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. P2W
    May 13, 2019
    0
    Scamm Cash Grab. Why i say that ?? well as you can see there is a lot of noobs saying the game looks amazing and its very easy reach lvl 50, in fact until lvl 56 its just a normal clonic asian RPG, its a clone of Continent of the Ninth Seal that was done for the same dev team, but itsnt a nice F2P like the previous one was, I have 5000 hours played on BDO and i tell you all the garbage itsScamm Cash Grab. Why i say that ?? well as you can see there is a lot of noobs saying the game looks amazing and its very easy reach lvl 50, in fact until lvl 56 its just a normal clonic asian RPG, its a clone of Continent of the Ninth Seal that was done for the same dev team, but itsnt a nice F2P like the previous one was, I have 5000 hours played on BDO and i tell you all the garbage its hiden but once you hit that wall the game dont stop ask for money.

    To play your character you need 30$ to unlock the weight limit and inventory slots of 1 char + get your autoloot function and few maids that you need for the RNG market 200$ now multiply for 16 diferent characters 3.200$ now you discover all that its garbage if you dont pay the monthly subscription, another 30$ but now each month, your character cant take all the junk that mobs drop ?? another 15$ each inventory slot expansion, you want P2W we have it aswell, for another 10$ you can fuse combat stats in your cash shop outfits over the game cap with Tailoring coupons, want RNG lottery boxes like the infamous ones of Battlefront Reddit Drama ?? we have them, so you pay to get a T4 Pet 30 bucks and you maybe get it, maybe not, maybe the game delete one of the pets you owned previously, You can also get ultimate gear and wepons (pure P2W) by metlting cash shop outfits, wich mean you pay 30 bucks for each outfit, and you buy a lot of them, then you melt them all ingame to get Endgame weapons and armor, want powerleveling? for 300 euros a chinese dude will makes you start your adventure at LVL 60, and a long etc....

    Yes the game has an amazing graphics compared to WOW wich is a pretty lame MMO in terms of graphics, but this graphics are not better than other MMOs like GTA V, or other RPGs like The Witcher 3, in fact you can buy the Witcher 1,2 and 3 + all DLCs for the price of 1 swimming clothes in BDO.

    The worst its everithing its RNG based, all your progression its RNG based if you dont pass through the cash shop, so you can play 10 years and still be garbage cuz RNG, fishing its RNG, leveling its RNG, blacksmithing its RNG, buy items in market its RNG, etc...ofc you can skip that RNG by paying but ppl here call that pay for convenince, because as you can see by the positive comments the community its kinda sectary and full of white knights and fanboys that will never accept their game is garbage cuz they sunk yet Thousand ofdollars on it, or they dont even reached lvl 56 so they dont know where the scamm its.

    So in Resumme, the game on begunning looks nice, but its procedural generated maps, so after the first village all looks the same, plane boring green forest or empty deserts, the community its Toxic like in LOL, no one play in partys or with other players, 99% of online players are doing AFK activitys so you cant even talk with other ppl, and when they are not AFK or being TOXIC, they are fanatic Fan Boys and Wallet Warriors, P2W everywhere, lottery scamms, the game its more a casino than a game, the history and lore its garbage and in general its boring unless you pay thousand of $$$ to beat the RNG with your Visa Card and use the power earned to be a bully, it dosnt have dungeons, Role Players are hunted and bullyed, it lacks of many features, you cant marry other players, or dance, or kiss other players, you cant even trade your items with your friends, the market prices are fixed and you have to win a lottery ticket to buy items on market, the game its super bugged with flying farm wagons in the sky and NPCs walking through walls, the PVP combat its broken, it also force you play offline meaning you have to leave your computer ON while you sleep to progress until your PC get burned, there is bots and hackers, the gear gap makes 1 player that sunk a lot of money in the game can bully a whole enemy guild, if you want start play now just give up, there is no way in the world you catch up, the grind fest its 100% worst than any MMO out there, the Devs dont give a ****** about the playerbase, they game itself dont give a crap about you.

    My reward for 5000 hours played its a cat and 5 memory fragments when Revelation Online gift you a flying mount the first day you play. Not worth your time. SCAMM P2W GARBAGE, 1/10 cuz the Graphics atleast are meh...    … Expand
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. b19846
    May 13, 2017
    1
    RNG and also cash shop RNG. Oh also add expensive cash shop. (the game is pay to play)... And is more expensive than others free to play...
    RNG is also in game upgrading all. (Accessories are destroyed if you fail)...
    You can't play this game fine without spend in cash shop such as pets, increase your weigh limit, etc.... This game take your life, if you're new please avoid of playing    RNG and also cash shop RNG. Oh also add expensive cash shop. (the game is pay to play)... And is more expensive than others free to play...
    RNG is also in game upgrading all. (Accessories are destroyed if you fail)...
    You can't play this game fine without spend in cash shop such as pets, increase your weigh limit, etc....
    This game take your life, if you're new please avoid of playing this game.
    This game personally is wrong rate and it should be +18 ages.    … Expand
  5. OuterOcean6
    Sep 30, 2017
    3
    (Gameplay)
    Combat is the whole game that it defined it for everything in this game besides this is either dull or good or terrible.
    (Graphics) Best graphics for this generation of mmos, it has good immersion, npcs, enemies, structures, textures, buildings, etc. (System) The system like enhancing is really bad, equipment downgrades after reaching DUO gear level and nobody even    (Gameplay)
    Combat is the whole game that it defined it for everything in this game besides this is either dull or good or terrible.

    (Graphics)
    Best graphics for this generation of mmos, it has good immersion, npcs, enemies, structures, textures, buildings, etc.

    (System)
    The system like enhancing is really bad, equipment downgrades after reaching DUO gear level and nobody even likes this system. You have to build fail stacks to increase your chance of succeeding just to get your gear another level. You don't feel you even progressed even after months of grinding and repetitive questing. The whole game is based RNG, nothing in this game is guaranteed of gaining even if you're a veteran or not.

    A lot of important stats are hidden such as accuracy and dmg, you won't know if you're doing enough damage neither if you are doing so much. It's all a guessing game of agony when you are doing PvP, and PvE. There is an attendance system where it gives rewards that are not useful as a lot of the ones that they give either need you to play forever to gain, or you already can get them easily. The game doesn't explain to you if you are using the correct tools to mine, or use any gathering due to lazy devs.

    (Balance and Content)
    PvE is basically just kill trash mobs all game, there are world bosses and guild bosses you can do with people and that is just it. There is only 1 dungeon in the game that needs you to be completely high end gear and high level that takes forever to get. Plus you need 5 other people with the same type of requirements. There is a new PvE content in the game that you can just teleport to and it is very dull content. The mechanics are shoot birds with guns, slice and dice ground mobs, it is basically a horde mode.

    PvP is a mess of unbalancing and lag, nobody will get a fair fight as gear and level will always determine which person will win. There will sometimes be an rare occasion where your opponent will be in an equal level as you are, the classes almost never gotten any nerfs as dark knights can 1 shot you with or without gear, warriors will pummel you without any skill involved, etc. Desync will happen a lot, as if you used a warrior grab on someone they might be just behind you instead of your animation happening, or on their screen their behind you but you just grabbed them and knocked them down.

    Node wars and big PvP battles are such a cluster fk, you don't know what is happening and there is only 1 thing you can only do. Go from point A to point B and destroy their tower and nobody even knows if anyone will win by sheer numbers or outgearing. There is PvP protection such as Karma when if you kill a player the pker will get deducted for it, once it reaches negative their name will go red and they can get attacked from anyone even if they have pk off.

    (Mechanics)
    By the time you start in the game your whole screen will be filled with so much crap, you won't even know what is on your screen. You won't even know how to turn some of them off and some cannot be turned off. You have to look it up online. Horse mechanics are good, as horses can be bred and they all have skills that boosts your horse speed. But the bad thing is that you have to level them up to get them and it is RNG if you can get a useless or good skill, or no skill at all.

    Pets only loot 1 mob just for a cooldown of 10 seconds, the cooldown lowers as they level up. Pets provide bonus stats that increases exp gain, life skill gain, mob tracking, etc. Breeding any of pets will make you lose 1 in return of a chance of getting a higher tier pet. Horses need to be bred at the horse breeding market, the many deaths affects the chance on getting a higher tier horse.

    (P2W)
    Yes this game is p2w, you have to either buy pets to rid of the problem of spamming R to loot is either by spending months of trying to snipe pets from the market. You can pay $40 just to get 4 of the maximum pets you can get. Artisan Memories are another way to save silver on enhancing weapons, armor, accessories. They can only be bought at the pearl shot for 50 Pearls, this can be a ton of money if you only plan on enhancing and saving silver for your next upgrades. Complete now buttons have been added to worker builds to speed up on getting millions of silver by selling crates. The amount of time remaining will determine how much Pearls will be deducted.

    (Community)
    The community is really awful as players don't even care if they kill your horse, and they will cry about it if you kill theirs. A lot of the chat is based on flaming and trolling, everyone you encounter in a popular grind spot will attempt to kill you if they see you. People use karma bombing as letting them pk you so you can harass them for being dumb to do it.

    (Conclusion)
    There is so much more I can say but I am already limited. Do not buy this game if you do not want to waste time.    … Expand
  6. DarkSucker
    Apr 22, 2018
    2
    pro: Great scenery, great combat UI, and mostly ok other stuff. (crafting, trade, ...)

    con: RNG enhancing system, lots of information hiding, and unexplained UI features (no reliable manual) The game was on average OK because of the combat system. This lasted 1.5 months. Then several bugs happened at the same time they introduced a new event. Bugs included a memory leak (>58GB) and    pro: Great scenery, great combat UI, and mostly ok other stuff. (crafting, trade, ...)

    con: RNG enhancing system, lots of information hiding, and unexplained UI features (no reliable manual)

    The game was on average OK because of the combat system. This lasted 1.5 months. Then several bugs happened at the same time they introduced a new event. Bugs included a memory leak (>58GB) and another that caused instantaneous failure (the game was running and then vanished, poof). Playable for short periods only.

    The so called support was some of the worst I have ever dealt with. Common sense would suggest gathering details (e.g. log files) , clarifying details that are uncertain, and then recommending fixes. This is not how they work. Instead, they instantly recommend an action based on a single word. In most cases the action was irrelevant and that action involved serious matters that could have severe negative effects on the system (adjusting page files, installing 3rd party software to mess with the registry). Nuclear options if you will. My system was fine, and their "fixes" put my system at risk.

    Later, I went to their forum and discovered that several other users were experiencing the exact issues I was, and they had already pointed out that the exact same "fixes" were inappropriate (posted data and screen shots). Yet, the same support person had no problem recommending those "fixes" to me.

    Add insincere to superficial and nuclear.

    Buyer beware    … Expand
  7. 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
  8. Ferkus
    Jul 28, 2023
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Pearl Abyss killing pvp system for all time. It's good game if you want to play only in cooking or gathering… Expand
  9. Subastis
    Sep 20, 2016
    3
    I pay 30€ to this game and i completely regret, boring, unoriginal, pay per win, you have to play like 10 hours to get some weapon or armor and it can be ugly as hell. The gameplay dont have nothing new and you are always grinding, killing 20 monsters o gathering 20 flowers, again and again. The main quest its the same but with some easy and tipical boss. It have some things original likeI pay 30€ to this game and i completely regret, boring, unoriginal, pay per win, you have to play like 10 hours to get some weapon or armor and it can be ugly as hell. The gameplay dont have nothing new and you are always grinding, killing 20 monsters o gathering 20 flowers, again and again. The main quest its the same but with some easy and tipical boss. It have some things original like taming a horse but its almost impossible find a horse, theres is one for every hundred players and even if you find it and you are alone you can lose the minigame losing the horse and the money for the ropes. You can navigate with a boat and fishing but its really hard to get the first boat and when you are fishing literally you dont do nothing. I give the game a 3 because the graphics (not bad for a mmo) but overall its a boring grinding game like a lot others you can play for free.… Expand
  10. Dandem
    Jun 28, 2023
    1
    Posiblemente fuera un buen juego cuando salió en 2016, pero el combate y la jugabilidad se ve extremadamente espesa.
    Las cinemáticas no se puedes omitir y tienes que tragarte una historia mediocre y arquetípica sobre fuerzas del mal y salvar el mundo
  11. Genovah
    Jul 13, 2016
    2
    PvP-centric game, there is no PvE content. Despite this the pvp is pretty bad, balance issues, server lag and desync, gear>>>>>>skill.
    You are required to grind mobs in the world and gather flowers for most of your play time if you want to do anything and not get 1-shotted on sight in pvp. Do your research before purchasing the game, you'll regret it dearly if you don't.
  12. Caos
    Aug 24, 2016
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I had a number of level 50+ characters with my main being a level 58 ranger before I decided to sell my account and call it quits. The game is visually pleasing... but its designed for no lifers that play 24/7 in order to be competitive. Its a waste of time for those that have a job and families to consider. On top of this there are people using hacks and expliots to get ahead (Pyx and Others) so there fair gameplay is missing. It was kind of a dissappointment for me to be honest. I played in the NA/Europe region which is the only region that needs to buy the game in order to play it.... on top of that you have to buy cashshop items in order to be competitive. Overall a visially nice game but not very well designed against hackers and for those that have jobs... for me it was a dissappointment… Expand
  13. Falrinth
    May 28, 2016
    2
    Many people prize this game for being sandbox mmorpg. Well it aint sandbox and feels more like single player online than mmorpg. Have you ever seen sandbox mmorpg with no player-2-player trading or fixed market prices?

