Blade & Soul

 PC
  • Publisher: NCSOFT
  • Release Date: Jan 19, 2016
User Score
4.6

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 281 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 98 out of 281
  2. Mixed: 42 out of 281
  3. Negative: 141 out of 281

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  1. stormmaiden
    Mar 3, 2016
    5
    Blade and Soul is not a bad MMO, however it's definitively not a good one either.

    I really tried to love it, but sadly it just doesn't bring much to the table that hasn't been done before already, and well done way better. Except the combat. Combat is just outstanding, and by far the best in this genre. However you can't really invest a years worth of time into an MMO which is    Blade and Soul is not a bad MMO, however it's definitively not a good one either.

    I really tried to love it, but sadly it just doesn't bring much to the table that hasn't been done before already, and well done way better. Except the combat. Combat is just outstanding, and by far the best in this genre.

    However you can't really invest a years worth of time into an MMO which is exceptional only with it's combat design. All the content it has to offer is mediocre at best, well PvE content is so bad it's not even worth mentioning.

    I really hope BS finds it's place in this genre, perhaps PvPers will love it due to it's combat. The game is on par with WoW, perhaps even a little bit better. However it's definitively way behind ESO, GW2 and FFXIV. I'd put Elder Scrolls Online as the best MMO currently, it's improving crazy fast, and well there is really nothing that BS does better than ESO. The comparison in quality is gigantic. Try it out for yourself.    … Expand
  2. Sintei
    Jan 20, 2016
    10
    Blade and Soul is one of the most fun Asian styled mmo's i have ever played. I have been playing the NA/EU Version since Alpha Testing and have enjoyed every single minute i have played the game. Don;t trust these reviews from people who have not even played the game and are writing low reviews because of NC soft as a company, or they played one of the Asian servers and found it grindy.Blade and Soul is one of the most fun Asian styled mmo's i have ever played. I have been playing the NA/EU Version since Alpha Testing and have enjoyed every single minute i have played the game. Don;t trust these reviews from people who have not even played the game and are writing low reviews because of NC soft as a company, or they played one of the Asian servers and found it grindy. The NA/EU Port was very well done and the game has an amazing story. Also PvP while fun is not required to enjoy the game, but the PvP is insanely fun and skill based instead of gear based. I was able to attack and kill someone 7 levels higher than me because i knew my class better. it is a real rush! And the Tag Team Arena Matches have so much awesome and surprising twists it is amazing!

    My Main point is since the game is free to play, please try it for yourself before you decide to follow the advice of people who have not played this version and base it off the past.    … Expand
  3. Yulie
    Jan 20, 2016
    10
    I cannot believe all these negative reviews. The game is so much fun. Combat is totally engaging and the best I've ever experienced in any mmo.

    This is mainly a PvP game that is face paced and completely satisfying. There is PvE though. There are dungeons and these need to be farmed to get items to upgrade your gear. The classes are very well balanced since this game is an esport    I cannot believe all these negative reviews. The game is so much fun. Combat is totally engaging and the best I've ever experienced in any mmo.

    This is mainly a PvP game that is face paced and completely satisfying. There is PvE though. There are dungeons and these need to be farmed to get items to upgrade your gear. The classes are very well balanced since this game is an esport in the East.    … Expand
  4. BigStiff
    Jan 19, 2016
    10
    Very fast, very fun. Opening half hour gave me goosebumps. Never been so invested in an mmo story.

    The Controller controls take some getting used to but over all they are manageable, you can always just use m&k. Character customization is very flushed out, and if that's not your thing there is lots of presets. The voice acting (when used) is very immersive, easy to understand, an    Very fast, very fun. Opening half hour gave me goosebumps. Never been so invested in an mmo story.

    The Controller controls take some getting used to but over all they are manageable, you can always just use m&k.

    Character customization is very flushed out, and if that's not your thing there is lots of presets.

    The voice acting (when used) is very immersive, easy to understand, an d match the characters very well.

    Character model movements are very fluid and mostly uninterrupted.

    Game plays very optimized for just releasing, on my gtx 660 i get easy 60fps on high graphics.    … Expand
  5. Ryders
    Jan 20, 2016
    10
    What an amazing game! The action combat has changed the way I look a MMO's. I will never be able to go back to a game like WoW again where I mash buttons in a rotation. Every kick, every punch, and swing in Blade and Soul just feels so right.
  6. uazzz007
    Feb 27, 2020
    4
    This game has interesting mechanics. nice art style and level design and worst developers ever. it's 8 years old and there **** tons of bugs, especially collision bugs and they just dont care. it has ****ty performance(especially during raid bosses) ****ty net cod, it constantly crushes, and for some reasons has bad input registrations (sometimes it takes 2-3 times to press same skill toThis game has interesting mechanics. nice art style and level design and worst developers ever. it's 8 years old and there **** tons of bugs, especially collision bugs and they just dont care. it has ****ty performance(especially during raid bosses) ****ty net cod, it constantly crushes, and for some reasons has bad input registrations (sometimes it takes 2-3 times to press same skill to make it work (never had same problem in other games), main quests are interesting but for the first time. if you want make second char you will die of boredom, coz most of them are go here and there and talk to someone. to sum up, it could be a better game if it was made by humans, but not by bunch of apes.… Expand
  7. XredeemerX
    Jul 28, 2020
    0
    blade and soul is a solid 0 out of 10 game run by the worst publisher on the planet
  8. XJT
    Aug 31, 2017
    2
    The new player experience was actually quite good. I was a Kung-Fu master which requires a massive amount of button pushing and micro management, but the game provided many nice features for the new player. Unfortunately, the wheels come off when you hit level 50 and start HM leveling. You are thrown into the deep end of the pool with players who have months and months worth more ofThe new player experience was actually quite good. I was a Kung-Fu master which requires a massive amount of button pushing and micro management, but the game provided many nice features for the new player. Unfortunately, the wheels come off when you hit level 50 and start HM leveling. You are thrown into the deep end of the pool with players who have months and months worth more of levels and huge stats compared to you. Be prepared to be berated by an elitist player base that will literally beg you to leave group content, so they can complete a daily 5 minutes faster. The player to player harassment is the worst I've seen in any game - SWG, LOTRO, GW2, Aion, D&D - none of those player communities come close the venom spewed by people who play Blade and Soul… Expand
  9. Zen023
    Feb 11, 2016
    1
    Ok how the PVP system works is amazing it's really good, if it wasn't laging ever since the game released and NCsoft is doing nothing about it. To sum it all up everything is pretty much meh except the pvp and it lags like crazy talking about teleporting opponents 300ms input delay basicly unplayable. Might aswell started playing it when it was released in korea as i have the same ms hereOk how the PVP system works is amazing it's really good, if it wasn't laging ever since the game released and NCsoft is doing nothing about it. To sum it all up everything is pretty much meh except the pvp and it lags like crazy talking about teleporting opponents 300ms input delay basicly unplayable. Might aswell started playing it when it was released in korea as i have the same ms here in europe............… Expand
  10. Mazzbunker
    Mar 3, 2016
    10
    'So its been about 2 months since the release of BnS and I am curious to see its user score on metacritic...' 5.6... well... I'll go **** myself. I feel like I have to defend a beautiful girl being pestered by a bunch of thugs and receiving a black eye for ever intervening (represented by the no votes on this review). Are we even playing the same game? Giving a game a zero rating is such a'So its been about 2 months since the release of BnS and I am curious to see its user score on metacritic...' 5.6... well... I'll go **** myself. I feel like I have to defend a beautiful girl being pestered by a bunch of thugs and receiving a black eye for ever intervening (represented by the no votes on this review). Are we even playing the same game? Giving a game a zero rating is such a troll score. The game is booootiful and very much enjoyable. 10/10… Expand
  11. Eckogen
    Feb 23, 2016
    9
    An honest review of the game. Blade & Soul was marketed as a PvP game and still remains as a PvP game. If you do not enjoy PvP at all, than do not play this game as PvP makes up a large portion of it. The Arena does a good job of eliminating equipment as a factor in PvP. Within the Arena it comes down to player skill and extra skill points, but ultimately skill triumphs. Open world PvP isAn honest review of the game. Blade & Soul was marketed as a PvP game and still remains as a PvP game. If you do not enjoy PvP at all, than do not play this game as PvP makes up a large portion of it. The Arena does a good job of eliminating equipment as a factor in PvP. Within the Arena it comes down to player skill and extra skill points, but ultimately skill triumphs. Open world PvP is no holds-barred. If you put on the Faction outfit, you are flagged for PvP regardless of your location or level. Classes aren't perfectly balanced yet. There is hardly any grinding in this game compared to other MMOs. It takes 24 hours to reach the maximum level (excluding Hoongmoon levels) if you really tried. The upgrade system is a no **** system. What do I mean by no ****? Well, once you can have the appropriate material to upgrade your weapon or accessories, the upgrade chance is 100%. Whereas in other games the chance of success to upgrade lowers as you get higher. There are no mounts because of the unique "transportation" system. Characters are able to move like they do in cliche Kung Fu movies; dashing up walls, jumping over obstacles, running across water, etc. It feels like I'm in a Kung Fu movie.

    The game requires more optimization patches for a smooth experience. Right now, gaming rigs will drop low in FPS in heavily populated areas (Blackwyrm). Bots and gold sellers are common, but really what MMO doesn't have this problem? There is only one server location for the NA servers (in Texas). This is a poor decision as it is so far central south of US. A centralized server such as Chicago would have been a better choice (based on demographics). Overall, this game is addicting as I have been putting a good 7-8 hours per day into it since head start. It's definitely not perfect. It needs some polishing and I hope the developers will do so.    … Expand
  12. Doctor_GLaDOS
    Oct 23, 2017
    3
    Blade and Soul is one of those games from which you expect very little, and yet they still manage to disappoint you. Let's start with the promise of dynamic combat. Like all modern MMO's this game does have a relatively fluid combat system coded in with plenty to choose from in terms of both classes and attacks which are diverse. Unfortunately none of it matters since BnS's servers areBlade and Soul is one of those games from which you expect very little, and yet they still manage to disappoint you. Let's start with the promise of dynamic combat. Like all modern MMO's this game does have a relatively fluid combat system coded in with plenty to choose from in terms of both classes and attacks which are diverse. Unfortunately none of it matters since BnS's servers are really ( I mean really) bad with ping fluctuating between 150-200. And before you dismiss this review in it's entirety, please not that I have done my research. My connection is stable and I've checked that my normal ping with frankfurt (Location of the servers) is never higher than 60. I have also confirmed it with other players. My friend from England has a ping of around 120 on a fiber connection. And after some research i've found out that minutes after maintenance when players have not came back yet delay was exactly 60 with perfect fluid gameplay, which lasted only 5 minutes. So it pretty much confirms that their servers are at foult.
    PVP suffers from that but it's not even it's greatest fault...
    Unless you have spend an insane amount of time[or money] in the game you will be overpowered by other players not only in World PvP but also battleground which do not have any type of matchmaking in place. Myself playing nearly 2 months I can deal around 30k DPS and have to compete with other players who deal 800k per second. And you don't need to be a rocket surgeon to see that encounter always ends with me being blown up to smithereens. And that's a Battleground! With queues and stuff!
    Another nail in this game's coffin business is it's economy.
    The entire thing is based on opening loot crates you get from completing different tasks.
    The game greets you with a "spin the wheel!" screen and always tells you when there are new items in store. The grind is tedious and it would be fine if not for the fact that it was clearly designed to directly drive you to the Store with some sweet deals! Oh man those orbs which will take me a week to grind only cost 10 bucks on the Hongmoon store, I better get them so I can have a slightest chance in beating those whales who already have all of it!
    So Servers are trash, PvP favors old and wealthy players and there is constant gambling present. Well what about the story?
    Well it's Cliché cardboard cut-out of a good versus evil plot, which only a couple of memorable missions plot twists and cinematics. Most of it is traditional and boring busy work filler before you get to the good stuff that is far apart and mostly near the end. I have no doubts that it has been cobbled together just to justify it's existence as a mobile gam...I mean fully featured MMORPG.
    If you are NA/EU I do not recommend this game because it's a complete waste of time for anyone who doesn't have a lot of cash to spend to have capital letters ANY type of chance at competing with aforementioned whales.    … Expand
  13. AiurDJS
    Nov 27, 2016
    0
    KEEP AWAY from this **** game.
    The combat system on PvP requires you to have maximum 100 ping.
    But the servers of ncsoft are so **** bad you will never see a better **** ping than 150, even if you live next doors. Disconnects happen all the time, game is poorly optimised and buggy, you will get FPS drops in all situations and high ping regardless of your internet connection or PC setup.    KEEP AWAY from this **** game.
    The combat system on PvP requires you to have maximum 100 ping.
    But the servers of ncsoft are so **** bad you will never see a better **** ping than 150, even if you live next doors. Disconnects happen all the time, game is poorly optimised and buggy, you will get FPS drops in all situations and high ping regardless of your internet connection or PC setup. Also, the class balance is just a total failure. To have fun at PvP in this game you have to play only one of the few classes that are just easy to play and less ping-dependant. PvE is just a huge grind. Everything you drop is untradeable, so you will never get anything you need from other players, you just have to do daily quests for 3 months, the same 3 quests every single day and grind your way to some better PvE items. Also, those PvE items are used for battleground PvP, so unless you play this game for 2 years, you won't be able to do ANYTHING in any kind of open PvP or battlegrounds. It's just 100% gear dependant.

