Game developer X-legends Entertainment of Taiwan recently announced the release of Astral Realm, its new anime-inspired chibi MMORPG.
X-legends is the maker of popular massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) such as Eden Eternal, Aura Kingdom and Glory Destiny.
Astral Realm finished its four-day closed-beta testing phase for the Taiwanese server which began last June 4. There is as yet no North American or global release for the game, which was announced as fully open last June 17.
X-legends has also began incorporating microtransactions into the game and has raised the level cap for the Taiwanese server from 50 to 55.
The game offers nine playable classes: Swordsman, Ranger, Wizard, Hunter, Paladin, Sage, Assassin, Sorcerer and Gladiator. An article on the gaming review portal, mmosite.com, said players could freely switch to any class without re-training, when out of combat, to experience more of the game content. However, this feature might not be retained once the game developer integrates the microtransaction option.
The game lore tells of two factions that went to war, with each faction choosing its own goddess and declaring the other as an enemy. Years after the war, the "good" goddess is reincarnated as an orphan astral adventurer, thereby triggering the wheels of fate to spin once more.
Each class has its own special animated-frame skill. This is similar to Aura Kingdom's special eidolon skills, where an animation-frame appears whenever the skills are activated.
Astral Realm will also have Star Clan Guardians, the equivalent of pets and eidolons. Fishing, crafting, alchemy, cooking and a lot of the little stuff that adds complexity to MMORPGs will also be present in this game. Basic PvP options such as duels and various arena modes are also available.
One unique feature of Astral Realm that previous X-legends games do not have is the new housing system. Players can buy and upgrade houses that are mounted on top of giant creatures' backs.
The game is awaiting English voice-overs and translators needed for a global release to push through. The same is true with Dragon Slayer, another highly-anticipated X-legends game that was released last year but has yet to have an English version, although Thai and Japanese versions already exist.
Meanwhile, Koram Games, a publishing company, has closed down Spirit Tales, the global version of Glory Destiny, three years after it debuted in April 2012. Insufficient marketing and community mishandling is reported to have caused the game's downfall. The solid player-base hopes a new publisher to pick up the game. More details can be found here.
Astral Realm's OBT game trailer is available below.
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