    When we think of sandbox mmorpg we imagine an opportinity to become whatever we like to be in that world. A warrior, an alchemist, a dedicated blacksmith for our guild,    Many people prize this game for being sandbox mmorpg. Well it aint sandbox and feels more like single player online than mmorpg. Have you ever seen sandbox mmorpg with no player-2-player trading or fixed market prices?

    When we think of sandbox mmorpg we imagine an opportinity to become whatever we like to be in that world. A warrior, an alchemist, a dedicated blacksmith for our guild, the guy to every guildie comes for a masterfully crafted equipment, part of a trading empire guild, crafting artisans, warriors, mercenaries etc. whatever we like to specialise and dedicate to. In BDO however everyone have to be everything and do stuff for themselves. Most of the time the effort and even ingredients for crafting stuff outweight the price devs fixed for the product on the market (this is just absurd). Its a sad sight to see game with plenty of proffesions have communist-like marketplace with empty shelves, cause naturally noone is bothered to give away stuff for no profit.

    Giving it 2/10 cause it kept me interested untill i realised i am playing an illusion of sandbox mmorpg, that is in fact just content-poor, cheap theme park, old "KAL Online" like mmorpg with tones of grind which is the very same path for everyone. You go the same single-player path of grind all the rest of the players go, like a lemmings. And on top of that the ultra cheap money grabs everywhere, like the retail price wasnt enough for this thing. You dont want to pay more than the retail price? Fine, just do everything 5 times slower than those who did. No pay2win whatsoever, no... Well in fact... it aint pay2win, cause its a single player :D    … Expand
  14. 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
  15. kenshinwari
    Sep 25, 2017
    2
    while the game in itself could have a great future it's plagued by Micro-transactions and a heavy dose of RNG, while at the same time there is also backwards progression that results in your effort, time and money, going to waste on this game and will only leave you with frustration and a bad taste in the mouth.
  16. DrussKnightX
    Jun 15, 2016
    2
    This game looks great in still frames. Looks OK in most Utube reviews. The game seems like it has a lot of depth. And after you make the purchase and download it you will find out what it's really about. A whole lot of nothing. The combat is weak, the quests are typical. Trying to figure out how to develop your work force or even how to go about the conversation mini-game takes way moreThis game looks great in still frames. Looks OK in most Utube reviews. The game seems like it has a lot of depth. And after you make the purchase and download it you will find out what it's really about. A whole lot of nothing. The combat is weak, the quests are typical. Trying to figure out how to develop your work force or even how to go about the conversation mini-game takes way more effort than it should and don't expect any help from the community. I spent 10 minutes trying to get a simple answer to one of the games many convoluted features to no avail. In short, the game sucks and only rates a 3 because of the graphics (which aren't stellar). I'm sorry I wasted my money on it. Maybe you will be too.… Expand
  17. Hanzo_Hasashi
    Mar 28, 2023
    0
    The worst game in mankind history. The lost potential to be awesome game is just staggering. The text book example of how to not make a game. -10/10 but can't go below 0.
  18. Organnen
    Aug 4, 2016
    0
    Avoid this **** like the plague. Promises of no "P2W" from the beginning while they tiptoed and pushed boundaries, seeing how much they could get away with. They introduced an "optional" subscription to a game you already paid for. I use "optional" because the reality is you're at a disadvantage without it. It gives you more silver from selling stuff on the marketplace in-game and onceAvoid this **** like the plague. Promises of no "P2W" from the beginning while they tiptoed and pushed boundaries, seeing how much they could get away with. They introduced an "optional" subscription to a game you already paid for. I use "optional" because the reality is you're at a disadvantage without it. It gives you more silver from selling stuff on the marketplace in-game and once they realized that the whales defended their P2W, they're removing any and all cash shop -> marketplace restrictions to create a true Korean P2W **** show. 0/10. Avoid this garbage game and scummy, lying developer.… Expand
  19. guided_fate
    Apr 11, 2016
    6
    This is going to be my first review since I started using Metacritic, but after seeing the high praise and flat zero's I had to write something as objective as possible. This game is not for everyone, it's a classical Korean MMO, and what I mean by that, is that there is no definitive endgame. In fact, The entire world is open, and there isn't much that you can't do as soon as you finishThis is going to be my first review since I started using Metacritic, but after seeing the high praise and flat zero's I had to write something as objective as possible. This game is not for everyone, it's a classical Korean MMO, and what I mean by that, is that there is no definitive endgame. In fact, The entire world is open, and there isn't much that you can't do as soon as you finish the first little tutorial tidbit. There is a metric **** of things you can do, aside from classical MMORPG raiding. This game is not meant for the old school raiders of the Everquest and Vanilla World of Warcraft days; it is, however, perfect for people who enjoy crafting, fishing, player housing, and grinding.

    To whoever said this game is not a grind, you should delete your Metacritic account effective immediately. If you want to be a crafter, you have to grind. Fishing? You have to grind. Any aspect of income regarding the game's highly intuitive economy requires some kind of grind. Yes, the game requires you to work for the "endgame" gear and items, but none of it revolves around endgame content.

    There are a lot of problems with the game on a technical level. Game optimization is lackluster, the user interface can very easily clutter your screen and it is very counterproductive for speedy recovery of items, settings, and other important gameplay aspects. The text and the voice do not match at all and the translation from Korean to English is very shoddy. It's these issues that tank the score to about a 6 or 7. You shouldn't have to pay for ANY product and have to wait for immersion-breaking bugs to be fixed.

    The combat in this game, what can I say, it's mindblowing. If there was actually a large variety of enemies to fight, raiding, or any hardcore endgame pve content, this game would be more deserving of an 8. The problem, for me, is the lack of all of these features. My opinion here doesn't effect the score as this game is not advertised as such, so it would be wrong to grade it subjectively. It is first and foremost a sandbox game with some PvP and PvE elements, though they are not as prevalent as the in-depth economy. Will I ever play this game again? Probably not, I'm not into this style of MMO, but for those looking for an excellent economy-based sandbox MMO, this is a must buy. I'd say to wait a bit until the bugs have been patched, though.    … Expand
  20. 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
  21. Teekanne
    Feb 21, 2018
    0
    The game does some things really well. The action combat feels extremely fluid and the lifeskilling has potential, however this game is a scam in that it creates an artificial problem and then sells the solution.

    Every cash shop item is a response and the solution to a roadblock in the game. The developers initially promised there would be no Cash Shop along the lines of the Korean mode    The game does some things really well. The action combat feels extremely fluid and the lifeskilling has potential, however this game is a scam in that it creates an artificial problem and then sells the solution.

    Every cash shop item is a response and the solution to a roadblock in the game. The developers initially promised there would be no Cash Shop along the lines of the Korean mode ... they lied.

    They continue to lie to this day and will vehemently deny they are pay 2 win but pay for convenience. Either way, their racket is becoming more exposed in the west and I will never recommend a game developed by PA or published by Kakao ever again.    … Expand
  22. 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
  23. BlueWolf_X
    Sep 9, 2016
    1
    After having close to 83 in game days spent with this game, I think I can give an honest review. To start off I want to say I truly loved this game, the graphics are really good, and game play in general feels very satisfying since there is so much to do here, such as: Fishing, Grinding (for levels, gear, silver, items etc.), Farming, NPC Trading, Hunting, Cooking, Alchemy, Crafting, myAfter having close to 83 in game days spent with this game, I think I can give an honest review. To start off I want to say I truly loved this game, the graphics are really good, and game play in general feels very satisfying since there is so much to do here, such as: Fishing, Grinding (for levels, gear, silver, items etc.), Farming, NPC Trading, Hunting, Cooking, Alchemy, Crafting, my favorite Horse training/breeding (to get nice mounts), Gathering, and so much more. Leveling is fairly easy up until 50 by grinding since it is the best way of leveling. Past 50 leveling will become slower but there are costumes you can buy with $30 that give +10% experience, and you can also buy consumables to boost experience. Gear has no level cap so a level 1 could have the best gear if they had the money or a main.

    There are two important systems implemented in this game which are your Energy pool, and Contribution Points that also spread to all the characters created withing your family name on the server of your choosing (meaning, at the start of the game you choose a family name that all the characters you create will have, and all those characters also share your energy pool and contribution points, as well as warehouse space/items, pets etc.). Your energy pool increases from knowledge you gather as you explore new areas, fight new monsters, talk to new NPC's, discover new recipes, etc . You use energy every time you gather materials through mining, woodcutting, butchering animals for meat, and cutting their hides, and more. You also use energy leveling nodes(areas you discover on the map that you can connect with contribution points) to get better drop rates when grinding or more resources with workers assigned to gather there.

    Contribution points you get from doing normal and daily quests. The more CP you have the better off you are, especially if you want to build yourself a big workers empire or trade route empire. You can use CP to connect nodes and then use energy to level them up, or rent equipment from NPC's.

    There is still so much I did not mention in here, such as housing, decorating your houses, having maids you can buy with real money, pets, horse armor, dying pretty much every piece of equipment, and so much more. There is a lot in this game but a huge part of this game ties down to money. Luckily I did not spend much on this game other than the $100 Conqueror founder pack, a couple of costumes, one of which is quite P2W (the ghillie suit which hides your name and HP in PVP and makes it really hard for players to see you), and a few pets. That being said, I will never spend another penny in this game.

    Before launch in an interview the company stated how they will make the game buy to play, and that they were against P2W elements but they are OK with "pay for convenience" through a cash shop implementation. A lot of players bought into the Founder packages (myself included). Before you could even start playing the game, you had to agree to an agreement at the start screen which basically said that you give up the rights for a refund if you start playing the game. So you had to accept their game and policies as is.

    Once you play longer, you begin to realize that some of those pay for convenience items are starting to become mandatory unless you want to go through a painful and slow grind. For instance the character you play has a weight limit for how much items you can carry around, and and an inventory space limit. Pretty much every item in the game has a weight attached to it, so if you plan on grinding for long periods of time at once then having a large weight limit is a must in order to have more potions etc. Also a large inventory space is needed since some items that you pick up do not stack up. Oh and unless you plan on picking up every single item that drops from monsters with an animation that takes about 2 seconds to get everything, you will have to spend real money on pets that do that for you automatically, and you can have 4 pets around you doing this.

    So what is the big deal, right? Well 6 months after launch they also introduced a subscription based item you can buy with money or lots of loyalty points that reduces marketplace tax by 30% and a bunch of other goodies (The marketplace/auction house has a 30% tax on everything you sell. This was implemented to stop people from making huge profits on certain items or playing the market, and it kept the economy in place), everyone was against it and before implementing it they were asking for player feedback in the forums to no avail. Then they implemented buying cash shop items with money and selling them at the marketplace for silver with a cap of 5 items per week. These items don't sell for much silver "right now" but still having these systems in place made a lot of players feel betrayed, they outraged and a lot quit and started refunds. So now you have a Buy2Play game with F2P elements+Subscription-Based+Pay2    … Expand
  24. 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.
  25. crnppscls
    Mar 26, 2016
    6
    Hina beauty sim, or Black desert online in the new mmo by Daum.
    Yes that first statement is a slight but a justified one.
    Actually, it is really hard to review a mmo because the experience you expect is subject to what is delivered and what you are used to, or the mmo you just came from. Let's crack on with the positives: Character creator is very good, if you're the type that    Hina beauty sim, or Black desert online in the new mmo by Daum.
    Yes that first statement is a slight but a justified one.

    Actually, it is really hard to review a mmo because the experience you expect is subject to what is delivered and what you are used to, or the mmo you just came from.

