A Formulaic MMORPG
An action MMORPG recently published by Goodgame Studios, Oath of Glory provides a contrast to the company’s repertoire of casual and strategy games. Many parts are similar or identical to those of other RPGs. Players complete quests and defeat enemies to gain experience and equipment. This likeness grants the game a certain level of quality, but also hurts individuality.
Familiar Features
Oath of Glory reuses elements and concepts commonly found in RPGs. Players begin by choosing a class for the protagonist. These include the knight, mage and enchanter, and each has special abilities that distinguish them. You are thrown into a world where the forces of light and dark battle and neither can overtake the other. Your character must succeed their master as a member of the Guild of Light, a group sworn to prevent darkness from unbalancing the world. During this journey, players collect different items from quests and use them to become stronger.
Like other RPGs, there are a great deal of quests that require you to go from one place to another. These can be completed automatically, allowing the player to multitask while their character runs around on their own to handle quests. This also means the character can interact with the environment and battle automatically. Completing quests awards currency, materials and equipment. Players grow stronger by using the materials and currency to upgrade their gear and special attacks. These are earned by reaching certain levels and allow players to deal more damage or heal. The game also includes PvP and cooperative elements. Players can complete challenges, which are essentially dungeons, with groups of people for more resources. They can also head to the Battlefield to team up with players to fight against others.
Incredibly Insincere
Oath of Glory uses the same concepts RPGs have been using for many years, but developer Goodgame Studios isn’t transparent about that. The marketing spiel for the game seems to be about a different game than the one I played. Oath of Glory was supposed to have a “unique, anime art style,” but the graphics are generic. The combat is described as “innovative,” but it is almost identical to other RPGs. The story is hailed as “rich,” but most of it is cliché and does not even make sense.
For example, the player is the apprentice of a master mage who lives in a small town. One day, a robed figure attacks the master and kidnaps him in broad daylight, when everyone is around. At some point, the master was given to gangsters-not bandits, but gangsters specifically-and finally some allies show up. They arrive not when there is only one bad guy, but when there are many. Later, it is learned that someone used dark energy to harm the master, which acts as a poison. While an antidote is in the works, the master runs off to fight evil and dies.
Oath of Glory is a decent, cookie-cutter action MMORPG. It is a game that deserves some respect in my opinion, despite the dishonesty and the plot’s incoherency. Maybe Goodgame Studios really thought they published something groundbreaking, but I digress.
Is It Hardcore?
Yeah, barely.
Oath of Glory reuses the systems and concepts RPGs have been using for a long time. While this guarantees a certain level of quality, it destroys the game’s individuality. Oath of Glory is unable to distinguish itself from others in its genre.