MMORPG.com Staff Writer Adele Caelia has been playing Sword of the New World: Granado Espada since the game's launch. Today, she brings us her opinions... in review form.

Sword of the New World has won many awards for game play and graphical quality in Korea, and has its sights set on making its mark in the U.S. with beautiful graphics and unique multi-character control. The game, which is published by HandbitSoft, is set in 17th century Europe and takes place in Grando Espada, a new city formed by a king in the west to save his people from war.

Graphics

The game, while lacking in customization of hair, face, and body is, to say the least, very pretty. It was not the cartoonish norm of this type of game, and the characters and world are both beautiful. While I could not choose how my face or hair looked, I was able to choose from a variety of very unique and gorgeous outfits, and being a woman, the latter very easily soothed over my feelings on the former. Those who do not place avatar customization as a top priority should be happy with what they find. Players can also visit a tailor for new costumes as they gain levels. After I created my family, and I even threw in a male, I thought to myself, "Damn... this is one fine looking family!"

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Weeeeee another softball review for a paying advertiser !!!  Seriously guys,   You just had to rush this review to give it a good score didn't you ? Where's the high end pvp content review ?  A game that offers no challenge gets a good score ?

Originally posted by Airspell

Weeeeee another softball review for a paying advertiser !!!  Seriously guys,   You just had to rush this review to give it a good score didn't you ? Where's the high end pvp content review ?  A game that offers no challenge gets a good score ?

The game isn't any more or less challenging then other MMO's, so your arguement fails, horribly.

All I know is that SotN is a pretty content-less game.

Grind grind grind, sure its fun for a while, grind grind, group a bit, chat a bit, grind grind...er..quit.

Ive played a lot but it's just mindless grind. Sure some quests are nice, but those are VERY RARE.

Shallow game, good graphics..but typical korean mmo. Graphics + grind = -_-

The MCC system does rock though, made me play for a month. =P So it has that as a good thing.

Originally posted by Darkz0r

All I know is that SotN is a pretty content-less game.

Grind grind grind, sure its fun for a while, grind grind, group a bit, chat a bit, grind grind...er..quit.

Ive played a lot but it's just mindless grind. Sure some quests are nice, but those are VERY RARE.

Shallow game, good graphics..but typical korean mmo. Graphics + grind = -_-

The MCC system does rock though, made me play for a month. =P So it has that as a good thing.

Saying its a typical Korean MMORPG is ignorant. there is no korean MMO that lets you play 3 characters at once, there is no korean MMO that uses a stance system like GE does. There is no Korean MMo that lets you play with NPC characters. Korean MMO's often take months if not years to reach the cap level, but you can reach the cap in SotNW in only 1 ~ 2 months.

Its not more of a grind then a game like WoW or Everquest 2, the only difference is that there are a lot less "Go kill XX" or "Go collect XX' quests, but those things just hide the grind, not remove it.

And yet another so called " review " from someone who hasn`t played enough to give a fair analysis of what this game has to offer.

This statement is competely inaccurate .

 For the long term, it is too repetitive, and easy. It is so easy, in fact, that one can even go AFK and remain in an area filled with mobs (if they aren't too high in level) on auto fight, and upon returning, the mobs will be dead, and the family will still be fighting to live another day. "

Having a family level of 9 myself and playing for 2 months I can assure anyone that this game is not repetetive or easy.

I`m not goin to list all of the reasons since I have allready done this on another thread however with regards to AFK playing , it`s not as easy as that , you will get no loot , you will get low exp in contrast to active playing , you are more likely to be killed than not and after family level 6 you can be killed by other players while your AFK , and yes they do this all the time in order to de level rivals .

I challenge anyone to get a family past level 6 and really find out what the game is about before giving any regard to this kind of mis information.

Grind ? In other mmorpg`s from level 70 and up probably around 4-5% exp from my experiences , in this game 20-30% exp at the same level. In addition for those who don`t know , I play the IAH version and we are getting ready for the implementation of the veteran options which will allow players to access gameplay past level 100 , the introduction of Baron quests and new RNPC`s among other features.

If anyone would like to know more about this game I would be more than happy to answer any questions .

Originally posted by Airspell

Weeeeee another softball review for a paying advertiser !!!  Seriously guys,   You just had to rush this review to give it a good score didn't you ? Where's the high end pvp content review ?  A game that offers no challenge gets a good score ?

There are two ways that you can play SOTNW, easy mode where you fight mobs 5 levels less than you on auto attack.

or

You can fight higher level mobs in rooms you can barely hold and have a crazy fun time.