    Let's crack on with the positives:
    Character creator is very good, if you're the type that spends hours on dolly dressup on newgrounds, you will love it.
    Combat is dynamic and fluid, i thought i would hate it but actually it works really well, the combo system is intuitive and you feel you are rewarded by choosing the right skills.
    Fishing and crafting are fun, no really. It's a good time waster.
    The world is beautifully rendered.

    What i didn't like:
    The pve is generic and dire, everyone knows what i mean by this , so don't make me elaborate on it. We've all done these quests.
    There is no endgame. Which in turn means nothing to aim for, nothing to gain kudos from your peers, that you have endured good content, just that inane banter that you wonder what plum or blader will be like, and whether it will be premium or free.

    This is intentional of course because data mining shows that on average, a gamer spends 6 months on an mmo (average) and also for the ones that stay longer, the same mining shows that the longer duration gamers are more likely to spend money in the first 6 months of play. This is the ethos by which titles are sold, some do it differently but in the boardroom is not a flowchart showing improvements and ways to improve the game, there's just a graph with a proposed generated income that the programmers have as gospel and work around it.

    Cash shop and content are the bugbears of this game. It's worth pointing out that this is ftp in korea but not so for us and maybe they forgot this in their cosmetic pricing.

    Is a major fundamental cosmetic pricing in a game that uses aethetics as a selling point ?
    Of course it is, anyone coming from gw2 would give testement to the fact that there are better and cheaper ways to deal with costumes and dyes. Daum don't have the resources of Ncsoft but still, the game does smak of having a ftp store in a btp game.

    The game isn't bad, it's not great either but you have to be aware that the company just wants you there in the short term, maybe after you've bought plum and ninja from the cash shop.

    Just for the truthful record, i got a refund yesterday from Paypal because it just wasn't for me.    … Expand
  26. ShodanSpectre
    Mar 29, 2016
    7
    This is a review of the North American server, a couple weeks after it's launch in March 2016. Other servers may provide a somewhat different experience.

    I used to play L2 in its early years, and have been waiting for a game that could be L2's successor. BDO showed some promise, so as soon as it was released I gave it a go. Pros: Obviously - the graphics are very good, I'll give it    This is a review of the North American server, a couple weeks after it's launch in March 2016. Other servers may provide a somewhat different experience.

    I used to play L2 in its early years, and have been waiting for a game that could be L2's successor. BDO showed some promise, so as soon as it was released I gave it a go.

    Pros:
    Obviously - the graphics are very good, I'll give it that.

    Character creating as well.

    The physics - are quite good for an MMO too - jumping and climbing onto things. There may be some things that you walk through but at least if something looks like you can jump/climb onto it - you probably can. There aren't that many MMOs where you can climb onto very tall and thin towers, and then sit atop some pillar to meet the sunrise (which indeed looks beautiful).

    It's possible to use the environment to gain tactical advantage - if you're good at parkour you can jump/climb up something and start shooting from there, and kick back enemies that try to reach you through the one narrow ladder/stone that allows access to your "sniping position". That said, the range of attack isn't REALLY sniper-level.

    Goes along with the fact that the open world is indeed open. Not even like in L2 where you had invisible walls - here the highest mountains are climbable, if you find a way. The view from the top... Well, you gotta see for yourself :-)

    Combat is dynamic. Non-target, kind of (although there is some kind if "sticky" reticle for the Ranger/Archer). It's not an advanced melee slasher game nor a full-scale shooter, but there is real-time evasion that depends on the player's skill, which is good. The game combat does depend on player skill, not just the character skill.

    The main quest (Black Spirit) is kind of fun. Not on high-end single RPG kinda level, but for an MMO intro main line - rather fun. The Black Spirit is somewhat repetitive but has a simple, cynic sense of humor.

    Cons:
    General PvE is meh strategy-wise. But I guess most MMOs have rather simple mobs, which aren't intended to be interesting enemies. The monsters are on a VERY short leash (follow you for like 20m if you run away) - after which they "reset" - become invincible and run to their spawn point. And reset to full HP. So - no luring them away, no picking one by one, leave alone anything interesting like luring a boss or a train of mobs into a village (like was possible in L2 and early WoW).

    PvP is locked till lvl 45 or so.That's -2 points for me 'cause of that alone. Granted, one can reach 45 in about 20 hours of play, or less if they just grind hardcore, but... "what the hell, man???" (c)

    Swimming is time-limited, you start losing HP after about a minute in the water (on the surface!). And no diving at all.

    The quests you find in the world are your typical MMORPG quests... Go there kill that go there find that bring me 'cause I can't walk over 200ft... Here BDO didn't make any revolution :-D

    The dialogues with NPCs are rather disconnected. Maybe it's the Western translation but NPCs say totally random things at times.
    The looping of their animations and idle dialogues is very short and obvious.
    Some NPCs can be found in different locations at the same time.

    The storyline quest was kinda OK. I previously posted that it broke after lvl 13 - but no, it resumed later, by some combination of gaining a couple levels, taking a seemingly random quest from an NPC and visiting a certain location. I bumped the review from 6 to 8 due to this and due to discovering that some NPCs actually do substantial damage and have a running speed greater than my Ranger's strafing speed. The difficulty went from super trivial to "fairly-easy-but-don't-fall-asleep" around lvl 14.

    Gender locked characters... Ok let's say there are no male sorcerers because of the lore, similar to the Witcher world, but why, o why can't I play as a male archer?

    The mechanics are pretty good, I can see a great amount of tactical combat emerging with such a combat system: positioning, exploiting 3D obstacles, movement, combos, quick fingers - all that would matter a lot in a game with non-target, fast-paced mechanics and rather advanced physics.

    It seems Pearl Abyss created a good PvP-oriented game, which has a prerequisite of grinding through a single-player RPG aka tutorial, before it lets you start the game for real.    … Expand
  27. Ghost67
    Oct 8, 2016
    5
    BDO has a beautiful world. Its rich, immersive, its huge, you always have something to do and somewhere to go. It has a deep economic and industrial side to the game. The mechanics of Energy and Contribution is unique and a fresh take on virtual economies. It has awesome flashy combat with no tab targeting and auto attack.

    Then why does it have a 5? Because BDO is a Themepark MMO    BDO has a beautiful world. Its rich, immersive, its huge, you always have something to do and somewhere to go. It has a deep economic and industrial side to the game. The mechanics of Energy and Contribution is unique and a fresh take on virtual economies. It has awesome flashy combat with no tab targeting and auto attack.

    Then why does it have a 5?

    Because BDO is a Themepark MMO that plays like a single player game, that pretends to be a sandbox. It sounds like a sandbox and quacks like one, but it isn't. It feels very similar to SWTOR - it feels like it should be a single player game, but it's not.

    New players are practically forced into doing boring, inane quests, huge grinding quest chains. We're talking hundreds upon hundreds of quests. I love how we use the word "quest" for really stupid tasks. We're talking usual fetch quests all the way to retrieving a stranded cat or knocking over a pickpocket. Seriously? Getting someone's stray cat? NPC's provide long dialogues, some poorly voice acted - but really, who cares? This is an MMO. I came here to play with other people.

    Players must grind, but new players are especially forced into an upfront investment of time and energy into questing because they need the experience to level up their Energy and Contri points. Without those, they will not have any purchasing power. There is a large RNG element in BDO as well and its frustrating.

    This of course ends up in massive power gaps, as you have hardcore players with awesome gear able to 1 shot other players in PvP. No strategy, just boring domination.

    For such a beautiful world, mobs are a pushover. If you somehow stumble upon a powerful mob, the game will flash red telling you that you should run. How exciting. This is beyond themepark. The excitement of exploration just isn't there.

    There is hardly any death penalty. No one groups, except for specific endgame tasks. BDO players will tell you it has the "quality" of a single player game....??? It gets even more ridiculous - you can't trade with other players. You are forced to use the global Auction House, and you cant even set your own prices, you're forced by the game to set a certain price!

    PvP is also pretend-sandbox. The karma system is broken - when you initiate PvP, you gather karma. Get too much Karma and there is no penalty for another player to kill you, and you might drop items. What ends up happening is practically no one initiates PvP (excluding guild vs guild) except for the hardest of the hardcore because of the repercussions and the exploitation of the "innocent" players. There is no death penalty for innocent players.

    There is no character customization. BDO's little brother, Archeage, at least gave you the ability to mix and match different skill trees to create customized classes. There is practically no customization in BDO, the only thing separating your warrior and the warrior next to you is, yep, your gear!

    Combat is enjoyable enough for PvE, but for PvP its totally broken. PvP fights are very brief and usually comes down to who hits first. No strategy is really involved because of combat mechanics - its just spam spam spam, with healing potions. Yes, the animations look great, you can pull off cool combos, but as far as tactics, skill, builds - it really doesn't matter.

    Guild turf wars make the game somewhat interesting and there is an element of politics due to territory changes, but the guild battles really dont matter that much, once again due to the fact that theres no interdependence.

    I really wanted to like BDO, because alot of work has clearly gone into it. But you spend more time conversing with NPC's then REAL PEOPLE. Theres even a mini game where you gain favor with NPC's so they share with you more information. How ironic in an MMO. Its a tragedy. The world is beautiful and vast, but feels stale and hollow because there is practically no interdependence.

    The sheer amount of upfront investment for new players to grind out just to join the ranks of guilds will doom the game. Who joins an MMO, a virtual world to adventure, only to spend it catching cats for NPC's? In a year I predict that BDO's playerbase will shrink significantly and will be relegated to the only people that will thrive in this kind of environment - ultra hardcore gamers that enjoy grinding 24/7, and have the time to do it.    … Expand
  28. Nothv13
    Jul 16, 2016
    6
    As someone who had put in more than 1000 hours into this game between the KR version and the Western release, Black Desert had/possibly still has the chance to shake up the stale western MMORPG market.

    A possible great game with some inherent design flaws. The knowledge system (you get more energy from gaining more knowledge in game), contribution system (allows you to buy workshops,    As someone who had put in more than 1000 hours into this game between the KR version and the Western release, Black Desert had/possibly still has the chance to shake up the stale western MMORPG market.

    A possible great game with some inherent design flaws. The knowledge system (you get more energy from gaining more knowledge in game), contribution system (allows you to buy workshops, houses, stables, farms, etc) are marvelous features that I'd love to see in future games. You can even go out and lasso horses to tray and tame them, and then breed them to get better horses. Great siege system where you have to build forts and simultaneously defend it while attacking the enemies'. Fun Guild Wars where you can make wagers on who will win or not. There is also the smaller things such as small hidden caves, sailing, whale hunting, and the upcoming Naval content.

    What brings it down in the western market is the Korean aspects. An over reliance on RNG for one. Normally rng is ok. Item drop rng and variable damage from rng is just part of RPGs, even action heavy ones. this game however takes it to the next level. Drop RNG, RNG to enchant your gear, rng to get fail stacks to lessen the rng to enchant. RNG on whether you lose expensive crystals on death. RNG on whether you get CC'd or not. They even have RNG on the auction house.

    The drop rng is also bad, I'm talking sub 1% chance to get items. Spending 1000s of energy to get 5-10 of a rare needed item only to see someone spending half that and getting upwards of 10x what you got is just ridiculous. What makes this worse is that those needed items are only found during gathering. People who are trying to progress are barely playing the game. They are mainly digging in one spot for hours upon hours in the day, while those that had rng on their side are actually playing the game.

    This get even worse as these items are needed to upgrade your gear, and at the level you need them gear gap gets larger making you skill in the action combat system mean less and less. In the end, your performance will come down how blessed you are in rng, then time, then level, and finally how skillful you actually are. If you have horrible results with the RNG, you could fall weeks to months behind in the span of a few days, at which point you should just give trying to PvP.

    I love this game overall, and really hoped that they would have properly adopted it to the west as both the publisher and developer flat out stated the west market was different than the Korean market and would need special changes to be a success there. Daum even stated (as a decently successful launch) to want 1 million active players within a year. With as much negative feedback they have gotten recently about things such as RNG, gear gap and the currently very restrictive way to progress, I do not see Daum meeting that goal, or even getting close to it.

    Couple alternate title for this game: Digging Desert Online (since you will spend most your time digging to progress), and Casino Desert Online (since your progression and thus effectiveness relies mainly on RNG, along with how many parts of the game are actually ruled by RNG).    … Expand
  29. daddygull
    Jul 19, 2022
    0
    BDO is a classic grindy RNG based game with full of dead content. Game is all about grind, and more grind. They always came with a fresh idea once in a while, then left it to rot while adding more grind zones and gear.

