Regnum Online Review: An Atmospheric And Unique MMORPG

 

Regnum Online is developed by NGD Studios, an Argentinean development studio.

 

 

Regnum Online offers an MMORPG experience that isn’t found in many these days. It’s atmospheric, and provides great PvE and RvRvR experiences for people of different tastes. The immersion levels are high, set in a fantasy world full of lore, unique characters, and a beautiful environment.

 

Creating a character on Regnum heavily depends on Realm and Race. You are able to pick from three realms, Alsius, Ignis, and Syrtis. Each of these realms contains three races, which depend on what class you will be able to make. For example, Syrtis Half-Elves are not able to become Mages, due to the lore behind their class that explains how they shed their magic for a place with the Light Elves. There are three main classes that you are able to choose from, Warrior, Archer, and Magician. These three classes have two options for sub-classes they can pick at level 10. The Warrior is able to choose the Knight and Barbarian. The Archer is able to choose the Hunter and Marksman. And the Magician is able to choose the Warlock and Conjurer.

 

Starting out in Regnum is expressed with mixed feelings. Modern gamers may not enjoy the slower, more tactical combat. But classic gamers may play the game and pay homage to the games that got the MMO industry on its feet. Pre-level 10, the game starts you off with a large set of quests to introduce you to the game and gradually let you explore more of the world. One of my personal favorites in the game is that the lore is extremely well done. The storyline in the game could compare to that of most pay-to-play games, which usually have whole writing teams dedicated to working on storyline.

 

Regnum has you start with “skill trees” for each class. The more points you have in a skill tree, the more skills that unlock in that tree depending on your level. Weapons also play a major role in your combat abilities, as they grant special stats (increased attack speed, constitution, etc.) and general attack bonuses (increased slashing damage, fire damage, thunder damage, etc.).

 

The central area of Regnum Online is known as the “War Zone”, in this area, players from each faction compete in a territorial-styled war. Each realm has three altars, two forts, and a castle. In this area, players are free to kill members of enemy factions, but this isn’t your typical run-of-the-mill RvR, there is a deeper reason behind it all. This leads us the Invasion System. There is a process behind this system, which is capturing enemy defenses, capturing the gems and finally accessing the rewards.

As the gems are behind enemy walls, in order to obtain them, a realm must gain access to the enemy territory behind their Great Wall. This means that their Gate has to be destroyed, as it is the only way to penetrate the Great Wall of an enemy realm. The Gate though is invulnerable to attacks, unless the “realm defenses” are captured. This means that in order to be able to attack an enemy gate, a realm must hold the castle and at least one fort of the enemy realm, for 30 minutes. If they hold both forts and the castle, the attacking realm has to hold them for 15 minutes instead.

The gems of each realm are located on pedestals inside their realm, and also possibly on the Gem Portal if this realm has managed to obtain other enemy gems. In order to obtain them, the enemy must run to the pedestals (and possibly the enemy Gem Portal) and pick up the gem. In order to access the rewards, the Gem Portal needs to be opened. The Gem Portal holds 6 slots for gems. All 6 gems must be placed on the Gem Portal in order for it to open, 2 from each enemy realm, and your own 2 gems. The 4 enemy gems must be placed on the Gem Portal before the gems of that realm can be picked up by allies from their pedestals.

After all 6 gems have been placed on the Gem Portal, the Portal opens and grants access to the final rewards.

Opening the Gem Portal grants access to a hidden cave in the map. Inside that cave, a golden dragon is there to grant one wish to the people who enter it. A list of choices is presented to the players inside, and each player votes for 1 option.

The choices for the realm to choose are:

There Can Only Be One: This turns the cave into an arena: Everyone fights to the death, and the last player standing receives the Draconian Gem. This item may not be traded, and will stay in the player’s inventory for a week. As long as it is there, it will grant the player with bonus in health, mana, attack speed, hit chance, spell focus and character size.

Your Realm Shall Be Richer: A gold bonus of 15% is given to gold received as loot from killing monsters, and lasts for 1 week.Your Realm Shall Be Wiser:  An experience boost of 15% is given to experience received from killing monsters, and lasts for 1 week.

Enemy Shall Be Poorer [Available for each of the enemy realms]: A gold penalty of 10% is applied to gold received as loot from killing monsters, and lasts for 1 week.

Enemy Shall Be Foolish [Available for each of the enemy realms]: An experience penalty of 10% is applied to experience received from killing monsters, and lasts for 1 week.

 

In conclusion, Regnum offers a classic gaming experience that is not seen in many MMOs these days, and the RvR experience will attract older and newer gamers alike.

 

Although gameplay is Regnum Online’s strong point, the graphics are not as comparable. The graphics are considered dated in today’s MMO marketplace. Things like textural animation and character details for RO may have been considered spectacular back in 2007, back when the game was released, but a short two years later, too many MMOs surpass it in terms of graphics. The environmental graphics are decently made, it’s very nice to see the sun rise over the Initiation Valley is beautiful to just sit down and watch.

 

Regnum’s music and SFX are not too shabby. The music in towns and villages are rather soothing, and blend well with Regnum’s environment. Once you get in combat, a pre-set combat song can turn on, whether you like this as a cue to you being in combat can be changed, as there is a setting to turn it off in the game’s audio settings. One thing I loved is that sound was pretty realistic. You will hear birds chirping during the day, crickets and silence at night. Spell and skill sounds are realistic too, not some of the overbearing techno remixes you hear once you cast a simple Fireball in most MMOs (joking, of course).

 

Sure, Regnum Online isn’t one of the newest games on the market. It doesn’t have the prettiest graphics. But the gameplay and combat options are just unsurpassable. If you’re looking for an MMO that can compare to your favorite classic MMORPGs, offers a strong PvP system, and creates a storyline and environment so deep, you will actually READ the stories NPCs tell you (and I haven’t done that in a while), give Regnum Online a try, you will not be disappointed.

 

Pros:
– Superb gameplay
– Complex and tactical RvR/PvP
– Well written lore

 

Cons:
– Dated graphics
– Unneeded sounds
– Feels slow in beginning