This review was pretty good stating the bests of Swords of the New World. I want to throw it out there that ive been a veteran mmo player since my 3 years of UO madness. Since that insane addiction ive been struggling mindlessly to find something to give me the same satisfaction. This is not saying this game is anywhere like the calibre of UO, or saying that it has solved this issue. However from bouncing through games such as WOW, LOTR, and finally here, I am very impressed with its delivery. I do not however play Sword of the New World, but the original version of Grenado Espada, none usa release. http://ge.iahgames.com . Community is rather quiet other then the loads of people using world chat for selling items. However i have met a lot of great players from other countries on here that though do not participate in random conversations, will be open to conversing and grouping togather to hit up some of the more challenging areas. If i were have to compare the style of this game, with the graphical content and gameplay ide put it as a FF7 + Diablo decided to have kids and this popped out. Sure in a mmo its very difficult to capture the unique story line of those two games but as for gameplay goes, 3 characters under your control, but fast paced and not turned based fighting system...you have a final fantasy console + diablo fighting system baby. As for the complaint i see often as for not being able to design your players, is where my ff + diablo once again comes into play. You have your generics like the diablo series, but along the way you through quests Granado allows you to gather more RNPC as they are named, key characters to the game which after several quests allow you to add them to your family. This is probably my favorite part of the game because these characters dont contain the same classes as the generics, some are similar but still have their specialty options. I guess the main reason for the jabber and my own review of this game was to note that this should not be compared with other mmo's whether your love it or not. Grindfests are going to happen in EVERY mmo. There is no avoiding this, you will have to sit and level at one point or another. As for story, it has a good premise but ide really like to see where it goes. I dont imagine this as a long long mmo like UO was for me, but from most peoples comments based on this game it seems they installed, tried for a day or so and gave it up without seeing exactly what this game is about. Its not the standard USA mmo that gets more and more kids and adults addicted to video game crack. It has a very addicting aspect, but with the player events, the dueling system generating ladder scores, and the encouraged PK on the PK servers through issueing "Baron Points" and Baron levels i think this game has more potential for long term then most people are giving it. Future updates are in works for the actual launch of Granada Espada, Singapore version, including crafting, more RNPC becoming available, and serverwide events to go with those that already happen. Right now Granada Espada is in Open Beta from the link above, so play for free to any level and see how they run it over there versus how from what i read have screwed it up with k2 running it here in the USA. Sorry for the long post, i just hate when games get floaded with what people hate about them and how they "suck" when there are a lot of great things to this game that will be appealing to anyone that actually enjoys console rpgs, and like to see th innovative ideas that consoles can provide to the mmo community. 

I have to agree with Neomesis .

If you wan`t to try the game you can go over to the international version and there no limit to how far you can play. This way you can get a better idea of what the game has to offer rather than just play up to level 20 on SOTW. There are people there from many different countries and  languages.

The SG ( international version ) will be going commercial within the next few weeks and may opt for a F2P with item shop model however they have not divulged their intentions as of yet and this is a much anticipated announcement .

Why do i get the impression that there is a bias against Korean mmorpg`s ? It seems that although people have not played the game much , they insist that it`s a grindfest simply because it`s a Korean game. Out of any Korean game I have played , this one is the easiest exp yet.

The singapore version is not the international version. Its exactly that, the singapore version. You're allowed to play on the singapore version, but IAH does not have to provide any support to you whatsoever, and they can ban you whenever they like, in fact, IMC games can force them to ban all non - singapore players.

Ha well looks like i better not rock out some of my 1337 speak!!! But ya its the international version to me since its in singapore and im in the usa, but ya its what they call the Sge version. However there are players from all over on the Sge servers, not just Singapore. Its highly unlikely they are going to do a full nonsingapore ban due to location. That would destroy their game and any money making potential. But who knows, i guess time will tell but so far im having great results, and plan on playing past the beta since i aready ordered the special edition kit that comes with a 4 cd soundtrack and 6 months of free gameplay + some more extras. This should give me something to do for a while untill Aion gets closer to launch!

The mmorpg community is becoming so filled with fanbois, its almost sicking at this point. If its a good review its not good enough. if its a bad review its because they haven't plaid the game enough. If someone dares reply to a review, you better watch out as you get cut down instantly because you as a single player reviewer have no clue what your talking about. Its getting to the point of sickness on here.

While I have not played the game, I find the review not on track with itself. 

That is, the description of the review does not appear to match the rating numbers given.  For example, "Beautiful graphics" (not going to copy the entire graphic discussion), but only rates an 8.  I wonder what is needed to earn a 10?  Disappointing review for Role-Playing, but it rates a 7 (for potential?); and again beautiful scenery is stated.

Mixed signals with the Community; no crowds of Afk'ers, but friendly and polite, but quite, but no kill stealers, but not full of bots; rates a 6.  I don't get it...

It's actually one of the better asian mmo's.

but still not as good as our Western mmos.

I have yet to find one Korean game as good as any of our main stream titles. Why would you pay to play this when you can play Asherons Call, DAOC, WoW, UO, EQ 1 or 2, Shadowbane, EVE, GW or AO.