    Don't waste your time and don't install this **** game, you will just lose money and nerves.    … Expand
  14. PersonaJXT
    Feb 2, 2016
    5
    Blade and Soul is an okay game. Its graphics are very dated (not bad looking, just dated) and PvE is rather dull, which in the face of more modern MMO's set it back quite a bit. The translation for English is also horrendous, with various story elements plain rewritten to suit the translator's agenda. Localization is one thing, but when the translation plain breaks the story it's enteringBlade and Soul is an okay game. Its graphics are very dated (not bad looking, just dated) and PvE is rather dull, which in the face of more modern MMO's set it back quite a bit. The translation for English is also horrendous, with various story elements plain rewritten to suit the translator's agenda. Localization is one thing, but when the translation plain breaks the story it's entering into the realm of just plain making stuff up. I don't know what's up with the translators but they need to be fired if the game wants to appeal to the PvE population.

    What's great about the game are its combat system and PvP. The combat system is fairly fluid and complex, which ties in well to making its PvP feel very good as well. It rewards skill a lot and there are quite a bit of tricks you can learn to improve yourself. It's one of the more fun PvP in MMO's I've played in a while now.

    If you're into PvP I'd definitely recommend checking this game out. It's free to try after all, and it's a refreshing change from dated games like WoW. If PvP isn't your thing though or you're simply looking for a more complete game to play then I'd recommend against checking this game out because it falls behind many other games in every other aspect.    … Expand
  15. vermarien
    Jan 23, 2016
    5
    Graphics are ok! Better from usual korean mmo's at least. Coming from GW2, any mmo seems dull and full of grinding. Haven't played a lot yet, i like this "horny" environment, full of female characters even if it sounds a bit sexist. I really like the concept of using combos , but still fighting seems really slow paced. I also dont feel having 100% control of my character. Voice actors inGraphics are ok! Better from usual korean mmo's at least. Coming from GW2, any mmo seems dull and full of grinding. Haven't played a lot yet, i like this "horny" environment, full of female characters even if it sounds a bit sexist. I really like the concept of using combos , but still fighting seems really slow paced. I also dont feel having 100% control of my character. Voice actors in english language sounds... ridiculous. Not real action combat. Evades-Blocks etc are meh... But still a better game than any other "asian" mmos like archeage. Some improvements on the pay2win are necessary as well! I will continue playing hoping to see some more cons!… Expand
  16. DaReaIFreak
    Feb 3, 2016
    0
    I enjoyed the game on the asian servers and started on the european servers too.
    The european servers are literally dead half of the week so far with constant crashes, client bugs and random bans for buying their itemshop currency.
    The biggest part of the community is antisocial trying to rip of other players with the unique bidding system(higher tier drops are sold in an auction where    I enjoyed the game on the asian servers and started on the european servers too.
    The european servers are literally dead half of the week so far with constant crashes, client bugs and random bans for buying their itemshop currency.
    The biggest part of the community is antisocial trying to rip of other players with the unique bidding system(higher tier drops are sold in an auction where everyone can bid an amount or increase the amount of simply pressing the key "Y", but without any confirmation and auto-price updating if someone else is increasing the price, so if someone else is increasing the price directly before you are pressing Y you are automatically outbidding the new price)

    I enjoyed the game in the asian version with working servers and a friendly community, sadly that's not given in the european version.    … Expand
  17. Raidann
    Feb 10, 2016
    0
    Good combat, that's all this game has going for it. NCSoft messed up bigtime with western release though, not a lot of people realize but the servers they are using are so bad it's hilarious, expect up to 300+ ping when in dungeons and in pvp arena because they are cross server.

    Whatever the system they are using for cross server it makes the game unplayable for some classes that rely    Good combat, that's all this game has going for it. NCSoft messed up bigtime with western release though, not a lot of people realize but the servers they are using are so bad it's hilarious, expect up to 300+ ping when in dungeons and in pvp arena because they are cross server.

    Whatever the system they are using for cross server it makes the game unplayable for some classes that rely heavily on a low ping.
    For a game that is so utterly pvp oriented the way this game is released in eu/na is downright insulting and they should be ashamed for the quick cashgrab they are attempting by cheaping out on server tech.
    Cannot reccomend this game to anyone, unless you enjoy spending $20+ on outfits you can't share across characters! and enjoy skills not going off when you activate them.    … Expand
  18. Phalmorc
    Feb 23, 2016
    10
    this Is simply the best PvP game out there.. playing with friends is super fun.. you will never look back to slow mmos like Final Fantasy or even guild wars 2 ... like ever.
  19. Sajonara84
    Feb 12, 2016
    4
    Played over 80 hours this game, and here is what i think...

    Pros: - PvP - pretty fun and fast, skill based not your eq. - Arena - the best feature this game has to offfer, no doubt.. - decent main plot, and very good cutscenes (for mmo standards) - nice combat mechanics, but it gets boring after a while Cons: - boring repetitive dungeons and i mean REALLY boring, i played lot    Played over 80 hours this game, and here is what i think...

    Pros:
    - PvP - pretty fun and fast, skill based not your eq.
    - Arena - the best feature this game has to offfer, no doubt..
    - decent main plot, and very good cutscenes (for mmo standards)
    - nice combat mechanics, but it gets boring after a while

    Cons:
    - boring repetitive dungeons and i mean REALLY boring, i played lot of grindy mmos, but here dungeons fells very small and similar, there are some nice cutscenes on the bright side...
    - no pve end game, all you have after reaching cap(which is 1-2 week at max) atm is 6 end game dungeons [only 1 gives you decent challenge] + boring faction quests[kill xxx of xxx] u have to do in order to grind your mats for crafting.
    - very shallow crafting system
    - typical fetch game side quests - kill xxx, bring xxx etc, not even one quests that makes you use your brain.

    4/10 and im very generous, pve/crafting deserves 1/10    … Expand
  20. Anveena
    Feb 11, 2016
    0
    A great PvP experience... if only the NA/EU release would not have been ruined by terrible servers which cause players playing in Germany (European servers are hosted there) to have a ping reaching 200 ms...
    Please fix this NCSoft before more players turn their backs to the game.
  21. Seezer
    Feb 18, 2016
    4
    PvP is alright and the character creator is very powerful but everything else is lackluster (especially the PvE). The story is above average but still nothing extraordinary.

    The combat is actually quite deep and makes an effort to be different, but again, not many reasons to fully master it other than PvP. Dated graphics; Uninspired gear design (Little to no alternative from being    PvP is alright and the character creator is very powerful but everything else is lackluster (especially the PvE). The story is above average but still nothing extraordinary.

    The combat is actually quite deep and makes an effort to be different, but again, not many reasons to fully master it other than PvP.

    Dated graphics; Uninspired gear design (Little to no alternative from being almost naked and covered in oil); Unoptimized (games is abnormally dropping frames in places it shouldn't. On powerful rigs); Close to no effort in making the leveling phase of the experience compete with the rest of the market (Almost exclusively done through the usual quests you played everywhere else).

    You might love it if you are an hardcore PvPer, but an MMO should be a lot more than just PvP content, as other games have proven in the past through either their fall or success.    … Expand
  22. Viper1000
    Jan 21, 2016
    10
    I have to say, I have never written a review for a game before , but I think this one deserves one. I think the game is absolutely stunning to look at, and character models look great. Prolly the sexiest asian mmo I've played. I do have a good computer and monitor. I play in 3D and it's amazing looking. The combat is so fast on my assassin and more skill based than other mmo's. You can'tI have to say, I have never written a review for a game before , but I think this one deserves one. I think the game is absolutely stunning to look at, and character models look great. Prolly the sexiest asian mmo I've played. I do have a good computer and monitor. I play in 3D and it's amazing looking. The combat is so fast on my assassin and more skill based than other mmo's. You can't just sit n click with your mouse on your bar.

    I love the windwalking, flying , running, and dragonpulsing is amazing, never seen anything like that. Hard to explain until you see it. The crafting I have'nt gotten into much, seems diffrent than other mmo's. You join a crafting guild then place orders from mats. Then wait for like 30m for it to be ready.

    I really like the DF, It ports you to a lobby where you can choose from a list of available dungeons you are able to enter. You select the one you want, then the system brings in other players up to 6 to go in with you, you are ported to staging area. Then you enter portal to dungeon. It's not like WOW where you wait 30m to an hour. The matching system is almost instant.

    Anyways I can't wait to see wha'ts ahead. I'm only 22 and I think max is 45. Try it, it's free.    … Expand
  23. leemos
    Jan 21, 2016
    1
    Was able to play briefly since I had to go to work and it looked and ran beautifully. However I have never been able to get back in since. The wait time for any spot in the queue easily rates several hours on what is shown. I even saw the timer go all the way up to two days. Unless they can at least fix the queue issue I see this game losing too many players for the wait to get in alone.Was able to play briefly since I had to go to work and it looked and ran beautifully. However I have never been able to get back in since. The wait time for any spot in the queue easily rates several hours on what is shown. I even saw the timer go all the way up to two days. Unless they can at least fix the queue issue I see this game losing too many players for the wait to get in alone. No game is worth waiting hours at character select.… Expand
  24. True_Reclaimer
    Mar 17, 2016
    0
    Worst game Ive ever played, had to do a chargeback on my Master Founder Pack. Everything is pay2win but gilded over as free and not p2w. Its the greediest game in the world. To get loot, you have to OUTBID your team mates. You want a new outfit? $20+ price tag and its bound to a single character, youre better off buying real clothes for yourself! Its filled to the brim with translationWorst game Ive ever played, had to do a chargeback on my Master Founder Pack. Everything is pay2win but gilded over as free and not p2w. Its the greediest game in the world. To get loot, you have to OUTBID your team mates. You want a new outfit? $20+ price tag and its bound to a single character, youre better off buying real clothes for yourself! Its filled to the brim with translation issues and missing items, and the NA version is actually gimped/nerfed harder than any other version. Prepare to grind forever and not even once feel strong or like your time was worth. The PVP is the weakest part of this game. 1v1. Over and over and over, on the same flat map. You want other modes? CTF, king of the hill, clan battles? Nope. How about 1v1s with 6 people all at once instead, where it turns into 2v1? Yeah thats "competitive" alright. What a joke. And dont bother asking NCWest Support for help. Everyone is a bot. Auto reply and close ticket. To be fair 90% of players both PVE and PVP are destroyer bots. Good luck farming quartz, the bots own all nodes. The BnS community is actually less intelligent and more toxic than the LoL and WoW communities combined. Such salt and devotion for a cartoon hack and slash grinding simulator.… Expand
  25. Graydon
    Feb 7, 2016
    10
    Great combat, fantastic Open World and Arena PvP system. I've never been really in to the whole Asian styled mmo scene, but this is definitely a game worth trying.
  26. xtremehybrid
    Feb 17, 2016
    10
    I normaly hate questing in MMOs... But this game bad me caught the moment I logged in, Smooth and fast phased combat, Intresting characters (I went from hateing a character to getting sad when I finally got my wish of the character being down in the dirt). Really challengeing combos for all the classes I played so far, I cant tell you how impressing some moments are in this game. ReallyI normaly hate questing in MMOs... But this game bad me caught the moment I logged in, Smooth and fast phased combat, Intresting characters (I went from hateing a character to getting sad when I finally got my wish of the character being down in the dirt). Really challengeing combos for all the classes I played so far, I cant tell you how impressing some moments are in this game. Really good and smooth graphics that I can look at for hours, Everything you do in your combos will feel like it really did something (Is that something you feel in say WoW?) The skill is all in PvP I have not faced one class that have been impossible to beat, just took abit of practise and thinking. The game can be alittle grindy to Free to play players as myself... But what do you expect it to be as free to play? I deffenetly dont feel its pay to win, You can buy almost all the stuff for ingame currensies and the things you cant buy for it is the membership that does give priority login. Faster leveling and resorces. But I havent had any problems loging in lately. Give the game a chanse and dont expect to understand everything instantly, afterall when you start to learn you feel alot better about it… Expand
  27. Drezs
    Jan 21, 2016
    9
    Its awesome combat,skills and animations are great.
    The content give to you so many things to passing the time ingame.
    And for me crafting in this game is realy creative and imersive i love it.
  28. Menom
    Mar 14, 2016
    4
    Assets

