About a little over a year ago, Bear and I discovered an awesome online game called Dragon Nest. We really loved it and even did two comics on it. We eventually had to put it aside due to a really hectic work schedule, but we'd still fondly remember the experiences and would talk about it every once in a while. We recently decided to pick up the game again and it's still impressively awesome! =D

For those who don't know Dragon Nest, it's an online action RPG in which you have town hubs and instanced dungeons to fulfill quests and progress its story. You can play the game solo or party with a max of 3 other players. The Instanced dungeons are usually short, but the action can be rather fast, super mobby, and sometimes rather tough giving it an arcade-like feel. The camera is set to 3rd person view, behind your character's shoulder, and functions similar to that of a first-person-shooter. As you complete dungeons, you find loot, upgrade gear, gain levels, and even advance and change your character's job. When it is time to change your job, you have to make a definitive decision between two choices that might change your gameplay dramatically; you actually have to make the decision TWICE so as a Warrior for example, you actually have four different outcomes!! =D

Dragon Nest has so much going for it! Its combat is fun and responsive. The characters and enemies have tight hit boxes and a great variety of different abilities and moves that not only do damage but also put a lot of focus on positioning and utility. There's a good variety of difficulty levels with adjusting rewards; it's great being able to fight some enemies that have some bite!

One of the areas where the game brilliantly shines is the dialogue localization. I can't recall a game with NPC's as memorable, entertaining, and enjoyable as Dragon Nest's. Not only is the text dialogue amazing, but the voice acting is top-notch as well!

We've been having a blast playing Dragon Nest again and are always excited at the thought of popping back on when we have the time. One of the problems the game has had lately though is that the bot population is outrageous. The town servers for the past few weeks were having serious lag and disconnection issues; It got so bad that one of the main towns crashed and was down for about 3-4 days! I can't stand it when people bot. Botting ruins so many games! I'm not sure what Nexon did to remedy the situation, but the last time we played after they had their weekly maintenance and got the servers back up, things were just dandy! =D Bear noticed bots being instantly teleported out of town (or disconnected?). A few bots would slip through, but it was a bazillion times better than before. @_@ I hope the goodness lasts.

Anyhow, go check out Dragon Nest!!! XD