you spend $50 to increase your weight limit. Rinse and repeat, more annoyances come your way all the time, the game is kinda fun if you have your mastercard ready to go but without it the game is a cringefest. You have to buy this **** for every class you decide to play, dont like your class? Buy everything again, everything.

    Then theres upgrading gear, so like, you need shards to have a chance at upgrading gear, nobody sells shards since everyone needs them, you can get them (0.1% chance) by chopping trees and other mundane tasks.

    Just to explain how the upgrade system works, I have chopped trees non stop sixteen hours a day from wednesday morning until sundaynight, that got me about sixty shards, I tried upgrading my weapon with those, it downgraded to previous tier and then cost me about 100 million in repairs + 240 million silver in repairs to TRY to get it back to the tier it was at, which never happened.

    So I spent literally one week chopping trees, nothing else, just chop trees, I lost a quarter of a billion silver (50 hours of focused grind) my gear is broken and noob tier, that's how the upgrade system works. Buying the gear off marketplace would be a way better option, but you can't do that since nobody in their right mind would go through this hell and then sell it.

    Spent a lot of money on the game, all it does is frustrate me, i'm out.    … Expand
  4. Vidicus
    Jul 23, 2016
    4
    As a experienced gamer (all the way back to the first video games) I see more and more lazy developers. Black Desert Online is a beautiful game, and it has so many things to do. The problem is none of those things matter. There is no end game in the game except to fight other players. So it is a MMO with no raids and no dungeons. All you do is grind the same spots over and over andAs a experienced gamer (all the way back to the first video games) I see more and more lazy developers. Black Desert Online is a beautiful game, and it has so many things to do. The problem is none of those things matter. There is no end game in the game except to fight other players. So it is a MMO with no raids and no dungeons. All you do is grind the same spots over and over and over while sometimes fighting over those spots with another player. One of the worst MMOs I have played and one of the most beautiful.… Expand
  5. Megalon
    Apr 14, 2016
    4
    I have played the game for 500 hours now. I am not sure how i feel about it exactly so I used a random number generator to generate a random number between 1 and 10. The rng said 4 so the game gets a 4/10.
  6. Dragonfire14
    Mar 8, 2016
    4
    PROS:
    - Unique character creation
    - Multiple character slots - Interesting trade route system - One time purchase CONS: - The UI is confusing and all over the place - Combat keys are random, for example to do a skill you may have to press a combination of keys such as "S, SHIFT, left click). Acts more like a fighting game. - Quest trails don't lead to the next objective for    PROS:
    - Unique character creation
    - Multiple character slots
    - Interesting trade route system
    - One time purchase

    CONS:

    - The UI is confusing and all over the place
    - Combat keys are random, for example to do a skill you may have to press a combination of keys such as "S, SHIFT, left click). Acts more like a fighting game.
    - Quest trails don't lead to the next objective for some quests
    - Boring dialog
    - Bad english voice overs
    - Male characters limited to one class (unless you want to be old or a giant)
    - Energy system that limits your gameplay
    - Energy is used on almost everything. From Gathering to talking to some npcs
    - Game feels like an alpha
    - characters sometime appear as default class looks
    - feels unpolished
    - Game mechanics are not explained (or not explained early enough)
    - classes are gender locked
    - First boss is a massive increase in difficulty compared to all the enemies you fight before hand
    - Many free to play systems in play
    - boring quests
    - random arrows that point to nothing    … Expand
  7. Jaliver
    Apr 11, 2016
    4
    Black Desert Online is one of those MMOs that either makes it or breaks it for gamers, unfortunately for myself, BDO broke it for me. My review will be as unbiased as possible and only discuss the details.

    Pros: 1. Amazing life-like character generator, although I wish you weren't bound to a set appearance by class, BDO provides one of the best character generator systems in the MMO    Black Desert Online is one of those MMOs that either makes it or breaks it for gamers, unfortunately for myself, BDO broke it for me. My review will be as unbiased as possible and only discuss the details.

