"Real Cute But It Doesn't Fool Me. It's Just Like All The Other MMORPG's out there."

I played Ragnarok and I had an acolyte and a swordsman. Acolyte's have no attack spells! None! What the hell! Even in Anarchy Online they had sense enough to give the doctor poison, and inflict harm, but they just threw the Acolyte out in the chopping block. Other than that, it brings nothing new to the mmorpg formula at all. The battle system is turn-based; although, it doesn't feel like it. It's just a bad game, and there's so many players that are merchants out there with such expensive items there's no need to buy anything from them, and they're always wasting space. Try walking through the beginner towns and see if you can find your character among the for sale signs. It brings nothing new to this genre, except rehashed crapped. It's like Legend of Zelda on crack- messed up, chopped up, nerfed up. No wait, it reminds me of Diablo 2, but what differentiates this game from Diablo is that Diablo has replay value, and you can sell items and characters on ebay. People will actually pay for Diablo 2 stuff, which gives you a little bit more of an incentive to keep playing. Diablo 2 is more balanced, there's tons of ways to customize your character, and it's in a darker setting. Balanced in terms of solo and grouping combat, but not player versus player. You challenge a bowazon or a javazon and you're asking for it. Get this, some people have the nerve to challenge a sorceress in hell mode.

Gameplay[1]

There's absolutely nothing to this. It further angered me that to even survive as an acolyte you have to be a hybrid. A hybrid is an acolyte with strong attack power, but even if you bump his strength and dex all the way up, the Acolyte is still gonna be weak. With no attack spells to balance it out, Acolyte's are a waste of time unless you have a group that's always on when you are. Not only that, but you get these 10 year old kids that keep stealing kills and insulting people. Despite there being a lot of people around- merchants mostly, nobody is willing to group except maybe two or three people at the most. Everybody hates newbies so don't even mention you are one. They have this leet mentality that's just infecting every mmorpg out there, and it's ridiculously strong in this game. Not only that, but it's the same combat system that Anarchy Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Asheron's Call one and two, Earth and Beyond, and Everquest has. There is no escaping the mediocrity! All these blasted mmorpg's have the same damn thing, and it doesn't matter which one you go to, you're still going to be bored as hell. It's extremely difficult to level up, and you never know where you're going either. The level designs are like The Legend of Zelda on Super Nintendo without the worldmap. You'll spend 10 levels on jelly's, another 15 on rockers, and if you're an acolyte you may not even be powerful enough to solo elders. If you're an acolyte, expect to spend another 10 levels on rockers which means it'll take you at least 3 hours to level. Most people just sit around and talk, or just wait for something. Then you get the die hard fans that buff all their friends except you, and if you ask for a warp they don't even answer you. I felt suicidal while playing this game no joke. I just wanted to kill myself, because I was so bored and I tried so hard to like this game. What hurts the most is that I migrated from Star Wars Galaxies to this game. [Sniff] I left behind a commando and a smuggler for this crap!

Graphics[7]
Real cutesy anime style stuff. If that's not your thing then you won't like it.

Sound[5]
Pretty average. They didn't really raise the bar here, but the sound of the mooka or the jumping cactus is pretty funny.

Fun Factor[1]
Ugh, Ugh, this game made me question my faith in God. Monkey's flinging poo could do better than this. That would've been a better game too... Ragnarok is more boring than church, and at least the priest doesn't make you pay a monthly fee. It would've been a whole lot more fun if they got rid of the turn based battle system and made the combat like the legend of zelda.

Ragnarok Online is a mistake. It shouldn't have ever been created, and proof of its existence and that people are actually playing it is proof that the mmorpg industry needs help. People are obviously getting desperate. You'd have to be nuts to play this game and enjoy it. I'd chop off my hands if it meant I had to play this game for a year. Good ideas seem to be in short supply in Korea as well as America. What seems so obvious to me and other people who have been burned by mmorpgs is that there needs to be a revolutionary change in the gameplay mechanics. MMORPG's have almost unlimited replay value, but having action along with it will bring gameplay to what was not even there in the first place. People are getting bored with what's out there, and they're migrating like crazy. You will likely see the death of mmorpg's and pc games in general if a company doesn't produce a fresh idea and fast. The shelves of PC games are getting smaller and smaller, and my local Wal-Mart stopped selling PC games entirely. These half-assed, lame-brained attempts, at making anything that sells is hurting the market, and hurting gamers, and what's worse is that we're supporting this crap. Look on that new reality show Donald Trump has, and how stupid those people's ideas are. They don't even know that Donald Trump is making millions just off of their pain in commercials and ratings. Bad ideas and greed make a horrible combination, and that's exactly what is causing the stagnation of the video game market in key areas. The gaming industry is not full of passionate people like it once was, but are being invaded by businessmen looking to make a quick buck, and that's exactly why when you want to buy a new mmorpg that's fun, you can't find one, and have to wait 2,3,or 4, months for the next bad one to come out.

Reviewer's Score: 1/10, Originally Posted: 02/06/04