Four Winds is a multi-game column focused on Asian MMORPGs and written by Carlo Lacsina. [Follow this column’s RSS feed]
Four Winds
Four Winds: Looking back at the early Throne and Liberty journey from the vantage of endgame
In the last edition of Four Winds, I found myself cautiously enjoying Throne and Liberty. The game had its hooks in me. I found an engaging game...
Four Winds: Throne & Liberty’s opening hours were fun AF, but I’m still on my guard
After what feels like an absolute eternity, Throne and Liberty is finally here. In my younger, less jaded years, I'd feel excited and elated...
Four Winds: Wuthering Waves, Genshin Impact, and the burgeoning gacha gaming industry
In the early days of the pandemic, I spent a lot of time covering the then newly released Genshin Impact. The first piece was...
Four Winds: Phantasy Star Online 2 offers some of the best social features in MMORPGs
I don't know about everyone else, but a huge part of MMOs for me is the fashion. My characters need to absolutely slay the runway...
Four Winds: Catching up with Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis
I believe it was Napoleon Bonaparte that once said "SEGA better release Phantasy Star Online 2 stateside or I'm going to conquer France." Unfortunately,...
Four Winds: Swords of Legends Online was a wasted opportunity
MMOs are hard to make. But despite the difficulties, we've seen some real gems over the years. They're also difficult to run. But the...
Four Winds: The Artist has become my favorite support class in Lost Ark
Here's a thought experiment: How would have Anakin Skywalker turned out if he had grown up on planet covered in paint rather than coarse,...
Four Winds: Lost Ark and the refinement of MMO item enhance systems
In the last edition of Four Winds, I promised I'd cover how three MMOs utilized item enhance systems to facilitate progression, and then I...
Four Winds: The refinement of item enhance systems in MMOs, from Granado Espada to Black Desert
Itemization is a foundational system in many modern MMOs. After players reach the level cap, item levels largely drive the measurable progression of a...
Four Winds: What made Lost Ark so successful where Elyon failed?
I'm sad about it, but I have to eat my words about Elyon and its place in this decade's pantheon of MMOs. I honestly...
Four Winds: Remembering TERA’s wild start and in-game politics
Well, the TERA sunset thing caught me off guard. I don't play TERA, but I was always under the impression that the game was...
Interview: Lost Ark’s regional parity, genderlocking, and the Amazon-Smilegate collaboration
A few days before the western release of Lost Ark, we posed questions to the Amazon Games team, and franchise lead Soomin Park was...
Four Winds: The good, the bad, and the weird of Lost Ark’s endgame
So here I am, at the top of the mountain of Lost Ark, but then another rise greets me. I've been moving at a...
Hands-on: Lost Ark is a solid MMO that falls just short of true greatness
After years of waiting, the MMOARPG Lost Ark launches in the west today, at least for those who bought founder's packs. The rest of...
First Impressions: Lost Ark’s beta version feels like the MMOARPG for folks who are bad at ARPGs
I’ve probably started and restarted this impressions piece about three different times now, primarily because I’m not entirely sure where to begin with Lost...
First Impressions: Elyon continues to blend in with the MMORPG gaming furniture
After about 30 or so levels and an entirely different class, I can pretty much say with a fair bit of confidence that my...
Four Winds: MassivelyOP’s guide to getting started in Swords of Legends Online
It's a strange trend whenever new MMOs launch that there's a deluge of tutorial videos on a bunch of topics but a shortage of...
Four Winds: Everything you need to know about Amazon’s Lost Ark
Raise your hands if you've been eagerly waiting for Lost Ark. Now give me a high five because as announced earlier today, it's finally...
Four Winds: Exploring Swords of Legends Online’s mindblowing world
Have you ever played a game knowing exactly what you're going to get, only for it to impress you because it did exactly that...
Four Winds: Final thoughts on Elyon’s first closed beta test
Elyon's closed beta test came and went, and boy am I happy with what I played. It was unfortunate that the test fell on...