    Pros:
    1. Amazing life-like character generator, although I wish you weren't bound to a set appearance by class, BDO provides one of the best character generator systems in the MMO market, I've spent more time creating characters on BDO than any mmo before due to how in depth it is.

    2. The game has some realistic traits, due to fast travel not really being a thing, you have to explore the entire map yourself, this may seem tiresome to many but to myself, there is nothing more enjoyable than traveling around a diverse fantasy world rich in graphics and exploration.

    3. Combat in BDO doesn't really go stale, due to many different classes and possibilities in pvp matchups, no fight in BDO is similar to the next unless of course you literally play all day fighting everyone. Even PVE by yourself isn't too bad as BDO isn't a point and click mmo you need to actually fight tough enemies intelligently.

    Cons:

    1. Money Sink, this game is terribly corrupt, for a game that stands strongly with character creation, you'd think there would be more diverse options in what kinds of clothes you wish to wear. Unless you're really balling out of control in life, you'll find it kind of ridiculous to pay 30 dollars for an outfit in game when the game itself cost you 25 dollars. This game has a Free to play model which for a game you have to purchase is pretty ridiculous.

    2. The energy system, energy works exactly like a mobile game function for your phone. Basically in a mobile game you may be given a token that recharges in 6 hours or something after using one and with those tokens you can do various actions and that sadly is exactly how the energy system works.

    3. Very antisocial MMO. BDO has one of the most competitive communities in existence for an MMO and its not good. The game itself doesn't encourage players to talk to each other but instead encourages competition among each other and because of this most players will never be able to play with older players on the game. Everyone keeps trying to climb and climb the competitive ranks on the game so for every day you're not playing BDO other people are and they are passing you. This means you will not be able to get into most guilds, play with your friends who started the game earlier or later than you etc.    … Expand
  8. KrytyNiekrytyk
    Mar 9, 2016
    4
    Pros:
    - great graphics
    - great character creator - sandbox Cons: - boring (go to place B from place A and kill everyone, do the same from B to C etc). - no equipment system (you will look the same from lvl 1 to lvl 50, or you can pay 30 euro for some epic outfit) - hud - no tutorials - combat system has too many keyboard shortcuts, so you can be pro player if you will just hit    Pros:
    - great graphics
    - great character creator
    - sandbox
    Cons:
    - boring (go to place B from place A and kill everyone, do the same from B to C etc).
    - no equipment system (you will look the same from lvl 1 to lvl 50, or you can pay 30 euro for some epic outfit)
    - hud
    - no tutorials
    - combat system has too many keyboard shortcuts, so you can be pro player if you will just hit keyboard with your head.

    So:
    Wait for f2p or for equipment system patch, and this will be quite better (like 6/10).    … Expand
  9. Sajonara84
    Mar 7, 2016
    4
    ignore 10/10 and 0-1/10 reviews, those are clearly paid reviewers....
    As i predicted this is just another overhyped asian grindfest with nice graphics and combat mechanics.
    Everything else is just mediocore at most with terible UI/Story/PvE/fetch quests
    If u like endless grinding and u are fan of echii thats game for you, otherwise stay away from this...
  10. pythag0ras
    Apr 7, 2016
    4
    Not even sure where to begin with how bad this game is. I think people are starved for mmos so they are willing to put up with all kinds of stuff in a game and still give it good ratings. first of all , any 10 is automatically disregarded and down voted as nothing can be a 10. Nothing. So that makes you a fanboy or an employee if you voted 10. NOW that that's established, on to the game...Not even sure where to begin with how bad this game is. I think people are starved for mmos so they are willing to put up with all kinds of stuff in a game and still give it good ratings. first of all , any 10 is automatically disregarded and down voted as nothing can be a 10. Nothing. So that makes you a fanboy or an employee if you voted 10. NOW that that's established, on to the game...

    -open pvp

    I could stop at that but ill go on.

