In recent years, Korean games seem to have regained their former activity, with a large number of new games being released every quarter. In the past Q1 quarter, there have been a number of game releases, including many high-profile hits, which have not only attracted a lot of attention from players, but also sparked heated discussions on social media. Similarly, there are also a lot of popular works in the next Q2 quarter, let's take a look.
"Star Blade"
Release time: April 26
If you're interested in click-to-play games, you're no stranger to Star Blade, the latest hit by SHIFT UP, the developer of Niki: Goddess of Victory. Since the release of the demo of "Star Blade", the popularity of the game has remained high with its astringent female characters.
After confirming the release date and opening the pre-sale, it quickly became the game with the most pre-orders on the PlayStation Store, even surpassing well-known titles such as Sea of Thieves and Elden Ring: Shadow of the Golden Tree, and many other well-known titles, and many regions abroad were sold out.
Set in the near future, Star Blade accompanies the powerful heroine Eve and her comrades on the road to fight against unknown enemies on a ruined Earth. What Eve did in the game did more than just kill enemies in flashy ways, crossing terrain by scaling walls, sliding tactically, swinging on ropes, and more. Various hidden treasures can be explored and discovered as players make use of various actions to navigate the map.
As the game progresses, Eve gains skills and items and becomes more and more powerful. Earn Beta Gauge (BG) by parrying and dodging in combat. BG can then be used to gain skills such as armor penetration, sweeping attacks, interrupting enemy combos, and more. Eve also has a gauge that accumulates with successive parries and combos, which can be used to activate buffs and powerful attacks such as jumping stabs. It is also possible to expect to find stylish outfits throughout the game to change Eve's appearance.
Star Descendants 2: Vedic Knights
Release time: April 2
Star Descendants 2: Vedic Knights is a story-rich 2D RPG where players need to make the best use of the Vedic Knights to fight bosses and monsters, each with different skills and weapons, up to 4 Vedic Knights, and support for co-op mode.
It is an action RPG with 2D side-scrolling type combat gameplay. In the game, the story of the conspiracy against evil in the continent of Frynis will be the main story axis, and there will be more than 20 kinds of characters for players to collect and use, plus the wonderful plot layout and excellent art style, as well as more than 1800 plot screens drawn to improve the integrity of the storyline, which not only adds to the fun of watching, but also brings players a richer experience than before.
This work adopts a single-player + multiplayer online mode, in addition, in terms of card drawing, fate (constellation), character development and combat, we can also see a lot of "Genshin Impact" and "Crashing Iron" shadows. It's just that at the moment when the two-dimensional painting style is popular, "Star Descendants 2: Knights of the Vedas" seems a bit different.
"Royalty and Freedom" international server
Online time: April 10 closed beta
Ncsoft's new work "Throne and Freedom" should be expected by many players, after the game was launched in South Korea in December 2023. Recently, the international server officially announced that the game will be closed from April 10th to 17th, targeting North America, Europe, South America, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Throne and Liberty combines story-driven adventure and action combat. The player enters a vast world where changing geographical and environmental features change the course of the game.
Large-scale player-versus-player and player-versus-environment combat are the foundation of Thrones & Freedom. Players can transform into animals to soar through the air or explore the depths of the ocean, and even improve their odds of victory by triggering powerful environmental influences such as solar eclipses or torrential rains.
The class system of Throne & Freedom may be more similar to that of Sword & Soul 2, where the player character's class system will vary depending on the weapon used, and the player can switch classes at any time during the battle by switching weapons.
In addition, the game's combat system organically combines the three elements of the map, the environment, and the player. For example, the magic of the Rainy Day Lightning series becomes an area attack. Therefore, from dungeons to PVP, players need to constantly change their strategies.
Asda Chronicles: The Triwizard
Online time: April 24
As the first collaboration project of Netstone and Dragon Studios, "Asda Chronicles: Triwizard Tournament" will have a world view related to the TV series "Asda Chronicles", and is an MMORPG with a variety of exploration elements such as changing clothes and eating according to day and night, weather and climate, and exploring new areas by building bridges with players.
"Asda Chronicles: Triwizard Rivalry" tells the story of the large-scale power struggle between the three forces "Asda", "Argao" and "Outlaw" in order to fight for control of the entire Asda continent. Players can enjoy the core fun of MMORPGs through a real-life social experience in the Asda universe, including fierce rivalry and intricate political and economic cooperation between various forces.
In addition to the traditional gameplay experience, Asda Chronicles: Triwizard Tournament invites players to immerse themselves in the world of Asda through a unique storyline and various features such as an ever-changing environment based on weather conditions, resource gathering, construction, and cooking.
And "Asda Chronicles: Triwizard Tournament" is also a multi-class game, players can form class characteristics in the form of main class + subclass, combine the skills of the main class and the common skills of the secondary class, create a multi-skill combination through various passive skills, and naturally change the class according to the situation.
"Getting Darker" mobile game
Online time: The first test in South Korea on April 24
KRAFTON, the developer of PUBG, recently released the beta information and trailer of its new game "Dark and Darker Mobile" developed by its studio Bluehole Studio. The preview will be held in South Korea for a 5-day beta test from April 24 to April 28. The beta is only available for Android, and the recruitment of beta players will start on April 4 on a first-come, first-served basis.
Officially, Krafton aims to launch "Dark and Darker Mobile" globally within the year, and plans to collect various opinions from users through this test. Dark and Darker Mobile features a combination of battle royale genre survival, dungeon exploration genre exploration, RPG and other unique elements that embody the fun of the original.
"I Upgrade Arise Alone"
Launch time: Global public beta in May
Adapted from Korean comics, the cross-platform action mobile game "I Upgrade Alone" of the recent hit drama "I Upgrade Alone" is planned to be in early access in Thailand/Canada on March 21, and officially launched globally in May, supporting Chinese.
"I Upgrade Alone: ARISE" is an ARPG developed with the IP of the well-known webtoon "I Upgrade Alone", which has accumulated more than 14.3 billion views worldwide.
In the game, players will become the protagonist of the comics, Cheng Xiaoyu, to fight, and use more skills and weapons by leveling up to create their own fighting style. At the same time, the game will also reflect the core content of the original game, cultivating the Shadow Legion and recruiting powerful hunters as guild members.
Players who participate in the pre-registration will be able to receive special rewards such as "Main Character Cheng Jin-woo's Fashionable Black Outfit", "2 Magic Crystals of Each Attribute (10 in total)", "Legendary Armor Set" and "100,000 Coins" to help players quickly start their adventure.
It is worth noting that players should not miss the opportunity to obtain Cheng Zhenyu's precious companion/hunter "Liu Zhenhao" in the pre-registration event, and these rewards will be distributed after the official launch of the game.