Royal Quest Review

Royal Quest is a fantasy MMO developed by Katauri Interactive and published by 1C Online Games. It’s available on Steam since August of 2014.

Gameplay

Royal Quest is an isometric point and click MMO. There are 4 initial classes in the game, the Warrior, Mage, Rogue, and Archer. Each of these classes can branch into one of the two advance class for it: Crusader and Dark Knight for the Warrior, Hunter and Sniper for the Archer, Thief and Assassin for the Rouge, and Sorcerer and Warlock for the Mage.

Unlike most other MMOs around, this game doesn’t have races or faction. In fact, this game doesn’t have much in the customization department at all. You can only select the gender, the hair style and the skin color. When selecting a color for your hair or skin, you don’t even get a color wheel, you can only pick from one of a few preset colors.

The card system in Royal Quest does stand out as a somewhat interesting feature. Killing monsters sometimes drops cards, which can be inserted into various equipments to get a set effect depending on the card. Each card is limited into the type of equipment it can be inserted into. Cards with offensive bonuses, for example, can only be socketed into weapons. Ordinary cards, once inserted, cannot be removed, but you can overwrite it with a new card. In that case, the old card will be destroyed. This card system would be familiar to anyone that played games like Ragnarok Online. You can also buy special premium cards from the cash shop.

Royal Quest allows players to have a pet in-game. The way you can get one varies. Some you have to buy on the cash shop, some you have to buy from a certain NPC, while some can only be gotten from chests. Pets are mostly cosmetic, but with the help of a special collar bought from the cash shop, you can make your pet auto loot the items on the ground. You can also have a mount in-game. Mounts in Royal Quest not only make your movement speed faster, they also give you different bonuses depending on your mount.

The Good

One of the best things about Royal Quest is its great use of graphics. Royal Quest’s visuals aren’t too fancy, but they fit the game really well. Despite being a 3D game, it has a hand painted look to it. It looks pretty crisp and beautiful.

Another thing going for it is the varied monster types around. Unlike some MMO where there’s only one type of enemy on the field, in Royal Quest it’s not uncommon to see 3-6 different monster on the same field, and these are not mere palette swaps but actual different monsters. It greatly contributes to the atmosphere of the game.
There is also a unique PvPvE element to the game. For those who enjoy PvP MMORPGs but with the purpose of improving your character, this will possibly make or break the game for you. At higher levels you will have to compete with other players for the right to fight mobs in PvE. And those who want those rare spawns and rare equipment can fight you for it. As such, guilds play an important role in this game to continue progressing. There are also castle sieges.

Finally, the card system is a great addition to this game, as it allows you to customize your gear to your liking. As such, practically any equipment is usable. You don’t need to hunt mobs for optimal gear. You can just slot a card you like into your favorite equipment and you’re done.

The Bad

Royal Quest, back when it was first announced back in 2010 had a bit of a following. After all, the developers behind it are the makers of King’s Bounty: The Legend, which was well received by the gaming press. Unfortunately the game was overhyped and delays in releasing the game made it lose momentum. By the time it was released in 2014 practically no one cared anymore, which leads us to its current condition. The game frankly, is dying. That makes the end game PvPvE a bit more frustrating because it can be difficult to find help against players further into the game.

But I think what’s really killing this game is the somewhat p2w nature of it. At first glance it doesn’t seem so bad, but once you’ve really delved into the game, you will find that you need to shell real money for some basic functionality. A good example is the loot system. In this game, you have a separate loot bag, and it can only hold 15 items. This is extremely small for an RPG let alone an MMORPG.

The good news is that you can expand it. The bad news? You can only expand it by using real money. But it doesn’t stop there, pets can loot items using a special premium collar. You would think that this premium collar is a permanent item, right? But no. It’s a consumable item that gets destroyed after looting 2000 items. Yes, not only do they charge you for expanding your inventory, they also charge you for merely picking up an item.

The game is also extremely grindy. Which the developers “fixed” by giving premium account holders an EXP boost. Perhaps the game isn’t truly p2w. There are much worse systems for buying straight power than in Royal Quest. But it is really frustrating to play this game without spending money, and it will definitely slow down your progress a disturbing amount.

Closing Thoughts

Royal Quest is a tragic game. The game was announced too soon and released too late. If it had a proper momentum behind it, it could have been a great game. But as it is now, this game is bad. Not only does it sport an aggravating cash shop, there are not many players left. It might be worth trying out for the right people, but Royal Quest is not a top of a list recommendation.