    -ridiculous learning curve
    -takes forever to do anything
    -everything costs points! you cant just go gathering for a while , unless youve saved up pts from waiting...
    -tons of wait mechanics
    -progression was much too slow for me , not trying to marry a game ... felt more like a job lol

    a 4 from me. Im just not as starved for an mmo as some of these reviewers.    … Expand
  11. snooze4321
    Mar 4, 2016
    4
    Black Desert Online is enjoyable if you like pvp or running goods between cities for profit. But the games pros are outweighed by its cons.

    Pros: - An amazing parkour system where you can climb over any wall and onto roofs etc. - The game looks great and has good optimization - The autorun feature means you can set a destination to a quest or location and just hit your run key - The    Black Desert Online is enjoyable if you like pvp or running goods between cities for profit. But the games pros are outweighed by its cons.

    Pros:
    - An amazing parkour system where you can climb over any wall and onto roofs etc.
    - The game looks great and has good optimization
    - The autorun feature means you can set a destination to a quest or location and just hit your run key
    - The lack of fast travel gives the game a more life like feel to it. Combined with a trading system that has you running goods between cities.

    Cons:
    - THE ENERGY SYSTEM. Everything you do requires energy, if you cut down 10 trees you then have to wait HALF AN HOUR to cut down another 10.
    - The voice acting is atrocious
    - Such little effort has gone into the quest text and dialogue, combined with how fast you level it might as well not exist
    - The ludicrous cost of cash shop items. An outfit will cost the same amount as the game itself. Your auto loot function costs $10. And the dye system is a joke.
    - Daum's business practises. The way they interact with the community, the prices they put on items and the fact they had you waive your rights to a refund if you pre-ordered the game all ties into the fact that Daum can not be trusted. I really would not be surprised if they made the game free to play 6 months later.

    You will get enough fun out of $30 if you can ignore the cons just don't support bad business practises; don't buy cash shop items.    … Expand
  12. SimplyMog
    Mar 5, 2016
    4
    This is a hard one to review, but i'll be trying to be as unbiased as possible... The game has a brilliant character creation system, by far the greatest i've ever used, to the point i spent hours in it. The graphics are nice and controls fairly easy to get the hand of. Unfortunately, in it's current state the game is in a bit of a mess...

    There is a point where everyone leaves their    This is a hard one to review, but i'll be trying to be as unbiased as possible... The game has a brilliant character creation system, by far the greatest i've ever used, to the point i spent hours in it. The graphics are nice and controls fairly easy to get the hand of. Unfortunately, in it's current state the game is in a bit of a mess...

    There is a point where everyone leaves their horses in certain spots, and due to not being able to toggle them from your own vision, the screen can get fairly clustered with other people's horses, not just yours. The game feels also quite like a mobile game, in the sense there's quite a few "waiting" portions, however, while some may have a problem, the game offers multiple ways to shorten that time, if you're observant.

    While my biggest complaint is directed at the character customization, and don't confuse that with character creation, it's much different. When you first receive new armor or a weapon, you're excited to equip it to change your characters default look, only to realize, it doesn't actually change. Some going in blind to this game will be incredibly disappointed, for a game that stresses character customization there is a significant lack of.

    One of the "best" ways to change your looks is through the cash shop, where my other large complaint comes in, through purchasing of costumes and accessories. I completely understand vanity items, and that they're not a necessity, but $30 for a full set, or $16 for the torso/main piece only. If this had been a F2P game, i would completely ignore this matter, but that isn't the case.

    However, this game does offer a lot in the sense you can leave your computer running, and it will accumulate points for various sections of the game, and even when offline. However, while this is a nice time saver, this relates back to the feeling of a "Mobile game", which it shouldn't be, it's an MMO on a PC.

    Combat is nice and fluid, but some classes are more interesting than others. The skill tree system (currently) feels vast enough for me to say it's enjoyable to try out new skills when I get them.

    Voice acting in the game is... actually really bad. It pains me to say it as they must have put a lot of work into it, as a lot of NPC's speak when you're simply idling in town. If i had the option to just have the korean audio, i would take it.

