Ah, Elsword… Where should I begin? It’s a 2.5D side scrolling game which works much like the game named “Grand Chase”. The big difference is the character design and how the PvP system works. Believe me, the PvP system is somewhat annoying.
Before you start playing the game, you have to choose among of the following characters; Elsword, Aisha, Rena, Raven, Eve, Chung, Ara, Elesis and Add. Expect for more characters to come in the future for the game is an MMORPG as well. Each character has their own 3 respective paths, and you can only choose one so choose wisely. Let’s begin talking about them, shall we?
I’m not going to be too detailed on these characters; the rest is up for you to find out. The first one we’ll tackle is of course, the possible leading main character: Elsword.
Elsword the Swordsman can choose to either be a “Sword Knight,” “Magic Knight,” or a “Sheath Knight.” A Sword Knight will be specializing on the usage of Elsword’s rather large sword while Magic Knight, well as name suggests, will be specializing on some magic. Sheath Knight is one of the most complex yet easy to use classes; choosing this class will make Elsword wield two swords and be an overall annoying character in PvP. Not as annoying as Add but we’ll get to him later.
Next up is Aisha the Magician. She can choose to either be a High Magician, Dark Magician, or a Battle Magician. The High Magician is an elementalist, Dark Magician specializes in Dark Magic while Battle Magician is basically a typical Anime MahouShoujo.
Rena the Archer, definitely one of the most annoying opponents you could ever face in PvP. She can take on 3 paths; Combat Ranger, Sniping Ranger and Trapping Ranger.
Raven the Taker, one of the most unique characters in the game. He’s a sword wielder but also has a Nasod Arm (Nasods being robots in the game by the way.) He takes on 3 paths; Sword Taker, Over Taker, Weapon Taker. Sword Taker specializes in Sword Skills, Over Taker specializes in Destructive Abilities and finally Weapon Taker is a mixture of the two.
Eve the Nasod Queen, I should say is my “videogame crush,” is one of the most annoying characters in 3v3 PvP and useful for playing in Dungeons. She is divided into 3 classes: Code:Exotic, Code:Architecture, and Code:Electra. These three classes are quite different from each other. Code:Exotic specializes in Close Combat and the usage of several weapons such as cannons, miniguns, and Nasod Spears. It’s deadly point is “Queen’s Throne.” Code:Architect specializes in summoning Nasod Minions and the like, and lastly Code:Electra specializes in honing and destructive barrage of lasers.
Chung the Guardian, the trap of Elsword, is definitely one of the most challenging opponents you could ever fight. He can journey the path of Fury Guardian, Shooting Guardian and Shelling Guardian. Fury Guardian is regarded as the “Tank” class for Chung. Shooting Guardian specializes the use of dual pistols. Finally, Shelling Guardian uses grenades and the like for his attacks.
AraHaan the Martial Artist. She uses a spear and has quite the mobility that rivals Eve’s overall movement in the air. She can enter 3 paths, Little Hsien, Little Devil and Little Specter. The first class is mostly used by players in PvP due to its rather strong attacks until Little Specter came who specializes in dark exorcist abilities. Little Devil, on the other hand, specialize in the usage of balls. Lots and lots of balls.
Elesis the Red Knight is Elsword’s older sister and wields a claymore. She’s definitely the character you need to have a look out for because out of these characters, one could say that she is the deadliest of them all. Her connection with Grand Chase’s Elesis is official and the same person due to the fact Elsword was confirmed to be Elesis’ little brother in Grand Chase. She can enter one of the 3 paths: Grand Master, Blazing Heart or Crimson Avenger. Each has their own specialization and I think that you should find it out yourself on how they work.
Lastly, my favorite character of all: Add the Tracer. Unlike the other characters, Add is mentally insane due to witnessing his parent’s death, being enslaved and trapped during his childhood. He’s definitely one of the most OP characters in Elsword currently and is both loved and hated by the community. He is designed to pair up with Eve, having the same color scheme and Nasod Weapons. He can enter the jobs of Psychic Tracer, Arc Tracer and Time Tracer. Psychic Tracer relies on brute force. Arc Tracer relies on the usage of different Nasod minions while Time Tracer manipulates time and space.
Now that we are done with the characters, let’s go with the game itself. The game is rather simple and much like Grand Chase. Each stage is well done as well as its boss. It has 3 difficulties: Normal, Hard and Expert. Each difficulty, the map changes and the amount of monsters are increased. Mini bosses are also added which adds in the difficulty. However, the dungeons are rather easy at first but as the game goes on, it gets harder and harder. The bosses also drop rare loots so you will definitely waste your time grinding for these items.
Speaking of dungeons, there are also secret dungeons wherein you need to acquire specific items and the specific level to enter.
There is the Henir Time and Space Challenge which brings in all sorts of joy and rage. It’s basically a dungeon wherein you have to fight ALL the bosses in the game in the hardest difficulty. Oh did I mention? They actually multiply. Good luck with that. Finishing Henir will give you some fragments in which you can exchange for rather powerful gear. Start grinding folks or you will be constantly destroyed in PvP.
PvP is hell, literally. If you wish to enter PvP, I wish you luck because you will seriously feel inferior to the other players. Unless you did some practice and research then go ahead! You can practice at the Sparring Channel by an NPC named Camilla. Moving on, PvP is divided into three: 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3 as of the moment. The higher the rank you get in PvP, the stronger your opponents gets.
The game supports a stamina system which limits the time you’ll be able to play. You can restore them by using stamina potions which restores 30% but they can only be given by exchanging medals to Ariel or by events.
Well done backgrounds are also present in the game and if you want to get some special gear, you can visit the item mall. In order to buy the items, however, you have to pay real life money. Hope you don’t get addicted.
Now that I’m done explaining, it’s time for its Pros and Cons!
Pros:
- A fun experience and definitely challenging.
- Well-made character designs as well as the costumes that comes along with it.
- Connecting combos which sparks your creativity.
- Gives Goosebumps during PvP.
- A 2.5D game which is basically 2D and 3D at the same time.
- A storyline which leads to several possible fanfictions and ships to sail. I personally ship ElswordxAisha and AddxEve.
- A comic-style cutscene every time you execute a skill
Cons:
- Gets rather boring every once in a while, especially if you have to wait for the players to go with you to the dungeon.
- Frustrating players in PvP(I’m definitely one of them.)
- The excitement dies down after the first few days of playing unless you are really into games like this.
- Imbalanced characters (Add and Elesis are the most imbalanced ones.)
- Sore losers, trash talkers and scammers on some servers while one certain server has the most of them.
About the Author: Another guest post contributed by my youngest son- Yahmir, who’s only 15 years old at the moment. He’s a grade 9 student, who excels academically, a gamer, a writer and the author of The Lunacy of a Warrior. The Elsword online game review is based on his own opinion and experience.
