Elsword Chung Launch Interview
Questions by Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), OnRPG Editor-in-Chief
Answers by Frank Kim, Elsword Product Manager
Hey everyone! I’m stoked this week as not only do I get to meet the awesome and sexy cosplayers at Kill3rCombo’s Anime Expo booth on Saturday, but I get my hands on the newest playable Elsword character, Chung, this coming Wednesday! Information on the US launch of this character is still pretty limited, so I coordinated to get an interview setup to learn about Chung of Hamel!
OnRPG: Hello from OnRPG! Can you introduce yourself and explain your position at Kill3rCombo?
Frank Kim: Hi, I’m Frank Kim, Product Manager on Elsword—I also secretly pose as one of the GMs in game but players don’t know which one. J
OnRPG: Keeping true to the manga theme, every playable character comes with some hefty baggage, er.. backstory to how they got to this point. What is Chung’s story?
Frank Kim: Chung has one of the best backstories yet because it also ties in with a whole new region of the world we unlocked a couple weeks ago. He comes from a line of guardians sworn to protect the beautiful kingdom of Hamel. When demons attacked, the sea began to swallow Hamel and most of the guardians lost their lives. Chung’s father was possessed by demons and Chung was seriously wounded fighting his own father. Now Chung is teaming up with Elsword to restore peace to Hamel, but you’ll have play through the Hamel saga to see what happens next.
OnRPG: Will his story play a significant role in any of the quests related to the series of Hamel updates coming this summer?
Frank Kim: Oh yes. Even if you don’t play as Chung, the quests you take will reveal more about his guardian clan, the fall of Hamel, and let you confront the demons that attacked the town. Of course each of our 6 characters has their own unique story, so you might want to go back and play it again to see it from Chung’s perspective.
OnRPG: What’s the general player feedback you guys have received on the new Hamel content update?
Frank Kim: It’s been amazing. The hardcore fans are excited because the game has even more higher level content, but new players are excited too because this Hamel is actually the first part of a new continent we unlocked so it’s really the start of something bigger.
OnRPG: So Chung’s design reminds me of Eve in terms of look and style yet he seems to have more of a bruiser feel to him. Is that an accurate description of his playstyle?
Frank Kim: You are very much on the right track. His playstyle is an absolute bulldozer like. With his giant cannon “Destroyer”, which you can sort of guess from its name, he likes to swing for the fences and demolish anything in front of him.
OnRPG: If you had to describe Chung’s role in the party as a mix of any two current characters, how would you describe it?
Frank Kim: Chung can be classified as a character that specializes in one of two roles, much like our character Rena who can choose between magical arrow mastery or using fierce kicks to combo. He can branch off with his 1st job change and specialize in a much more powerful close range combat or ranged dps types of attacks.
OnRPG: Does Chung bring any unique mechanics to combat that aren’t used by other characters?
Frank Kim: Actually he does have quite different combat mechanics. While he has his own cool and unique skills, unlike others, his cannon ball attacks require special ammunition that players need to reload/recharge during battles when it’s empty. Also, one thing that make him totally unique, he’s the first player who completely transforms when he enters Awakening mode. All the characters go into overdrive with higher stats, but with Chung you gain new abilities and look totally different, so instead we call it Berserk mode.
OnRPG: How is Chung shaping up in testing as far as PvP goes? Is he more of an easy to pick up and play character or does he have a higher learning curve? Also do you find him better in team battle or is he more of a duelist?
Frank Kim: Chung is going to be quite a game changer in PVP. As always with a new character release, players will need to learn and adapt to his playstyle. Chung should have a higher learning curve compared to other characters due to his unique features such as berserk and managing your ammunition with the cannonball system. Chung will be a great team battler and duelist with his all-around technical style of play.
OnRPG: If Chung had a girlfriend among the Elsword crew, who would you guess it to be?
Frank Kim: Well, part of me thinks Chung secretly wants to be rock star, so he’d really hit it off with Aisha. But then again, he’s also all about honor and loyalty, so I think Rena would really go for that. I don’t think he would have a chance with Eve, no way in million years. (that’s probably how old she is by the way.)
OnRPG: Finally question is a bit off topic but I’ve wanted to know this for a while. A couple major companies have started promoting their titles through unusual mediums including comic books and mangas. Will we ever see an officially sponsored Elsword manga?
Frank Kim: Actually we have a bunch of cool things in works, especially since we just recently entered our second year of Elsword. Nothing we can discuss just yet, but people should definitely stay tuned for exciting news.
OnRPG: Anything else you’d like to say to our fans before we wrap up this interview?
Frank Kim: Thanks for having me and while we love all our fans, we have a special message for those can join us at Anime Expo in Los Angeles from June 29 – July 2. We’ll have tons of cool swag, PvP tournaments, and professional cosplayers as all the characters to the bring Elsword to life. For those who don’t want to ride the rails like a hobo to join us, we’ll also have lots of footage to share afterward, but nothing beats hanging with the ElCrew in person! To find out more about the show fans can go here:
http://www.elswordonline.com/animeexpo/