Lost Ark Review – An Original Diablo-Like

Lost Ark is a popular Korean MMORPG. Recently receiving a western release, Lost Ark has exploded in popularity with the English-speaking audience, becoming one of the most played games on Steam overnight. As someone who’s spent a lot of time searching for the titular Lost Ark, here’s my review of the top-down MMO.

An Original Diablo-Like

I first learned about Lost Ark through a friend of mine. He had been eagerly tracking the development of Lost Ark’s western release for what seemed like forever, and as it came closer to the game’s release he began to share it with the entire group. When it came time to play, everyone had a class and got into the game as soon as they were allowed.

I preordered the game, meaning I was able to get into it a few days early, much like many of my other friends. I can say that immediately, Lost Ark didn’t live up to its hype; The incredibly flashy class previews gave an impression that actually playing the classes didn’t live up to. It took me three characters before I finally found the class I enjoyed playing, and it certainly wasn’t what I expected.

The explosive combat of Lost Ark doesn’t suit most of its campaign, either. There are a lot of fetch quests, a lot of “go here and talk to x” missions that really underwhelm when playing. Though often finished very quickly, these quests are sort of a drag to get through, and I had a lot more fun simply walking from place to place and killing mobs along the way.

Where Lost Ark really began to shine was when I hit the game’s first dungeon. Able to tackle it with just my best friend at my side, it was a cool combat encounter that tested both of our skills with our classes without feeling overwhelming. The fact that matchmaking or playing with strangers wasn’t necessary was a refreshing change of pace from the MMORPG formula.

As we continued further into the story, these dungeons became harder and harder, but I can’t recall a single time I felt as though matchmaking was necessary to progress. That’s not to say the dungeons were a breeze, either, as there were certainly more than a few close calls, anxiously watching the revive counter on my screen tick down as my partner fought off waves and waves of enemies eager to take her down.

Fighting in Lost Ark is truly, truly where the fun of the game is found. Using the same 6 or so abilities can get tiring, but Lost Ark rewards progression with ways to upgrade and change your existing skills as well as unlock new ones. This system keeps fighting from feeling stale, as you’ll have something new to experience shortly after mastering what you already have.

Unfortunately, a lot of the game is the aforementioned fetch quests. While the story begins to pick up a bit later, there are still a lot of boring bits to sludge through, and the entire opening of the game felt like I was taking a nap with one big interesting bit interrupting me. Getting to level 50 in the main quest is honestly kind of a drag.

Thankfully, Lost Ark doesn’t end there. The so-called end game of Lost Ark is actually the true beginning, giving you access to a ton of content that changes how combat works and lots of new game modes aside from the fetch-questy story.

Final Rating

Lost Ark is a game with a lot of interesting concepts. It tries to be different than other Eastern MMORPGS on the market, and in the most important ways it is. However, there are parts of the game that are just too similar to the worst in the genre: Gender-locked classes, sub-par localization, frustrating UI design and lots of unnecessary grinding and real-time waiting that keep the game from being perfect.

Our Lost Ark review was written based on the PC version of the game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles in the Game Reviews section of our website!