    Overall, BDO gets a 4, a deserving 4. Does this mean the game is crap, no, no it does not. Does it mean you should throw your wallet on the screen, as i did, no, no you should not. The developers need to really consider what it means to have a game "Buy to Play", for as it stands, it feels like i've been playing a glorified farmville, apologies for the analogy to those hurt by that comment, but think about it...

    You start out with nothing, go out do missions, eventually get to crafting and the core section, and things start costing points that are returned by waiting: making food costs points, chopping trees costs points, making swords costs points, and getting those points back takes literal time. There are ways to get points back besides quests and waiting, through "loyalties", or real money, speeding things up, like a mobile game.

    I, like others, believe Black Desert will go F2P if things continue as is, and that's a shame, as i would love to see it prosper.    … Expand
  13. OriginalConcept
    Mar 6, 2016
    4
    Black Desert Online is a game that's cool until you realize how much grinding everything takes. Wanna make a boat and go deep sea fishing? You'll have to spend 10 hours getting it.

    Combat involves pulling enemies into a group and dropping AoEs. Even the "bosses" have laughably telegraphed attacks. It's flashy but it's not deep. I haven't tried PvP. Sounds cool, but I'm not going    Black Desert Online is a game that's cool until you realize how much grinding everything takes. Wanna make a boat and go deep sea fishing? You'll have to spend 10 hours getting it.

    Combat involves pulling enemies into a group and dropping AoEs. Even the "bosses" have laughably telegraphed attacks. It's flashy but it's not deep.

    I haven't tried PvP. Sounds cool, but I'm not going to grind for 50 hours so I can be on level footing.    … Expand
  14. tuniel
    Mar 28, 2016
    4
    really enjoyed the game at first, but the further along you get the more shallow you realize this game is. the very satisfying combat system is wasted on terrible pve content (grind the same mobs thousands and thousands of times) and seriously unbalanced pvp (gear > skill, absolutely no question). when you can bring yourself to smash your face against the horribly boring pve grind, you'rereally enjoyed the game at first, but the further along you get the more shallow you realize this game is. the very satisfying combat system is wasted on terrible pve content (grind the same mobs thousands and thousands of times) and seriously unbalanced pvp (gear > skill, absolutely no question). when you can bring yourself to smash your face against the horribly boring pve grind, you're likely to be pushed out of your spot by the uber geared no-lifers that plague this game. you can be griefed to no end, and even worse, you can lose 1% exp at end game. this doesn't seem like a lot, but it can take hours to grind just a few percent of a level post50. open world pvp is fun at first, but eventually youll realize it doesnt matter how well you know your class or matchups, all the matters is your luck with loot RNG and upgrade RNG. pvp is also plagued by horrible desync and latency issues, as well as significant bugs with certain class-defining abilities. I will say, the gear upgrade system is the least awful system ive experienced in a korean mmo to date, but it still sucks. I really wanted to like this game, especially because of the hundreds of hours I spent playing it just in its first month, but it really sucks. Is it better than ArcheAge? Hell yes it is, but it's still a shallow, grindy mess. spend your time elsewhere… Expand
  15. nextgengameflop
    Mar 30, 2016
    4
    Between the stat boosting cash shop items and the childish community, this game is worth a fat zero.

    I don't care how good the mechanics are when a game is this much of a cash grab with that MTX shop slapped over it. This game is pay to win just like every other MMO to come out recently. On top of the **** cash shop is the horrid pop-in this game suffers from. The game has piss-poor    Between the stat boosting cash shop items and the childish community, this game is worth a fat zero.

    I don't care how good the mechanics are when a game is this much of a cash grab with that MTX shop slapped over it. This game is pay to win just like every other MMO to come out recently. On top of the **** cash shop is the horrid pop-in this game suffers from. The game has piss-poor optimization and a 15 meter render range that cannot be increased.

    Some examples (non-exhaustive):
    - You can spend real money to increase the value of your horse by resetting the death and/or breed counters. This means you can just keep breeding the same higher tier horses with out ever having to worry about breeding the lower tier ones because it failed.

