Ragnarok Online

"Smiting monsters with love, never felt so good!"

Welcome to the world of Ragnarok Online a MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) created by Gravity, a Korean company. RO is quite good for a Beta, but it also has its down points.

Gameplay: 10/10
Most functions are carried out with the mouse. The left mouse button will select areas for your character to move, attack enemies, and make selections. The right mouse button is used for finding descriptions and controlling the camera. Those of you who have a scroll wheel will also be able to control the camera zoom on you character and choose different spell levels with mages.

The keyboard is used for chatting, and avoiding unnecessary mouse clicks. The keyboad avoids unecessary mouse clicks two ways. First there is the hotkey window. You can put various skills and items in here to use your favorite skills and equip or use an item. The second is keyboard shortcuts. This way you can open that equip or item window quickly without having to move the mouse. Both methods are very useful for when lag slows down your mouse cursor.

Did I also mention this game doesn't have any random battles? One thing many RPG players get sick of is the random battles. There is nothing more annoying than trying to walk around, getting into a monster battle and dieing because you have low HP. In RO all the monsters appear on the map. You can avoid them if you aren't in the mood to fight. Some of the monsters will go about their own business while others are aggressive and will hunt you down.

Another fine aspect of RO is the ability to recover health and spell points slowly. Now there is no need to waste any zeny (the currency in RO) on healing items. Speaking of the currency, you don't earn it by fighting monsters like in tradictional RPGs. Instead monsters in RO drop items, you pick up these items and sell them for zeny.

Customization is RO's strong point. Creating your own story, giving your character different classes, changing the head gear on your character, picking the hair style, and even the gender!

You can also customize the menus with different types of skins. Getting sick of the default one Gravity created? You can download different skins one or create one of your choice. Many of the menus can also be moved around to your liking. Now those pesky menus won't block something on the map anymore.

The socializing aspect of RO is also very good. The main chat window is where you will do most of your talking. You can use it to send a message to everyone close to your character, to your party, or even whisper to someone. There is also the ability to create public and private chats.

Story: 10/10
There is a story behind Ragnarok Online at the official website, but it is more or less a description of how the world turned into it's present state. Currently there is no story for the actual game itself. So you'll have to come up with your own.

Ever play a RPG and say ''Hey, I could write a plot 10 times better than this!''? In Ragnarok Online you get to literally role play your character, something that isn't done often in RPGs.

There are two types of character and story development in RO. When you or several of your friends get together and create a story, and when you interact with other players who you've never even met before. The fact that you can create your own party and join others makes for some great character development.

Audio: 9/10
I can't quite describe the music. It is very fitting for all the levels. Some music is very good, and some will make you want to rip your hair out. The music does get repetitive after awhile. If you do get tired of the music you can always turn it off, same goes for the sound. The sounds are also very fitting. The sounds also change depending on where they are in relation to you. You'll be able to find that monster by how close the sound is to you.

Graphics: 10/10
The characters in RO have an anime style to them. They are in 2D, but you can see them from 8 different angles. The environment is done in 3D. The 2D and 3D mix is perfect for this game. At the maximum settings you can't really make out any pixels. In order to view the graphics at there best you will need to have a good system.

When a character uses a weapon, depending on the weapon class, that weapon will resemble all other weapons of that class. If you use a sword, regardless of what type of sword, it will look like the same sword when attacking an enemy. The real look of the weapon can be seen in the weapon's description.

Replayability: 8/10
This is where RO can be trouble. Since it is a Beta there is currently no story. With no story there is nothing to do but smite monsters with love, level up, pick up dropped items, sell dropped items and repeat. This can get very repetitive if this is all you do. If you have your own story going, socialize frequently, and have several friends you talk with on a regular basis, then this won't be a problem for you.

Total: 9
+Creating your own story
+Customization
+It's free
+Lots of people to socialize with, people can even get married

-Lots of people on RO aren't very polite
-Lag can be bad at times
-English server is down frequently
-Logging in can be a pain at times
-Some rare items are sold at rediculous prices
-Lack of a story

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/22/02, Updated 06/22/02