    Great combat system and excellent concept for a PVP game Good party creation tool and good cross-server party creation for dungeons Nice tutorial Some good story and animated segments with acceptable voice-acting Deficits Grind based MMORPG Extremely linear PVE that is redundant and mundane Most dungeons are poorly done and boring Very poor PVP matchmaking Terrible    Assets

    Great combat system and excellent concept for a PVP game
    Good party creation tool and good cross-server party creation for dungeons
    Nice tutorial
    Some good story and animated segments with acceptable voice-acting

    Deficits

    Grind based MMORPG
    Extremely linear PVE that is redundant and mundane
    Most dungeons are poorly done and boring
    Very poor PVP matchmaking
    Terrible gold spamming and no effort to filter or fix
    Cross-server party creation is sometimes not available in dungeons or situations where it is badly needed
    Dead and limited clan system
    Weak, unambitious crafting system
    Small world where feel like you're traveling through a tunnel most of the time

    Given the lack of effort to fix the PVE game, they should have eliminated it altogether and made this purely a PVP fighting game with a deeper matchmaking system. Although this game is not without merit, you might be happier playing a good fighter game. Sadly I don't feel a sense of enthusiasm to improve this game. Most effort seems to be going into expanding micro-transactions.    … Expand
  29. Wangchi
    Feb 10, 2016
    0
    Crap laggy game. i dont lag in other games this bad. PVE is hella boring and PVP isnt balance at all. They just patched it and broke the balancing even more.... WAY TO GO MORONS! i swear game devs never get it right when there is no communication with the player base. Read the forums, i havent seen one post in the pvp section from an NCSOFT employee...but they care *rolls eyes*
  30. devranek
    Feb 11, 2016
    0
    I have been waiting for this game so long. The only one hope in this game is combat system, but not at all. PvE is boring, repeat instances until you die. There is a littlw open world PvP which is even not exciting.
    Worst thing is that more than half of people have good ping (ex. 30-50), but when they enter Arena, ping is 300+. A lot of posts in the forum but developers don't care and    I have been waiting for this game so long. The only one hope in this game is combat system, but not at all. PvE is boring, repeat instances until you die. There is a littlw open world PvP which is even not exciting.
    Worst thing is that more than half of people have good ping (ex. 30-50), but when they enter Arena, ping is 300+. A lot of posts in the forum but developers don't care and don't even listen community. Whatmore, did you know that dmg output in this game highly depends on ping? People with low ping can casts skill so fast, that there is no animation of skills, hilarious. Skill mechanic is so bad. It could be easy to fix, but developers are old, fat amd lazy people who care only about money and know only little about gameplay. Will be no better until they change stuff for young, innovative people, who knows not less than little about mmorpgs.    … Expand
  31. Fud007
    Feb 23, 2016
    0
    Great action combat game plagued by the worst publisher in gaming history, NCSoft. There's bots everywhere. The only thing the game has going for it endgame is 1v1 arena. PvE endgame is completely pay2win. Stay far away.
  32. generalteemo
    Feb 28, 2016
    0
    this game
    -worst game launcher ever
    -very very very ping reliant. you cant compete on high rank pvp if you have 100+ms latency, oh wait, you can but youll suck. -worst crafting/gathering system ever -worst loot system -bots. bots are fine. they help us farm what we need and sell it on auction for cheap price. bots in pvp? WTF? SRSLY? this game has like 90% bots 10% players actually    this game
    -worst game launcher ever
    -very very very ping reliant. you cant compete on high rank pvp if you have 100+ms latency, oh wait, you can but youll suck.
    -worst crafting/gathering system ever
    -worst loot system
    -bots. bots are fine. they help us farm what we need and sell it on auction for cheap price. bots in pvp? WTF? SRSLY? this game has like 90% bots 10% players actually playing.
    i bet sooner theyll announce that all those problems are working as intended cos they cant **** fix it, just like how they cant fix animation cancelling.
    did the dev even experienced other mmos before they created this piece of ****    … Expand
  33. Pinkyz
    Jan 20, 2016
    10
    Oh What a game! Action based combat that is perfection. Highly recommend game. Graphics are really nice. The Kung Fu Master combos are challenging. I feel I keep getting better. Blade and Soul gives a sense of accomplishment. I can't say I've ever felt this connected to a character and story line. Thank you Blade and Soul Development team!
  34. NoMads
    Jan 20, 2016
    10
    I can't stop laughing. I feel like a kid again. The combat is a blast like I was back in the arcade as a kid. The graphics don't feel old to me. I almost didn't even bother trying the game out because of some of these reviews. I decided to give it a try thankfully. This is my new main game!
  35. reign
    Jan 20, 2016
    10
    This game is very fun and very interesting! The story is well made as well as the fast paced combat it is everything I can expect of a martial arts game I would recommend this game to everyone I know because the more people you run with the more fun it is. Each class is well planned and unique to fit almost any ones play style. The controls are taxing at first but easy once you learn them.This game is very fun and very interesting! The story is well made as well as the fast paced combat it is everything I can expect of a martial arts game I would recommend this game to everyone I know because the more people you run with the more fun it is. Each class is well planned and unique to fit almost any ones play style. The controls are taxing at first but easy once you learn them.

    HAIL SWARM    … Expand
  36. ElderLegend
    Jan 20, 2016
    10
    Blade and Soul-NA/EU server is one of the best games I have ever play, I have played so many MMORPG and when a new one comes out I play it but very few times it creates the enjoyment of playing and wanting to continue the game and to try all the classes, is a game with choises that actually rewards you there is no excess of weapon or armor and the dungeons are fun to play even the grindBlade and Soul-NA/EU server is one of the best games I have ever play, I have played so many MMORPG and when a new one comes out I play it but very few times it creates the enjoyment of playing and wanting to continue the game and to try all the classes, is a game with choises that actually rewards you there is no excess of weapon or armor and the dungeons are fun to play even the grind for the item is fun, the loot system is something new and inovated, not seen in any other MMORPG, the story is well writen and actually makes you want to know more about it, and even the normal quest are hook you to read what they say because all have a story behine them and they reveal the secreat of the place you are. No more going questing in a beautifull place and not know what is happening or how the place came to bee. The combat is fluent and really efficient and make it really fun to know the combos and the way you use your skill even on the comman monsters, and the classes are all perfect for their style there is no overpower, the only way to overpower other players is to be good and playing and knowing your class the best, the open world PvP is something that you can manage, and actually enjoy, is a game that challenges you and make it fun to get stronger and rewarding knowing how to play your class. So the game is something great and really fun to play and fallow, and for those who just talk and talk compering the game with others and negating the game are just losers who do not what they are talking, plus is free to play so try and you will see that I am right.… Expand
  37. MarcTryon
    Jan 31, 2016
    10
    After playing quite a bit more, I'm upping this from an 8 to 10.

    This is actually one of the most enjoyable MMOs I've played in some time. The classes are all unique and fun. The aesthetics are quite entertaining. The movement with its glides and dashes is a joy, very fluid. Classes have lots of dodges and blocks which make for dynamic combat. I wish there were dyes. And, while I've    After playing quite a bit more, I'm upping this from an 8 to 10.

    This is actually one of the most enjoyable MMOs I've played in some time. The classes are all unique and fun. The aesthetics are quite entertaining. The movement with its glides and dashes is a joy, very fluid. Classes have lots of dodges and blocks which make for dynamic combat.

    I wish there were dyes. And, while I've yet to get tired of it, it does have one of the more linear questing systems. That said, definitely a lot of fun and one that does not show its age.

    I've seen some of the professional reviewers give it mixed reviews and all I can say is that these are the same reviewers that raved over SWTOR or GW2-HoT. While admittedly they do have publishing deadlines, they seem to be very superficial reviews. It's free try it out yourself and give it a few levels.

    Oh, and the story quest is one of the better ones out there. Not as good as SWTOR but that's all SWTOR had going for it.    … Expand
  38. rayne9
    Jan 20, 2016
    9
    bit of uncomfortable elements , heavy log-in queue , too much PC spec requires. but good game tho.
    fresh-new type of MMO-RPG. must play if u like oriental chivalry shows. very fits and making good experience for being a main hero of it.
  39. Eikox
    Mar 12, 2016
    4
    In the first two week of the release, i reach the max lvl in that moment (45). I enjoy it in every step but after give it a break and played again, definitely don't like.

    The first impression of the game is very nice, the tutorials are fluid and the intro of your character is good. But when you are increasing you lvl, you begun to note that the quest are very repetitive (Go to A, kill    In the first two week of the release, i reach the max lvl in that moment (45). I enjoy it in every step but after give it a break and played again, definitely don't like.

    The first impression of the game is very nice, the tutorials are fluid and the intro of your character is good. But when you are increasing you lvl, you begun to note that the quest are very repetitive (Go to A, kill or interact with B and return or go to speak with C).
    -The fight system is marvelous, but the classes are highly unbalanced. Even with the recommendation system of skill points, after the second patch everything go to the dump.
    -I recommend you if you going to play it, try to enter in one of the best guild of the server, generally they going to help you with something. But if you are going to try alone everything, well you're going to have a bad time.
    -With the daily quest you can make more of 10 gold at the day, but you must spend all day doing the quest (for 10 gold) and after a few days is not worthy.
    -The market is nice, except for the price of everything (extremely high) and even if are somebody selling something more cheap, they buy it and post it with a greater increase of the price.

    I have it a blade dancer (very good class and very decent in pvps) with the siren sword and almost the last upgraded of everything in my equipment thanks to the guild, but after a time, is like all the same. (even with the guilds). The daily quest are a horrible loop, if you are going to farm something.. well good luck. If you wish to upgraded you'r weapon, you need to break you'r eyes maybe a week to have the item that you need it. And the pvps, go for summoner o assassin. After the upgraded the rest of the classes are their little b*tches.    … Expand
  40. Anthem
    Jan 27, 2016
    4
    Played 1 hour of this game and it feels and looks like any other NC soft game that has ever come out. All they do is copy and paste their games over and over again. The female character characters are always over the top scantily clad with. The combat is freaking boring as always in this game just like in the other NC games out there. Graphics are way out dated, feels like I'm playing anPlayed 1 hour of this game and it feels and looks like any other NC soft game that has ever come out. All they do is copy and paste their games over and over again. The female character characters are always over the top scantily clad with. The combat is freaking boring as always in this game just like in the other NC games out there. Graphics are way out dated, feels like I'm playing an old 2007 mmo. How does NC soft keep making trash like this and still survive?… Expand
  41. Mank
    Feb 1, 2016
    4
    Terrible, simple, low effort, and dated PVE. PVP is decent, but not a lot of variety yet.

    Should have been a MP fighting game so they can focus on their strengths.
  42. TomWolf
    Jan 22, 2016
    5
    It's pretty and plays a lot on sexyness. It's quite disturbing thought that the female population seems to be 90% of the character base. While I understand that some people want to play as female it's obvious that a lot of players also just want to look at a sexy womans behind while playing, giving the feeling of hundreds of horny teenagers running around you while you play.

    The story    It's pretty and plays a lot on sexyness. It's quite disturbing thought that the female population seems to be 90% of the character base. While I understand that some people want to play as female it's obvious that a lot of players also just want to look at a sexy womans behind while playing, giving the feeling of hundreds of horny teenagers running around you while you play.

    The story is good if you enjoy that sort of manga/anime adventures though I personally have a bit of a problem when I'm the only survivor when my school is attacked and then I'm supposed to play with a bunch of players that are also the only survivor of when their school was attacked...

    The game is more action based than WoW but don't expect it to be a mortal kombat mmo (even though many seems to want to make that comparison).

    Controlls are ok-ish, I enjoy the jump float feeling.

    I give it a low score since it didn't manage to capture me and since the most fun I've had in the game was in the character creation...and the character creation is quite awesome, to bad nobody else notice all the details you put in to building your persona since you are just another sexy lady with protective gear that covers 20% of your body.