    - All armor and weapons look exactly the same as the starter gear you have in the tutorial. If you expected your appearance to change equipping new items like I did, prepare to be disappointed. You will need to shell out an additional $50 for 1 costume for a single character if you want your armor to look different.

    - You can buy a ghille suit to hide your guild and character name from everyone on the server for PKing and griefing. Go to any town or popular farming zone and you can see someone exploiting this cash shop item.

    - You can instant revive anywhere buy just spending real money.    … Expand
  16. JimbotMeta
    Apr 19, 2016
    4
    Took an almost immediate dislike to this game. Most of the bad stuff has already been said - total lack of guidance on how to do things or why you should/nt, no customisation ofr armor and bad voice acting.

    Combat is really good and that format should be the norm for mmos moving foward but the real problem...the total lack of story, the incredibly bad voice acting and translations and    Took an almost immediate dislike to this game. Most of the bad stuff has already been said - total lack of guidance on how to do things or why you should/nt, no customisation ofr armor and bad voice acting.

    Combat is really good and that format should be the norm for mmos moving foward but the real problem...the total lack of story, the incredibly bad voice acting and translations and the really bad music throughout. It ruins the whole ambiance of the game.

    There might be a lot in it and a ton of depth - but if found myself saying "why should I care" - i dont care about this world at all or any of the characters in it. There is no lore, no history no story its just absolutely awful in terms of creating an atmosphere.

    If you enjoyed Wow or Swtor or any game with story/structure like that - this game is NOT for you.

    That said if you dont care about the things i mentioned and you love PVP and good combat then this would be    … Expand
  17. Troystorm
    Jan 15, 2018
    4
    They called it an ambitious game. So it's true, but it's all terrible. All Korean bells and whistles. The epilepsy combat system, the lack of a normal interface, the lack of variation in the choice of race / class, the absence of any division into roles in the game. Everything is done as inconveniently as possible. And most importantly - the lack of optimization. Gives out a 10-30 fps onThey called it an ambitious game. So it's true, but it's all terrible. All Korean bells and whistles. The epilepsy combat system, the lack of a normal interface, the lack of variation in the choice of race / class, the absence of any division into roles in the game. Everything is done as inconveniently as possible. And most importantly - the lack of optimization. Gives out a 10-30 fps on any settings.Constant hovering, crashes, do not give a normal enjoy the game.
    Of the good moments worth praising developers for a very huge open
    a beautiful world, a detailed customization of the character and unusual gameplay chips, in the form of sea battles, the economy, trade and other things, but unfortunately it's realized terribly, but at least somehow    … Expand
  18. crazyplanet
    Jul 10, 2018
    4
    STORY: (3/10) Boring and so generic (You are Naruto, born to tame your Kyuubi so maybe you can use it to save the world).

    QUEST SYSTEM: (3/10) Errand boy, Kill 500 enemies, Kill and collect stuff, Kill/gather with RNG, "snowballing" interview/survey, Choose A to become Hokage - Choose B to become Hokage. GRAPHICS QUALITY: (10/10) Best (only if you have beast PC otherwise it's still    STORY: (3/10) Boring and so generic (You are Naruto, born to tame your Kyuubi so maybe you can use it to save the world).

    QUEST SYSTEM: (3/10) Errand boy, Kill 500 enemies, Kill and collect stuff, Kill/gather with RNG, "snowballing" interview/survey, Choose A to become Hokage - Choose B to become Hokage.

    GRAPHICS QUALITY: (10/10) Best (only if you have beast PC otherwise it's still good looking).

    CONTENTS: (7/10) Rich (learn all of it from guides and tutorials on the internet, the game or the developer itself can't help you that much), Pay to look good (the best armor = mossy armor), frequent events, Dialogues are voice-acted (not all dialogues, I mean a most of them not), some confusingly in-game Wiki and item descriptions (All AP up?), mediocre cutscene.

    PROGRESSION SYSTEM: (3/10) RNG-based (Lv.58 full-DUO most likely will lose to Lv.56 full-TET), Pay to win (you can buy in-game currencies by selling microtransactions items-like costumes on the in-game market and then buy some expensive end-game gear with it), Gear (except weapon) isn't class-bound (good for trying every class).

