For those who are in the know, a third mobile MMORPG based on Ragnarok Online appeared in China last week, titled Ragnarok M: New Start!. With no IP block for its first Closed Beta, gamers from all over flooded the servers, something which I am personally not happy about due to the chat channels being flooded with the usual foreign languages. Nevertheless, we jumped into Ragnarok M: New Start! for a quick spin. Read on below!
With all the details out of the way, let’s just say that New Start! is definitely the closest to a proper mobile game compared with the other two, though it certainly has many elements copied from Love at First Sight. Well, both are from the same developer after all. I am not sure how Tencent Games would feel about this, but there are also rumors that New Start! will replace Love at First Sight. That is another piece of gossip and article for another time.
Other than missing the Merchant and 2-2 classes, the playable classes in this Closed Beta 1 version are about the same as the original Ragnarok Online. I am still wondering why The Dream Network is not aiming to build a proper mobile sequel to Ragnarok Online, rather than repeating the same formula on a different template for all three games. Maybe it some a contractual issue, but the Ragnarok Online IP will get exhausting if this continues.
To be honest, other than having re-arranged UI and UX for mobile devices, along with slightly better graphics than Love at First Sight (maybe), there is nothing new which New Start! offers. Ok, maybe a few new mounts and cosmetic items, which is nothing to shout about. According to the language selection screen within settings, it seems that New Start! is preparing for an overseas launch with empty slots for many other languages to be added. I hated Ragnarok M: Eternal Love, but any of the other two will definitely make me happy if launched worldwide. Stay tuned for more updates about the Ragnarok M games!