    I have a feeling that this game is popular mostly because people are itching big time for something to replace WoW....and horny teenagers.    … Expand
  43. happymealfighta
    Feb 15, 2016
    0
    Not much to say about it, some devout players will stick to it for the good combat system; but that is all about it. If you want to play something new and refreshing, that kicks you off your chair from all the excitement it delivers ... you will be direly disappointed.
    I will give a pro-cons from my perspective: first two weeks f2p then moved to premium
    ( you DONT GET INTO THE GAME    Not much to say about it, some devout players will stick to it for the good combat system; but that is all about it. If you want to play something new and refreshing, that kicks you off your chair from all the excitement it delivers ... you will be direly disappointed.
    I will give a pro-cons from my perspective: first two weeks f2p then moved to premium
    ( you DONT GET INTO THE GAME WITHOUT PREMIUM e.g. in my f2p weeks I had to wait 3 hours to get into the game due to artificial waiting queues and being dced or client crashed refreshed that timer)
    Pros:
    +Up to date graphics
    +A lot of voice acted cutscenes (I think all are english)
    +developed skilltrees with a lot of variety in each class (most dont make sense though)
    +fun pvp (with buts on cons)
    +a lot of stuff to do on daily basis (with huge cons)
    Cons:
    -no level and loot feeling at all since you ve to ENHANCE ONE SET OF ITEMS to lvl 50 (when update arives) through tossing tons of low-lvl-gear at it in addition to huge ammounts of gold and later on special daily limited currency
    -Up to date graphics that you cant degrade to a way you can play this smoothly on older machines (it is not possible to turn off other players effects)
    -outdated quest, storyline and pve system (feels like playing a korea grinder from 2001)
    -pvp can be fun if you are playing the currently overpowered classes since this NOT the finished game from current korea servers these will vary... ALOT (lots of NCSOFT made nerfs that make some classes just rediculously overpowered)
    -marketplace is browserbased, crashes alot and is not permanently available
    -shop items except costumes are one-use only and way too overpriced for that
    -playing on low-end machines makes this game living hell, you ll glitch through floors and fall off the map. You wont see enemies right away, it takes minutes to render them... or their names
    -reaching end level you pretty much ignore any other instance but the pvp-arena, there is NO other reason to go there for anything but raredroped costumes
    -no roll system on items, you ought to perform an auction on droped items, means that anyone rich enough and willing to pay for that item, he ll get that item... most likely way more cheap than its actually worth. Or, in most cases, the other teammates will bid on your needed items to make you pay for it even more.
    -frustrating worldboss mechanics (world bosses engage with an aoe instant kill move to rid off ppl, non-evadable of course except with previously bought or crafted guilditem [you need to lvl a guild to craft it})
    -crafting system is a joke, order-receive-reorder-receive.... nothing to do manually    … Expand
  44. Kiseki
    Feb 7, 2016
    10
    To start off, none of the reviews really tell you much about the game except to just say nothing new, this is bad. I will describe here in details what I have experienced.

    Theme The theme of this game seems to be based on chinese martial art/fantasy novels. The exception been the player outfits. They are very umm..."liberal" and "flasy". But not all of them are like that. You can    To start off, none of the reviews really tell you much about the game except to just say nothing new, this is bad. I will describe here in details what I have experienced.

    Theme

    The theme of this game seems to be based on chinese martial art/fantasy novels. The exception been the player outfits. They are very umm..."liberal" and "flasy". But not all of them are like that. You can choose to be a male midget with ears and tails that look really cute - nothing sexualised.

    Visual

    The visual environment of this game is very impressive. More so than any other game I've come across. However, its a very asian style that probably doesnt appeal to westerners. You get to glide in mid air and in certain zones it makes a really impressive and awesome experience. Namely Hong Mong Isle (starter area), Hogshead Pastures and Taimong Fishing village. (possible spelling problems, I dont remember it that well.) Its a bit like an asian "heavenly realm".

    Combat

    As for the combat, its smooth. The characters are easy to play, has good skill tree and combat visual. Controls is similar to TERA but better. there are two modes you can choose from. The TERA style or the default. I find the default be better. walk with keyboard "W A S D" and basic attack with left and right mouse button. Left and right mouse button execute two different skills. You also get a suite of other useful skills that have easy to use hotkeys allocated and you can freely choose the skills you want to allocate your points to and which key to assign them.

    Leveling/Quests

    The way to level up is through quests. Most of them are kill x creatures, or kill x and gather drops. But there are quite many others that let you get involved with the local community - e.g. turn sprinklers, gather tea leaves, food materials. help catch pets. You dont really have to repeat them to level up. But unfortunately, there are alot of them and can feel grindy. But you dont really stay in the same area for long, the monsters in new areas are different.

    Plot/Dialogue

    The dialogues are ok, but it will largely depend on you. There's a heavy eastern flavor which westerners may not appreciate. otherwise it can be alright if you are patient enough to read them, some of them are quite funny too. The world and characters are also consistent through out. You see characters from earlier areas and their story remain consistent.

    Gear

    Gearwise you get a weapon at the beginning then other accessories as you progress the early game. The cloths are only cosmetic outfits and there's a pvp faction outfit in every area you can use to combat with players that are wearing the opposing pvp faction uniform. Unfortunately I think you can be lvl 10 and they can be lvl 45...

    To progress gearwise, you just upgrade them by feeding it weapon and accessory drops you get. There are multiple stages for each weapon and accessory, each stage contains 5 levels. to progress to the next stage after maxing out levels you need a class specific weapon or for accessories a specific accessory from a boss. The accessories are easy to get, but the class specific weapon can be a pain. The fastest would be to purchase from the market place or if its not tradable recommend you buy the special key that grants your class specific weapon and eliminates RNG.

    Money

    Money is sparse from level 1 to around level 30. Once you get to the area where monsters are around lvl 38 the quest rewards suddenly spike upwards in money rewards. and the money required to upgrade gears also spike upwards many times.

    Overall

    This is a very well made game, attention have been given to alot of details. Likes of this game I have not seen in others. If guild wars heart of thorns can get 85, this deserve much much better than a 0-6 score. This game does alot better.    … Expand
  45. QiPhoenix
    Feb 11, 2016
    3
    Interesting game THAT is supposed to be an MMO .. interesting story THOUGH there is only one storyline as is want in all theme park MMOs .. BUT much of the game is PvP with there being NO deviance in their PvP arenas for levels even though as of yesterday at 45th level they get their POWER skills and the game has 30th to 43rd level players being wrecked in ALL PvP as they just don't standInteresting game THAT is supposed to be an MMO .. interesting story THOUGH there is only one storyline as is want in all theme park MMOs .. BUT much of the game is PvP with there being NO deviance in their PvP arenas for levels even though as of yesterday at 45th level they get their POWER skills and the game has 30th to 43rd level players being wrecked in ALL PvP as they just don't stand a chance (though the PvP quests open up to players at 30th level) .. The lag on these servers are also insane with huge spikes for many players.. Don't bother playing it is just futility and the high cost of in game items seems to be saying that NSSoft knows the game won't last and they want their money out of it yesterday… Expand
  46. Crackfarmer
    Mar 3, 2016
    4
    Purchased a Founders pack (120€), lvled to 45 before even released - was one of the first reaching 45 on German less populated Server. After that - i kinda lost the interest in this Game. Since release you can't speak out of the Guild chat, spammers everywhere. The Gold cost for upgrading your Gear after reaching lvl 36+ is insane, no1 can afford that without farming or buying Gold. ItPurchased a Founders pack (120€), lvled to 45 before even released - was one of the first reaching 45 on German less populated Server. After that - i kinda lost the interest in this Game. Since release you can't speak out of the Guild chat, spammers everywhere. The Gold cost for upgrading your Gear after reaching lvl 36+ is insane, no1 can afford that without farming or buying Gold. It went downhill pretty damn fast, all of my friends quitted after i left. Unless you join a super powerful Guild (which will probably require TS3 duty all day) its impossible to enjoy this Game after reaching 45.

    I don't recommend to buy this Game unless you can spent alot of Time getting into the crafting system, learning your Char ( & rotation), joining an **** Ass Guild and finally hang yourself after achieving all that.    … Expand
  47. DirtyBird07
    Mar 8, 2016
    8
    The game is great. Seriously great.

    Pro: Good end game content and challenge. Grouping is vital and necessary and easy. Cross server dungeon is great. Large variety of mobs. Graphics are good. Best thing about the game is the fighting. It's completly based on your individual skills. If you suck, you wont go far. Auction house is good and economy thrives. Content being released is fast    The game is great. Seriously great.

    Pro: Good end game content and challenge. Grouping is vital and necessary and easy. Cross server dungeon is great. Large variety of mobs. Graphics are good.
    Best thing about the game is the fighting. It's completly based on your individual skills. If you suck, you wont go far. Auction house is good and economy thrives. Content being released is fast and good.
    Free to play. The story is really great.

    Con: Weapon upgrading is weird. Armor comes in the form of Soulshields, which isn't bad, but different.
    Worst part is the features you miss if you aren't a premium-subscribing-member. You miss out on alot of cool features like the closet to store outfits and stuff. Inventory space is ROUGH, if you dont buy extra slots.

    I really like it. Not as good as FF14, but not 15$ a month to play either =)    … Expand
  48. V_i_O
    Feb 5, 2016
    5
    the pvp is quiet interesting but other than that considered to be dull and boring in my opinion from pve, story line , graphics, and the lack of mounts and housing which is a part of my love to any mmorpg, not to mention the grindy style.
  49. CommissarMonkey
    Mar 1, 2016
    9
    Great number of idiot reviews from headstart weekend **** cause they all chose the same server. Gee good job guys you all dogpiled one server and expected there not to be queues.

    Anyways thats ancient history now. Game is in a good place, some things could be improved like the bots that do show up every now and then in arena matches. I hear they are more common in the low rank arena,    Great number of idiot reviews from headstart weekend **** cause they all chose the same server. Gee good job guys you all dogpiled one server and expected there not to be queues.

    Anyways thats ancient history now. Game is in a good place, some things could be improved like the bots that do show up every now and then in arena matches. I hear they are more common in the low rank arena, but you dont see them hardly ever in platinum.

    The game is free to play after all, so try it yourself, and form your own opinion.    … Expand
  50. MadGav
    Apr 4, 2016
    6
    Fantastic visuals and a very cool (if generic) martial arts vengeance plot line spread across multiple chapters make this one of the most interesting F2P MMORPGs of last year. The latest update adds a wealth of new areas and an updated level cap.

    On the down side, lag can be crippling (especially during large scale raids) and the bot-population is beyond ridiculous. PVP (open world at    Fantastic visuals and a very cool (if generic) martial arts vengeance plot line spread across multiple chapters make this one of the most interesting F2P MMORPGs of last year. The latest update adds a wealth of new areas and an updated level cap.

    On the down side, lag can be crippling (especially during large scale raids) and the bot-population is beyond ridiculous. PVP (open world at least) is nearly unplayable due to the bot problem.

    Cross-server dungeoning, exciting combat and some truly beautiful art drag this game above average, but with so many factors dragging it back down, it is hard to recommend over all the other MMORPGs out there.    … Expand
  51. RangerMiG
    Feb 5, 2016
    5
    Not a bad game, crafting is good, graphics are okay, mediocre story but it's the combat that will bore you to death eventually and i didn't even log that much time!
  52. pythag0ras
    Apr 8, 2016
    5
    +fun combat (sorta , for the summoner anyway imo)
    +small dungeon maps
    +you can use all the rng weapons and accessories you get , to level up your class specific ones (the purple gear) -Basically just an action adventure game with a couple rpg elements. -Very linear and rigid character development. -Leveling feels rather pointless and slow. - No auction house access until lvl 16 and    +fun combat (sorta , for the summoner anyway imo)
    +small dungeon maps
    +you can use all the rng weapons and accessories you get , to level up your class specific ones (the purple gear)

    -Basically just an action adventure game with a couple rpg elements.
    -Very linear and rigid character development.
    -Leveling feels rather pointless and slow.
    - No auction house access until lvl 16 and even then you can only put 10 items a DAY up.
    - Tons of bots all over, also spamming the channel with gold sell spam.
    -NO ARMOR (this one i really dont understand) all your "armor" is just for looks and you get your stats from accessories.
    - Class imbalance as summoners and warlocks (pet classes) can solo 3 man dungeons no prob but none of the other classes can.
    -NO MOUNTS ! (you have to run/glide everywhere and to move fast you have to use sprint and that runs out quick)
    -annoying delay between battle and when you can sprint again, which sometimes goes for quite a while -
    -only 2 chars allowed to be created for free users-
    -cant send MAIL without buying NCoins- (comon devs wtf is that sht)
    -terrible crafting system
    -7day wait to delete a character , punishes you for wanting to try other classes (and since you only have 2 char slots ..)
    -nothing sells to the vendor for more then 1 copper, nothing, and with only being alble to sell 10 items a day on the auction, makes getting money really tough. They expect you to grind dailies for paltry amounts of money .
    -quests are extremely unrewarding-

    real disappointment .Ultimately , was worth playing for free, but I wouldn't spend a dime on this garbage.    … Expand
  53. REDSIPERAS
    Jan 21, 2016
    10
    Easily the best mmo i have played since World of Warcraft. Hands down the best pvp system i have ever experienced. Recommend this to anyone, i dont even like asian weaboo art styles.
  54. johnangel
    Feb 4, 2016
    0
    First of all the 10/10 accounts with one review are clearly ncsoft employees.
    Don't be fooled.
    Another cash crab by ncsoft . They offer a sbuscription plan without any new content to a 4 year old game without even all the content available in the original game with no plans to create new content for the western version. The cash shop is a mess with nothing worthwhile except to    First of all the 10/10 accounts with one review are clearly ncsoft employees.
    Don't be fooled.

