TAG24's Take: Lost Ark is a lot of game with one major highlight

Seattle, Washington - Amazon Games made big moves with its release of Korean MMO game, Lost Ark. This game is packed with hours of content, so here's TAG24's Take on what's good, and what's not.

Lost Ark is really big, with plenty of dungeons and new zones to discover.
Lost Ark is really big, with plenty of dungeons and new zones to discover.  © Amazon Games/Smilegate

Amazon's game studio went big with its release of Korean Massively-Multiplayer Online game, Lost Ark, which was the most-played game this weekend, according to SteamDB.

Lost Ark was launched February 11, but the original game, from developers Smilegate and Tripod Studio, has been a hit in South Korea since 2019.

The game pits you on the side of good against forces of evil, like dastardly demons, in 15 different classes, each with their own ridiculous set of abilities.

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Seriously, right from the start, there are enough explosions and blasts of light on screen that the developers were wise enough to add an epilepsy warning, letting you disable certain effects.

The story is pretty generic, and the tutorial was both too long, and too shallow, but power through and you get to the good stuff: the action. Even if you don't read a single sentence of quest dialogue, you can still have a good time with the fighting.

Each class has up to seven abilities to start with, including flashy dodges and leaping strikes, and the sound design adds extra oomph to each strike or move.

There are plenty of lands to visit, and some require taking a ship out to the high seas.

Once you level up enough and get a feel for the combat systems, you can even throw down with other players in player-vs-players battles.

But the icing on the cake is still smashing your way through a dungeon full of foes, and the action cake tastes best when enjoyed with friends.

Who wears heels to a battleground?

Dragons, or big dragon-like beasties, are hefty threats that need some pummeling.
Dragons, or big dragon-like beasties, are hefty threats that need some pummeling.  © Amazon Games/Smilegate

Lost Ark is great at generating excitement, but it is laughably bad when it comes to gender roles, unlike modern gaming titles, like OlliOlli World.

OK, so some classes in Lost Ark actually wear armor, but many are stuck in what feels like a bygone era with the female characters rocking a terrible excuse for protection.

Come on, all the playable female characters sashay on high heels into battle, some wearing scraps of cloth that would make wearing a bikini seem like overdressing?

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Plus, classes are gender-locked. Want to play a strong protector who is a woman? Nope, apparently that's where fantasy reaches is breaking point. You can be the buff paladin guy, but not a buff paladin gal.

Sure, you can be a male or female gunslinger, or martial artist, but the ultimate support class, focused on healing and helping, is restricted to women only.

The fact that some classes aren't gender-locked somehow makes it worse to see that you simply can't be the best healing man of them all.

At the end of the day, it is a free game, with a massive expanse of content. If you are willing to ignore the frustrating choices that went into gender roles, you just might sink hours of time into slaying the forces of evil. Or maybe just fishing – whatever floats your boat.

Cover photo: Amazon Games/Smilegate

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