    PvP is good, but lack of class balance kills it. I mean it has 22 classes but 5 of them are commonly played. Also your fps affect your damage becasue every PC has it's    BDO is a classic grindy RNG based game with full of dead content. Game is all about grind, and more grind. They always came with a fresh idea once in a while, then left it to rot while adding more grind zones and gear.

    PvP is good, but lack of class balance kills it. I mean it has 22 classes but 5 of them are commonly played. Also your fps affect your damage becasue every PC has it's own server and calculates parameters of PvP. Another bad thing that affects PvP is server lag which is the worst i've ever seen. Good PvP, but game doesn't let you enjoy it whatsoever.

    I wont talk about lifeskill, ocean content or lack of group content. This game is all about picking the meta class and braindead grinding to be on a same level with P2W whales. Oh yes, you can sell cash shop items in marketplace and buy gear with them, which basically means buying gear with real money. Don't tell me it's not worth it, we know there're whales doign it out there. You can get BiS gear by cashshop without even leaving city, good challenge for whales.

    As i mentioned, no group content. BDO is a singleplayer grinding hack and slash game.    … Expand
  30. targoviste_2302
    Oct 9, 2022
    10
    I was tired of WoW, so I have decided to change a game. In my opinion one of the best MMO, especially if you love solo content.

    +Nice graphics +Beautiful characters +Amazing outfits for your chars +Fun non-target combat If you try to find a game where you need to do party content, where you need to find 5/10/25/50/100 people just to start to play a game... than this game is not    I was tired of WoW, so I have decided to change a game. In my opinion one of the best MMO, especially if you love solo content.

    +Nice graphics
    +Beautiful characters
    +Amazing outfits for your chars
    +Fun non-target combat

    If you try to find a game where you need to do party content, where you need to find 5/10/25/50/100 people just to start to play a game... than this game is not for you.
    Also this game has shop, so if you can`t allow to spend 20-30$ for a virtual world, this game is not for you as well.

    But if you like to turn on good music and just grind with nice picture before your eyes, BDO is definitely for you.    … Expand
  31. 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.
  32. Eyelite
    Mar 17, 2016
    10
    PRO's :

    Graphically a pleasure to look at despite some small issues with draw distance that will hopefully improve as the title matures. Audio is is very fitting and I have not yet turned off the in game audio off in favor of my own sound track. The story is not as engaging as I would have liked it to be, but that is mostly lost in translation during its western localization. Game    PRO's :

    Graphically a pleasure to look at despite some small issues with draw distance that will hopefully improve as the title matures. Audio is is very fitting and I have not yet turned off the in game audio off in favor of my own sound track. The story is not as engaging as I would have liked it to be, but that is mostly lost in translation during its western localization. Game play is well thought out an fluid. I really like the fact that they opted for diminishing returns on actions rather than having to wait for cool downs on your abilities. No level lock is a major bonus, some will look at this as a major "grind fest" but the reality is your character never stops growing. People saying there is no end game really have no clue what endgame is , if your idea of sitting in one major hub and waiting to do dungeons is your idea of a fun endgame you might want to consider why major publishers using this structure are struggling to keep subscribers. Oh my next wonderful point, buy once play for ever, no pay to win. cash shop is cosmetic and quality of life and plz don't QQ cause costumes are expensive, its a choice to buy these things not a requirement. Honestly I feel like I could go on and on about the positives, crafting, gathering, PvP all these systems are well done.
    Character creator is very detailed and probably one of the best implementations to date.

    Con's :

    Currently the only issue I have is .... hummmm nope not going to say yet as there is still more to come as it is not caught up yet and there will be several patches including content, player classes , systems and more coming over the next few months. At that point I will revisit my review.

    Verdict

    Truley 10/10 for me , best MMO i have played and probably GOTY    … Expand
  33. Odettehr
    Mar 13, 2016
    9
    i love this game, many people say bad things because, this game is not easy, you need be very social with many people, endgame is fully oriented to massive pvp, the craft system is fun, this game have full of details, this game is new in America, the future could include more content
  34. Shaide
    May 22, 2016
    0
    Poor localization combined with poor voice acting and nonsensical story. Sure it has good graphics, but that alone is not enough to hold my interest...It's also buggy! To be fair, I am not holding that against the game. All MMORPGs are buggy, it's impossible to make a large expanding world and not have bugs. Still, it's annoying to encounter bugs early on in the game.

    Overall? The game    Poor localization combined with poor voice acting and nonsensical story. Sure it has good graphics, but that alone is not enough to hold my interest...It's also buggy! To be fair, I am not holding that against the game. All MMORPGs are buggy, it's impossible to make a large expanding world and not have bugs. Still, it's annoying to encounter bugs early on in the game.

    Overall? The game is below average at best. If it was a free to play, it might be deserving of a higher score, but it's not! I paid almost 50 bucks for the explorers pack, and for 50 bucks? The games a mess and I probably won't even play it anymore...Prob my least played MMORPG...Honestly? You're better off sticking to Guild Wars 2.    … Expand
  35. UNlVERSE
    Apr 19, 2016
    3
    This review is coming from someone who thoroughly enjoys PvP/PvE to the fullest. This game is beyond an utter disappointment.

    Leveling in this game takes little to no effort whatsoever, maxing at the soft-cap of 50 quite literally for anyone who simply looks up the correct areas to grind. When you get over the flashy combat, you'll realize this game is completely overrated. Best    This review is coming from someone who thoroughly enjoys PvP/PvE to the fullest. This game is beyond an utter disappointment.

    Leveling in this game takes little to no effort whatsoever, maxing at the soft-cap of 50 quite literally for anyone who simply looks up the correct areas to grind.

    When you get over the flashy combat, you'll realize this game is completely overrated. Best part? You forfeit your right to a refund. "Well you can try it for free from a friend!" Implying you know anyone that plays this game. Simply watching YouTube videos of this game is like any other, watching BF4 trailers and demos made BF4 look great, devs hyped it to all hell. What was the end product? A beyond overhyped and trash game.

    This isn't even counting the fact the character balance in this game is horrid, and to be expected. At-range characters will dominate PvP team-play, hence why a vast number of people who play this are Range/Wizard etc.

    PvE wise this game is obviously lacking. Just another run of the mill "spam spam spam" for your daily fun. Mod grinding is the same as any other game and the quickest way to level.

    For virtually $50 the amount of customization is an abysmal joke. Sure, you can toy around with the physical appearance of your avatar (their physical body), but other than that and dyes, you're left with a extremely lackluster customization for something you just blew $50 on. Lets also mention that you'll be spending another $10-20+ on the cash-shop cosmetics that for the most part look ridiculous.

    As most Korean MMO's are, they utilize gear enhancement. This game doesn't focus on skill, and rather focuses on who can camp and grind PvE for hours upon hours on end to enhance to +15 and above. Achieving such enhancements simply because you have less of a life than most people, and then entering into PvP where your "skill" (gear) will be made apparent is what does it for many people.

    To top it all off, this game has severe connectivity issues on the NA servers. Constant disconnects as well as authentication errors frequently make grinding out in this game that much more annoying when you're constantly having to relaunch your client.

    All in all, the only positive thing about this game are the graphics. Sure, there's some variety in this game, things that have already been done and quite honestly if I wanted to fish, i'd go to RuneScape and grind out a few hundred hours for 99.

    Maybe if their customer support and game-policy wasn't such an utter joke, I would have considered recommending this to a friend.

    Like many Korean MMO's, I really don't see this game lasting as many years as other more successful MMO's.    … Expand
  36. Dubrute
    Mar 19, 2016
    10
    This is a unique MMORPG where you can and have to grind monsters to get experience points and level up.

    Some main quests give some exp, but that's nothing compared to the experience you get from killing monsters. Myself, i hate doing boring go talk to that guy quest or just questing in general. In all MMORPG's that gets stuffed through your throat (With a few exceptions of course).    This is a unique MMORPG where you can and have to grind monsters to get experience points and level up.

    Some main quests give some exp, but that's nothing compared to the experience you get from killing monsters.

    Myself, i hate doing boring go talk to that guy quest or just questing in general.
    In all MMORPG's that gets stuffed through your throat (With a few exceptions of course).

    In Black Desert it's OPTIONAL!
    Game just requires you to finish some main (black spirit) quests which mainly are getting to new cities, killing some monster or killing bosses.

    But they give great rewards and don't feel like a drag.

    Most (bad) reviews came from player who only had a few hours in the game.
    The fun starts when you start understanding how everything works and get stronger.

    The real fun starts when you hit level 50 (Which will require 20-25 hours of gameplay)

    The world just completely opens then,

    So in general.
    The more you play this game, the more you'll like it.    … Expand
  37. 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
  38. Chilissy
    Apr 26, 2016
    6
    Yeah, the trailers was awesome as always in rpg fantasy games. I thought this game would be really enjoyable. I was dreaming about pro mechanics stuff, also with additional plot. I've played it for first time at my friends home. I was really grateful to myself, i didn't bought that game. Its not as crap as some others "mainstream" rpg's, but uhmm... it's far behind top rpg's. Well, butYeah, the trailers was awesome as always in rpg fantasy games. I thought this game would be really enjoyable. I was dreaming about pro mechanics stuff, also with additional plot. I've played it for first time at my friends home. I was really grateful to myself, i didn't bought that game. Its not as crap as some others "mainstream" rpg's, but uhmm... it's far behind top rpg's. Well, but its playable.… Expand
  39. Rouce
    Mar 11, 2016
    10
    The thing with this game is that it's hard to grasp at first. It's a sandbox MMORPG, so there are mostly no explanations whatsoevere on professions, the node management, conversation minigame, the crafting system, etc. etc. Also killing mobs seems to be very easy at the beginning, the potion cooldown of only 5 seconds gives the impression that PvP just might be potion spamming, theThe thing with this game is that it's hard to grasp at first. It's a sandbox MMORPG, so there are mostly no explanations whatsoevere on professions, the node management, conversation minigame, the crafting system, etc. etc. Also killing mobs seems to be very easy at the beginning, the potion cooldown of only 5 seconds gives the impression that PvP just might be potion spamming, the real-time fighting with its keyboard combo controls can feel off at first, and whatnot.

    It took me a whole week of playing until I understood what the game is all about and where the enjoyment comes from. But now I love it. The combat system really is something special and a great diversion from tab targeting. Also it feels really fluent once you've created and memorized your own combos. Looking up how everything works made me feel like playing a MMORPG for the first time again. Mobs are geting harder and harder the further you progress, especially if you want to quest while being a bit underleveled. Potion spamming is a thing in this game, but since there are no other ways of healing it's just a different system than most MMORPGs. It won't do much in endgame, the one who outplays his enemy first will be the winner regardless of potions. The graphics are totally fine. They've got its up- and downsides but overall they look really, really decent. Especially the lighting.

    Remarkable pros:

    -New and great fighting system without tab targeting, fluent gameplay and nice combos
    -Amazing player housing. You can buy hundreds of different houses scattered around the world and customize it freely with self-created or bought furniture. It also grants different benefits, so there is a reason to visit your home
    - Mounts aren't just a different model but a real entity in the world. They'll stay where you left them and you can equip them with armor for defense/saddles for speed and other things

    But I'll definitely remark that the game isn't for everyone. It's not your usual MMO with a lot of handholding and conventional gameplay. Be aware of this and preferably do some more research before buying this game.    … Expand
  40. desperx
    Mar 14, 2016
    10
    Simply amazing at every aspect. I don't understand the low scores from WoW and ESO players probably all their friends left them becouse of BDO, there are 3 servers with like 10 chanells each and they are full even at morning,

    The game has so much depth, you won't ever get bored. At first site might looks like another generic Korean MMO but this one is different, I was getting hooked    Simply amazing at every aspect. I don't understand the low scores from WoW and ESO players probably all their friends left them becouse of BDO, there are 3 servers with like 10 chanells each and they are full even at morning,

    The game has so much depth, you won't ever get bored. At first site might looks like another generic Korean MMO but this one is different, I was getting hooked after lvl 20 when I started to kill real monsters lika Nagas or Orcs.

    The monsters looks like from Heroes of MM 5-7. Who world is beatifull, enviroment change, from cute farms with peasants to rocky hills, deep woods full of undeads, swamps etc.

