Hello everyone and welcome to the Black Desert Online game review, in which we will be looking at the game in an unbiased manner until we reach a fair and honest conclusion to answer the question: is it worth playing?
About Black Desert Online
The MMORPG genre has many great games that stand out for their unique features and specific mechanics that make them stand out among the competition, and when we talk about action combat it is impossible not to mention Black Desert Online.
Black Desert Online, or BDO for short, is a game developed by Pearl Abyss, which recently also became the publisher for their game, and is one of the main names in the MMORPG genre because of its incredibly fast paced action combat system, rivaled only by the likes of Vindictus and PSO2, and beautiful graphics that are still the best in the genre even almost a decade after its initial release in 2014.
Story
The story of BDO is a bit convoluted, and nothing to write home about really. You are the classic chosen one in a generic fantasy adventure, slowly recovering your memory and realizing your destiny as a hero. While this plot might be very tedious for most players, it isn’t terrible either, and interacting with the dark spirit in order to move the plot forward is always fun.
It isn’t obligatory to do the story quests in Black Desert Online, however it is the most efficient way to level up at least until level 50, where the “tutorial” phase of the game ends and the fun really begins.
Watch the Cinematic Trailer of Black Desert Online:
Gameplay
Most people only remember BDO for its action combat and graphics, and these are both great aspects of the game that we are going to look at, however there is so much more to the gameplay loop of Black Desert Online that is often ignored in reviews. There is a huge variety of things to do in this game, from engaging into lifeskills that can make you rich such as fishing and cooking, to sailing through the vast oceans and hunting sea creatures, and even buying properties inside a city and managing your own workers.
The further you dig into the Black Desert rabbit hole, the more things to do you’ll discover, each made to complement one another and to fit into specific playstyles of different kinds of players, so this is truly a game for everyone. On top of all that, there are huge world bosses for PvE players to fight against and open world PvP for PvP players who wish to test themselves against one another.
It is also good to remember that the character creation in BDO is one of the best in the genre, with many sliders and customization options for you to choose from, including a gallery of characters previously made by other players.
Watch a playthrough of Black Desert Online:
Combat
Reverenced as the best action combat system in the MMORPG genre by many, Black Dessert truly feels dynamic, fast paced and unique when compared to any other MMORPG in this department. The skills here are done through a system of inputs and combos, similar to how fighting games work, where every combination of a direction and an input results in a different move, and different sequences of inputs also result in different abilities.
The game slowly introduces new skills as you level up, so you have time to practice and master all of your combos while playing the game. However, the combat of BDO isn’t perfect, and a big downside is that it feels a bit too much at times, with characters dashing all over the place with overwhelming special effects that make you feel like you’re trying to drive a car with no brakes. Combat also feels very easy in PvE, with your character being able to effortlessly destroy hordes of enemies that never pose much of a threat other than having bigger numbers. To sum it up: combat looks good but is more suited to people who like to turn their brains off and grind endless waves of enemies without much of a challenge.
When it comes to PvP, a lot of people enjoy it and for very good reasons, however it can feel very clunky at times due to the difficulty of properly synchronizing a large number of players that are dashing all around in an open world environment.
Watch a showcase of the combat in Black Desert Online:
Quest/Mission System
There is nothing really innovative or remarkable when it comes to the questing in BDO. As previously mentioned, the main story is nothing to write home about, giving you a tour through the world and a very basic storyline to follow. The sidequests also don’t bring anything to the table in terms of lore or fun mechanics, being mostly repeatable fetch quests.
Black Desert Online is very much a sandbox where you make your own adventure and if you prefer streamlined games with quests that are well thought and carefully tailored to give you a cool experience then you might have to look somewhere else.
Graphics
Some things are simply facts and you can’t go against them, and the fact is that Black Desert Online has the best graphics in the MMORPG genre. Honestly it is not even close to any of the competitors, which is terrifying when you consider that this game is almost 10 years old now and still looks better when compared to recent releases like New World and Lost Ark.
Not only are the models, textures and lighting effects absolutely beautiful in BDO, but the physics are very well done. When you move, you really feel the weight of your character’s movement, and the same can be said when riding a mount. Characters will bump on each other, climb on ledges and try to keep their balance when at the edge of a cliff.
Developer
The developer Pearl Abyss is relatively new in the market and didn’t release any games prior to Black Desert Online. While the very high quality of BDO is something that should be taken in account, the monetization systems in the game are a bit shady and say a lot about Pearl Abyss as a company, with many claiming that the game is highly pay-to-win.
However you decide to look at it, Pearl Abyss has managed to maintain Black Desert Online as one of the most played MMORPGs for almost a decade and are currently working on two other promising projects: DokeV and Crimson Desert.
Price
Black Desert Online uses a free-to-play model in Korea, Japan and Russia, while in Taiwan, South East Asia, Europe, North America and South America the game uses a buy-to-play model. There are many different editions of the game that you can buy, each with their own advantages included such as quality of life items and cosmetics.
Prices of BDO vary a lot depending on your location, and the game is also on sale a lot of the time, so you can put it on your Steam wishlist and wait for the price to go down. If you get the game in a sale it is absolutely worth a try.
Final Verdict: 7 /10
Pros:
- A huge and active playerbase, which is very important for a game that has open world PvP;
- Wide variety when it comes to gameplay features, including lifeskills, PvP, PvE, sailing, city management and much more;
- Amazing graphics, animations and physics that are unparalleled in the MMORPG genre to this day;
- Great character creation with many customization options;
- A dynamic hack and slash combat system that makes you feel like an absolute badass;
- Input combos are always very fun to learn and pull off in combat.
Cons:
- Many pay-to-win elements due to shady monetization tactics applied by the devs;
- PvE is way too easy and you rarely feel challenged when fighting monsters other than by the fact that their attributes might be too high;
- The grind here is almost infinite, with a very punishing enhancement system that can and will break the gear that you’ve worked so hard to get;
- Main story and quests in general are really forgettable and boring;
- PvP feels very clunky due to the difficulty of synchronizing highly mobile characters in an open world environment.