    Another cash crab by ncsoft .

    They offer a sbuscription plan without any new content to a 4 year old game without even all the content available in the original game with no plans to create new content for the western version.

    The cash shop is a mess with nothing worthwhile except to pay 93US dollars to unlock your inventory slots FOR ONE CHARACTER ONLY and that is after you unlocked all the slots through the regular game and then pay money.And all of this is the same even if you pay 15 dollars a month for "premium".
    Outfits are character bound and not account but still cost 20 dollars.
    Nickel and diming in every part of the game.

    Oh almost forgot as f2p player no gold drops from monster, zip none you'll see not one copper.

    All in all the game wont last 6 months with the current setup and this is not because the game is bad on the contrary the game is quite good with a refreshing combat system BUT it's a chore to play as f2p and more importantly as a paying customer who expects a minimum of competence and work for his money.

    edit: correct numbers and warning for payed reviewers.    … Expand
  55. dark_strategiez
    Jan 26, 2016
    2
    Blade & Soul recently was just released in the west. I have not logged a lot of time in this game and have no desire to. Blade & Soul really doesn't bring a whole lot to the table that hasn't already been brought before. I'd say the most unique feature the game has is it's pvp. Now with the best part out of the way lets get into the rest of the game. The pve is very boring and dull. WhileBlade & Soul recently was just released in the west. I have not logged a lot of time in this game and have no desire to. Blade & Soul really doesn't bring a whole lot to the table that hasn't already been brought before. I'd say the most unique feature the game has is it's pvp. Now with the best part out of the way lets get into the rest of the game. The pve is very boring and dull. While playing the game I'm surprised a box doesn't come up to make sure you're still human. Because this game's pve system is so basic anyone or anything could probably play it with ease. Now the story is basic and cheesy with nothing new. Except the voice acting in this game is like they recorded chat roulette conversations and pieced them together. The voice acting in this game is probably the most atrocious part by far. The graphics aren't the worst I've ever seen but no one is playing this for the fact of how it looks unless you like games whose graphics are 2010 and its 2016. Overall nothing is new and exciting here. Even the combat system is that of TERA. I think the U.S release was pointless and would not recommend this game.… Expand
  56. Zer0TheHer0
    Feb 12, 2016
    0
    a potentially very very good game completely destroyed by ncsoft censorship and greedy business model.............................................................
  57. Jheldridge
    Feb 1, 2016
    2
    One of the worst MMOs I've had the misfortune to play for a variety of reasons. If I had to choose a single word that describes my BNS experience as I proceeded to spend over $300 USD and reached level cap it would be this: cringe.

    I don't know if it's the archetypical story, the tasteless outfits, the underwhelming kung fu motif, or the hairy 45 year old otakus piloting "sexy" big    One of the worst MMOs I've had the misfortune to play for a variety of reasons. If I had to choose a single word that describes my BNS experience as I proceeded to spend over $300 USD and reached level cap it would be this: cringe.

    I don't know if it's the archetypical story, the tasteless outfits, the underwhelming kung fu motif, or the hairy 45 year old otakus piloting "sexy" big breasted hentai characters that made me cringe like I've never cringed before. Or maybe it was generic classes that lack any semblance of unique flavor e.g. Blade Dancer, Blade Master, or the total lack of inspiration behind the races (spoiler: they all look like deformed homo sapiens minus the bizarre half pedo-bunny half lolita race called Lynn.

    Unless you are a proud **** weeaboo, stay far far away from this "game?".. NCSOFT you've hit a terrible new industry low..

    This game is filled with hundreds of paywalls and is basically impossible to play unless you have a premium subscription. The login times are consistently upwards of 30 minutes + and come prepared with your AMEX card as they will try to charge you at every possible opportunity (buy more bag space, buy XP bonus buff that lasts only 30min, buy additional character slots etc.)

    I'm hard pressed to call the PvE PvE. There is one class in BNS = DPS, Every instance up to 45 is faceroll and the "end game" consists of fighting little hentai girls that use the same bland abilities you have. There is no gear and no weapons. No gear or weapons you say? There must be some kind of incentive to raid / pve though right? YES you are absolutely right. Pizza Slices. Yes you read that right.

    Mushroom, Sicilian, White Pizza, you name it! The point of progression in BNS is to work towards completing an 8 slice Pizza Pie that grant generic set bonuses the more slices of said Pizza you acquire.

    Also it's worth mentioning that you use the same weapon and gear the whole game. Instead of replacing your weapon or jewelry (yes the limited armor you do have is jewelry such as bracelets, rings, necklaces etc *cringe) You upgrade your items instead feeding them other weapons and jewelry.

    The PvP is the one semi redeeming aspect of this game because apparently the combat system is robust and balanced to be an eSport in the East (Korea). However the game is balanced around 1v1 and as we've learned from other better MMOs such as WoW, when a game is balanced around 8 different classes engaging in 1v1 duels, you are forced to homogenize classes losing diversity and flavor. There are no BGs in the game and the open world pvp is a joke as the only way to participate is to put on your kpop looking tabard and complete three dailies.

    I could go on about the million other reasons why this game is profoundly disturbing but I'll save you all the lip service. Please do yourself a favor and play a respectable game.

    All the best,

    Kargoz    … Expand
  58. jmartin77777
    Jan 23, 2016
    10
    Best combat I've ever experienced in an MMORPG, close to a fighting game when playing PVP. Also it has a story that I am enjoying. Its sappy and anime, but its motivating in a way few MMOs are (FF14 being one of the few others that I liked). The world & characters are beautiful, and the animations are stellar, you can really see the love that someone put into animating the game &Best combat I've ever experienced in an MMORPG, close to a fighting game when playing PVP. Also it has a story that I am enjoying. Its sappy and anime, but its motivating in a way few MMOs are (FF14 being one of the few others that I liked). The world & characters are beautiful, and the animations are stellar, you can really see the love that someone put into animating the game & cut-scenes. Digital actors are animated down to nuanced glances and expressive hand gestures. Fights & large scale battles in cut-scenes are well choreographed and really sell the events (when compared to other MMOs for whom a story battle may be 3 pairs of static NPCs endlessly bashing swords at each other). The detail of the animation really stands out in live battle too. Few (if any) other MMOs do as good of a job at making animations feel like they connect. If you activate a parry under a repeated NPC attack, you can see your character recoil under each blow.The music is also wonderful, selling events and cut-scenes well.

    Finally, I want to come back to the combat. I only really gave it one sentence above, but the combat system is FANTASTIC! In PVP it approaches the skill level of a true fighting game, with iframes & juggles & escapes. And even with PVE the fights are a blast! As you progress through the levels, the enemy AI starts using complex moves against you (trips, blocks, grapples, etc...) and you have to up your game to keep up. And the feeling of moving into a room and fluidly decimating its entire contents without taking a hit is a pure Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon moment.

    I can't rate this game high enough. I think at a few points while playing so far I had minor gripes, but as I think back I am hard pressed to recall a moment when I wasn't having fun, and when I did not want to go play more.    … Expand
  59. Lumindais
    Jan 19, 2016
    5
    Graphics and all look really pretty from the trailers and the character creation, but good luck actually playing the game unless you pay for premium access. Even then the queue is at least 300 where are non-premium users have hour wait times and queued over 3,000 and holding. So, if you just like playing with the character creator you will find yourself uninstalling relatively quickly orGraphics and all look really pretty from the trailers and the character creation, but good luck actually playing the game unless you pay for premium access. Even then the queue is at least 300 where are non-premium users have hour wait times and queued over 3,000 and holding. So, if you just like playing with the character creator you will find yourself uninstalling relatively quickly or checking back in a few months when it dies down.… Expand
  60. HardwareHank
    Jan 22, 2016
    1
    This is probably one of the worst MMOs I've ever played...

    First off, the game paces so boringly that its even hard to pay attention to the already awful voice acting and story, the graphics look like I just sprayed pledge on some bald guy's head and it has that ridiculous unreal engine 3 slow rendering problem. Trying to even log on if you play it for free is next to impossible not    This is probably one of the worst MMOs I've ever played...

    First off, the game paces so boringly that its even hard to pay attention to the already awful voice acting and story, the graphics look like I just sprayed pledge on some bald guy's head and it has that ridiculous unreal engine 3 slow rendering problem.

    Trying to even log on if you play it for free is next to impossible not that is a bad thing cause why anyone would want to play this hot garbage is beyond me.

    The combat is cool and I can see it being fun in the end game but to even get that far is like trying to eat 10lbs of mcdonalds and then going to run in the boston marathon.

    Bottom line, this game sucks and you can find other MMOs worthy of your time.    … Expand
  61. archanjo
    Feb 16, 2016
    1
    everything is instanced.
    invisible walls everywhere ( no exploration ).
    quests are dumb.
    the grind is real.
    no end game.
    dailies dailies dailies dailies
  62. Echo_solar
    Jan 19, 2016
    2
    Played the Blade and Soul beta as well as Japan version for a while waiting for the NA release. During my time in the beta, I have never seen a more toxic community; (and I have long experience in CSGO).

    Classes are unbalanced, some requiring an immense amount of skill to play while others require the bare minimum. If you pick the more difficult to master, not much more reward class it    Played the Blade and Soul beta as well as Japan version for a while waiting for the NA release. During my time in the beta, I have never seen a more toxic community; (and I have long experience in CSGO).

    Classes are unbalanced, some requiring an immense amount of skill to play while others require the bare minimum. If you pick the more difficult to master, not much more reward class it is flustering when other players can just smash the keyboard and win.

    The game is generic. "You are the only hero that can save the land from evil" tab-combat boring MMO action. The PvP is intense and riveting, but that's primarily the only perk this game has to offer.

    PvE is boring. Mobs are easy. Grind isn't really existent.

    THE GAME CAME OUT IN 2012! For all you players moving from TERA, the game is no different other than tab-combat (which in my opinion is less skillful and bland for an MMO)

    IT TOOK THEM 4-5 YEARS TO FINALLY RELEASE TO NA. Sorry, this drove the hype train into the ground for me. The game is outdated, so many other MMOs are releasing this year that will easily destroy this game that was once perceived to be a staple in MMO history.    … Expand
  63. Meteora
    Feb 10, 2016
    2
    Note: I bought the founders edition to play some days before the normal release date.

    Pro: - Smooth and good Combat System Contra: - Invisible Walls (It's 2016 ... ) - Questing is really boring. There are like 3 different types of quests. - You look like LVL45+ on LVL1 with shopgear or even normal gear. - Char sizes are way to f***ed up. You can be a 1mm midget or a    Note: I bought the founders edition to play some days before the normal release date.

    Pro:

    - Smooth and good Combat System

    Contra:

    - Invisible Walls (It's 2016 ... )

    - Questing is really boring. There are like 3 different types of quests.

    - You look like LVL45+ on LVL1 with shopgear or even normal gear.

    - Char sizes are way to f***ed up. You can be a 1mm midget or a 20m tall mountain. Well that's exaggerated but it still ruins the whole atmosphere of the world...

    - What the f**ck happened to the lootsystem? You actually have to bid on items. Guess what that means.

    - The drops are very static. When i find a new sword or what ever weapon it always is worse than my upgraded LVL 1 weapon.

    - Itemshop and Subscription ??????? Typical NCSoft Game.

    - There is absolutely nothing new too see in this game.

    - The best group setup is pure damage.... Unfortunately.

    - It feels very very unbalanced. A destroyer shows up, Smashes ur face 10 times and ur done. Just an example.

    - This stupid loading times when u go into a house or leave a region... Even World of Warcraft which is out for a way longer time handles that better than BnS...

    - Way to much asia. Everywhere some little girls approx. 9 years old with huge cat and / or bunny ears wearing mini-skirts + outstanding boobs. i feel like a pedo playing this.    … Expand
  64. drobot
    Feb 19, 2016
    1
    The combat was really cool I must say. But the lack of communication and the overall **** of NCSOFT was just too much for me. This game's a cash grab. I'm **** sick of being treated like **** despite spending over $100 on this game. I'm an idiot for sure for doing that, but i've never seen a company so **** terrible.
  65. Azurion
    Jan 29, 2016
    10
    Amazing game! Great graphics ,the combat is incredible and the ability to glide and run so fast with all those great animations is just spectacular . Great character creation screen with lots of choices , great races and the classes with their own unique power, just brilliant ! A must try MMO !
  66. drumbunny
    Jan 27, 2016
    10
    Once youp play a game like Blade&Soul, you'll never be able to play such slow-paced-click-one-button-wait-for-gcd games like wow or FFXIV!!
    Even TERA is subpar gemplaywise....
    Also definitely no P2W!
  67. Nemesis612
    Jan 22, 2016
    0
    This game is horrible. It is not action combat. Projectiles that target you will always hit. Several times projectiles curves in S shapes around corner to hit you. In a true action combat, if an arrow is shot at you and you jump, it shouldn't hit. This is anything but action combat. Being able to miss your sword swing if nothing stands there does not equate to being action combat.