    The sandbox is real, you can go anywhere and do whatever you want.    … Expand
  41. MagicSprocket
    Mar 12, 2016
    10
    We can climb everything and sit everywhere. You can sit on everything you climb and climb everything you sit on. We can also lean on walls but it's more fun to climb them and sit on top. GOTY
  42. Dustile
    Jul 3, 2016
    0
    Google Black Desert Online pop in, before you buy. The videos developers show and what you actually get are two different things. The games has no draw distance slider either and it effects the best of rigs too
  43. BAPACop
    Nov 21, 2016
    2
    Technically forced PvP; it can be avoided through counterintuitive measures. Graphics are pretty, especially during character creation, but load times are ridiculous. The game crashed three times before I could even get to character creation, then twice more trying to join the server. Even the launcher was unstable, occasionally failing to load the login form.
  44. Moriwenne
    Apr 2, 2016
    7
    I am a fan of mmorpgs. I am also a fan of beautiful graphics which makes exploring a treat. I don't shy away from action combat games either so, I picked up this game and played it for some 50 hours.

    The game has many different systems in play. Housing, workers, nodes, crafting, trading, transport of goods, npc minigames, questing, etc. I first tried to play the game just by going    I am a fan of mmorpgs. I am also a fan of beautiful graphics which makes exploring a treat. I don't shy away from action combat games either so, I picked up this game and played it for some 50 hours.

    The game has many different systems in play. Housing, workers, nodes, crafting, trading, transport of goods, npc minigames, questing, etc. I first tried to play the game just by going through the motions, trying to experience a bit of everything. I am experienced with such games and usually figure things out. I failed with black desert in this regard. I believe the game does a very poor job of explaining itself to you. I had to find a bunch of guides and videos elsewhere to get me going.

    I am not a crafting freak. I mean, I like crafting. I like the option of creating my own items and the ability to participate in the market and earn a bit more money and I don't mind some mild gathering. But this is a means to an end. What I really want is the money and the items that will improve my character. Some might enjoy a fishing minigame and I don't mind doing it a couple of times, any mini is ok if only repeated 2 or 3 times but after that? No thank you.

    I am not a housing freak. I don't mind building a house and decorating the outside like you could do with Archeage. It's something that will exist in the game, serves an aesthetic purpose and that's ok. But putting furniture on an instanced house, that no one will see, takes time and effort that is just not fun FOR ME.
    Transporting goods, fixed warehouses, these things add a bit of a real feel to the game's towns but honestly, it's a limitation I could do without. I have to transport things myself, do some actions to move things around and I don't get any fun out of it. I remember doing trade runs in archeage and basically having to walk things over long distances. The goal there as well, was the money at the end and the trip itself gave me no pleasure. In fact, I often just played another game like hearthstone on another screen whilst my character walked. I did enjoy the aspect of danger associated with the trade runs though.

    The towns and cities never felt distinct to me. I like feeling that a place is special and has interesting characters. The towns and cities felt a bit too overcrowded with npcs that don't matter. You can talk to too many people which serves no purpose. There are these minigames that you can perform with too many npcs forcing you to spend time and literally energy so that you can get a discount on some goods and this is true for so many npcs, it's just unnecessary.

    I enjoy some pvp. In my 50 hours of play, the game didn't create any opportunities for me to pvp. Low lvl pvp is as fun as high lvl pvp as everyone learns the game and it offers different challenges. In BD i didn't find any. In comparison to say GW2, there was an arena that I could join at any time to improve my fighting skills and learn how to fight other classes. There was an entire pvp map where only pvp mattered (solo and grouped), with objectives, which is fun too, and you could do that from level 1. I like having these different options as they offer variety to one's tasks and stop boredom from setting in.

    I like solo play but I also enjoy grouping. I like it when a game throws a grouped area in your path as you progress through the leveling. Maybe even, have a dungeon area that offers a map with specific gameplay that a group of people must figure out. Again, this offers variation from the usual grind or 'go kill x' quests. In my 50h of game I found no real group options with the exception of a couple of gathering guild quests.

    I like visuals. I like to change the looks of my character as the game progresses. You see someone's armor and you know their strength. You see someone wielding a specific weapon and you recognise his power and also, it just looks good. This progression should exist in the early levels and not just when you reach max level. After 50h my wizard still looks like gandalf and all wizards around me also look like gandalf. Also, I like to play females and the game not allowing me to create females with every class...in a modern mmorpg....it boggles the mind. The game's graphics are quite nice though and the character creation is a treat.

    In conclusion, the game accomplishes many of the things it sets out to do and fails on some others. The stuff that fails at like the interface, creating some sort of story, having good localization, cash shop, some combat stuff…some of these things I could tolerate. But as a whole, given my tastes, the game doesn’t offer enough to keep me engaged.

    PS: The point of reviews in my opinion is not to complain. The idea is to explain the game to others whilst inserting your own tastes into it so that people with similar tastes might take something out of it. If this helped someone then hey, quest completed!    … Expand
  45. CptBadger
    Mar 25, 2016
    9
    Pros:

    Huge open world sandbox(ish) MMORPG. Feels super alive. Best graphics in any MMORPG to date. Great action combat, combo based. World is huge and immersive. Is PvP focused: castle sieges and guild wars. Lots of people playing. Lots of side activities besides combat. Nice player housing system. Good, in-depth crafting. Has boats, mounts, wagons, pets, etc. And... did I mention    Pros:

    Huge open world sandbox(ish) MMORPG. Feels super alive. Best graphics in any MMORPG to date. Great action combat, combo based. World is huge and immersive. Is PvP focused: castle sieges and guild wars. Lots of people playing. Lots of side activities besides combat. Nice player housing system. Good, in-depth crafting. Has boats, mounts, wagons, pets, etc.

    And... did I mention AFK fishing ?

    Cons:

    Cash shop is expensive, classes are gender and age locked (character creator is amazing otherwise though), no player to player trading, no full loot PvP, not for the hardcore open world PvP'ers

    For the price, it's a steal. Go buy it!    … Expand
  46. kaelan36
    Mar 10, 2016
    9
    I LOVE this game! I had everything anyone would want and really defines the sandbox genre. The combat is the most addictive. There is just so much to do! I love all the small mechanics like the parkour-elements. They just have so many neat little things in the game. The PVP is different from other games where as in this game you wait until LVL 45 and then when you leave a safe zone anyoneI LOVE this game! I had everything anyone would want and really defines the sandbox genre. The combat is the most addictive. There is just so much to do! I love all the small mechanics like the parkour-elements. They just have so many neat little things in the game. The PVP is different from other games where as in this game you wait until LVL 45 and then when you leave a safe zone anyone LVL 45 and over can engage in PVP. I also love the guild war system also how guilds can capture towns/ farms/mines/etc.. I haven't gotten around to being in a guild yet, but I can't wait. The character customization is amazing, the graphics are gorgeous for an mmo. There is just so much to do it's unbelievable. The only reason I didn't give a 10/10 was because, personally, the story was a little confusing and there is very little of it. I don't know if it's just I couldn't understand it, I just thought it was jumbled and kind of didn't have a place.… Expand
  47. Xelluse
    Jun 1, 2017
    0
    One of the worst MMORPG games I ever played, mechanics are bad and low on possibilities, combat is linear and button-smashing, PvE is easy as hell, no challenge, no hardcore, PvP is primitive and totaly oriented on mass without any logic, for PvP core game is very unbalanced, personall skill does nothing, just good guild and enchantments, worst grinding and repetitive content, no socialOne of the worst MMORPG games I ever played, mechanics are bad and low on possibilities, combat is linear and button-smashing, PvE is easy as hell, no challenge, no hardcore, PvP is primitive and totaly oriented on mass without any logic, for PvP core game is very unbalanced, personall skill does nothing, just good guild and enchantments, worst grinding and repetitive content, no social mechanics, for action game have very bad optimization, graphics are quite outdated for it's requirements, some textures have 16bit resolution.... Damn in what **** I throw my money, not worth a cent.
    Have much of useless and unnecessary content, but have nothing worth to play more that test time, one month maximum, get bored just in one week, even Archeage was much better on release than this. BDO is just perfectly promoted junk

    Graphics and performance - 6/10
    Game-play and re-playability - 2/10
    Controls - 5/10
    Questing - 3/10
    PvE - 0/10
    PvP - 4/10
    Role playing - 4/10
    For most idiotic AI and no challenge and very easy battles even against bosses- -3pts
    Average - 0/10    … Expand
  48. MonicaKeller
    May 22, 2016
    3
    BDO :: the POP-IN Simulator™ ©®

    I simply can't recommend this game in its current state: the 3d rendering is terrible, while walking or running 3d objects will pop in all the time, not only players but mostly grass, trees, buildings.. whatever... After popping-in the 3d model will switch from low to high just in front of you: if you'll walk towards a tree you'll see it suddenly    BDO :: the POP-IN Simulator™ ©®

    I simply can't recommend this game in its current state: the 3d rendering is terrible, while walking or running 3d objects will pop in all the time, not only players but mostly grass, trees, buildings.. whatever...

    After popping-in the 3d model will switch from low to high just in front of you: if you'll walk towards a tree you'll see it suddenly changing shape and textures.

    If you stand still you'll notice that the shadows of buildings and grass are not dynamic: they get updated with some interval and the new shadow position will pop-in without any transition or sort of effect to hide the annoyance.

    The graphic options the game provides are simple "presets": you cannot change anything to avoid the pop-in issues. This is how the game works now even on high end PCs.

    I never saw anything like that in any kind of MMO even if I go back with my mind to 2004.

    The gear progression in the endgame is RNG based and imo really frustrating atm.    … Expand
  49. Tahoenvy
    Apr 5, 2016
    9
    BDO is one of the most beautiful games I have ever played and I've played almost every game of any consequence that has released since EQ in 99. The detail they've included in this game blows my mind everyday, the combat is fun and gets more challenging as you level. You will need to do your research with this game, it's not intuitive but that makes it even MORE fun for me. Also youBDO is one of the most beautiful games I have ever played and I've played almost every game of any consequence that has released since EQ in 99. The detail they've included in this game blows my mind everyday, the combat is fun and gets more challenging as you level. You will need to do your research with this game, it's not intuitive but that makes it even MORE fun for me. Also you tend to get side tracked alot because there is SO much to do, I am NEVER bored. It's incredibly immersive, sometimes when Im playing and a storm starts I actually feel like i'm in it. The bad reviews for this game are most likely by people that have not put in the effort to learn and experience this game. I have and I LOVE this game.… Expand
  50. 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
  51. 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
  52. Turcoda
    Jun 1, 2016
    0
    Not worth the base $30 USD price, and the cash shop is highly inflated and not worth the money either. The story and in-game dialog is highly incoherent and makes little sense. Needless to say don't play this game for the story. The game has you afk/auto running all over the map at all times, which makes it impossible to play with friends in a certain area. You're mostly playing the gameNot worth the base $30 USD price, and the cash shop is highly inflated and not worth the money either. The story and in-game dialog is highly incoherent and makes little sense. Needless to say don't play this game for the story. The game has you afk/auto running all over the map at all times, which makes it impossible to play with friends in a certain area. You're mostly playing the game afk for most things. The game is most definitely not immersive. During my last week of playing, my interest in the game was already diminishing and I was promised in game rewards for logging on every day and I never received them, so it was the final nail in the coffin for me. Quests and in-game rewards are insanely buggy, so don't expect to always receive what you are promised. Support was of no help at all and just basically laughed at me. In the end I told them I would never play again and to just delete my account. They refused to even do that much. I want a refund.… Expand
  53. Pinkyz
    Mar 18, 2016
    10
    This game does not hold your hand. You will need to do your research. I suggest joining a great guild. The game has so many discoveries. The depth of the game is truly amazing. This game is everything Arch Age was suppose to be and failed. Do not discount this game. It will suck you in and take away your life. ;-)
  54. Rohaldos
    Mar 9, 2016
    7
    I will keep it short.

    The game has a brilliant character creation tool, it could have been perfect if the game was not gender/age lock. 8 out 10 The game offers a very good if not one of the best crafting and trading system that you could ever find in a mmo game. The AH and the player 2 player trade seems designed to keep prices fair with no exploits The combat is more like an    I will keep it short.

