Black Desert is a great open world to check out and explore

Pearl Abyss’ Black Desert Online is an incredibly detailed, visually gorgeous MMORPG that succeeds at nearly everything but having a beating heart and soul. Black Desert Online represents the latest effort from game developers attempting to rekindle the industry’s dying passion for the MMORPG genre. The game, which was in development for over three years, has already been available in Korea since 2014 and for Japanese and Russian gamers since 2015, but March 3, 2016 marked the first time European and North American players will finally have their chance with the long-awaited Black Desert Online.

If there’s one reason why I’m enamored with Black Desert Online, it’s that after over 50 hours with it, I’m still constantly discovering little nuances I had no idea existed. As someone who has grown exceedingly tired of the cut-and-paste template of most MMORPGs, it’s refreshing to play one with so many original ideas. But just because so much of Black Desert Online is new doesn’t mean that it’s always executed well.

Much has been said about Black Desert Online’s character creator, so I’m not going to harp on about it here - but just know that it’s damn impressive and produces some truly beautiful (or horrifying, if you wish) characters. I do have one minor complaint - while I understand the reasoning behind locking classes to one gender and race at the same time I’m not convinced it works - I don’t see why someone can’t be a giantess mega, for instance - it’s a shame that while the creator provides so much choice, in this aspect that choice is limited.

Black Desert features a death penalty and offers players the opportunity to opt into open world PvP, meaning players must keep on their toes or face losing character progress. Outside of open world PvP, the MMO also features Castle Sieges, where guilds can face off against one another in a bid to control a castle. These castles then supply the owners with control over the local economy and taxes from the region. Players may siege castles with cannons or scale their walls using ladders.

Between the extra two minutes of wolf killing and the grass beetles, weasels, foxes and imps that died to make this video possible, the majority of the first 30 minutes was spent slaughtering all of the things. Towards the end of the via I make it to the Western Guard Camp, advancing the story and picking up quests for a lovely break between bouts of sensible killing.

And finally there are folks who thought they were getting a certain degree of pre-order head start access but did not receive it due to naming issues in the game’s online store. On the plus side, Daum Games also included a chart in its post outlining the compensation it would be doling out in response to the head start issues. But for right now this is me, standing in a village while fantasy music plays on a loop and icons beckon me to quest. How am I going to fit this game in with Blade & Soul still ongoing and my beloved Final Fantasy XIV? Nothing bending the laws of time and space can’t fix.

Anyone out there planning on playing Black Desert, or am I destined to forever be alone. Don’t own goblins, humans. They’re intelligent. That’s creepy and wrong and it’s called slavery. Aside from the occasional eye-roll-inducing conversations, Black Desert is a great open world to check out and explore. Hopefully, after launch I’ll find the quest to help the goblins revolt and destroy their evil human overlords.