    MUSIC: (8/10) pretty decent jukebox music

    COMBAT SYSTEM: (7/10) as long as not involving grab and war-scale battle, it is the best combat system for MMORPG (IMHO).

    CUSTOMER SUPPORT: (7/10) Responsive (DO NOT ask about internal figures like enhancement/breeding/item drop rate to game master), some people said the server is bad - some people said the internet provider is bad

    NOT-SO-SPOILER ALERT!
    RNG is going to be the one that blocks your way to enjoy endgame contents unless you have real money to spend or a LOT of spare time to mine silvers through grinding (or life skills) or just plain "lucky".

    Edit #3. Turned out BDO was a free-to-play game at first (Korean, JPN, and Russia servers) but changed to pay-to-play in NA, EU, SEA servers. Now I know why the microtransactions are BAD. So beware    … Expand
  19. Qjoo
    Apr 28, 2020
    4
    I've played 400 hours of this game and it feels like I did nothing, there is so much to do and so little to do at the same time!

    There is no endgame, none, you grind until 60 and that is it. when you reach the soft level cap you need to gear up to get more levels, so you can gear up and get stronger, to... nothing. There is no dungeon or raid, only word bosses with specific weekly    I've played 400 hours of this game and it feels like I did nothing, there is so much to do and so little to do at the same time!

    There is no endgame, none, you grind until 60 and that is it. when you reach the soft level cap you need to gear up to get more levels, so you can gear up and get stronger, to... nothing. There is no dungeon or raid, only word bosses with specific weekly schedule.

    I repeat, THERE IS NO DUNGEON OR RAID IN THIS MMORPG!!!

    on top of this, the amount of RNG and PAID RNG in this game in astronomical ffs, you pay to pay sometimes. yes, you can buy the economic package in the market, but with fixed prices no one want to sell it.

    Visual 8/10
    Gameplay 8/10
    Content 2/10    … Expand
  20. EmirhanSahin
    Jan 2, 2022
    4
    Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind Grind but graphics are good.
  21. thousandsof
    Aug 5, 2021
    4
    I read here on Reddit that it takes ~ 7000 hours to jump from level 65 to level 66. This is all, of course, fun and cool, but I'll probably stop playing.

    It was possible to do something similar to Borderlands, but not only with weapons but also with the generation of skills, so that the level could easily be at least a billion and you could get a level per week. Instead, the    I read here on Reddit that it takes ~ 7000 hours to jump from level 65 to level 66. This is all, of course, fun and cool, but I'll probably stop playing.

    It was possible to do something similar to Borderlands, but not only with weapons but also with the generation of skills, so that the level could easily be at least a billion and you could get a level per week.

    Instead, the developers broke the project's kneecaps, put it in a wheelchair, and made it trade in pearls. Another project that never went beyond the boring MMORPG genre (although it was sooo close to it).    … Expand
  22. BaldursThones
    Apr 15, 2022
    4
    Its just another grindy MMO. It has great combat and great graphics but every quest is the exact same thing.
  23. weallone
    Aug 1, 2022
    4
    Gear upgrade system is crap! Ruined everything good in this game. And quests like "kill 5000 mobs" is amazingly interesting
  24. PokyV
    Apr 7, 2023
    4
    The game is good, but all is ruined by the infinite buttons on your screen and menus popping at you out of nowhere that you don't know how to close. The best of the game is definitely the combat, with amazing combos and effects, but most of the time you will be skipping dialogues or trying to close annoying windows. A good game ruined by its UI.
  25. Dartza
    Aug 1, 2023
    4
    I have probably put about 5,000 hours into BDO. The problem is that about 4,000 of those hours were me leaving my computer on overnight and while I was at work, fishing or doing some other AFK activity. The combat is either a grind when you are trying to get .01% exp per hour at higher levels or it is getting one-shotted by a witch in pvp. There is amazing value in this game if you don'tI have probably put about 5,000 hours into BDO. The problem is that about 4,000 of those hours were me leaving my computer on overnight and while I was at work, fishing or doing some other AFK activity. The combat is either a grind when you are trying to get .01% exp per hour at higher levels or it is getting one-shotted by a witch in pvp. There is amazing value in this game if you don't value your time.… Expand
  26. archanjo
    May 17, 2016
    3
    boooriiiinggggg yawnnnnnnnn .
  27. kyriores
    Aug 1, 2017
    3
    Good game, but do yourself a favor and play on a private server. You won't have to deal with Kakao's greed, which is pretty much the only thing that's ruining this game.
  28. Barnews
    Jul 22, 2016
    3
    Black desert is MMORPG with a lot of great ideas. But after weeks/days of playing you will know there are a lot of bad mechanics. There good things and bad things and those bad things keep black desert from beying a top MMORPG.