    The game has a brilliant character creation tool, it could have been perfect if the game was not gender/age lock. 8 out 10

    The game offers a very good if not one of the best crafting and trading system that you could ever find in a mmo game. The AH and the player 2 player trade seems designed to keep prices fair with no exploits

    The combat is more like an action game which I find fantastic, very similar to vindictus. 9 out 10

    There tons of quests and things to do. 9 out of 10

    At the moment the only complain that I have is the pearl shop, the items are way overpriced for a B2P game. For example if you want to purchase a full set armor(including weapons), an armor for your horse and a pet this will probably cost you over $50. 0 out of 10

    I like the game and I want to support it but I am not so foolish to pay for "skin" all that money.    … Expand
  55. 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
  56. Demosnslayer
    Mar 10, 2016
    10
    new mmos have hard time getting new players to like them but this one is awesome fishing crafting housing selling items great marketplace. better then wow righ tnow
  57. dragonslayer21
    Mar 10, 2016
    10
    new game great setup played the beta very awesome mmo better then guild wars 2 ive played it so long then got so bored then one has to much to do what i have found to do
  58. alex4mc
    Aug 10, 2016
    0
    Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win! Pay 2 Win!… Expand
  59. Jaz
    Jun 22, 2016
    8
    In short, game is good, perfect no. details:
    Have played this game enough and feel i can make now a review at its current state (node wars). In short:
    Pros -Character customization in character creation, best i ve seen so far. -Interesting classes. -Great combat, one of the best in mmos. -Great looking world, even with average pc, that feels "real". -Tons of things to do besides    In short, game is good, perfect no. details:
    Have played this game enough and feel i can make now a review at its current state (node wars). In short:
    Pros
    -Character customization in character creation, best i ve seen so far.
    -Interesting classes.
    -Great combat, one of the best in mmos.
    -Great looking world, even with average pc, that feels "real".
    -Tons of things to do besides combat ie crafting, fishing, horse breeding, sailing, farming, exploring etc
    -Fun group PvP in Node/Castle Wars.
    -Animations in/out of combat look realistic.
    Cons
    -Community on average is bad, there are of course good people, have to try harder than other mmos to find them.
    -RNG ie items have a random factor on how they improve. See below
    -Grind, lots and lots of it at higher levels and in order to get better items, As i said in pros combat is great and enjoyable but even that has its limits. All mmos have grind of course, this one has some extra.
    -In game learning curve. Game has a ton of concepts and does a bad job explaining them or smoothly implementing them. Google will be your best friend. Felt completely overwhelmed in the beginning, still do many times.
    -While you can customize your character enormously, you dont have many choices in outfits, most are in, see next
    -Cash shop. Not really pay to win (have seen much worse in b2p/f2p games) but still has a lot of items that make life much much easier and help lots in grinding. Pets are cash shop only and must have, not that expensive tho. Outfits on the other hand are only a handful/average looking in game and lots/expensive/great looking in cash shop. So much for customization, most ppl look almost alike in game.
    Mixed impressions
    -Gender locked classes, personally i dont care.
    -Open world pvp (after lvl 45) . Happens, especially when guilds are at war. If you re afraid of random ganking, it is very rare unless you want to grind in highly contested areas. Even so its not that common. After all you might win, lvls arent that different, or your guild might declare war vs those who won you and help you. Even if killed in pvp -if others attack first- you loose no exp or armor damage, just your pride is hurt!
    Verdict (again)
    As i said in the beginning, game is mostly good and improving. Lots and lots of expansions so far at no extra cost. Highly recommended to try it, but be warned that it is not for everyone's taste. Some will really love it tho.
    PS
    I m getting tired from people who havent played a game but review it in Metacritic- 0 of course- just because they want to "support their game'. No game deserves 0 anyways.    … Expand
  60. zaftgun
    Apr 25, 2020
    9
    As of right now the game is very impressive. Better than all the competitors I've played in terms of interactions and world set up.

    The part thats most well done is the martial arts actions and combos and gameplay. The action is fast and exciting and will easily fly by. However, the life features such as fishing, gathering, processing etc... is very slow. The 2nd part thats most well    As of right now the game is very impressive. Better than all the competitors I've played in terms of interactions and world set up.

    The part thats most well done is the martial arts actions and combos and gameplay. The action is fast and exciting and will easily fly by. However, the life features such as fishing, gathering, processing etc... is very slow.

    The 2nd part thats most well done is the character interactions, there are numerous and numerous npcs with role in the world and contain quests, functions or information. But the interactions are limited by energy. You have a max level of energy that levels up and increaes but interactions can cost a lot of energy and its difficult to replenish. The system makes the world and characters feel very real. This is a very detailed and well done game. I have not come across any game that goes to into this much details.

    The worst part of the game, type setting(font) looks pretty bad and quests has a separate screen that you have to press R to confirm which makes it feel very crude and sub-standard not to mention annoying.

    At the moment this game doesnt waste time. If you want you can probably finish the main story in just over a week no sweat, without spending all day and all night. And it should come with moderate enjoyment.

    One other thing to note is that the graphics of this game is not as vibrant and dont feel as sharp and clear. Other than that I'm thoroughly impressed.

    You have to realise a game is only grindy when you are not enjoying it and it is slow. Which this game is not. Numbers are super super super inflated in this game and the fast pace action makes large numbers pretty meaningless.

    Things are intuitive but sometimes bits and pieces of explanation is off or missing. This is not a brainless game unlike many others including big titles.    … Expand
  61. hijackk
    Aug 20, 2018
    7
    This is a great MMO game, but only if:
    - you want to make this game your only mmo game for many years,
    - you have some monthly source of money you can spend every month on BDO. There is no official subscription whatsoever, but if you want to play seriously, you will be forced to pay an unofficial subscription by many free account restrictions - You have a lot of free time. Bcs u will    This is a great MMO game, but only if:
    - you want to make this game your only mmo game for many years,
    - you have some monthly source of money you can spend every month on BDO. There is no official subscription whatsoever, but if you want to play seriously, you will be forced to pay an unofficial subscription by many free account restrictions
    - You have a lot of free time. Bcs u will need it if you want to achive something before you get old.

    If you are not affraid of those things, BDO will give you best MMO fighting system u ever seen, huge amount of things to do, many development paths, best graphic and great community to share your hobby with. This is a life-time MMO, so prepare to progress slowly!    … Expand
  62. BayEzio
    Apr 1, 2021
    3
    Complete trash. P2W af. Buying this game will just waste your money. —————-
  63. Hamsause
    Dec 25, 2022
    10
    Lots to do, good game play, good graphics not dumbed down, easy to start up, no sub, you don't need to use the cash shop 90% of it is cosmetic the other 10% being QoL items. End game progression does slow down but its not impossible to get geared up for the hardest content especially if you have a good guild backing you. Vastly improved over launch state.
  64. Kronic_gaming
    Jul 17, 2020
    9
    Honestly one of the best MMO’s I’ve had the pleasure of playing. There is literally anything for you to do. Also a decent story that’s not short and gets you mid gear for after story line. A HUGE amount of content from sailing and hunting sea monsters to fighting world bosses and enchanting armor and weapons. You can enjoy your time playing this action combat game, the combat is like DMCHonestly one of the best MMO’s I’ve had the pleasure of playing. There is literally anything for you to do. Also a decent story that’s not short and gets you mid gear for after story line. A HUGE amount of content from sailing and hunting sea monsters to fighting world bosses and enchanting armor and weapons. You can enjoy your time playing this action combat game, the combat is like DMC in a MMOz just try it out, it’s worth it. Only problem is you need to buy pets that’ll run you like 30 bucks… Expand
  65. FoxHound24
    Jun 10, 2022
    0
    The very first mission in this MMORPG involves going on a rampage against a peaceful community of foxes. This should qualify as a hate crime.
  66. RoninLTStradale
    Apr 26, 2023
    5
    This game have beautiful landscapes and characters but in other hand the developers change the RNG as they wish, i'm playing this game since 2017 in SA servers and i'm also a developer and with propriety i can tell you one thing about the RNG of this game, they can change as their wish and also change the values to dont let you progress in the game as should be. This game is not fair forThis game have beautiful landscapes and characters but in other hand the developers change the RNG as they wish, i'm playing this game since 2017 in SA servers and i'm also a developer and with propriety i can tell you one thing about the RNG of this game, they can change as their wish and also change the values to dont let you progress in the game as should be. This game is not fair for old players, Pearl Abyss just help the new players that are starting the game or are returning from a long period without playing.

    ►There's no Great Rewards for players who like PvP Content
    ►The game is a infinity grind system and also a infinity Life Skill content if you really want make money
    ►The game needs to have a balance with the all classes in PVE/PVP because theres only few classes that work good in the end of the day.
    ► Lot of Bugs that needs to be fixed    … Expand
  67. SunnieMach
    Mar 27, 2016
    1
    The first several hours are fun...but then once you realize that all the "complexity" of this game is just a mask. Grows very, very boring very quickly. The voices and sounds of this game will annoy you beyond belief. It is not p2w whatsoever, though, so I did offer it a 1 instead of a 0.
  68. Yulie
    Mar 18, 2016
    10
    The game looks so alive and amazing. It is completely immersive. The open sandbox feel is wonderful. The game has so many things to do. All these things can be done in any order I want. One day I log in and grind out levels, another day I log in and work on my housing, then another day I log in and work on my professions or maybe trade, or maybe just work on my horse breeding. OfThe game looks so alive and amazing. It is completely immersive. The open sandbox feel is wonderful. The game has so many things to do. All these things can be done in any order I want. One day I log in and grind out levels, another day I log in and work on my housing, then another day I log in and work on my professions or maybe trade, or maybe just work on my horse breeding. Of course, I can't forget the guild could have a PvP event (FUN)! What a breath of fresh air!… Expand
  69. Mamoulian
    Mar 12, 2016
    10
    This THE BEST MMO RPG I ever played so far and I boy did I play a lot of them. I always wanted to play something where I might say to myself "how could they make it so right" and this is just it! Black Desert Online is incredibly complex, highly motivating, great looking, its combat rocks and has that really being in-there feel the best of them do. Character creation and RPG levellingThis THE BEST MMO RPG I ever played so far and I boy did I play a lot of them. I always wanted to play something where I might say to myself "how could they make it so right" and this is just it! Black Desert Online is incredibly complex, highly motivating, great looking, its combat rocks and has that really being in-there feel the best of them do. Character creation and RPG levelling elements are fantastic, deeply complex and rewarding. There is fantastic trading, crafting, fishing, questing, gathering resources, special new knowledge and NPC interaction systems, horse breeding, boat and wagon crafting, ecology and weather systems.. I dont know where to even begin. There is so much to do and everything is so incredibly thought-through and detailed its like a dream come true. Do not listen to morons who play MMOs just to grind-level up and then they grind the same endgame nonsense over and over just to get better gear and nothing more. This whole game is an endgame and its going to give you tons of fun and incredible adventuring if you just let it. For 30 EUR best money/fun ratio investment of my life, wholeheartedly recommended!… Expand
  70. VerynCE
    Aug 8, 2016
    0
    This game was literally my favorite MMO with massive amounts of potential. Now the game is full blown P2W after promising B2P. I hope developers took notes and make a game just as fun with a strong commitment to their players and not short sighted money grabs.
  71. Asashikun
    Mar 22, 2016
    10
    For me is the best MMO in years. Not is a theme park mmo, that is a real MMO sandbox Old School. If u want a fantastic game a very durable... this is your perfect game.
  72. Zarella
    Mar 18, 2016
    10
    BDO is gorgeous, Amazing, and a Blast! There is always something to do. This game is what I been waiting for. I was standing in the forest farming and the scene was surreal. A stream was running through the forest. The way the water flowed over the rocks, the trees gently blowing in the wind. The tufts of wildflowers around the river...And it all sounds like I am really standing in aBDO is gorgeous, Amazing, and a Blast! There is always something to do. This game is what I been waiting for. I was standing in the forest farming and the scene was surreal. A stream was running through the forest. The way the water flowed over the rocks, the trees gently blowing in the wind. The tufts of wildflowers around the river...And it all sounds like I am really standing in a forest listening to all the wildlife. This game has changed how I look at mmo's.… Expand
  73. steve210
    Mar 10, 2016
    10
    great game one my favorite mmo this year hope it keeps up with other great mmos. wow keeps getting updates hopefully this game gets alot expansion in the near future
  74. AdamM88
    Apr 24, 2016
    0
    If you want a game with 0 story, an awful, empty world, ugly, unimaginative monsters, server side disconnects every 30 minutes that require you to restart the client and log in again, a game where botting is a FEATURE, where the content literally IS grinding the same mobs over and over by the tens of thousands, where your inventory is tailored to be extremely tiny in order to make you buyIf you want a game with 0 story, an awful, empty world, ugly, unimaginative monsters, server side disconnects every 30 minutes that require you to restart the client and log in again, a game where botting is a FEATURE, where the content literally IS grinding the same mobs over and over by the tens of thousands, where your inventory is tailored to be extremely tiny in order to make you buy inventory extensions from the cash shop, then BDO is for you.… Expand
  75. Kerbox
    Mar 12, 2016
    5
    Nothing groundbreaking here, I got the been there done that feeling even if there are a lot of little things to do. A lot of cheesyness here to find which is very typical of all asian MMORPGs out there. Good graphics though but that alone will not hold me for long.
  76. bigbob123
    Mar 12, 2016
    0
    This game looks good on the surface, then you realize that everything that makes an RPG fun is either gated by $, or you will be punished for doing it via the idiotic energy system?

