Nuverse has announced that Ragnarok X: Next Generation will officially launch on June 18, 2021 in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore. Pre-registration is available on the App Store and Google Play Store. If you haven’t been following them yet, they have been doing a pre-registration event that will give prizes to players depending on how many pre-register. Currently, it’s just over 600,000.
In the closed beta test that just ended May 8, 2021, over 50,000 players created characters in the fabled land of Midgard, with most people, including me, were amazed by the numerous gameplay improvements and innovations. During testing, Archer was the top choice among gamers, followed by Mage and Swordsman. In addition, players were very satisfied with the localized in-game content including the plot, voice-acting, and even a helpful tutorial for Novices. The real-time message translation function also came as a helpful surprise to many players.
Players were most impressed by the experience of exploring the beautiful and inventive 3D open world in the test version of Ragnarok X: Next Generation. Besides completing main quests to level up, hanging out with friends in a diverse array of incredible panoramas, players can also experience the game’s epic storyline by joining forces with others to battle various bosses. Players can harness unique abilities from different classes to battle challenging bosses and become MVP. The well-known Endless Tower also makes a return, with all new rogue-like features, ensuring each attempt is different from the last. Players can also enjoy Guild vs. Guild combat, special plots explaining the backstories of familiar NPCs, and tons of other additional features in development that will be launched soon.
If you don’t want to fight anymore, you can relax(kinda) with the new Casual Classes system! Try your hand at fishing, mining, gardening, smelting, cooking, and crafting, all of which give players the chance to enjoy other activities Midgard to the fullest.
The removal of in-game cash shops was also celebrated by players during the testing period. Through three distinct currencies (Zeny, Diamonds, and Crystals), and the establishment of the Exchange Center as well as the Diamond Auction House, to build an economy that can support the in-game community of Ragnarok X: Next Generation. Not only can they sell items through the exchange center, but Merchant jobs can also set up stalls to sell items or trade resources with other players at any time.
The new wardrobe feature is another charm according to recent player feedback. With plenty of cute accessories to choose from, players can freely customize their characters and even boost key attributes like strength and HP. Players can also choose from a wide selection of mounts to stand out even more. Some job classes will even have exclusive mounts only they can use!
I was lucky to be one of the Closed beta testers of the game. I really enjoyed it with my friends. The most notable and welcome change was the voice-acting and cut scenes during main story missions. I also frequented the Exchange center a lot during my time in-game, selling what I had gathered through my life class. It was also a nice call back to the original PC game to have merchant classes opening stalls in the streets of Prontera, with the refreshing new added feature of purchasing items from players. I didn’t get to experience the PvP mechanics of the game much, or the Endless Tower, as we couldn’t get past the first floor due to the Deviling’s curse. The official press release mentioned there was a real-time message translation function, but I don’t think I noticed it in my chat boxes as they were filled with the Thai language for most of the time. Though I did notice that for a time the game was in different writing, when I reloaded the game it became English, which might be the function the developers were alluding to.