ArcheAge: Unchained was originally Released in 2013 by XL Games, and it went through five Closed Betas and one Open Beta before its initial release. Unchained is, at its core, the same game with the same contents, but now has a new monetization setup. The change was announced in 2019, and in late 2021 development was passed to Kakao Games from Developers Gamigo/Trion.

The only real changes are anything monetized. It is now subscription based, and the marketplace has been reworked so that the purchasable items are cosmetic only. They will no longer imbue advantages in gameplay. On top of that, Archepass was introduced, which is not unlike the Battlepasses you find in FPS games, but it also features a free path that contains items that were previously pay-to-win, and the paid path contains only cosmetic items. This is, in my opinion, the best thing they could have done, as it now allows everyone to have the potential to be the best and will come down to your gaming ability, and not run by whales who can just buy their way to the top.

ArcheAge: Unchained is an MMORPG high fantasy game that seemingly pulls inspiration from other MMOs, yet still holds a unique experience, and it even has some interesting features that I have never seen in any MMO that I have played. The first thing you need to do is choose your Faction and Race. There are two factions, the Nuian Alliance, the western continent, and the Haranyan Alliance the East continent, with a third faction on the way.

Both have three races, with the Nuian having Humans, Elves, and Dwarves, while the Haranyan have Humans, Firran, a lion-like beastman, and Warborn, similar to a Tiefling. I did play a little on both sides, mostly on the Nuian side, and the initial story is different depending on what you choose to play, but from the two I played, there were some similarities. There is quite a bit of lore, but it fills you in with easy-to-consume snippets to not overwhelm you with information, which was nice.

You then pick a starting class, with choices such as Warrior/Barbarian, Wizard, a Dark Mage, Ranger, Rogue, Bard/Dancer, or a Healer to name a few. As you level up you gain access to two other classes of your choice, allowing you to mix and match to create a class specific to you. I went the Warrior/Barbarian, then added the Protector class with shield attacks and defensive capabilities into vitalism, with healing and radiant attacks to create a Paladin, in DnD terms. This is how I saw most of this game. A lot of it reminded me of DnD, which made me enjoy it even more.

Along the way, it will also explain how to do the seemingly infinite number of things you can do. There are raids, instances, house building, farming, fishing, cargo delivery, crafting, mining, gathering, and faction PVP with just general PVP. One thing I haven’t experienced yet but was super curious about is the crime and punishment aspect. You are allowed to attack and kill anyone from another faction in a neutral zone, and you can initiate combat in your territory against someone who is not from your faction, and you can even attack and kill someone from your faction, and this is where it gets interesting.

You can earn criminal tokens for committing acts of theft and violence against your faction to a point where you can be arrested and put on trial where fellow faction members will be the Jurors. Then you will be sentenced to your punishment and sent to prison where you will work off your time or break out. This game could be the closest I have seen to a proper RP high fantasy game. Hell, you even have to pay taxes on your houses. You can make a living as a crafter or gatherer, and within the factions, you can create guilds. My mind races with the possibilities of an RP server with Merchant Guilds, Adventurer Guilds, and even criminal underbellies. I get excited thinking about it.

Combat and the controls are fairly standard move with WASD, interact with F your hotkey bars are 1,2,3, etc. pressing shift for the secondary bar, and of course, you can customize this. I highly recommend you spend some time going over all of your keys, what they do, and adjusting them to suit your play style. As for me, I am fairly new to proper PC gaming, being more of a console player, so it has been an adjustment for me, but I have been doing alright, so most people should be fine.

Things like rowing a boat caught me by surprise as it takes a moment for you to start moving and it took me a moment to realize this. I was also lucky enough to have someone in my chat who had played it and helped me out with some neat tips and tricks. I am very grateful to them. There are several modes of transport; the aforementioned rowboat, mounts, or a glider, which is super fun. Just be careful not to fall out of the sky. There are also auto transports, like teleporters and carriages that take you from A to B.

The graphics of this game are beautiful if you have the specs, and luckily, I can run it all on the highest settings. This was a great visual experience with the trees, hills, and water all looking incredibly stunning. The character models and NPCs all look great, though not without some imperfections. Nuian Human hands I am looking at you. I cannot unsee that. It haunts my dreams. However, all was forgiven when I saw the monsters and creatures; even the bears look like fantasy creatures.

Then there are epic monsters you can run into, and every single one I saw was amazing, especially the Reaper. It looked badass. The music helps with the immersion, switching from fantasy ambient travel music to action-packed combat music, though, at times, I would be minding my own business when all of a sudden the music will shift into combat mode. I franticly dart around looking for the enemy, only to see nothing. It kept me on my toes at least. I see great potential for this game, and I am sure I missed some things, but if you are looking for a new MMO, or you have a group of friends looking for a potential high fantasy RP game, I recommend giving this a shot. It is a lot of fun and easy to progress.

The price is not bad at USD9.99 for 30 days, which is roughly AUD15.69, and you will probably need to make this your main game if you want the full experience. That’s why, if you have friends who will commit, this could be the next big RP game in my mind, and not just a good MMO.

Written by: Adam Brasher