    PROS - Big and beautifull world full of quests and things to do (Do not expect original quest. It is same repetitive bussines like in every other MMO) - The    Black desert is MMORPG with a lot of great ideas. But after weeks/days of playing you will know there are a lot of bad mechanics. There good things and bad things and those bad things keep black desert from beying a top MMORPG.

    PROS
    - Big and beautifull world full of quests and things to do (Do not expect original quest. It is same repetitive bussines like in every other MMO)
    - The graphics are one of the best among todays MMO's
    - Sandbox style of the game, you can be skilled gatherer, trader, fisher, cook, horse trainer, etc... Or you can skip that all and focus only on combat power of your character.
    - Itemization and overall game phylosophy. Doesnt matter what level you are, you can use same gear when you are 10 lvl or 50 lvl. You can use materials and items that you found during leveling for your high end gear and high end potions. Literally you are playing end game even on low level.
    - Levelling system (Soft cap 50 level - official max level, but you can get higher levels, but more slowly)
    - Contribution poitns system: When you play, you earn contribution points, that you can invest somewhere. For example to storage, your residence, some grinding location or some farm where your workers can gather materials.
    - Enchanting system where your gear get's more powerfull as you enchant it.

    CONS
    - Clunky PVP. Its just not fun for me. Unnecesary animations and some game aspects make PVP and combat not fun.
    - Boss scroll system is boring and not exciting.
    - Only posibility to trade between players is by auction house (marketplace) I do not have anything againts that, it fights againts gold sellers etc... But they have not implemented anything that let you give some good gear or materials to your friend you play with. You can only give potions to someone.
    - Grinding and fighting monsters is much more efficient over all gatherin, fishing or other activities. It is shame they allowed that. I agreee that fighting monsters should be essential to collect some thing you cant get by gathering, but right now it is best in everything. This part of game is not balanced and damage game itself.
    - Energy system that allows you perform some ingame actions is messed up and total chaos :-D
    - Other game aspects that are simply stupid and unnecesary.    … Expand
  29. thovader
    Mar 30, 2016
    3
    Since I do not like PvP and gathering stuff like fishing, cooking, mining, housing etc. I will NOT review those aspects. They are supposed to be pretty good though.

    I bought the game for one reason only, the combat system. And I was hoping to get enough PvE content out of it to keep me entertained for around 30-60 hours. I knew from the beginning on that this game's end content    Since I do not like PvP and gathering stuff like fishing, cooking, mining, housing etc. I will NOT review those aspects. They are supposed to be pretty good though.

    I bought the game for one reason only, the combat system.
    And I was hoping to get enough PvE content out of it to keep me entertained for around 30-60 hours. I knew from the beginning on that this game's end content consists of PvP only.

    For every fan of PvE content and challenging (PvE) combat I can now say: "stay away and do not buy this game!!!"

    There's pretty much no PvE content to speak of and the quests are just lame and irritating. For me, this didn't even matter that much since I only wanted to have fun with the awesome combat system. I don't even mind games where you have to grind a lot... and this game is grind in the truest form!

