MMORPG News: ArcheAge 2, Genshin Impact, Zenith, Lost Ark, Craftopia, Gran Saga, The Herb, New World

Alright, this is an exciting week! We have a lot to talk about, like pretty much every week. New MMORPGs. MMO announcements. MMO launches. I hope you guys are ready for this!
We’ve got quite a bit to talk about in this week’s Weekly Byte of MMORPG News video. So let’s jump right in!

Alright. Let’s start this off with Gran Saga first. NPIXEL, the developers behind the game announced earlier this week that the game would be entering their first stage of Closed Beta testing with the pre-registration open between September 9th through September 20th, 2020.
I have a guide for how to pre-register for those of you interested in applying. NPIXEL have confirmed that they are looking to release Gran Saga next year, with them further going on to confirm that they’re looking to launch globally towards the end of 2021, at the latest the beginning of 2022.
Whether we should or shouldn’t be excited for the upcoming MMO will be dependent on how the gameplay looks after their Closed Beta, as I don’t see any mention of an NDA in place meaning we should see official gameplay hitting the internet shortly after.

I’ve been keeping my eye on Corepunk all year. It’s an isometric MMO that I think deserves some time and attention, as I believe it’s going to be a sleeper hit when it releases. And little by little that’s becoming a reality.
Last week Artificial Core, the developers behind the game elaborated on a few things: The change in questing interface and structure, options when talking to NPCs, taking and completing quests.
And most importantly, they reaffirmed their December Closed Beta test. Yup. If you weren’t already aware, then the MMO is going into Closed Beta testing during December 2020, with hopes to get the game into a “playable and polished state” before it releases next year, if everything falls nicely into place.

Yup, this is a thing that’s actually happening. After the success, or rather, failure that ArcheAge Unchained had it turns XLGames and Kakao are working towards releasing a brand new ArcheAge MMORPG: ArcheAge 2.
Very little is known about the game right now. However, it has been confirmed to be retaining its sandbox elements – a feature I know a lot of players would be highly disappointed in if they were to remove them.
The game is also being developed using Unreal Engine 5 – yes, no Unreal Engine 3, no Unreal Engine 4, even. Unreal Engine 5. This definitely means the game is a ways off, unfortunately for players wanting to try it out in the immediate future.
This is their attempt at making an MMO that is somewhat of an amalgamation of “WoW and Lineage,” according to Jake Song, the CEO of the new ArcheAge 2 development division.
Kakao and XLGames revealed that this is going to be “the largest next-generation AAA MMORPG” – but when the MMORPG launches might provide quite a bit more competition than they envision.

So here’s an MMO I bet you haven’t heard about: The Herb. Yes, laugh at the name all you want. I got a chuckle out of it as well.
The game is being touted as a “Classical MMORPG combined with innovations where adventures await behind every corner!” The Herb is set on an alien planet, where extremely rare and valuable herbs grow.
Yes, thus the title of the game. You take on the role of a member of a secret organization, who’s quest is to save the inhabitants of the planet.
The upcoming MMO has a large focus on both PvE and PvP, has a functional guild system, pets, mounts and.. well, honestly, I’m a little concerned as when you have to tell people that redeeming features of your game are “functional guilds” and “mounts,” it’s likely a sign for the worse.
Honestly, the game doesn’t look bad, I’m just uncertain of whether or not it’s going to be good.

Black Desert Online just had a brand new class added into the game: The Hashashin. I had the opportunity to take the class for a test-run, and I’ll admit it was a lotta fun. Definitely not as fun as the Guardian, but more fun than various other classes I’ve attempted over my years in the game.
Additionally, the update that brings with it the brand new O’dyllita region is on the horizon for players interested in new areas to explore and new content to conquer!

The new Population Zero MMORPG has hit single-digit player numbers as of September 2020 – a far cry from what they were no doubt expecting. There are a number of reasons for this, but that’s not what this segment is about.
The developers behind Population Zero went on to reveal that while the game is still currently in Early Access, they don’t really have any type of roadmap, nor do they have any real direction for the game with updates coming when and if they can.
Which is very disconcerting news to hear, especially from an MMO that charged players to play it. Whether they can turn this around and salvage the game remains to be seen, but this is definitely not worth the price tag attached.