All of these games are leaps and bounds above anything Korea has developed.

shoddy review which fails to cover some basic infomation:

What is the control method - point & click, keyboard, combination of the two?

How big is the world, what methods of travel are there - is the content geared towards solo / group play?

Is the game orientated towards gear and itemisation or is it a skill based deal?

What is the "end game"? Is the game instance or seemless?

Is there any crafting and  how does it work?

What type of economic model does the game run - free market or controlled?

There are many more unanswered questions but  i will just mention these few basic areas that good reviews on this site have normally covered in the past. I dont beleive you would compromise the integrity of the website and write a soft review for an advertiser so lets just give you the benefit of the doubt and assume the reviewer is just inexperianced and the editor is on holiday or recovering in AA today  - this is not what we expect from MMORPG.com

Originally posted by zigmund

 

 

It's actually one of the better asian mmo's.

but still not as good as our Western mmos.

I have yet to find one Korean game as good as any of our main stream titles. Why would you pay to play this when you can play Asherons Call, DAOC, WoW, UO, EQ 1 or 2, Shadowbane, EVE, GW or AO.

All of these games are leaps and bounds above anything Korea has developed.

Well i guess the big question is, is it worth paying just to grind? i play'd the game till cap out of bore'dum i guess and just to try it.. i got tired of the game pretty quick but ppl keep saying "it gets better" well they shoulda made the pre-test cap higher huh

The game wasnt that social to me(that was my biggest turn off) i still play Flyff till this day kuz i kan chat my ass off. So what makes a good game? Surely not good graphics because this game is teeming with it. Prolly the best graphics i've seen in awhile and still move so smooth and the 3 characters u control is unique to MMO's but not RPG's and will proably be copied and improved upon later on.

I'm hoping they'll make a "pet system" with this in mind. Havin an option to control a pet Lion or Tiger or demon, dragon.. whatever.. would be fun with its own unique powers and abilities. SilkRoad and Hero Online are somewhat like this I guess, as well as Rapplez but it dosnt feel like you're playing as the pet too... not to me anyway

But would i pay for this game? no.. but thats my own opinion. it lacks to much to prove any real interest but it has alot potential

Originally posted by Gameloading

The singapore version is not the international version. Its exactly that, the singapore version. You're allowed to play on the singapore version, but IAH does not have to provide any support to you whatsoever, and they can ban you whenever they like, in fact, IMC games can force them to ban all non - singapore players.

 Yes you are correct in that it is hosted in SG however we like to refer to it as the international version because of the large player base from various countries around the globe , the game is also in English language unlike Japan and Korean versions so that it may be suitable for many different people to play.  The largest groups of players are primarily in SG and the Philippines with others from Vietnam , Europe and the United States. There are several hard core factions that have migrated from the Japan version also that include players from various countries including the USA.

As far as support , I`m not clear on what your refering to although I personaly have never known any mmorpg to big on supporting anything but their own residual income lol.

As far as IP banning , IAH has allready said in a statement that there will be no banning of foreign IP`S , but then again you never know whats going to happen .

Our great Staff Writer here has most definitely not played the game nor has she given fair ratings. She has also been self-contradicting throughout her review. The game and and its content is not as "easy" as she has described. There are several NPC quests, several "Hunt" quests, several missions and of course, a fun PvP system. This is not even mentioning the grind and training that you have to go through in order to be eligible for such content.

"Hmmm, I love my eye candy, Nice replicas of real paintings, very beautiful graphics, beautiful people live in beautiful worlds, done by a very very well-renowned artist, this deserves an 8. "

She has mentioned "Beautiful Graphics" all over her report, yet she only gives it an 8 (lol). 

"The game is very fast paced, and while out questing I found that my family is not only sexy, but they are pretty good ass kickers as well. I felt like my family was so beautiful and powerful that we could have probably conquered the world if we so chose to do so"

You were probably level 5 when you felt this way. Not as "easy" as you claim.

"The game, which is published by HandbitSoft, is set in 17th century Europe and takes place in Grando Espada, a new city formed by a king in the west to save his people from war."

"Grando Espada is that place, and it could have very well been created by a world-renowned artist"

This is a very very poor report from a MMORPG contributor. She can't even spell Granado Espada properly, and yes the action is very FACED-paced indeed.

One thing that I feel needs to be emphasized in a review of this game is how very unusual it is for an MMO.   I wouldn't even call it that, really. Many people would come to this game expecting certain features found in every other MMO out there and be dissapointed.  No background chatter, no cluttered markets, no camping, no one LFG, no downtime, etc.  You would think that the absence of these sometimes tedious things would be a good thing, but it seems that the whole genre is dependant on them.  The game does get funner as you advance, and more challenging, but the basic, repetetive play remains the same throughout.   I would say that style is the major attraction of this game.