Rakion Review: Intense Fights In Instances

 

Rakion is a popular 3D room based game which has been developed by Softnyx. The game has been released four years ago and it is still crowded by many players, but what makes it so special? It isn’t just a regular 3D MMOG. No, Rakion offers us more than just mindless grind and repetitive combat. With its unique gameplay, third-person shooter combat and challenging classes, Rakion has been able to attract many kinds of players. The only thing that makes everyone have their doubts about Rakion is that the game will not always be able to answer to our needs. The question is: how long will Rakion’s popularity last?

The storyline of Rakion brings us to another world full of magic and wars. It tells us the story about the origin of Rakion and how everything has started. The story is great and can be found on Softnyx’ site. Let me quote a part of the story. The following story has been taken from the site of Softnyx’ Rakion.

 

Once upon a time, there was a time when monsters ruled over the world and human beings were merely a small community. White Dragons, the king of the monsters, worried about the world becoming deserted and despaired due to the exceeding number of monsters. Therefore, they kept the balance between the monsters by waking up from their hibernation and eliminating any monster species that threatened to take over the world by overpopulating themselves.

 

However, one day, humans tried to take over the world by learning and training themselves with higher level of knowledge and magic than the monsters. The White Dragons started to wake up from their hibernation slowly, and the King of the humans, Zadro, tried to make truce with the White Dragons, but realized that it was out of his abilities to do so. Therefore Zadro tried to slow, or even to stop the attacks from the Dragons by actually going to their castle. The White Dragons watched the humans in
interest because unlike monsters, they tried to reach an agreement through compromising, and they had the bravery that risked even their own lives.

 

Finally the White Dragons decided to give the humans another 500 years and went back to hibernation. The leaders of the Dragons transformed their form of life to something else and soared into the sky with traces of glitter behind them. The remaining White Dragons told Zadro: ‘The leaders are always connected with this world, but will only watch and never come back on their own will. They will certainly keep their promise, but can you? Our waiting may bear a disaster, not mercy.’

 

The storyline has four chapters, but there are many different variations written by the players of the game. The story has practically nothing to do with your adventures in the game, which is really sad. It only tells us about the history of Rakion and how it was possible that Rakion became what it is today.

Rakion is an instance based game, which means that there is no open, free world where players are able to meet each other. You will have to create a room to allow your friends (and others) to join. There is basically no other way to communicate with each other in the game.

The combat of the game is very unique. It could be seen as a variant of a third-person shooter game. You can walk by using the WASD keys and you will have to use your mouse to attack; There is no point and click combat, which means that you have to aim.

The most unique part of the combat of the game is the Cell System. This system involves challenging combat and is not a system which can be mastered in one day.

The Cell System basically allows the players to summon creatures. These creatures will be a great support to your team and they will fight against the creatures of your opponents which will lead to a great battle.

Other than that, Rakion offers us six different game modes. Let me explain them briefly: Solo Death Match: This is another feature that shows us that the game is partly a third-person shooter. You will be on your own and you will basically have to kill as many players as you can while trying to stay alive.

 

Team Death Match: The team version of Death Match. You and your team members will have to kill the other team while trying to survive.

 

Basic Mode: One of my least favorite modes of the game. This mode resets the stats of a player to level 1 (equipment stats still apply, though) and you will not be able to summon cells (except the lowest level one).

 

Boss War: An amusing and challenging mode. One player is the “boss” of the team and the other team members should protect him with their lives. If the boss dies, the game is over.

 

Stage: The only real PvE (Player versus Environment) mode. A team of 1 to 4 players will have to do a mission and afterwards they will be rewarded with a grade depending on how fast they actually have completed the mission.

 

Golem War: The most challenging and complex mode. Both teams will have their own Master Golem which they must protect. There is also a Golden Golem in the game which gives the player that destroys it the possibility to deal more damage to the opponent’s Master Golem. When a player dies, he will not be resurrected which means that a team will also lose when all its members are dead.

Rakion offers us five basic classes: Mage, Ninja, Archer, Warrior and Blacksmith. Since Rakion doesn’t have any character customization (excluding equipment), you will encounter many look a likes of yourself in the game. The classes use different weapons, have their own specialty, but they also have their own unique Chaos Mode.

The Chaos Mode in Rakion is a unique feature. It basically transforms the player to a special form which will make him stronger. Chaos Mode can be activated when a certain amount of  enemies have been killed by the player.  Let me give you a description of all the classes and their Chaos Modes:

 

Mage: The melee weapon of a mage is their staff. They can use it to hit their opponents, but the amount of damage is very low.
Their spells are their ranged weapons. They can be casted with a wand. When a Mage turns into its Chaos Mode, it will get a summoned creature with upgraded spells.  

 

Ninja: The Ninjas use a stick, better known as a jitte (or jutte). This is a weak, but very fast weapon. They can also throw shurikens. When a Ninja turns into its Chaos Mode, it will change into a bigger, red creature with upgraded spells and abilities.

 

Archer: Archers are mostly specialized in using a bow, but they can also handle a one handed sword. When an Archer turns into its Chaos Mode, it will change into a large white creature with upgraded abilities and the possibility to fire several arrows at once.

 

Warrior: The Warriors in Rakion are very balanced. They have a two handed sword as their melee weapon and they are able to throw knifes. When they turn into their Chaos Mode, they will become a white robot with a big sword.

 

Blacksmith: Blacksmiths use a hammer as their melee weapon and they are able to throw small axes. When they change into their Chaos Mode, they will turn into soe golem with a huge flail.

Rakion is a great game to spend some time with. It will take quite a while before you have seen everything of the game and it is quite impressive to see a game with two different genres. It is a bit sad not to be able to meet each other outside of a match, though.

The game may have its downsides and it may lack some content, but that doesn’t take away that the game is quite amusing.
Rakion is a very popular game and I can say with no doubt that this will remain for at least a few more years.