"Ragnarok Online." I remember this game's heyday during the early 2000s like it was yesterday. A good number of my peers were completely addicted to it, while as a youngster, I barely had any access to video games until I reached my high school days.
RO banner
Since then, I've always been more of a Triple A gamer, especially when I got to start building gaming PCs of my own. As such, a free-to-play MMORPG like "Ragnarok Online" was never really on the radar-until now.
I decided to try it out and see what the fuss was about. The closed beta released quite recently, and I had a week to see for myself how this type of game handles-as a person who has never, ever played this game (or any other game like it) ever.
A Surprisingly Expansive World
Now, I'm pretty sure that I've never seen a game map quite like what RO had. I've seen my share of expansive open-world maps that contain hours upon hours of lore and content to discover, but I didn't expect a map of RO's caliber, especially due to how old the game is-it launched way back on August 31, 2002.
This now 20-year-old game had me a little surprised (maybe a little bit floored) by how expansive the entire map is. I've seen big recent releases have smaller maps than this, but I think the game's world mechanics have started to show its age a bit.
One of the main problems I had was the apparent lack of tutorials on how I could reach all of the different cities and towns littering the world. Now, I might be just reaching, but I'm chalking this up to the technological limitations present during the game's maiden release. Modern games have improved on the travel mechanics of their worlds over the years, but maybe this kind of system does contribute partly to the game's charm two decades on. I just don't know how, and I didn't feel compelled enough to learn.
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Not Too Friendly For Newcomers
If you're an absolute newcomer to this type of game like I was, you'll be feeling lost-a lot. While the game does have tutorials, most of them aren't too clear on how you're supposed to do stuff. I felt like I had to figure out most of the controls and mechanics on my own, mostly by watching beginner's guides on YouTube and whatnot.
Another thing that stood out to me is how other players (most of them having invested likely thousands of hours on this game over the years) reacted to a noob like myself. Whenever I asked to party up with a few of them, they didn't seem interested in handling a newcomer that was not part of their initial social circle. Maybe they thought I wouldn't be able to pull my own weight when they go do a quest as a party? I'm not at liberty to assume.
I know that in this type of game, partying up with friends or even strangers you just met online is critical to getting the most out of the experience. If you go into an MMORPG looking to play solo, you're not going to enjoy it--bar none. That's part of the appeal of MMOs as a whole--socialization and doing things together in a world where players control almost everything, I assume.
Now, I'm pretty sure this is just due to all my years of playing single-player games (I usually don't play video games with my friends online), but I believe this kind of culture can intimidate new players into just figuring things out on their own and not enjoying it as much as the old-timers.
Leveling Up Isn't Too Complicated, But Has Its Issues
Now, I'm no stranger to leveling up a character in a video game. I've played numerous games where leveling up and gaining powerful new abilities seemed to be a chore, and I don't think that's the case with "Ragnarok Online." I do believe it is actually easier to level up in this kind of game because, as far as I know, the quests are quite simple: go here, buy this, kill that, get rewarded, party up, etc.
But this easy level-up system has issues. I found it quite hard to understand how skill points work. I remember spending hours trying to figure out how to apply those skill points so my character can use them, which made me miss how bigger games do their skill trees and leveling. And to be honest, RO didn't even make me feel like I SHOULD learn how the system works: I just let it be.
An Insane Amount Of Player Agency I've Never Seen Before
You know how games like "Skyrim" say you can do whatever you want? Well, that kind of game is nothing compared to an MMORPG like RO, as I saw it for myself. In this kind of game, I learned that literally "anything goes," which can be a boon for a specific type of player looking to, say, fully role-play and immerse themselves in this expansive world.
However, somebody who's used to playing games where there's a predetermined, clear goal can find this level of player agency jarring. I, for one, kept on asking myself what in the world is my purpose in this universe-is it to be the best at my character class? To beat some otherworldly final boss and save the world?
I think this is one of the main reasons why MMORPGs will only cater to a specific type of gamer. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted it to, I wasn't the kind of player that would fit right within this kind of universe. And I believe there's nothing wrong with that.
Final Thoughts
All in all, the "Ragnarok Online" closed beta felt more of an experiment to me. It was something incredibly new to me as a player, which made me want to discover what makes this kind of game tick. It's not made for somebody like myself, but I do understand the charm of this game that has allowed it to persist for two, decades-something I'll never ever find in any other game I've ever played.
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Story posted on GameNGuide
Written by RJ Pierce
