It’s not every year that we get a whole bunch of MMORPG launches, but Elyon will help make 2021 a special year by adding to our pile of plenty. Yes, Elyon launches today, and we’ve been watching this one a very long time: It was originally set to be called Ascent: Infinite Realm, and it was a highly anticipated MMO for a couple of years, especially when Krafton-Bluehole was still promising a glossy steampunk-fantasy title that would revitalize the Western MMORPG market.
Of course, that was 2017, and a lot has changed since then, including the game’s name and theme, as well as its planned buy-to-play monetization under Western publisher Kakao; indeed, one of the big MMO stories this fall has been the game’s delay and swap to free-to-play, which ought to be good news for anyone anxious to play today, though of course there are plenty of things to splash out on even if you missed preorders and the headstart. Players should definitely take a peek at the day-one update, which updates attendance rewards and fixes multiple bugs.
MOP’s own Chris scoped out Elyon during its summer beta and found a mixed bag; he called it a “boring world with compelling gameplay and customization systems” and found the combat, progression, and customization “crunchy in the best way, providing what feels like a wide variety of paths for creativity when it comes to character builds” – even if the world itself was a bit generic.
