Amazon Games has been on something of a spree when it comes to bringing South Korean MMORPGs to the west. The company’s first major attempt at this, Lost Ark, saw its fair share of mixed reception, being praised by players who appreciate its unique end-game systems and epic boss fights, while also being criticized by others for featuring the same level of grind and monetization that some MMORPGs have a reputation for. Fast forward to 2024 and we have the latest South Korean release into the western MMORPG market in the form of Throne and Liberty.
Throne and Liberty is currently entering into a market that’s essentially filled with entrenched players. Classics of the genre like World of Warcraft and others have taken up a gigantic chunk of the MMORPG market, while games like Destiny 2 have also swept up a chunk of MMO fans who might be more interested in action-oriented gameplay. For Throne and Liberty to be able to make a dent in the western market, it has to offer something truly unique from other online games these days, and while the title does have some interesting ideas about PvE and PvP content, it ends up falling short on many counts.
When it comes to variety of content, Throne and Liberty offers up quite a few ways for players to spend their time, including the main quest, several side quests, and even tertiary activities like crafting, gathering, and fishing. The game also includes group content, including a series of dungeons that players can take on. Throne and Liberty offers up an interesting take on the classic MMORPG convention of classes with different roles that players can take on. Rather than locking a character into a specific class, and by extension, a specific style of play, players instead have the freedom to switch their roles around depending on what they might be in the mood for. Rather than classes, players will instead pick their weapon of choice, which in turn fills out their list of abilities. Players that prefer to keep enemy attention on themselves so that their teammates can focus on dealing damage might be drawn to the Sword and Shield, while Wand and Tome users can then focus on healing their group, while Bow, or Dagger users can kill off enemies with abilities that deal damage.
This class-less structure also has the side benefit of allowing gameplay during the early leveling process to remain fresh. Since players can switch their weapons, and by extension their entire skillset, if raining down fireballs on enemies is getting boring, you could always switch to the Greatsword and get up close and personal with your opponents instead. The downside of this structure is that progression becomes harder the more you want to experiment. Different weapon users will find different types of armor useful, after all, and if you’re the kind of player that likes switching things around, you’re going to be grinding quite a bit in order to craft the right set of equipment for your chosen roles. Playing the game as a solo adventurer feels like it’s balanced towards the player not really switching between different weapons, since you happen to find enough materials to keep one set of gear up to date.
Another unique aspect of Throne and Liberty is that it allows all players to shapeshift into different animals. Rather than offering up any concrete gameplay bonuses in battle, like for example the Druid class in World of Warcraft, these shapeshifting abilities are more focused on allowing players to explore the world of Solisium in different ways. Players can shapeshift into an otter, a hawk, or a large cat. These forms allow players more freedom and increased speed while exploring the world by water, air or land respectively. Aside from this, however, the shapeshifting doesn’t really offer anything new and can essentially be looked at as Throne and Liberty’s own take on mounts.
"Rather than classes, players will instead pick their weapon of choice"
When it comes to core gameplay, Throne and Liberty is a real-time action RPG, with an interesting focus on being able to parry and counter attacks. Much like other MMOs, enemy attacks in Throne and Liberty tend to be telegraphed well, and players have the option of either moving around to avoid the attack, or to counter the attack without having to move at all. The system seems to be designed around making gameplay for the tank role more exciting, but ultimately feels rather underbaked, since the button to counter attacks ends up feeling like yet another defensive ability that players will have to use anyway. While interesting in theory, the counter system doesn’t really do much to distinguish the game from its competitors in any meaningful way.
One of the best things about Throne and Liberty is its visuals, and it’s hard to argue that Throne and Liberty doesn’t look great. The character models are all well detailed, allowing for armor and clothing to look like they naturally belong on these characters, while the world itself can often be really fun to explore thanks to just how breathtaking it can often end up being. The game offers up a few zones that players can explore, each offering up different themes and vibes, ranging from the large city of Kastleton, to the spookier, more atmospheric Carmine Forest. There are also the ruins of an epic battle in the form of the Titanreach Ruins, and even the tropical forests of Lizard Island, which also happens to be filled with poisonous flowers. All of these zones are also subject to different weather conditions, as well as a day/night cycle, which can do quite a bit to change the atmosphere of the area.
One of the potential downsides of Throne and Liberty is the way in which it has been monetized. A premium currency, Lucent, can be purchased by players, which can then in turn be used to buy things through an in-game shop. The in-game shop, at the time of writing, only features cosmetic items, including outfits and pets. What this means for the game’s economy in the future is currently unclear, but being able to pay real money for items that are otherwise earned in game certainly can’t be a good sign for the long-term health of an MMORPG.
"It’s hard to argue that Throne and Liberty doesn’t look great."
The endgame content in Throne and Liberty is quite lacking, since there isn’t much for PvE players to do aside from dungeons. The game revolves more around PvP, with Guild-versus-Guild events where player guilds have to battle it out against each other to seize control of Boonstones and Riftstones. Unfortunately, there isn’t really much in the way of raiding content like World of Warcraft or Destiny 2 where players can get together to take on more challenging forms of PvE content, and the dungeons, while fun, tend to fall on the easier side of things.
It also doesn’t help that getting into endgame content can be a challenge in and of itself. The grind to get your equipment up to par in order to simply just staying alive beyond a single hit in some of the game’s higher levelled zones can be an excruciating experience.
Ultimately, Throne and Liberty feels quite underbaked. The notorious monetization that some MMORPGs are known for tend to leave a bad taste in my mouth, and Throne and Liberty doesn’t really offer much reprieve in this regard considering the presence of an in-game shop, and historic releases from the region like Lost Ark. The level of grinding required to level up different weapons and roles also feels quite sharp, and if you want to keep things interesting, you’ll definitely want to experiment with various weapons. All of that said, however, Throne and Liberty is a gorgeous game that plays fine, and even has a few interesting ideas here and there with regards to combat and exploration.
This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.
Gorgeous visuals; Exploration through shapeshifting is fun.
Feels lacking in content; Not much to do in the endgame; Grinding for materials can get tedious.
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