Florensia Review: Great Sea Battles

By Jeffrey Kerkdijk (Hyarume), Onrpg writer

Florensia is a MMORPG released on July 21, 2008 for Europe and North America. Florensia allows players to explore lands and seas. On land it offers gameplay similar to most MMORPGs but at sea a different kind of gameplay unveils itself.

Adventures on the shore

When you log in for the first time you will be greeted by funky music and a character selection screen. From there you will begin to create a character. There are four classes to choose from in Florensia, each having their own unique look and style of battle. You have the Noble, a mage class, Mercenary, which is essentially the warrior, Saint, the healing class, and the Explorer who uses long ranged weaponry. You have several options to customize your character and personalize him/her. Once it’s created you can then enter the world.

You start off with a series of quests which act like short tutorials. Follow them if you like, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I found them very useful. Each class has its own pre-distributed stat points, for every level you gain you get three stat points which you can use to upgrade them. There are seven stats and you can distribute your points in any way you like. I personally love this system because it gives you the freedom to develop your character anyway you like and create a variety of different builds.

The skill system in the game is based on a skill tree, however if you want to unlock better skills you have to purchase a book which teaches you them. After techniques are learned you can spend skill points on the abilities to make them stronger, gaining one skill point for each level you gain.

The gameplay on land is like most MMORPGs; you get some fairly regular quests and hunt common monsters. Quests aren’t too rewarding, so most of the time you will just be grinding for levels. Luckily players in Florensia do like to party which makes leveling much easier.

There is an in-depth crafting system in the game, which means if you ever feel like your weapon isn’t strong enough you can always upgrade it and by doing this several times over the weapon will get a rather different look. Another cool feature of the game is that you can fish! Fishing is a nice way to gain some money on the side whilst you play.

The 100 Floors Tower, is a new feature in Florensia. Once you reach level 15 you can access one of the towers for a challenge. You will need a party. The idea is to kill mobs as fast as you can. The tower will only be opened for a limited time though, so if you are not fast enough with your party you will be kicked out. If you are fast enough and faster than the other parties (each opened tower can hold 15 parties) you can gain rare items along with the exp from the monsters that you killed. You can also get kill-quests for the tower from the manager in town which will give you rewards after you have completed them.

Let’s go, all aboard!

One of the most unique features of Florensia is the ability to battle not only on land but also on sea. You can build your own ship with parts that you have gained during quests or have brought from a local vendor. Once you’ve built/repaired your ship you can head out. You can level up your naval skills when you gain a naval level. I normally don’t like playing as a pirate and going on the seas with my own ship, I hated it in Voyage Century and Tales of Pirates, however in Florensia it has a faster pace and plays much better. If you’re into sea battles make sure to check Florensia out!

Graphics

Florensia adopts a cell shaded Anime style, which really suits the game. I like how the world looks, as it’s full with its own inimitable appearance. Character and Skill animations are fluid and generally look gorgeous. Whilst the textures may not be the best thing since sliced bread, the whole package you’re presented works with the title and provides a rather nice atmosphere. If you don’t like “cartoonish” graphics though, be warned as this may not be your cup of tea.

Music

The music fits Florensia perfectly and works with whatever situation you may find yourself in. On sea you hear a different kind of music from when you are at land which adds a nice touch to a fairly generic game. Towns usually have a happy tune, which surprisingly isn’t annoying to hear. If you’re allergic to happiness, be prepared to listen to perky tunes no matter where you travel to in the game.

Personal recommendation

For everyone who likes MMORPGs, here is a new one, which unfortunately has combat like so many others, but generally does everything right. Beware though you will need to grind to gain levels, however despite this combat on the sea is fun, and the in-depth crafting is a great feature of the game. I don’t have any real issues with the game.

If you are looking for a new MMORPG to play which has lots of charm and style, why not try Florensia? After all you could do much worse.

Pros
- Graphics
- Stat distribution system
- Land and sea combat
- In-depth crafting system
- Fishing
- 100 Floors Tower

Cons
- Quests are pretty useless
- The ever familiar grind