Closed beta impressions of Hero of the Obelisk

Known in Korea as Dungeon Hero, its English version Hero of the Obelisk entered closed beta last October 10. This MMORPG is developed by creators of Luna Online, Eyasoft and published by GBE Games. It offers cute character designs, an interesting combination of dungeons and open world fields, and a targeted hack-and-slash system.

Gameplay: Character classes and targeted hack-and-slash

When I first learned that Hero of the Obelisk had a hack-and-slash combat system, I hoped it would be an action RPG. It turns out, however, that it uses a targeted system, which appeals to those who are not ready or comfortable with action RPGs. At first, I was worried that this game would end up giving me boring fights that solely rely on pressing the same series of spells over and over again, but I found it to be more mobile compared to most targeted games.

Hero of the Obelisk offers three different character classes — Swordsman, Adventurer, and Scholar. Each character class branches out to two more alternative classes. I like how the skill set for each job class allowed for some level of mobility such as dashing forward, knocking back enemies or teleporting to player-directed locations. It won’t give you the same feeling as action RPGs, of course, but it’s better than having to stand there, mindlessly pressing a series of hotkeys. One thing that piques me is the Fatigue bar at the bottom of the screen right beside the exp bar. Though I haven’t drained it to anywhere below 75%, I’m not sure what it exactly does, as it wasn’t explained in the tutorial, but would perhaps be useful in other features of the game.

Hero of the Obelisk also combines dungeons and open world fields. Quests during the early stages of the game are dungeon-based and eventually assign you to level-based open field quests as you continue playing. I think this is good because I’d hate to immediately get thrown in a field with high-leveled experienced players stealing my kill. The dungeons help novices get the hang of the game better in a more isolated environment. Another thing that I liked about this game is the town-travelling system. While there are open fields that you can explore, I’m glad I can freely move from town-to-town without having to use the dungeon map.

What I didn’t like was that it felt relatively easy. This is particularly true when you are finishing dungeons with a party or alone as a Swordsman. I figured that this may be because it is in closed beta, as Continent of the Ninth (C9) was also easier in closed beta than when it was released. Things get a little trickier when you go to the open field where players can wage war against each other if they feel like it. This large-scale open world player kill system appeals to people who enjoy player-versus-player (PvP) action.

Audio and visuals: It’s cute, but do I always have a bad hair day?

I like cute and chibi things so, yes, the character designs appeal to me. And since Hero of the Obelisk has cute anime-styled chibi designs, this game’s visuals must appeal to me, right? To an extent, yes. I spend time customizing my character because I know I’ll be stuck with it for a long time and I don’t like playing a game with something that looks so horrible.