Netmarble Announce New Arthdal Chronicles Footage at G-Star 2022

Finding the right MMO is always a difficult task. The genre is overrun by mediocre trash that tries to dress itself up nicely to give off the illusion it’s a passable game.
Netmarble and Blizzard are two of the largest culprits this year, releasing the auto-play, blockchain MMO Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds and the horrendously pay to win Diablo Immortal respectively.
The worst part of all this is that neither game is actually bad at their core. Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds is gorgeous, fun, and filled with personality. And Diablo Immortal.. is a Diablo game.
These are fun MMOs with a lot of potential – that have been ruined by greed.

Which leads me to today.
Netmarble’s CEO has announced that they are going to be showcasing 4 new games at G-Star 2022.
The Solo Leveling Anime RPG – that is going to be the equivalent to PSO2 or SoulWorker. And honestly looks absolutely incredible from the trailer footage.
Arthdal Chronicles – a gorgeous new seamless open-world MMORPG that is part of a much larger intellectual property, featuring TV series, movies and more planned to take the IP further than any property they currently possess.
Paragon: The Overprime, a third-person shooter with a focus on 5v5 player vs player combat, and Hype Squad, another PC Battle Royale. I swear Korea hasn’t realized yet that the Battle Royale era has already passed. When was the last time we saw a new successful Battle Royale? Or, more specifically, one from Korea?

Arthdal Chronicles is being developed as a seamless open-world MMORPG. There will be no loading screens while traversing the world.
It’s unconfirmed whether there will be dungeons and raids present, and if so, whether there will be loading screens separating them from the open world. One would think so – I couldn’t imagine raid bosses being public.
They’re claiming that this is one of the largest projects they’ve ever undertaken, creating a world that feels like a living, breathing world as opposed to the stagnant, lifeless husks we’re so often presented with.
And honestly, that just sounds like a whole lotta buzz words to me. “Our world is going to be next-generation, it’s going to be incomparable to any other world that exists within the MMO genre.” Right.
Instead of making grandiose claims, just be honest: The game will feature a large world filled with fetch quests and people telling you to kill 30 boars. Because you don’t get more innovative than that.

They further go on to elaborate on how the game will feature changes to the climate, political and economic conflicts and cooperation between factions.
Factions function similarly to Blade & Soul: Each faction has their own unique outfit, and subsequently, style. When you equip a faction outfit, you become a valid target for other factions while out in the world.
Which is how PvP functions in-game. Factions are represented with their own unique aesthetic – they have their own native foods, live in buildings that fit that tribes’ architecture.
Each faction will be vying for control of the land, much like Territory Wars or World v World. Factions will govern the world, and maintain a level of power over regions. And a single faction will no doubt absolutely dominate each server, with everyone vying to join that faction and leaving the world largely uncontested.
You can’t tell me that isn’t going to happen. You know it will.

What’s most interesting about this game, is that it ties into the Arthdal Chronicles TV series. There’s a Korean Drama by the same name, that has since aired its first season.
Before releasing their second season, Netmarble revealed that they wanted to build an entire world around the Arthdal Chronicles property, further expanding its potential. Which is where the MMO comes in.
Instead of opting to release a singleplayer RPG, or a Gacha game, they – for whatever reason, decided to make an MMORPG set within the same world.
It won’t follow the same plot as the TV series, instead, the game will expand on the world, featuring NPCs, featuring unique locations that are mentioned in the TV series. Some characters and locations will be shared, however, bridging the worlds together into one.
The writers for the TV series are also going to be responsible for writing the narrative, along with the lore for the game. Which has never been done before.

G-Star 2022 is going to feature a scenario that will allow thousands of players to fully experience both the narrative, and gameplay ahead of its release in 2023.
They have an entire section of the game available for consumption, including a large-scale battle they refer to as “the Pioneering Battle,” which will have three factions facing off against one another.
I’m looking forward to seeing this in action next month – G-Star 2022 takes place November 17th through November 20th, so I’ll likely have some updated information to discuss, including updated footage to show off. Or end up revolted by, I guess only time will tell.

Either way, this is Arthdal Chronicles. It has the potential to be a solid MMORPG, but also carries with it the potential to be a horrible failure, much like some of Netmarble’s other games.
I wouldn’t write it off yet – but I’m definitely excited to see what they bring come November.