    The    This game is horrible. It is not action combat. Projectiles that target you will always hit. Several times projectiles curves in S shapes around corner to hit you. In a true action combat, if an arrow is shot at you and you jump, it shouldn't hit. This is anything but action combat. Being able to miss your sword swing if nothing stands there does not equate to being action combat.

    The tagging system is archaic. People can and will steal your kill. There are other games that have set higher standard for the industry. Everything should have been open tag and given credit to everyone who participate. Things like this is what make people despite MMO. The loot bidding system is also terrible. All loots should be systematically given to players instead of forcing each other into a bidding war. The year is 2016 not 2006. Questing involves basic kill, escort and collect but doing it over and over is boring.

    Graphic is ok, some terrain textures are hideous.

    The game is free to play but it places several obstacles in your way in the most basic things such as inventory spaces and wardrobe to "encourage" you to pay up. And if you want to be competitive in either PvE or PvP, better be a whale or you're just a lowly peasant.

    Overall, game play wise it is not comparable to Guild Wars 2, graphic wise it is not comparable to the upcoming Black Desert. Dungeon system is subpar compare to World of Warcraft.

    Blade and Souls is mediocre at best.    … Expand
  68. kckkryptonite
    Feb 28, 2016
    5
    Disconnections, memory leak, poor optimization... These among other problems are things you might think a 4-year old game would have solved. To boot, NCSoft hasn't help the situation with their greedy price model or poor story translation for the US-release (the Korean version of the story is admittedly very good, if not great for an MMO). The equipment and crafting system are both garbageDisconnections, memory leak, poor optimization... These among other problems are things you might think a 4-year old game would have solved. To boot, NCSoft hasn't help the situation with their greedy price model or poor story translation for the US-release (the Korean version of the story is admittedly very good, if not great for an MMO). The equipment and crafting system are both garbage - you will not use 99% of equipment or craft 99% of the things available outside of fodder; bot run amok unbanned, loading screens everywhere - you can resurrect in the same zone you're in and the game still needs to LOAD. So what is left? The combat system is the only saving grace of this MMO, which is very well done. Though this is also plagued with problems that shouldn't exist, specifically the high ping due to NCSoft's cheap servers. BnS is a great example of a decent game gone to **** when a company wants to maximize greed at the expense of the game.… Expand
  69. Wilcalaf
    Apr 13, 2016
    10
    I have been playing since launch. very good game. feels very dynamic and good.
    Pros:
    Graphics are good.
    Combat is just the best thing i have experienced before.
    Arena system is great.
    Pve is good as well

    Cons:
    Crafting system feels likes it need to be reworked.
    No catchups mechanics for new players/ Alt chars
  70. IHateBNS
    May 1, 2016
    1
    This game is called Blade & Soul but I feel a more appropriate name is Bots & Spam. This is because everyone is either spamming or they are a bot, or worse... both.
  71. S_eu
    Jan 19, 2016
    0
    Though this game tried linear-storytelling like console RPGs which is differ from other MMOs, the thin story and poor level design blinds(or ruins) all of it's freshness.

    I also found each classes are unbalanced, and loose game play caused by lacking contents.
  72. inkthe
    Jan 19, 2016
    0
    Good luck actually playing it. Queue times of several hours, and then when you get in you have a 50% chance of crashing if you go into any load screen. Broken product.
  73. holdenhamlet
    Feb 26, 2016
    10
    Combat system is insanely good. 1v1 PVP is by far the most intense and best gaming experience I've ever had. PVE is pretty standard. Game currently has a lot of bots but hopefully something can be done about it.

    If you like the idea of an amazing PVP Arena with a solid MMO attached to it, this is the game for you. Funny how people reviewing the game are giving it Zeros but still    Combat system is insanely good. 1v1 PVP is by far the most intense and best gaming experience I've ever had. PVE is pretty standard. Game currently has a lot of bots but hopefully something can be done about it.

    If you like the idea of an amazing PVP Arena with a solid MMO attached to it, this is the game for you.

    Funny how people reviewing the game are giving it Zeros but still admit it has a great combat system. You'd think for a zero it wouldn't even have a combat system.    … Expand
  74. Jaavier
    Feb 16, 2016
    10
    Best MMORPG of last years. No more words. It is a game where you can do everything new combat system, there are no frames, the community is excellent. This game is really well done, each landscape, each skill, the story is incredible.
  75. AsheRayne
    Jan 31, 2016
    10
    Figure'd I would just go ahead and give this a 10 to outweigh all the zeroes people are giving it after only playing an hour. How on earth can you rate a game based on an hour of game play? And then say the combat is boring? You can't even unlock all your skills till level 10!!!!

    Great game, great combat, lots of fun. There. 'Nuff said.
  76. Jaxpo
    Jan 20, 2016
    7
    *Pros
    - Combat is smooth
    - graphics are nice - unique mechanics compared to others in the genre - fast paced game but levels are not overly fast to achieve *Cons - Very linear questing - Feels like a game on rails - Starts to feel repetitive after a short time - Right now the long queues for F2P players (but this will change in a couple weeks) Overall it isn't a bad game but    *Pros
    - Combat is smooth
    - graphics are nice
    - unique mechanics compared to others in the genre
    - fast paced game but levels are not overly fast to achieve

    *Cons
    - Very linear questing
    - Feels like a game on rails
    - Starts to feel repetitive after a short time
    - Right now the long queues for F2P players (but this will change in a couple weeks)

    Overall it isn't a bad game but if you are looking for a traditional trinity style MMORPG, this is not for you. If you are looking for the next attempt at an action Esport game, then you should play it.    … Expand
  77. sevXone
    Jan 30, 2016
    9
    Best MMORPG i have played in years. As a former WoW veteran(10 years of play) i never thought i would find an other MMORPG that i could enjoy as much if not more. 9/10
  78. pongkrit03
    Mar 16, 2016
    7
    This is a revised review after I reach lv 45. I have to lower score I gave. I would give it 6, +1 for free to play = 7

    Good - 1.Combat System : best mmo comb i ever played 2.PVP : The best I ever played. everyone's equipment is same in arena = less farming time. 3.Music : a ton of awesome BGM in the game 4.F2P and not P2W, u don't need to money at all 5.Good Storyline in the first    This is a revised review after I reach lv 45. I have to lower score I gave. I would give it 6, +1 for free to play = 7

    Good -
    1.Combat System : best mmo comb i ever played
    2.PVP : The best I ever played. everyone's equipment is same in arena = less farming time.
    3.Music : a ton of awesome BGM in the game
    4.F2P and not P2W, u don't need to money at all
    5.Good Storyline in the first half of the game.
    6.Good Character Customization

    Bad
    1.PVE is dull, especially group PVE feel nothing
    2.Long loading time, need high spec PC to run the game
    3.Lagging, server issue
    4.Bots, even in PVP Arena, there are bots everywhere.
    5.No group pvp at this moment

    In summary, this game is great for people who like pvp 1v1, however there are Bots in arena, which made ur enjoyment extremely decline. For PVE, there is nothing special here.    … Expand
  79. HamsterPhil
    Jan 25, 2016
    8
    This game is one of the best games I've ever played.
    I do not like MMORPGs, like, AT ALL.
    This is one of, if not the only, MMORPGs out there that I actually enjoy sticking with! I have played a good bunch of MMORPGs from Ragnarok Online to WoW and honestly, I never got "hooked" as much as Blade and Soul. I'll list the PROs and CONs of the game like the rest of the reviews. This    This game is one of the best games I've ever played.
    I do not like MMORPGs, like, AT ALL.
    This is one of, if not the only, MMORPGs out there that I actually enjoy sticking with!

    I have played a good bunch of MMORPGs from Ragnarok Online to WoW and honestly, I never got "hooked" as much as Blade and Soul.

    I'll list the PROs and CONs of the game like the rest of the reviews. This will be pretty lengthy. TL;DR is at bottom.

    PROs:
    ==================================
    + Beautiful Graphics and Design
    > The characters and environment of the game is rich and full of life!
    > Each area has a feel or realism (ex: The forest is full of critters and animals, the desert feels vast and unending)

    + Character Creation
    > One of the best character creations I've ever used! You can customize a lot of features from your pupil size to the size of your hands and feet!
    >You can make yourself look ugly or beautiful with almost no real limit.

    + Gameplay
    > The gameplay is an action game for consoles rather than a traditional MMORPG point and click system.
    > Some of your abilities will give beautifully done cinematic angles as if you're watching an action movie!
    > There is a feature called Dragon Pulse Riding, which in certain areas, shows small cinematic events where your character jumps and flies from wall to wall or mountain to mountain! Absolutely stunning! It had me going "WHOA!"

    + Story
    > The story makes you feel like you're the main protagonist of the game world.
    > Progressing through the story you will find a good amount of plot twists and character build up.
    > Personal Note (People don't seem to like the "chosen one" story because it doesn't fit in the realm of MMORPG; However, I feel like the other players are your supporting characters with (or without) a voice and mind of their own. It's all about how you view the world of pretend and fantasy! :D)

    + Equipments and Pay2Win
    > In most traditional MMORPGs, you collect outfit pieces to build stats and honestly some of them can make you look "tacky" as all heck; But in Blade and Soul, you collect ONE FULL outfit and they all look stunning and beautiful however gives no stats what so ever! It is PURE cosmetics!
    > Stats are obtained by growing in levels and upgrading weapons, accessories, and obtaining "Soul Shields"
    > Some outfits allow you to interact with the game's NPC as their ally or foe. This was a really unique feature which puts you in different factions depending on what outfit you choose to wear.
    > Soul Shields are formed when you obtain Soul Shield pieces to complete a whole! you may mix and match different pieces to increase specific stats. Soul Shields are also able to be upgraded.
    > The game's real money store does not have any real Pay2Win Items at all!
    > You may buy outfits(no stats) and timed stat boosting items which may increase HP and etc last for 30 minutes at most.
    > PvP is purely based on skills when you're in the arena and the stat boost items can not be used in arena.

    CONs
    ==================================
    - Queue times
    > Yes, what other people say about the queue time being long is true, but I don't feel like it should bother you too much.
    > Personal Note (I suggest you do something else while waiting in queue because you might be there for awhile but hoping that they fix this issue soon. They are adding new servers as the player base grows!)

    - PvP
    > Okay I'm gonna be honest here. Some classes do seem kind of unbalanced when it comes to specific classes.
    > It can be a rock, paper, scissors type of system where someone can just spam certain skills over and over again while you have no way of blocking it, you can just counter their whole kit, or it comes down to a battle of who has better knowledge of their class.
    > Personal Note (With all that said, I'm not saying PvP sucks but rather its about who you're matched up against and your skill and knowledge of the enemy class and your own.)

    - PKers
    > When you're first starting out and finally get a faction outfit, people don't seem to read the effects and there will be other people outside of town ready to put the world of hurt on you!
    > When you revive, you have 2 choices, revive at the last checkpoint or revive with your faction outfit off. PEOPLE DO NOT READ THIS and get their faces kicked in. > This also happens when you're trying to do a Faction Quest. There will be other players in different factions ready to jump you during quests... It sucks... But these quests are optional so whatever. - Voice Acting > Some of these Western ports have the worst voice acting I've ever heard! The voices give life to the characters, however, the actors portraying them are... meh. I wish there was a option to change the VO Language. So these are my PROs and CONs of Blade and Soul, but I encourage you all to try out the game even after reading the reviews TL;DR Good graphics, Fun Gameplay, No Pay2Win, Decent PvP, Long queue times, PKers (faction quests), Bad voice acting Hope this helps you guys!    … Expand
  80. nfk009
    Jan 21, 2016
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. i have to say something about ncsoft. after i installed ncsoft hacker protection shield?? and played blade$soul 15m, My computer shut it down dont boot up anymore. i am downloading windows 10 now and trying to reinstall whole my programs. this game is not for me. wasting my time. bye ncsoft.… Expand
  81. KingVallard
    Jan 20, 2016
    1
    Great game ruined by extremly bad company who planned to milk the hype down to a game design level. Queue times for free players as of writing this are infinite because the game's devs are trying to force people to buy subscriptions. More people buy subscriptions, more people skip free players in queue, more people buy subs... The game was designed for this. Game updates are releasedGreat game ruined by extremly bad company who planned to milk the hype down to a game design level. Queue times for free players as of writing this are infinite because the game's devs are trying to force people to buy subscriptions. More people buy subscriptions, more people skip free players in queue, more people buy subs... The game was designed for this. Game updates are released without downtime and people have been online for 4 days straight. The most recent "fix" was an afk timer that kicks you after 15 minutes of inactivity. The problem is people who have been online since before the patch are immune to it and therefore stay logged in 24/7 to not lose their spot. All the afk timer does is punish free players by forcing them to endure 8-20 hour queues and kick them because they were afk (the estimated wait is completely unreliable as well) Not to mention the game's crashes that again, force you to endure a multi digit hour level of wait time. This could be somewhat fixed via a simple server restart but NCsoft openly admitted they won't restart until they release the next 2 servers in 2 days. This is a horribly obvious scam tactic meant to milk the game's hype.

