After being forced to delay Blue Protocol’s closed network beta for two months in a row, Bandai Namco finally hosted the much-anticipated beta and it left me highly optimistic about the game. The Japanese closed network beta offered players access to the first few hours of gameplay and while there are issues that need to be ironed out, the overall package that the game wants to offer is promising. If you are a fan of the anime art style and want to get into a new MMORPG, Blue Protocol might be worth checking out.
Character Creation and Gameplay
The closed network beta had five classes available for players to choose from. There will be more classes that will be available once the game launches, but the ones we have right now are very straightforward and some of them stand out in terms of gameplay.
Here is a quick summary of all the classes that are available right now:
- Bladewarden: Sword and shield wielder with tanking capabilities.
- Twinstriker: Dual-wielding DPS class with fast attacks.
- Keenstrider: Bow user with ranged damage.
- Spellweaver: Mage class with ranged spells.
- Foebreaker: Hammer wielder with solid defensive capabilities and high damage output.
Foebreakers felt like the most interesting class with a mix of high burst damage and damage mitigation available at your disposal. Do note that participants of the beta got access to only the earliest stages of the game and I don’t know if the five classes can branch out to specializations/subclasses as you progress through the game.
The Spellweaver and Keenstrider classes feel generic in the early game but players should reserve their opinions on the classes until after the game releases. Mid to late-game class builds and gear are more than likely to add depth to the gameplay.
After spending some time with the game’s introductory levels, the game made it clear that seeks to offer a very streamlined combat system. Each class has access to two types of basic attacks, four skills/abilities, an ultimate, and two summons. This might be a good or bad thing depending on how complex you want an MMO’s combat system to be.
Leveling and Gear Progression
If you want to play multiple characters, you have to manually level each of your classes from scratch. While there may be quick ways to level up your toons when the game launches, the current progression system felt quite tedious.
Low-level dungeons are your best bet when it comes to leveling your characters in the early game. You can also go through the game’s quests which are mostly centered around getting kills or fetching items for NPCs.
One thing that I noticed is that a lot of the open-world activities are instanced, unlike most other MMOs. The world events that spawn did not feel solo-friendly and if you don’t have enough players in your instance, things are going to feel difficult in the early game.
Your item level is what determines your strength in Blue Protocol. Progressing your gear in the game involves using your Adventure Board to see what tasks you need to complete to get new gear. Doing so will grant you access to the recipes to craft better gear.
I expect this is how players will need to progress until they hit a certain item level. I expect endgame activities to drop high-end recipes that will boost your item level even further going by how most games handle leveling.
The leveling system overall feels tedious and involves backtracking and completing all of your side quests. I feel that the main questline in MMORPGs should take you to the “soft cap” of your gear score and I am not the biggest fan of being forced into doing tons of mundane side quests like killing ads and collecting items to level up, especially when the side quests are bland.
My Takeaways From the Network Test
Most of my complaints regarding the game come from the poorly implemented Adventure Board system and drop rates of crafting items. Blue Protocol Development Director Fukuzaki was present in the in-game chat during the network test and he revealed that the dev team is already looking into improving the Adventure Board, the drop rates of items, and item collection.
For the lucky few that got the chance to chat with the Developers of BLUE PROTOCOL during the Network Test - Development Director, Fukuzaki, had some choice words to say to fellow playtesters.??The following text was captured from the in-game chat system.#???? pic.twitter.com/WAxHlmYAE2
— The BLUE PROTOCOL Database (@BlueProtocolDB) April 2, 2023
There is also a problem with the gear score calculation and it is something that will be fixed. The team is unsure how many of the important system changes will go through at launch, and if all of the current concerns are not addressed at launch, we can expect post-launch updates to resolve them.
Do note that the game is not releasing globally anytime soon and only the Japanese version of the game will be coming out later this year. There is no official release date so by the time the game is available in other regions, we can expect a lot of the issues to be resolved.
The game looks very promising and I cannot wait to try it out. I am hoping for more interesting classes and quality endgame content. There is no PvP content at all so if you are looking for multiplayer combat, there is nothing in the works for now.
In terms of monetization, there will be a season/battle pass and microtransactions, but there will be no gacha systems in place which is something many were concerned about. The game often gets compared to Genshin Impact, and aside from the artistic similarities with anime games, the two are nothing alike. Amazon Games is in charge of porting the game for the global audience and it’s just a waiting game from now on to see when Blue Protocol is available.
Closing Thoughts
Blue Protocol is undoubtedly one of the more exciting upcoming MMORPGs and I cannot wait to see how Bandai Namco sticks the landing with this project. The publisher has an excellent track record with its single-player titles and I am hoping for a fleshed-out experience from the upcoming title.