    You like to pvp? Cool, go try some open world pvp and get punished for killing people. You like to trade? Awesome, you won't be dictating any terms of the trade. You can't trade with other people and the    This game looks good on the surface, then you realize that everything that makes an RPG fun is either gated by $, or you will be punished for doing it via the idiotic energy system?

    You like to pvp? Cool, go try some open world pvp and get punished for killing people.
    You like to trade? Awesome, you won't be dictating any terms of the trade. You can't trade with other people and the auction house prices are chosen for you.
    You like collecting loot? Me too! Get loot all day but it wont matter, your guy will still look homeless unless you spend $$ on the shop.

    No AOE loot, instead you need to pony up $$$ for pets that will allow you to loot faster.

    Oh, and don't even THINK choosing the gender for your character. They devs did the thinking for you.

    You want to chat in general? That costs energy... You want to craft? Energy, you want to do anything outside of battling the dumbest AI we have seen since ET for the original Atari? Then you better be ready to pool your energy for those 15 minutes of "fun".    … Expand
  77. Lederzwerg
    Apr 17, 2016
    0
    Hello,
    why giving 0 points? It´s a really simple reason - rng. The game was published first in 2014, it´s no real asia grinder cause of its strong restrictions in many parts of core gameplay, like no trading, high ah taxes, NO real multiplayer features. Just uninspired, lazy developers with no ideas. So everyone wanna try this game, be aware it´s more RNG you reach something or get    Hello,
    why giving 0 points? It´s a really simple reason - rng. The game was published first in 2014, it´s no real asia grinder cause of its strong restrictions in many parts of core gameplay, like no trading, high ah taxes, NO real multiplayer features. Just uninspired, lazy developers with no ideas. So everyone wanna try this game, be aware it´s more RNG you reach something or get something than you can effect getting it!    … Expand
  78. armchairjerk
    May 22, 2016
    6
    If you thought you knew what a grind was, you really dont till you play this game. Its not that its just an insane grind, its the fact that none of it is fun. Be prepared to use the same 3 move rotations over and over again for 50+ hours.
  79. Alatreon
    Apr 4, 2016
    5
    Extremely average MMO. Initially very exciting, tinkering with workers and nodes etc, but it soon devolves into an insane amount of grinding and **** RNG based gear progression system in a game with a pvp system that purely revolves around gear. Basically there's a massive gap between the "Hardcore" players who grind for 10 hours a day, and the average "casual" player who maybe grinds thatExtremely average MMO. Initially very exciting, tinkering with workers and nodes etc, but it soon devolves into an insane amount of grinding and **** RNG based gear progression system in a game with a pvp system that purely revolves around gear. Basically there's a massive gap between the "Hardcore" players who grind for 10 hours a day, and the average "casual" player who maybe grinds that much in a week. The combat is also initially incredible, fast paced and visually impressive but again, becomes an absolute chore after you've killed your millionth mob in the inevitable grind that comes later.

    Honestly the most fun I've had in this game is AFK fishing. The MMO is a bunch of great ideas poorly executed. On paper it seems to have massive potential but it simply becomes very boring especially after you hit the soft cap of 50. It's extremely grindy, the story is forgettable if not completely irrelevant, voice acting is **** atrocious. Not much here except an excessive amount of grind.

    That being said though, there are definitely some good aspects to the MMO. Exploration and the crafting system is very good. Doing stuff like building a boat and sailing around the Islands, then fishing etc, are all tonnes more fun than gear progression and combat elements of the game.    … Expand
  80. Chaosclone
    Apr 6, 2016
    10
    A new groundbreaking MMO that isn't getting the spotlight / recognition it deserves.
    My top 5 Pros:
    -Extremely detailed customization. -An active combat system requiring precise manual aiming, dodging & comboing, unlike the tab-targeting system seen in older MMORPGs. -A dynamic, worldwide weather system which will include large scale events such as typhoons and will influence gameplay.    A new groundbreaking MMO that isn't getting the spotlight / recognition it deserves.
    My top 5 Pros:
    -Extremely detailed customization.
    -An active combat system requiring precise manual aiming, dodging & comboing, unlike the tab-targeting system seen in older MMORPGs.
    -A dynamic, worldwide weather system which will include large scale events such as typhoons and will influence gameplay.
    -Fun crafting systems.
    -Stunning graphics.    … Expand
  81. Jeoul
    Mar 9, 2016
    6
    I have currently played this game roughly about 6 days so far, overall i have to say I am enjoying it. In my opinion you have to approach this game slowly - learn how to buy properties, nodes, workers, basic cooking, gathering, crafting, fishing then probably trading. I made a mistake of following my friend grinding the 'main' quest on launch and that just burnt me out.

    The game does    I have currently played this game roughly about 6 days so far, overall i have to say I am enjoying it. In my opinion you have to approach this game slowly - learn how to buy properties, nodes, workers, basic cooking, gathering, crafting, fishing then probably trading. I made a mistake of following my friend grinding the 'main' quest on launch and that just burnt me out.

    The game does feel overwhelming at first but as always you will learn and become efficient. I even managed to convince my friend to stop doing main mob quests and actually explore the game and now hes enjoying it more. I built my first raft and we just went exploring islands for nodes then went fishing (good money maker). The game is what you make of it, you go at your own pace, if you want to max level and thats your thing then do it.

    Combat is good, no alt-tabbing, pretty fluid, flashy moves, and what i appreciate the most (9 out of 10 times) is if the mob doesnt hit you as you dodge or run, it simply doesnt hit you, i know quite afew mmos where once the mob has locked on and was in range despite dodging it will still end up hitting you.

    I haven't touched on PvP yet (i'm only lvl23) which is somewhat important to me (as i aim to do epic castle sieges one day, in hopes to bring back the Lineage2 memories). I have read about the harsh karma system which is not ideal at all, you cannot gank people and steal their trade packs, if open-world PVP is consensual the initiator will still be penalized . Despite what Archeage turned out to be (total trash from a poisonous company Trion) the PvP was FUN.

    This game does require you grind (not just leveling), Strength, Stamina will require you to do certain actions, altho it doesnt 100% hinder you, it will require AFK-ing.

    But yeh overall i have to say i am enjoying this, crafting doesnt feel tedious to a point where i was forced to do it to remain relevant, the scroll bosses actually requires timing and dodging, beautiful world and graphics, fun combat.

    Enough waffling heres a break down:

    Pros
    - As everyone states good face customization.
    - Nice graphics, beautiful world, NPCs actually removing around makes the world feel more alive.
    - Combat system is quite exciting with flashy moves
    - Gathering and crafting is not tedious and i dont feel forced to do it.
    - It is giving me a little Lineage2 nostalgia (which is a huge bonus for me)
    - It feels like im on an adventure, especially when you stop questing and just explore.
    - Castle sieges
    - Mini games are present
    - In other MMos, once you reach a near peak of a mountain you will slide back down, in this game, you can climb

    Cons
    - There is practically no armor variation in the game, they all look the same, dyes will only change the color, i want to see fresh sets.
    - Therefore this leads me to this - as many arguments there are, the cash shop is BS for a b2p game. Pets should be obtainable via ingame, a costume costs nearly the same price as the game?! The ghillie suit is the only p2w element for me, i wouldnt call the cash shop p2w tho (luckily enough).
    - Inventory and warehouse (altho expandable in game) is very tedious for a b2p game.
    - Karma system is too harsh, enough of carebear players, let the players fight (i dont mean grieving for the sake of it but when you're farming, having to look around incase of a PK adds alil excitement)
    > especially if its consensual NOONE should be losing karma from that.
    > PvPing will bring more drama and 'emotion(?)' to guild wars
    - One thing i slightly miss from later MMOs is open world events, this one doesnt exclusively have any (might be wrong, so far it doesnt)?

    probably missed afew points but you get the overall message
    -    … Expand
  82. Jbsoom
    Mar 7, 2016
    5
    TLDR: You'll either love or hate this game. It's perfect for those who want an old school mmo/rpg.

    Pros: Best graphics hands down. Beautiful game. Real 24 hr time & weather that affects mobs & crafting Extensive crafting systems Player housing Legitimate AFK farming Huge worlds to explore It's community driven (guild quests & wars) No queue times Buy to play, no sub Cons:    TLDR: You'll either love or hate this game. It's perfect for those who want an old school mmo/rpg.

    Pros:
    Best graphics hands down. Beautiful game.
    Real 24 hr time & weather that affects mobs & crafting
    Extensive crafting systems
    Player housing
    Legitimate AFK farming
    Huge worlds to explore
    It's community driven (guild quests & wars)
    No queue times
    Buy to play, no sub

    Cons:
    "Immersion." Everything takes 3x longer to do because there are no shortcuts (e.g. No teleporting)
    Everyone looks like the same homeless scrub; hardly any weapon & armor skins. Most are in the cash shop.
    Although char customization is great, it's pretty limited within the options you have. You can't make unique chars that really stand out.
    UI is convoluted.
    Everything has a weight (move slower when heavy) and inventory space's severely limited.
    No hand-holding. Make sure you research before you screw up your char.
    No directed questing. Expect endless hours of grinding in the same spots forever.

    For what it is and offers, it's pretty great. It's just not a game for me. If you're interested def try to get a free pass from BDO's subreddit and try it out.    … Expand
  83. 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
  84. Lumicron
    Apr 3, 2016
    10
    this is the best mmorpg ive ever played, and ive played em all, the only one that comes near black desert online is the lord of the rings online, the rest is crap or almost all of the rest
  85. ThecriticGoD
    Mar 24, 2016
    5
    The combat system is Pretty good and graphically it's a very nice game, but let's face it, this is not a good game. Storyline is way too bad and slow-paced, there's no pvp, there are no dungeons, leveling is so easy and quick, this is definetely not what to expect from an MMORPG, specially if you come from WoW's golden era, and you are seeking a new game that give you the same sentationsThe combat system is Pretty good and graphically it's a very nice game, but let's face it, this is not a good game. Storyline is way too bad and slow-paced, there's no pvp, there are no dungeons, leveling is so easy and quick, this is definetely not what to expect from an MMORPG, specially if you come from WoW's golden era, and you are seeking a new game that give you the same sentations wow once did, this just won't do it, adds very few things to the already over-exploited MMORPG genre and it lacks way too many things that are VERY important for MMORPGS.

    However it's not as bad as some people is suggesting, it's ok to play this game for a few hours, it's funny at the very beginning, but don't expect to get immersed on it unless you have 0 experience with MMORPGs or you have a terrible taste, you'll most likely get tired of it after a week of playing (max). People should really stop making reviews the very first day they try a videogame, almost every game is good the first day.    … Expand
  86. Venom690
    May 19, 2016
    8
    If you are a fan of Sand Box type of games or if you ever played Star Wars Galaxies and you have been waiting for a similar game this is the game for you, although not as complex as the afro mentioned SWG it has enough to bring you into the game and get absorbed, from the beautiful graphics that makes you pay attention to everything around you, to the detailed terrain, there are no 2If you are a fan of Sand Box type of games or if you ever played Star Wars Galaxies and you have been waiting for a similar game this is the game for you, although not as complex as the afro mentioned SWG it has enough to bring you into the game and get absorbed, from the beautiful graphics that makes you pay attention to everything around you, to the detailed terrain, there are no 2 places that look the same, at first it may seem a little slow and the enemies dumb, but as the game progresses it becomes harder and your character starts to seem stronger.

    The game is a humongous time sink, you will spend hours or weeks on the same village or city doing all the quests there is, every NPC in the game is memorable and the quests, although some may seem mundane (why is this lady sending me to fetch her water from the well when I am already cutting 2 story building monsters in half) they are still reward to do, in part because of how detail the world is and how much you want to spend looking at it.

    Character creator is second to none, the amount of detail you can spend creating a character is absurd, of course if you don't care about such things you can just dive straight into the game and play a standard model but what is the fun on that?