    The other major issue is the bots. The game had small army of gold farmer bots on release that take up a hefty amount of server space. You can see these bots easily by going to a low level dungeon and watching as they form a "train" of players farming the instance and then going to a vendor.

    This game was ruined by the company before it even had a chance.    … Expand
  82. Zarella
    Jan 24, 2016
    10
    Every time I get on to play this game, I have a blast. I am shocked that this game is this much fun. Some of these negative reviews are so off base. I encourage players to try it for yourself. If you want to experience rich content in the best combat system in an mmo to date, then try out Blade and Soul. You won't be disappointed.
  83. Xelluse
    Aug 14, 2017
    10
    NCsoft are Greatest game developers, but worst publishers, publisher that block friend to play together, to play game in lower quality and on language that people do not even know.
    Game is Great, but publisher who use regional blocks only because of illegal agreement with Innova to separate friends and even families, should not be trusted and will be downvoted. It's bad that game    NCsoft are Greatest game developers, but worst publishers, publisher that block friend to play together, to play game in lower quality and on language that people do not even know.
    Game is Great, but publisher who use regional blocks only because of illegal agreement with Innova to separate friends and even families, should not be trusted and will be downvoted. It's bad that game Developers like NCsoft became nationalist politicians.
    Game 8/10, Service quality 0/10, not player friendly at all and they want my money ? You know NC, go and !@#$ yourself, I'll better purchase WoW, GW2, which, thank god is under Arena.net management, who always provide good quality service for players and do not divide them, TESO or even BDO, but I will not pay for so poor quality service with regional IP blocks, especially if I can't invite my friends and/or my family members who live in another country. FU NCsoft.    … Expand
  84. Tyrhapsody
    Jan 21, 2016
    10
    I have not been playing the game for long but I did in fact cap a character. There are very bias opinions of the game in the line of these reviews. Here it is plain and simple, the game is good six years old, but has aged well and still very fun despite the fact that it took a long while for it to come out.

    The queue times aren't going to be there forever and I'm sure NC Soft is doing    I have not been playing the game for long but I did in fact cap a character. There are very bias opinions of the game in the line of these reviews. Here it is plain and simple, the game is good six years old, but has aged well and still very fun despite the fact that it took a long while for it to come out.

    The queue times aren't going to be there forever and I'm sure NC Soft is doing everything they can to make things run smoother. As for the combat in this game it is not tab targeting, it is fast paced and skill based and really easy to dislike if you are bad at it.

    All of the classes have multiple play styles with the amount of spec customization allowed in the later levels some have a play style that may feel like you are spamming, but if you are having fun who cares? The PvP in the game is very skill based and difficult to learn which is why some people will come out thinking that the game is unbalanced or bad when really it is challenging.

    The end game content the little we may have is still extremely fun and at times hard to play. Things that challenge are fun that is why people play games. If the game was easier or they made one seemingly weak class super overpowered and impossible to fight in PvP then who would have any fun?    … Expand
  85. Galaleo91
    Jan 20, 2016
    3
    From the hour I got to play this game it was fun, with fluid controls. I had to get off to go to work, after returning home I find myself in a Que of 3000 people! The line was moving slow and I'm not prone to waiting an hour to play a game I kind of like. Unless they fix this I see a major dip in client base coming their way. Good luck to those of your still in line. I'm just going to waitFrom the hour I got to play this game it was fun, with fluid controls. I had to get off to go to work, after returning home I find myself in a Que of 3000 people! The line was moving slow and I'm not prone to waiting an hour to play a game I kind of like. Unless they fix this I see a major dip in client base coming their way. Good luck to those of your still in line. I'm just going to wait for Black Desert and Lost Arc, way to let me down NC Soft.… Expand
  86. bmastaz
    Jan 27, 2016
    3
    So far Its very different than any MMO i've played. It has a Tera feel except its more strategic and 1 on 1 action. Basic story i guess haven't made it to end game. As far as the ques first couple days were crazy..but they have added 4 more servers for NA and ever since I haven't had que time at all... its free...download it and play it.. I bet you will like it
  87. Zlare
    Feb 3, 2016
    10
    So the game finaly came to us. The game has always been famous and in the east even an Esport title because of its amazing combat and balanced PVP. It is a simple fact that every class can beat every class in PvP simply by playing better. Also in arena there is no armor. The only difference between the people is the way they skill their class and their skills as a player.
    This whole game    So the game finaly came to us. The game has always been famous and in the east even an Esport title because of its amazing combat and balanced PVP. It is a simple fact that every class can beat every class in PvP simply by playing better. Also in arena there is no armor. The only difference between the people is the way they skill their class and their skills as a player.
    This whole game is heavily skill based. To dodge or block you gotta dodge or block in the right moment, there is no % chance to use your shield to block some attack. The controls itself feel very good. You feel like you have complety control about what your character does. The battle system is hands down the best on the market.
    The PvE dungeons are a lot of fun because of the battle system aswell. Again the skill level shows. While some people can do a whole dungeon without ever getting hit, others will die at every boss several times. It is impressive what you can achieve with practice here aswell. It goes to the point where some people solo or duo full dungeons that other people cant even do with a full group even though both have the same armor.
    To level you will do mostly quests which are the basic stuff, that you know from all the mmos, aside of the story quests. The story is very well told and becomes insanely interesting over the course of the game.
    That being said the game doesn't have a lot of endgame right now but the first content patch is coming p February 10th (3 weeks after launch) and they intend to keep that pace up. NCsoft is going to release the full content of 4 years Blade and Soul in Korea within this year in the west. So this game will have no lack of content any time soon.
    All in all this game has a lot to offer. More than any MMO that released in the past years and since it is free you definitely should give it a shot. The people who give this game 0 as rating or say the game is unbalanced are simply bad players. Remember some MMOs are "feel good" MMOs where everyone feels like they are extra ordinary players, no matter how bad they are. Blade and Soul is not a "feel good" MMO. In this game you need to practice and learn to realy be a good player and that is exactly what makes this game so appealing!.
    So why are you still reading this? Go play :)    … Expand
  88. Skarwind
    Feb 9, 2016
    7
    Blade & Soul isn't very innovative in the player versus environment perspective but the combat is definitely worth experiencing. If you are a fan of arena based PvP where your stats are normalized against everyone else's and your latency/skill are all that determine the winner then this is a very enjoyable game. Combat is very similar to the way fighting games work where invulnerabilityBlade & Soul isn't very innovative in the player versus environment perspective but the combat is definitely worth experiencing. If you are a fan of arena based PvP where your stats are normalized against everyone else's and your latency/skill are all that determine the winner then this is a very enjoyable game. Combat is very similar to the way fighting games work where invulnerability frames, timing, mind games, and skill upgrade points being placed into the right slots make all the difference.

    I wish I could rate the game much higher but the North American release of the game is poorly optimized. This alone stopped me from giving it a 9. The other issue is that because all of the servers, as far as i'm aware, are all located in one central location which is Texas. The EU servers are located in Germany as far as the forumites have told me. This makes it pretty hard for anyone outside of those countries to get the best ping possible when it comes to arena so for those located in South America, Australia, and just anyone else that wants to play the game with friends from across the world as well as doing the cross server dungeons it may not be the best experience possible versus other MMORPGs at the moment.

    The reason I can't give this game an 8 is mainly for PvE reasons. For a game that is several years old at this point in Asia it seems that the localization team decided not to give players the option to select optional voice overs that already exist for the game. For many players who are fans of Asian games and want the Korean, Japanese, or even Chinese voice overs you will have to seek outside sources in order to achieve the ability to do so. Although this isn't a huge turn off for players like myself there are many who voiced this concern before the game's launch and the developers did very little to add a simple feature.

    The game's overall story is a very simple tale of revenge. To leave out spoilers but still give an idea to players that only care for the PvE content simply imagine a Kung Fu style movie where there is a chosen one. This chosen one must do great deeds to prove themselves and eventually gain enough power to defeat their enemy. Although the story is currently being held behind patches for the NA/EU release it appears that the writing doesn't get much better than that. Fans of Wuxia style anime or movies such as Kung Fu Hussle, Bruce Lee films and others this will give enough to keep you going.

    Although the game does feature a premium membership it is not entirely necessary. It does confer exp bonuses, monetary gains, discounts in the cash shop, and a decrease in your fast travel cooldown it doesn't feel like it is really helpful unless you have the 12 dollars and some change a month to burn. The cash shop is also refreshing to see as it is not pay to win at all. There are convenience items that can speed up your progress but nothing that will ever make you better than another player simply because you or they have more money to spend. The outfits, for the most part, have variants that can be earned in game with some exceptions that are exclusive to the shop. Some players have stated that those specific outfits don't look very great and I'd have to agree.

    Overall BnS is a very fun game and one that I've enjoyed for over a hundred hours now in both the Arena and PvE dungeons/campaign. The game has its fair share of bots which are slowly being dealt with by the devs and it feels like the early days of Final Fantasy A Realm Reborn's launch. The graphics aren't amazing but they look decent but with the game's poor optimization even my rig consisting of a mid range PC:

    CPU: AMD FX-8350 Black Edition Overclocked to 4.3Ghz
    RAM:16 GB DDR3 1600Mhz (Team)
    GPU: Geforce Gigabyte GTX960 2GB DDR5 factory overclocked
    OS:Windows 10
    HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM

    The game only hits 60fps when there are no players around or i'm in a dungeon with only 6 players with the graphics settings set to auto. it dips to under 30fps in populated areas even with the option to hide players enabled. In the arena i'm always at 60fps even when in 1v1 or 3v3 Tag matches with all players using skills and effects enabled to max. It just seems like the game wants to die when players enter the area regardless of being hidden, skill effects disabled, view distance disabled etc...

    On the forums there are even players complaining that GTX 980TIs are having issues or GTX770s are running the game with sub-par settings and still not able to consistently hold 60fps in a game running the Unreal Engine 3 and that is four years old.

    BnS is fun and if you enjoy PvP it is definitely worth checking out as it has a strong esports community in Korea and hopefully, with enough updates, can achieve a strong following in the U.S. and Europe.    … Expand
  89. NubNub
    Jan 15, 2017
    9
    I started playing this game because I was trying out Tera and I couldn't get into it because it seemed more like an arcade game, rather than an actual MMO, almost like i was playing Borderlands only with more people.

    Blade and Soul reminds me of an actual MMO! It takes all the things that are great about Tera, character customization, FPS style targeting, and then introduces all the    I started playing this game because I was trying out Tera and I couldn't get into it because it seemed more like an arcade game, rather than an actual MMO, almost like i was playing Borderlands only with more people.

    Blade and Soul reminds me of an actual MMO! It takes all the things that are great about Tera, character customization, FPS style targeting, and then introduces all the elements you love from classic MMOs like Everquest and World of Warcraft, like unique quests, an involved and engaging story line, and that feeling like you've actually done something worthwhile! The game really is amazing and most of the complaints you find occurred when the game was new. I don't lag and I can PvP with a ping above 100ms.

    The character classes are different enough that switching to something else, doesn't feel like you're doing the same thing with different animations. There are a large number of different skills you can use and the degree of specialization it allows is amazing. You decide what skills you want to improve and which you don't.

    The dialogue is thoughtful and engaging and the voice actors are amazing. The fact that they don't have a lot of big name voice actors, like Tera, yet it still manage to give you a story you want to finish just gives the game more props! This isn't a difficult game to play early on. I didn't die til level 15 (but to be honest I've made it to 35th on PvE in WoW without dying), however later on it does require some thought and skill in order to do well.

    I would recommend this game to anyone who is a fan of Martial Arts, or a fan of Classic MMOs, but looking for something a bit different. If you're new to MMOs, this would also be a good one to start, because it really does capture the classic MMO feel, but at the same time improves the game play, so it's simpler, but not necessarily simple. (I like to say more intuitive.)