So I participated in the New World Preview event that went on last week and have my thoughts up in video form. Suffice it to say: I found that the game definitely needed a lot of work, but ultimately it wasn’t a bad title.
It wasn’t a very good MMO, for sure, but as an adventure game, as a PvP game, as a survival game, it wasn’t bad. Now one of the things that made it feel less like an MMO was the fact that there was just.. nothing to do.
Amazon have confirmed that they’ve realized there’s a lack of content, and are in the process of developing more “mid and end game content” along with various different “features that are just fun,” providing more overall for players to do – hopefully together, cooperatively.
As cooperative play right now wasn’t really necessary. They also confirmed they’re working on adding more “game modes, land mass, AI variety, additional weapon types, quest variety and more.”
They have over half a year to successfully implement all of these things – things that are necessary for the success of the upcoming MMO. Will they manage to pull this off or will it end up going the graveyard route like their last attempt?
They have a brand new testing phase coming in November for players that are interested. They haven’t shared anything further pertaining to what specifically that entails, but you guys know I’ll keep you all updated when they do.

Nexon announced last week that they were working on 2 brand new upcoming games, one of which happens to be an MMORPG. They confirmed that this, much like ArcheAge 2 is going to be a “AAA-class masterpiece that can satisfy users in all aspects such as content and visuals.”
They released a little information concerning the game, such as the fact that it’s going to be set in a medieval fantasy setting. Which is.. well, Nexon are obsessed with medieval fantasy settings, so this isn’t anything new.
It’ll have magic, a seamless open world without loading screens and it’s going to be cross-platform compatible between PC and mobile devices.

NCSoft have confirmed the official title for Project TL: “TL: Origin.” And you know what? They also confirmed that TL: Origin is not going to be launching this year, but, they’re expecting to release in 2021 if their Closed Beta – which will in fact be happening this year, goes smoothly.
TL: Origin was originally being built as a competitor to Lost Ark, but has undergone a plethora of changes over the years with NCSoft confirming that the game is now being built for “a global audience in mind” as opposed to the South Korean playerbase.
This is the first time they’ve done this and honestly I hope it pays off as this is a step in the right direction. Additionally, they also went on to confirm that they’re looking to launch TL: Origin onto the PS4 next year as well, something I guarantee you’re all excited for!

I have a much more in-depth, much more detailed Genshin Impact video coming next week ’cause let’s be real.. there’s a lot to talk about ahead of its release later this month, but not long ago they went ahead and released a brand new trailer for the game.
It was what, 12, 13 minutes long and went on to detail several new characters, current characters, expand on the story – I mean heck, it showed things both Mrs Stix and I don’t recall seeing when she played through it.
Not only that, but they’ve also expanded the rewards obtained for various activities before the game launches. There are pre-registration rewards for hitting the 3 million milestone, but they also went ahead and listed additional rewards such as top-up bonuses, event-exclusive characters, gliders, weapons and more.
Remember, Genshin Impact is going to be launching on September 28th, 2020 on PC, Mobile and PS4. That’s just 16 days from now. If you haven’t yet, make sure you go ahead and pre-register!

Like Genshin Impact, I have a much more detailed video coming on Zenith. You can probably find it right now if you navigate on over to the channel videos page and look at the playlists. It’s probably uploaded and set as Unlisted right now!
Zenith, though, just opened up their Steam page ahead of their upcoming Alpha. To accompany this announcement, this reveal, the developers behind the game went ahead and included a brand new trailer, showcasing various aspects of the game you can look forward to.
We get a glimpse of much more of the world than ever before, we get shown skills, combat.
But that’s just part of what we have to look forward to, as it was confirmed there is significantly more to do in the Alpha, promising new environments, new classes, and most importantly, new enemy mechanics as currently enemies are a little basic.
Zenith is the first VR MMO that I’ve ever covered, and is probably the only VR MMO that I think is really worth taking the time to invest time and research into as it’s probably the only good, functional looking title on the horizon.

Craftopia is a cute new multiplayer survival action game made in Japan. Which means you can bet we’re not only going to be streaming this, but also recording it.
Because.. well, we love Japanese games, and it has a “very positive” review on Steam, which is reassuring considering we’ve been told by everyone to take a look at it.
The game just launched into Early Access, and is available right now via Steam for $25. Mrs Stix and I should have something up on this soon but until then, if you want to… I urge you to go ahead and try it out. Worst case scenario you refund it.

We got some good news for Japanese Lost Ark players! GameOn announced earlier this week that they’ll be officially launching Lost Ark in Japan on the 23rd of September. With the Japanese iteration out of the way, all we have left to wait for is Amazon to announce when they plan on releasing the game globally next year.