Aeria game’s upcoming Korean-imported MMORPG, Scarlet Blade is getting an extra “M” for “Mature” from the ESRB (MMMORPG? Time to buy a new website!) There’s an extremely good reason for this though: the main characters are all scantily-clad anime girls with boobs of varying degrees of bounciness, more to the point, there’s plenty of cartoon nipples to be seen in the form of in-game nudity. It’s nothing new to the game industry at this point with all sorts of big budget games, including the critically acclaimed Heavy Rain showing the goods off. Then there’s the Dead or Alive series with controllable breast bouncing. And it’s not like Elf chicks aren’t running around half-naked in just about every fantasy game out there, so it was only a matter of time before we saw something like this try to make the jump to F2P MMO scene.
The obvious reaction to a game like this would be to dismiss it as nothing more than so much fodder for all the lonely figurine collecting basement dwellers with girlfriends who are actually cartoon characters on a body pillow out there, but Aeria appears to have done some research to make sure that’s not the case and is looking to bring players an actual gaming experience.
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While dressing up one of the several all-female avatars in various armors and undergarments would’ve been enough to sell the game to certain demographics, there appears to be an real game under the initial shock value. Visually, the in-game world resembles something akin to the Final Fantasy series and has many of the same features you’d see from a standard Korean developed MMO. The intricate currency systems, the quirky pets, and your standard MMO combat are all there, but Scarlet Blade also has a level locked feature that allows your character to turn into a giant robot with its own set of moves. You’ll have to participate in some PvP matches to really level it up though.
The whole vibe of the plot is akin to that of about 2/3rd’s of all animes out there: a robot girl fighting to save the world from evil demons, only it seems they’ve had the good taste to avoid tentacle monsters and you’re a clone instead of a robot. Creatures known as the Narak attacked the Earth at society’s peak and the planet has now become a warzone. You play as an Arkana, one of the clone chicks in charge of saving the last throes of humanity from extinction. You can choose to be a Royal Guard and follow a more devout religious type of path or reject their ideals and join the Free Knights. Character classes include the standard tanks and healers as well as the Punisher, a long range AOE gunslinger, the Whipper, an AOE melee combat specialist that looks like she might work part-time in an S&M dungeon.
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PvP will play a strong role and certain boosts and items will only be available from fighting in combat arenas and collecting dog tags off defeated opponents. PvP can happen in just about any area of the game, but the arenas will be host to 80v80 matches. The only real neutral area in the game is The Delilah club, which resembles a rave with an indoor pool and a dance floor that makes your character shake their groove thing. Pets also get 50% more XP while hanging out at the party and if you pay for access to the VIP room and get them double XP as well as access to some special quests.
Outside the club things are much harsher and players will fight everything from giant bugs to demonic knights. Playing fields vary from frozen tundras laden with spaceship debris and dungeons full of vats of green bile to the barren wastelands of the meteor crash itself help to show that there might be more to this title than a nice pair of... up weapons. Although there’s still a whole lot of boob in this game. You even get puzzle pieces as you level up that give you boosts and items as you unlock them and slowly reveal a saucy pic. No, I'm not kidding.
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Scarlet Blade certainly has a lot of blatant sexual content, but there might be enough under the surface to keep players coming back for more, if the jiggly physics don't. Obviously you’ll have to be an adult to enjoy this game and there will be a lot of players that are more interested in certain *ahem* “fantasy” aspects of it more than others. Aeria is definitely taking the risk of being ridiculed for marketing a gaming product that features such things, but the fact that they’re taking the time to make sure there’s an actual game in there might be enough to protect them any real scrutiny when the title actually launches. And no matter what happens, it’s still not as creepy as some of the stuff that goes on in Second Life.
