Martial Empires Review: Furiously Meditate
By Mohammad Abubakr, OnRPG Journalist
Martial Empires is a free to play MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) by Gamigo. Currently it has only been released to the EU region but it looks like a NA version is being worked on. The game plays like any other point and click MMORPG by using your mouse and keyboard. This makes it easy to pick up.
When I first started the game, I noticed how great it looks. Compared to other F2P MMORPGs, Martial Empires looks amazing. You do not get options such as Depth of Field in many F2P games. The detail on the characters and equipment is great and the environment also looks great.
The graphics combined with the great sound really immerse you into the game world. The background sound can get a bit annoying as it will keep looping many times if you stay in the same area to complete a task or level up.
Meditating to recover health and mana.
Gameplay
As I mentioned before, the game plays like the normal point and click MMORPG. You can move around using your keyboard’s WASD keys or simply clicking where you would like to go. Usually pointing and clicking makes the combat boring and slow. However, with the great graphics and skill effects the combat is not very slow paced. Your character will not continuously swing its weapon to hit the enemy once, at times your character can initiate combos where the enemy will be attacked twice. Even the beginner skills look good and are not bland so you can begin enjoying the combat right away!
As you kill enemies, your anger gauge will increase. The bar can be seen beside your character’s portrait. Once the bar is full, you can use all your anger to go into Fury Mode. While in this mode your character’s attack speed and damage will increase and your character’s appearance will change.
In Fury Mode
Unlike most MMOs, Martial Empires does not only have HP and Mana. Instead it has a separate stat called SP. This is used for common skills which all classes receive such as dash which allows you to move faster and death blow which has a chance to instantly kill the target (The chance increases as the enemy’s health decreases).
Martial Empires currently has three different classes the can be played. There is a fourth button that is disabled for now so a fourth class might be coming soon (was asked in our interview, look out for it). The three classes are the warrior, ranger and mage. They are gender locked so the warrior and mage must be males while the ranger must be a female. Additionally, each class may use different weapons that have special effects to offer a lot of variety.
The warrior can choose between a heavy sword which has a chance to deal additional damage, an axe which has a chance to steal HP and a spear which specializes in AoE (Area of Effect) and stun skills.
The ranger can choose between a dagger which allows her to stealth and attack fast, a bow which decreases an enemy’s movement speed and a claw which reduces the enemy’s damage.
Finally, the mage can choose between a scythe that can curse enemies to reduce their mobility and apply damage over time, a wheel which has a chance of restoring MP, and a sword which has a chance of restoring SP.
Deciding on classes
There are many options for changing how your character looks so you won’t have to worry about looking the same as everyone else. You can change even change how your body looks with options such as height, eye positioning and head size.
If you chose a certain weapon at the beginning does not mean that you cannot use a different weapon for the same character. For example, you chose a sword for the mage and don’t like it anymore. You can buy a scythe to replace it and even level up scythe skills.
For every class, all of the weapons have different skills. This offers a lot of ways to build on class. You gain a skill point each time you level that can be used to train any skills as long as you meet the requirement. Common Skills do not need to be trained as you learn them when you meet the requirements.
This game offers a lot of quests that can be completed to receive EXP, Jackpot points (more on that later) and other rewards. The quests are nothing special from other MMORPGs. They simply tell you to go kill an X amount of that, gather this, talk to that person, etc. I find them worth doing because of the jackpot points.
The jackpot system is one of the unique features in Martial Empires. Jackpot points can be earned by killing monsters or completing quests. The minimum number that you must bet increases as you level up. When betting you can pick what prize types you would like to win. These are items, EXP, buffs, and gold. You may pick any combination of them and the amount required to bet will not change!
I won an HP Potion!
Another unique feature in Martial Empires is the battleground. There are two different types of missions that can be done in the battleground. In the Phantom War you must protect the Phantom Seal from enemies while in the Legion of Towers you must destroy the towers within the time limit. Battlegrounds are not accessible at all times.
Players may also collect herbs, go fishing and mine. This gives players something to do when they do not feel like grinding or even do while they are grinding.
Conclusion
To conclude, Martial Empires is definitely worth trying out. With great graphics and fun combat, it is not a bad choice when looking for an MMORPG. The game can get a bit repetitive when questing all the time but there are other things to do like fighting in the battlegrounds or go mining.
Unfortunately I will have to quit playing the game due to it being EU only. Sorry all non EU players!
