When the world of MMOs was still young, Ragnarok Online had its own unique appeal and is one of the only anime based MMORPG still around. The world of Rune Midgard is large and diverse spanning over many different maps and ecosystems. Gravity has decided to do a major overhaul on there now aging game perhaps removing some of its wrinkles and gray hair. There are now 25 different classes in Ragnarok and soon there will be  another 12 added, as well as the decision to add F2P servers with cash shops to save its withering community.

          Starting from a lowly powerless Novice you can pick 10 classes to advance to. These include your basic archetype of the healer, tank, and damage dealer as there are too many to name all at once. Once you meet a certain level in most classes you can advance to higher a class  through a quest and then rebirth into a Novice again and become an even more powerful version of your class once you reach the max level which are called transcendent classes. Though this takes a ridiculous amount of time to do there is a huge amount of different areas and monsters to level. There are also boss monsters which give a great deal of experience and drop rare items but require a group to kill; some of the newer bosses are near impossible to kill but it seems players like the challenge.

          The leveling in Ragnarok Online is a major grind fest and only brings in fans from the more hardcore players as it takes a great deal or time and effort to reach max level which is currently 99.  There is talk that the level cap will be raised to 120 so hopefully they will smarten up and lower the experience needed to level or else it will literally take a year of playing non-stop to reach max level. I will say that the grind is oppressive at best and hopefully will be made easier with future updates but I doubt it. A characters main way of progressing in power is  by adding to their statistics with points earned from leveling. The statistics are the general archetype of what we see in other MMORPGS: strength will increase melee damage, intelligence with increase magic damage, agility will increase dodge rate, dexterity will increase hit rate, and luck increases critical hit chance

          The classes are incredibly diverse in both gameplay and appearance allowing players to have many choices when it comes to play style. The primary classes consist of Acolyte, Archer, Mage, Merchant, Swordsman, and Thief which can progress to two different classes most commonly referred to as 2-1 and 2-2 classes. Each class has its own role in parties and blend together well however the extended classes Gunslinger, Ninja, Super Novice, Taekwon, Star Gladatior, and Soul Linker seem to have been forgotten long ago by Gravity and do not benefit from any of the new updates with items the growing number of rebirth class only items. There are obvious balance problems and it seems these classes will but all but useless with the new 3-1 and 3-2 Classes coming out.

          Ragnarok has a click and move interface so the only buttons you will be using are the F keys which act as your hotkeys for spells and abilities; this can be both easy and extremely frustrating when your trying to move your character around or fight monsters.

          Classes like Wizard and Hunter are far more enjoyable to play while leveling then a Knight or Assassin as Wizard has huge and crippling spells it can cast on multiply enemies and Hunters can use various traps and ranged attacks to kill but all a Knight and Assassin can do is click on something until it dies or spam a skill. I feel this a major drawback to melee classes in Ragnarok because when you play them its more boring than anything else. Monsters are pretty diverse and have specific abilities, spells, strengths, and weaknesses. This is one of the more refreshing aspects while playing instead of fighting enemies who are seemingly all the same besides appearance and how much damage they do.

          PvP in Ragnarok Online is both boring and addicting and revolves around an event called War of Emperium where guilds fight for castles that give exclusive treasure. Though its extremely fun this is again another place in the game where it’s apparent that Ragnarok Online is mostly for hardcore players instead of more casual ones. Your equipment and level is really the only factor in PvP and has very little to do with any kind of skill. Through gear you can pretty much become invincible against any enemy if you have the rare equipment that requires you to have no life. However the classes are pretty balanced with an exception being extended classes which are a rarity in any kind of PvP due their low health and limited gear.

          Unlike many MMORPGs today, the world in Ragnarok Online is split into many different maps which is how you travel in the game instead of a massive over world. As someone who has played newer online games it can be frustrating to travel from map to map waiting each time with loading screen especially when there is something waiting to kill you on the other end.  

          The graphics for Ragnarok Online may seem dated as the character sprites are a rare sight being 2D in a 3D world but they are still lush and colorful. The overhead view can be clunky at times making things difficult to see but doesn’t distract too much. The music in the game has quite a bit of variety and is also the best I have heard on any MMO to date.

          Though old Ragnarok Online carries itself well despite its age, it’s far from friendly to casual gamer due to its heavy grind. The game certainly favors the hardcore fans in this genre which can be a lot of fun if you have enough time to play.