Azusa RP Online – Review
Azusa RP Online, usually abbreviated to Azusa Online or even just Azusa for convenience sake, is a recently released MMORPG claiming to be the ultimate accomplishment in RPG freedom. Everything, from the story to the environments to the very lore the world is based on revolves around player interaction, making it possible for a single player to literally change history. In theory, that sounds pretty amazing. Too bad the execution leaves something to be desired.
Story
As stated above, the story of Azusa is shaped by the people playing it, but the basic premise is straightforward. The game is set in a regular medieval fantasy world full of all types of people, from civilians to guardians to the undead forces of evil. The world also comes with a set of gods, inspired by the Greek deities we’re all familiar with. Two of these gods, Zeus and Hades, are in a constant state of battle over who should rule the world, often roping the humans into their petty battle by forcing them to pick a side and train to become good troops for them. Every 300 years a large-scale battle will take place, and depending on who wins the world will see an extended period of either tranquil peace or enduring conflict. In case of peace, this period is also called Azusa, hence the title.
Most of this background story will be explained to you by use of simple text at the start of the game, giving you just enough information to not be completely confused. Beyond that, you’re on your own, mainly learning how the world works and what is going on in it by talking to other players, witnessing the events firsthand if you’re lucky or reading the occasional book you can find.
Graphics
Azusa really leans into a more retro style than most MMORPGs, which typically are more prone to full 3D animation. But with its adorable pixel art, Azusa does stand out in a positive way, with different biomes to explore, colorful enemies to encounter and plenty of ways to completely customize and personalize your character. Sadly, the game does experience some trouble, graphic wise, not loading properly sometimes. For example you might suddenly find yourself without a visible character. You can imagine how hard it is to play a game like that.
Sound
The music in Azusa is typical RPG fare, with upbeat idle songs and more intense battle music. There isn’t anything to complain about, but nothing too memorable either, everything kind of blends together into one continuous drone of sound. The only piece of music that stands out is the Japanese theme song, which sounds like it comes straight out off a shonen anime.
Gameplay
Azusa is a MMORPG, or massively multiplayer online role-playing game, role-playing being the key words here. You start the game by creating your character, giving them a basic backstory and personality and choosing a God to be your protector. And thus your story begins, with whatever happens next being completely up to you and your imagination. You can choose from one of three classes to pursue: civilian, master or fighter. As a civilian you’ll be able to learn various traits and live life as a merchant, engineer, medic or whatever else you put your mind to. This class allows you to collect quite a lot of money, making it easier if you’re interested in starting your own business or owning property some day. Masters, meanwhile, are the teachers of this world, with a skillset that will allow them to train other players in various ways and make their life easier. Lastly the fighter are the more typical action hero class, with the most potential to win battles.
There are plenty of things to commit your time to in the game whichever class you choose, be it battling random enemies to become more powerful, searching through dungeons to loot or collecting resources for your trade. If you end up being an excellent warrior though, you might be made into a guardian, fighting on behalf of a God to engage in those epic battles we mentioned earlier and set the world right. Who are you fighting exactly? Well, other players of course. You see, if you do die, you end up in Hades’ domain, and have the option of journeying through hell, killing your good side and being reborn as a Reaper, a soldier of evil, wreaking havoc wherever you go. The game even teases some possibilities of time-travel that will allow you to change the past and present of the game, or becoming a new God yourself.
Whichever road you intent to travel down, you will spend a lot of time role-playing with other players. In fact, that is the key element of the game. Every action you want to commit to, be it pick a fight, trade goods or just go up to somebody and start a conversation, needs to be role-played in minute detail by typing into a small box. And Azusa takes its role-playing very seriously, with copious amounts of rules and mods to reinforce them. Obviously things like godmodding are strictly forbidden, but even acting slightly out of character might earn you a slap on the wrist in this game. Of course, this is all to enhance the experience, though not all players are as happy with this as others. It also would work a lot better if there would be a very generous amount of players to fill the different roles of the world, too bad there only seem to be a handful online at any given time at the moment.
Conclusion
The idea behind Azusa is intriguing to be sure, and for the devoted player with copious amounts of time, its interesting premise and high emphasize on role-playing could be a welcome change of pace compared to most other MMORPGs. Sadly its annoying bugs, mediocre music and slow pay-off make it hard to get through if you’re not super fond of the genre.
Azusa RP Online - Review,
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