    If you have the time, give it whirl, play for awhile and see what you think. It's not a perfect game, but it's the best Free to Play game I've run across and, seriously, it doesn't cost you a dime to be able to play and enjoy the game, and it allows you to do everything that the cash players can do, just not quite as often. Plus, everything in the game is available through currency you gain from in story line quests and daily quests. You can get everything someone willing to pay cash can, you just have to work a little harder to get it. But that makes sense, since this is free to play and they have to make money somehow.    … Expand
  90. Holdthedoor
    Jun 6, 2016
    2
    At first it look promising, I went through korean gameplay videos before it release for West and it was amazing, I signed up for beta and I loved it, however, after it release though thing went wrong, real wrong, it completely transcend into pay to win category game, those who have money to buy gold spend like crazy to level up weapons, at first I start catching up with those rich playersAt first it look promising, I went through korean gameplay videos before it release for West and it was amazing, I signed up for beta and I loved it, however, after it release though thing went wrong, real wrong, it completely transcend into pay to win category game, those who have money to buy gold spend like crazy to level up weapons, at first I start catching up with those rich players by using trade, earning a little gold everyday but it never enough, greed in the game trading system keep rising like clinton and G.W Bush campaign promises and even with all my account character crafting Moonwater transformation stones 4.5 gold piece each average ingame price atm for 10 stone give me 45 gold and it cost me around 30 gold to craft it sometime even higher, just left me 15 or less gold. It take 24hr to craft those stone, everyday I was going through same routine again and again, and price in market sometime goes down to 2 gold per piece, at that time I just stop crafting because it cost me more to craft then selling and get profit, but that not a problem for those rich players. They just get what they want and those player who can't do so, well we stuck with repetitive quest to farm gold everyday. For those who can only play for few hours a day, it just impossible. Game story is amazing, gameplay is amazing, graphic is also amazing for old game but for me this game is ruined by all those rich A **** players who can't stop showing how rich they are, they change fashion every week with real money from market and they buy it and showed it to rest of the server, brag about it, twitch it, twit it, facebook it, they even sms about it. Just imagine you are in group of 6, 5 are rich with fashion and stuffs, bragging about their gold or their weapon upgrade, they showed it in your face, and you stand alone there with no gold and stone to upgrade weapon with begger outfit waiting for them to end their talking, how cute their pets look, how amazing the outfit goes with the hair pin, they don't even care about dungeon quest, they hardly participate after few run, because they have everything they got why to repet endlessly. Some players are poorer then the summoner's summoned cats for god sake. THose cat have premium outfit and fashion 1000x better then a normal player.

    This game is amazing but it will be ruined by all those who want to show off how rich they are or those who want to use it to make themselve popular in social sites. Wish there MMORPG which doesn't need trade system because like all other MMORPG this game is ruined by same system every show off players created "pay to win"

    This game is only for rich people same as all other MMORPG.

    F****** rich bas**** players, not only people like you ruined the real world for us, you even ruined virtual world.

    I don't blame NCSOFT, they do need economy to run such games, its the players who ruined it.

    Good bye one of my favorite game (╯︵╰,)
    This is hodor, signing out (╯︵╰,)

    To all those who ruined this game and real world, both
    ............./´¯/)........... (¯`
    ............/....//........... .......
    .........../....//............ ........
    ...../´¯/..../´¯.........../¯ `....¯`
    .././.../..../..../.|_......_| ...............
    (.(....(....(..../.)..)..(..(. ....)....)....).)
    ................./.../..... ../................/
    ................... /........................../
    ..................(.......... ..)................/
    ............................ ../............./    … Expand
  91. Newksol
    Apr 11, 2017
    1
    Typical Korean grinder and child molester trainer. Avoid at all costs. Horrible art, music, 'combat' and you get to play dress up with underage girls. A true NCSoft quality product
  92. Inuyasha17
    Jun 22, 2020
    10
    The biggest advantage of this game is action. As a non-targeting RPG game, I've never seen such an actionable game.
    However, the game is too difficult if it is both good and bad.
    And there's a slight lack of optimization. How difficult the game is, this RPG game is much more difficult than Dark Soul, Sekiro Shadows Die Twice, Ni-oh, Bloodborn. No matter how good I am with my weapons    The biggest advantage of this game is action. As a non-targeting RPG game, I've never seen such an actionable game.
    However, the game is too difficult if it is both good and bad.
    And there's a slight lack of optimization.
    How difficult the game is, this RPG game is much more difficult than Dark Soul, Sekiro Shadows Die Twice, Ni-oh, Bloodborn.
    No matter how good I am with my weapons and armor, I can still be killed in a low-level attack at once.
    But other than that, it is a good RPG game with many advantages.
    It's at least much more actionable and fun than trash games like Last of Earth 2.    … Expand
  93. MMOGOLDPRICE
    Jul 30, 2020
    9
    I love this game, it's been free to play in western for a long time now. Lots of good reasons to keep coming back, one of those is the community. Also, is newbie friendly; so if this is your first MMO you are in for a show. You will find guides everywhere and a very strong reddit community, also you don't need to spend so much hours playing or farming. Give it a go and you will all love it.
  94. mutenomic
    Jan 6, 2021
    10
    Blade and Soul is a Korean game with like anime style and Chinese culture mixed. people who review this under 10 stars are just 7yro trolls who don't like eastern culture. It has a great storyline(the best actually), and the classes are not named wizards or knights or something else. Lyns are so cute and gunslinger is very good.

    The community is friendly nowadays and this is a game    Blade and Soul is a Korean game with like anime style and Chinese culture mixed. people who review this under 10 stars are just 7yro trolls who don't like eastern culture. It has a great storyline(the best actually), and the classes are not named wizards or knights or something else. Lyns are so cute and gunslinger is very good.

    The community is friendly nowadays and this is a game that can substitute WoW since it is free. IMO this game has the best cutscenes and those trolls are too poor to afford something better than a potato and don't use BNSBUDDY, the launcher I use (tick fix loading screen).

    TLDR: play this if u can't afford World of Warcraft.    … Expand
  95. Shekky
    Feb 22, 2018
    0
    Great gameplay, interesting storyline. Arena will be good again when scripters finally get banned.

    Poor optimzation of the game causes horrible framerates, and all servers being in texas cause horrible ping for people in canada and those farther away from the server location. Developers need to focus on optimizing the game for newer hardware rather then pumping out content. Update: I    Great gameplay, interesting storyline. Arena will be good again when scripters finally get banned.

    Poor optimzation of the game causes horrible framerates, and all servers being in texas cause horrible ping for people in canada and those farther away from the server location. Developers need to focus on optimizing the game for newer hardware rather then pumping out content.

    Update: I have since tried to comeback and give BNS a shot again and the game causes BSOD (Critical Process Died) if you can get this game to run good luck but NCsoft support is beyond trash don't bother putting in a ticket to try to get them to solve your issue as your just waisting your time.    … Expand
  96. T3Dragoon
    Oct 31, 2016
    2
    The graphics of this game look really cool. Game play seemed fun. I do not recommend this game to anyone. The people helping you there are not helpful. I tried to purchase a year long subscription. It got declined. While trying to find out the reason the customer support bounced back and forth on whether the problem was on my end or on their end. In the end it was never resolved all theyThe graphics of this game look really cool. Game play seemed fun. I do not recommend this game to anyone. The people helping you there are not helpful. I tried to purchase a year long subscription. It got declined. While trying to find out the reason the customer support bounced back and forth on whether the problem was on my end or on their end. In the end it was never resolved all they did was say for me to try and purchase it again. I tried multiple times. Did have one person apologize. So good on you for that.… Expand
  97. quix0te
    Aug 6, 2022
    1
    This is, in fact, a bad MMO. It has good elements (the twitch style play had a lot of potential). I sank five or six hours into the game and finally gave up. Its possible it got better later, but I wasn't hanging around.
    The core gameplay appeared to be:
    1)Talk to questgiver, often with a mandatory cutscence. 1min 2)Walk to quest location, 3 to 5 minutes. 3a)Talk to another person.    This is, in fact, a bad MMO. It has good elements (the twitch style play had a lot of potential). I sank five or six hours into the game and finally gave up. Its possible it got better later, but I wasn't hanging around.
    The core gameplay appeared to be:
    1)Talk to questgiver, often with a mandatory cutscence. 1min
    2)Walk to quest location, 3 to 5 minutes.
    3a)Talk to another person. 1 min.
    3b)Fight a thing. Just one. 10 secs to 30 secs.
    4)Go back to quest giver/on to next quest giver. 20 secs to 5 mins.
    Repeat.
    I stopped at lvl 18.
    At no time did I feel threatened nor did my life bar dip below 80%.
    The overwhelming majority of the game was trudging. There is a sprint mechanic, but it uses stamina, which gets exhausted after 20 secs or so.
    This is a bad game. If you haven't played Guild Wars 2, play that instead. It is superior in every. single. way. I believe it is free as well.
    For 10$, you can play Elder Scrolls Online, which is also superior in ever.single.way. Except the auction house, which is kind of crap in ESO.    … Expand
  98. AJCk19
    Apr 19, 2023
    4
    Get rid of management or people who make the lead decisions on this game. Because they are strangling such great potential. The combat, Asian aesthetics, rpg elements, and graphics are top tier. But they decided to not optimize the games coding, so you need a 2k or higher machine from year 2023. In order to run it between medium and max settings. Even in this situation, when things get toGet rid of management or people who make the lead decisions on this game. Because they are strangling such great potential. The combat, Asian aesthetics, rpg elements, and graphics are top tier. But they decided to not optimize the games coding, so you need a 2k or higher machine from year 2023. In order to run it between medium and max settings. Even in this situation, when things get to crazy in the battle, your fps might still drop.

    Then the final nail in the coffin for me, was them getting rid of controller support. If the game doesn't care about retaining its' user based, it is bound to fail at that point. One thing about a mmo, it needs a dedicated base more than other games. It is no fun playing on a souless server.

    If I could give half point ratings, I would even be willing to give it a 4.5, but it just doesn't deserve a full 5 out of 10.    … Expand
  99. Ainalcar
    Jan 18, 2017
    1
    A well made pvp mmo buried under horrible servers (literally unplayable without a vpn despite living 100km away from the server's location), repetitive grind and to date the worst customer support I have ever witnessed.

    Keep your hands away from NCWest at all times.
  100. DLknoll
    May 3, 2016
    5
    For how old the game is it is pretty good, combat is nice and very combo heavy. Which is different when compared to a game such as tera which also has a combat system thought more skills and items to use then compared to BnS. (Still prefer tera's combat as I feel there is never a time when i'm stuck just spamming auto do to being unable to cast ability one after another as apposed to BnS.)For how old the game is it is pretty good, combat is nice and very combo heavy. Which is different when compared to a game such as tera which also has a combat system thought more skills and items to use then compared to BnS. (Still prefer tera's combat as I feel there is never a time when i'm stuck just spamming auto do to being unable to cast ability one after another as apposed to BnS.)

    The story line is rather interesting and the side quests are more or less essential to lvling with the typical gathering, kill amount and return quests.

    The games PvP is actually really **** good when in arena, it balances gear and lvls for the 1v1 and tag team matching. So even if you are fighting a lvl 50 player if you can land a successful counter you can still hurt them alot.

    What I honestly hate about this game is open world PvP, the faction system and gear progression. The open world PvP is horribly unbalanced since it is related to factions, there is nothing stopping high lvls from camping out faction areas to kill lower lvl players as the NPC's in the camp areas are only scaled for that areas lvl. The faction sizes are also extremely disproportional with one side always being larger than the other side for no reason. If you had given me the option to not join a faction then I would have been more then content to be a solo player and not bother with the blue and red fighting. But since the game forces you either in early lvls or later on to pick one side, as well as the fact a item which is needed in practically every crafting guild can only be obtained in decent quantity through faction dailies, its just horrible should you be on during peek hours and in the not as popular faction.

    Gear progression is a nightmare after you hit 36 as the game no longer give you even 1 of the 20+ stones you will eventually need to upgrade your weapon, 3~5 accessory items. You'll also need a lot of gold, which sadly unless you craft and play the market or run a lot of end game dungeons is very scarce while lvling due to low quest rewards.
    The game is also hosted by NCsoft who have never really had a successful game that wasn't plagued with bugs, bad servers, bots out the window (literally you will see a bot every 5 minutes, if not then they will probably be spamming chat 20 times in a second.) All i    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

43
#43 Most Discussed PC Game of 2016
81
#81 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
68

Mixed or average reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 26
  3. Negative: 0 out of 26
  1. Games.cz
    May 18, 2016
    70
    Addictive MMORPG with a classic core, whose main attraction is a great and entertaining fight together with a number of well-functioning systems. Only some particular technical problems and boring quests prevent the gem to achieve the greater score.
    Read full review
  2. Everyeye.it
    Apr 20, 2016
    68
    We waited a lot to play Balde & Soul, but NCSOFT's MMO arrives on the west market a little too late. The action oriented combat system is interesting and well designed, but PvP is still unbalanced and the endgame is tasteless and boring. The game, in conclusion, has very good intuitions but a very bad structure.
    Read full review
  3. CD-Action
    Mar 30, 2016
    65
    A belated game following the band of other Korean MMOs vanishing on the horizon. [03/2016, p.58]
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