    The game is extremely detailed in other aspects as well, your horse needs to be fed and recharged (like a motorcycle almost it runs out of gas of sorts) it gains levels and it learns tricks, the tricks are random for each horse and not all horses have the same tricks, horses can be breed to make baby horse to upgrade it's blood line, horse roam in the wild and can be captured through a serious of semi complex mini games, and this is just one aspect of the game, everything gets leveled in BDO, from your strenght (from carrying heavy packages around) to your breath from running around on foot, your horse training skills, cooking, crafting, etc... all crafting requires several items all purchased from other players at the market.

    Combat is a lot of fun combos are fluid and elaborate, you can get away with just using the same combination as soon as the cooldown is up, but your performance will decrease, using properly timed combinations is important to kill monsters, active blocking in some classes sets you up for nasty counter attacks, skills purchased are important and require strategy.

    PVP and the Karma system are interesting, past 45 anyone can attack you for no other reason than they didn't like the hair on your character or you are competing for the same resource node, but attacking an innocent player nets you negative karma points, if enough are acquired you become a "rogue" of sorts and players can attack you and loot you ( you cannot be looted any other time) or some of your items will break permanently.

    Legit PVP takes place though Guild wars or Battlegrounds, I honestly have not reached that point yet after 30+ hours played I sit at level 44 because all the time I spent laying furniture in my house, talking to NPCs or just gazing at the beautiful water in the ocean.

    The only thing that is robbing this game of a perfect 10 score is the "pay to dress" system and "pay to small cheat" system, the developers created this game from the ground up to be a free to play game, there are no monthly fees, and the game, for being free (sorta for North American players you have to buy a pack that gives you some things like horses and character appearance tokens and even a pet) the game is extremely well made, but where this game takes a big hit is if , for example you are now bored of the hair on your character , then you have to buy a reset token for 8 dollars (one time use) or 10 dollars (1 month unlimited) I found the 10 dollar one to be the best since you really need to see what your character looks like in the world and that involves saving the changes and seeing her or him walk around, regular looted outfits looks bland and uninspiring, so obviously you head to the pearl store for skin for your character, a nice decent looking set of transmorg (gear that makes your character look different regardless of armor worn)will run you between 17 to 30 dollars , want your horse to look bad arse? 20 dollars, granted all customes and outfits come with passive bonuses to durability, experience gain monster knowledge learning speed, etc... not necessarily pay to win as you can play the game without any of this and still beat the people riding the awesome looking horses but in such awesome looking games like this you want your character to look as bad arse as she or he can be, also cash can be used to reset breed counters on horses (can only bread them twice) name resets, pets and their food so they can loot for you while you fight, etc..

    Overall the game would be a lot better if it just had a monthly fee than having to spend 30 bucks for the game plus 50 dollars in making your character look good.

    Overall a great game and worth playing.    … Expand
  87. cableguy3333
    Apr 30, 2019
    7
    This is an xbox review as there is no review page for xbox on this game. It's kind of world of warcraft during the vanilla years with much better graphics. Combat is fun and fast or that's what it seems at first but after a while it's just button bashing. Why I haven't scored it higher and that's because of it's pay to win system once PVP becomes involved
  88. cardosy
    Mar 10, 2016
    6
    Good systems and great potential spoiled by cheap korean MMO stuff. The monetization method is awful, and some of the UI and mechanics are dubious at best.
  89. Atahal
    Mar 17, 2016
    0
    Since when graphisms and character personnalisation are more important than gameplay, end game, and PvP?
    For me, it's not the case.
    And that's why i put 0/10 There is no way a game with horribles quests, no instance/dungeon, no world boss and a **** pvp can have more than 4/10. And i wont talk about the sandbox, which is currently 404 not found (Sandbox without wild pvp lal). The only    Since when graphisms and character personnalisation are more important than gameplay, end game, and PvP?
    For me, it's not the case.
    And that's why i put 0/10
    There is no way a game with horribles quests, no instance/dungeon, no world boss and a **** pvp can have more than 4/10.
    And i wont talk about the sandbox, which is currently 404 not found (Sandbox without wild pvp lal).
    The only "good" stuff about this game is the fight system. Probably the only reason we can found people defending this game. But let's be honnest.
    This game is a disaster.    … Expand
  90. BOXTiger
    Mar 22, 2016
    0
    Looks like this game has stunning graphics, Amazing Combat system
    Unfortunately Graphics are not good at all. Blur has all the way of you can easily find it.
    (Characters, scenery like a Bloodborne.)

    Uncomfortable, also non-intutive UI/Interface

    **** exaggerated FX/Effects NEVER can't be helped ever.
  91. MusclePig
    Mar 11, 2016
    0
    Saw this on reddit and it pretty much sums up why I am so EXTREMELY disappointed:

    "The looks of your gear will stay pretty much the same through the entire game; The visual differences between each set are usually only minor. If you want to customise your looks you can do so by dyeing your gear or buying cash shop costumes." What the hell? Grinding your way up to a sweet, cool,    Saw this on reddit and it pretty much sums up why I am so EXTREMELY disappointed:

    "The looks of your gear will stay pretty much the same through the entire game; The visual differences between each set are usually only minor. If you want to customise your looks you can do so by dyeing your gear or buying cash shop costumes."

    What the hell? Grinding your way up to a sweet, cool, awesome character is the main reason why I play MMO's. And it's not even f2p! You have to buy the game first before you can buy more stuff ingame    … Expand
  92. Bahska28
    May 13, 2016
    8
    Now that im farther in (gave it another shot) i'll re write my review.

    Im only34 so i cant say how "end game" is etc but i have dabbled in crafting etc and im 34 currently so i can talk about somethings. I had previously ranted about the pop in and lag and while i still think the pop in should be fixed as its easily the worst part of the game the lag has gotten way better since    Now that im farther in (gave it another shot) i'll re write my review.

    Im only34 so i cant say how "end game" is etc but i have dabbled in crafting etc and im 34 currently so i can talk about somethings.

    I had previously ranted about the pop in and lag and while i still think the pop in should be fixed as its easily the worst part of the game the lag has gotten way better since launch and i applaud them for that.

    I put the game down for those two reasons but recently hopped back into the game and i have to say i haven't put the game down for anything else this past week. Unlike others i didn't go grind instantly i worked on my professions and got my worker empire up and running and then went and grinded the start of my set.

    This game is very different from Warcraft or games like it, its not all about the gear or getting to higher levels. Most of that 5 days of non stop gaming was working on professions and i feel that you wont like the game if you jump into combat and the gear grind and dont play the rest of the game. Professions, figuring out your goal for crafting and working on your worker nodes (which btw worker node system is like final fantasy 10-2 or path of exiles talent tree's, you have a goal then you try to branch out and connect each node to gather crafting mats with your workers as efficiently as possible as there is a soft cap around 250 CP currently. There is start nodes, connector nodes, big city/camp nodes most which are free, and small and big crafting mat gathering nodes some of which you have to unlock via investing a bit of energy) Worker node system is a huge part of the game whether you want a crafting empire or just go in for combat as you make alot of money via gathering and if you dont even dabble in it you are missing out and will likely have issues, get bored and eventually quit.

    Only after i got my crafting and professions up and running did i jump into getting gear at around level 25, and while i had fun i still feel like the gear grind a bit of a side show to the rest. I went to a zone i had seen a streamer go to gear up his friend. Connected the nodes to it as you get a higher drop chance having the node connected to your network leveled up the node a bit with energy for a even higher drop chance and left heavily rewarded for my time and around 7 levels higher, i then choose to work on quests for more Contribution points to expand and work on the extremely important black spirit quests. (Don't worry if you expand your node network in the wrong direction, best thing to do i s experiment at first. Only thing you lose is the energy you invest, you get your cp back if you change your mind, i also highly recommend using http://bdomap.mmoguild.org/ to plan out your nodes later on)

    Like every other mmo if you only like 1 part of it you'll likely not stick with it. If all you want is dungeons and raiding, a gear grind and a game that holds your hand probably not the game for you.
    However if you want a sandbox mmo that you can do what you want, that if you delve into its many many systems you'll always have things to do (For me personally im never bored cause there is always 5 more things i wanna work on or try) and a mmo that's not all about the gear grind and one that rewards you for taking your time, not rushing to higher levels and delving into its deep crafting, worker, node. player housing and profession systems you'll have amazing time.

    Like every other mmo it has its issues. Server issues were a big deal it's gotten much better though, the pop in is easily its worst issue and unlike others i wont say "You get use to it" it needs to be fixed or at least worked on. Its jarring to look at and takes away from the otherwise beautiful world and experience. (Not everyone has the pop in as bad...game is un-optimized for newer gpu's. 900 series + or AMD equivalent especially)
    The game is super complicated and is semi hardcore in some of its systems and almost goes out of its way to be unforgiving in some areas of crafting your gear and while i think that actually gives the game some of its charm i know some wont like that again if you are looking for wow 2.0 you'll likely be disappointed. I can't talk about "end game" as i haven't made it that far, i have only watched others play that content and there may be issues i haven't experienced. I can say this is my new life :P what ive seen so far up to 35 has hooked me. I dont give games a 10 cause that's un-realistic there are always places to change and fix for the better. No game is ever truly finished, this game isn't finished. This game in my opinion in its current build (5/13/2016) deserves a strong 8.

    Like always i recommend reading many reviews, watching some live streams, maybe even asking nicely on the un-official fan made reddit for a trial key and then making your choice whether or not to jump in. I really enjoy the game, you may not.    … Expand
  93. Halfmad
    Mar 5, 2016
    6
    I desperately wanted to like this, it looks fantastic but at it's core it's a run of the mill average MMO. At least in English the dialogue is laughable the interface is average, the game mechanic is average there's so much outside the character creation which is down right average.

    I'm happy some are loving it, genuinely I am but it's not for me. A bad game? No not at all, but just    I desperately wanted to like this, it looks fantastic but at it's core it's a run of the mill average MMO. At least in English the dialogue is laughable the interface is average, the game mechanic is average there's so much outside the character creation which is down right average.

    I'm happy some are loving it, genuinely I am but it's not for me. A bad game? No not at all, but just nothing new to me here after playing MMOs since Ultima online in the late 1990s, seen this all before and usually done better. Damn it's pretty though.    … Expand
  94. Chakal
    May 4, 2019
    10
    the game just too good for us Plebs play, so it just didn't let me deeper in it than the menu(
  95. Elitist
    May 9, 2016
    9
    This is another game that has suffered discrimination by the video game industry in the USA. The aspect I want to mention since other reviewers are saying what is good about it generally, is that the Sandbox elements in the game have all but been ignored and minimized by the video game journalists.

    This is huge because the USA industry has scorned sandbox games for a long time (a decade    This is another game that has suffered discrimination by the video game industry in the USA. The aspect I want to mention since other reviewers are saying what is good about it generally, is that the Sandbox elements in the game have all but been ignored and minimized by the video game journalists.

    This is huge because the USA industry has scorned sandbox games for a long time (a decade at least) in favor of munchkin themeparks that US couch potatos, floozies in San Fransisco and southern lobotimized conservatives lap up. You see them in other mmos pop up in lines queueing to do the same thing over and over like drones.

    On the negative side, I want to highlight the lack of clothing options and the developer should be criticized for this. The developer should also be condemned for the naming of the game "Black Desert" which is just tacky and obscure. The ingame currency is lining up to be a bad source of grievance too.    … Expand
  96. Greko03
    Sep 12, 2019
    8
    En este ultimo año han ido mejorando muchas cosas que debían hacer desde hace mucho tiempo, contenido nuevo para todo tipo de jugador y más por venir, después de haberlo dejado 1 año por malas decisiones que me alejaron de jugar, y ahora volver y ver todas estas mejoras y contenido por venir, la verdad me lo estoy pasando de maravilla.
  97. selinergun
    Apr 28, 2018
    10
    Black Desert is, since Everquest, the best MMORPG. It really nails the really important things al mmorpg should have and its not buy to win, dont believe it, just play it and see for yourself. For 30 euros and no subscription its a really good investment, this game has content for years. AMAZİNG !!!
  98. Skyrimm
    Apr 28, 2018
    10
    Kesinlikle standartların üstünle kaliteli bir oyun güzel bir hikaye ve mükemmel grafikler oynanış ise sizin bilgisayar başından kalkamamanız için en büyük etken. Şimdiden iyi oyunlar.!
  99. Notivan
    Sep 8, 2019
    10
    Seamless world with active combat.
    No stupid main story quests or tons of side-quests.
    Players can feel free to explore the world.
  100. Sosnak19
    Oct 3, 2019
    10
    Black desert > WOW

    this game has beautiful graphics and the size of the world is great
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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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