Last week, we had the opportunity to watch a preview presentation of Blade & Soul NEO, the newly remastered iteration of the classic MMORPG, and to sit with Andrew Long, Senior Producer at NC America.
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With changes to gameplay elements like revamped Weapons and Skills systems and the removal of the Stamina bar (something that the community has wanted for years), the folks at NC America have been working hard on addressing player feedback. However, the development has not been without its ups and downs.
“Some of the main challenges were ensuring that we captured the essence of Blade & Soul, but delivered a product that feels refreshing to play,” explains Long. “That is quite hard because the changes you make need to be impactful, but you don’t want to take away from the original experience.”
“It is also extremely exciting on many levels; we’ve been working on Blade & Soul LIVE for nine years now, so we are very passionate about the game. Releasing a new version of it brings all sorts of new possibilities to our team,” he adds. “NEO will have the ability to bring in new audiences, even though there is a loyal and returning user base for LIVE. There is a whole new world that may not have even heard of it until now, and we are excited to have them come in and experience the game.”
NEO gets a breath of fresh air by receiving some QOL changes, like the way Windwalk works now, this time without a Stamina bar, and a transition to an RNG-based weapon system, where the stats can be different on each drop. However, will these changes help newcomers fall in love with it?
“Absolutely! Removing the stamina bar unlocks a new world of exploration for players and also removes a lot of frustration in managing stamina, which is used to traverse the world,” explains Long. ”Players will now be able to sprint, climb, and fly infinitely which will allow them to explore new areas of the game they weren’t able to explore before.”
“For skills and weaponry,” he adds, “we believe there are a lot of new ways to play Blade & Soul with these new systems and there are opportunities to customize the way you fight based on your play style.”
MMORPGs like World Of Warcraft have received the “Classic” treatment in the past, something lauded by current players, but especially by veterans of the game. Does Blade & Soul NEO have the potential to bring seasoned players back to the beginning?
“We don’t want to transition anyone from Live to NEO, and we are going to continue to support both services simultaneously, and for those users who are committed to their characters on LIVE, they can expect to continue to receive new content,” states Long. “For NEO, we do anticipate our veteran users to jump in and relive the journey they started nine years ago, but if they enjoy where Live has progressed, then that game will continue to be there for them.”
Making a new iteration of Blade & Soul opens endless possibilities regarding the post-launch content, as not only does the original game have nine years’ worth of DLC to cover, but NEO could easily get never-before-seen content, especially in the form of collaborations with more NC America IPs that are getting sequels, like Throne And Liberty or the recently announced Aion 2.
“We have content ready to be released for NEO; some of it very soon after launch, and some of it will come in regular updates throughout the year,” he explains. “Our goal is to monitor our players’ behavior, listen to their feedback, and then time our post-launch content updates to best fit their progression; if that leads us to release content sooner or let players digest our current content longer, it will be part of a process of listening to feedback and responding.”
“Our launch content will be similar to what our players experienced nine years ago, but with changes such as Infinite Windwalking,” Long says. “That is not to say that in future updates we won’t explore other areas of the story with characters that may not have had their moment to shine in our previous storytelling.”
“I won’t spoil anything at this time, but we want to expand upon this. For AION 2 specifically, I don’t have anything to mention at this time; however, the AION and Lineage II producers are good friends of mine and we strive to collaborate as much as possible.”
With the release of Blade & Soul NEO coming on February 25, both new and seasoned players will have a chance to take a look at one of the most beloved MMOs with a fresh coat of paint, and after seeing what this game has in store, we can’t help but be extremely excited about it.
- Developer(s)
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NC America
- Publisher(s)
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NCSoft