Ragnarok: War of Gods takes the battle to Android

Ragnarok: War of Gods is a mobile MMORPG developed by Neo Cyon and published by Animoca. It is heavily based on Ragnarok Online by Gravity, which itself is based on the manwah or Korean comic Ragnarok: Into the Abyss by Myung-Jin Lee.

Ragnarok Online was the very first MMORPG that I played. I was one of the beta players and continued playing the game for five years or more. That is why upon learning that Ragnarok Online is coming to Android, I was quite excited to give it a try.

Gameplay and mechanics: It’s not about hack-and-slash

Ragnarok: War of Gods is quite simple. You farm monsters in the fields to earn experience and Zeny, the currency in the Ragnarok world. Pretty simple, right? However, in this game, the highlight isn’t the combat system, but the rest of the game mechanics, which affect how you build your character. Players may choose to play as a Swordsman, Mage or Acolyte, and they can change their jobs or classes after reaching a certain level. Each character class may have different builds. This is where Ragnarok: War of Gods shines as well as gets tricky.

There are two level branches per character — the base level and the job level. Every time a character gains a base level, he is given status points, which he will then distribute among five attributes. The key here is to focus on building two or three attributes that you will focus on in order to come up with a build that will suit your play style.

On the other hand, every time a character gains a job level, he is given a single skill point, which he can use to upgrade an existing skill. Building your character’s attribute goes hand-in-hand with building your skills and in turn, both skills and attributes affect what kind of equipment your character will use.

The character building system is something I like in this game because it makes up for the abundance of rote monster farming. What I don’t like, however, is how my monster-killing gets interrupted by the monotony of having to go home to sell my stuff because inventory space ran out too quickly and once it does, I am either slowed down or immobilized. To avoid this, players can either use inventory expansion items or choose which items to pick up.

Visuals and interface: Yes, they use 2D chibi anime sprites

Audio: What just happened?

The verdict