    Don't get me wrong, the combat system is great but enemies are way too weak and the game is way too easy :( ! I played for around 10 hours and the game never ever got even a tiny bit difficult. Those 10 hours I was wondering whether I did something wrong and never left the tutorial area... it seriously is that easy. At first I planned all those special skills and combos and tried to use tactics whenever possible. But very soon you ask yourself "why"? The combat is so easy that you could easily use the standard attack without having to dodge, block or use anything powerful.

    Later on you encounter world bosses that randomly appear and bosses that you can summon using scrolls. Those are more fun and harder to kill but those events occur far to seldom to be of any use for any fan of PvE.

    It's such a shame because I really wanted to like this game.
    Like I said before, I knew that eventually the game wouldn't be for me with its focus on PvP and all that, but I hoped to get at least some fun hours of PvE content out of it. This wasn't the case though.
    The superb combat system cannot shine if there's nothing worth using it for. I wasn't looking for a Dark Souls either, but this difficulty is ridiculous.
    Fortunately I "only" spent 30 € on my sad/bad experience with the game...    … Expand
  30. MechVampyre
    Nov 14, 2016
    3
    graphics of this game looks very promising but beyond that it has gotten nothing really entertaining.
    you can craft many things, breed horses, get a farm, buy yourself houses, fishing, trading system and so on...
    well theres a lot of content but it feels just like all of that stuff leads you to nothing and only wastes a lot of your time. in the end you do this for the money to buy equip    graphics of this game looks very promising but beyond that it has gotten nothing really entertaining.
    you can craft many things, breed horses, get a farm, buy yourself houses, fishing, trading system and so on...
    well theres a lot of content but it feels just like all of that stuff leads you to nothing and only wastes a lot of your time.
    in the end you do this for the money to buy equip and go out to slap mobs (instead of all that boring and time wasting things you can also grind mobs the whole day, buy equip and grind more).

    fighting system is somewhat fun.
    nice animations and a lot of combos but for the pve content you just don't need to learn any combos, cause the AI of the mobs is completely stupid, there are no really special mechanics any mob has except some knockdowns here and there. so even fighting through the pve content gets boring and repetitive really quick. no challenge here.

    pvp is nothing else than one big mess.
    in pvp it all comes down to gear. you got better gear than your opponent? gg.
    even in a fight between two guys with equal gear it just comes down to who hits first with one of the thousands of cc skills.
    this pvp is not competitive, challenging, fun... nothing but a big mess.
    if you're searching for a pvp game, you'll be wrong in black desert.

    this game got way too much rng in it. thanks to all that rng nearly everything in this game becomes a true pita.
    even landing a cc in fights is based on rng.

    there are so many occupations in this game you can do while being afk. it's worse than some browsergames and so few tools which benefit any kind of playing with other people. actually it feels the other way round. people try to avoid other players the whole day long (really awesome in an online game).

    black desert could have made it to a somewhat decent singleplayer game but as it is, not more than 3 points. at least for a while it is a little fun to grind throug the map.
    not to recommend.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

12
#12 Most Discussed PC Game of 2016
4
#4 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 35 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 35
  3. Negative: 0 out of 35
  1. Merlin'in Kazanı (Turkey)
    Jan 1, 2018
    80
    With it's massive and unique open world, Black Desert Online is inviting you to a great adventure.
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  2. Digital Chumps
    Jul 27, 2017
    50
    Overall, Black Desert Online is a typical MMO in every single way. While I disagree with their claim that it’s the “next generation” of MMOs, I did find the character creation to be the most robust of any MMO out there. Unfortunately, the character customization is the game’s biggest highlight, and many of the other elements of Black Desert Online can be found in many other MMOs.
    Read full review
  3. The Overpowered Noobs
    Jun 11, 2017
    70
    Black Desert Online comes to the table with an intricate character sculpting tool, gorgeous graphical presentation, and a nuanced, exciting combat system overlying a less immediately apparent, but very unique, sandbox-style resource management simulation. Those looking for a rich narrative, complex or groundbreaking PvE questing, or highly unique monster design may be disappointed, but those seeking a mechanically rich, visually striking MMO will find themselves at home.
    Read full review
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