…we love it! Ragnarok Origin feels like the original Ragnarok Online, which I have been playing since–believe it or not–I was 9. There have been a few times when I’d quit to take care of real-life responsibilities only to come back after a few months. It’s because the nostalgia and the sense of community are too strong for me to paste it on a scrapbook page, shove it in a drawer that nobody uses, and leave it there forever that in a few years I’d forget it ever existed. I always come back. Unless this new game is good enough to break this cycle.

While waiting for Ragnarok Origin to be released in NA, we decided to take a sneak peek by playing in one of the Japanese servers. As you can see in the video above, we took our time to check every nook and cranny of the Adventurers’ Academy, talk with all the NPCs, and dissect the Character/Stats window. We found that some non-player characters (NPCs) are voiced, although these voice dialogues are not exclusive to one NPC. The ambient NPCs are as much fun to talk to as the main ones, with some offering insight into the world and its lore.

We translated all the dialogues, the UI, as well as other important details from Japanese to English so that you can all share the experience with us. We will continue to make translated playthroughs and how-tos until its official release in English to help you get a head start on the game! We hope you’ll like the video and that you’ll share your thoughts on the game in the Comment Section.

Ragnarok Origin vs. Ragnarok M vs. Ragnarok Online

Honestly, I’m not very fond of mobile games since I’m a PC gamer through and through, but I can see myself enjoying Ragnarok Origin much longer than my stint with Ragnarok M last year, which I had only played for two months before finally giving up. I tried it on mobile initially, which I found is almost impossible for me to do since I can’t hold up my arms to hold the phone and keep that position for hours.

Ragnarok M is not your typical mobile game that you can play casually for 20 minutes whenever you feel like it. Since it’s heavy on RPG, you’ll be invested in your character and would want to see it grow through quests and combat, and also interact with other players via the party and guild systems, as well as dungeon raids and boss monster fights.

source: Faridzudin.com

Then, I tried it on Bluestacks which is one of the top Android emulators out there, but eventually got bored because the earlier quests that we did involved going back and forth between two NPCs from two different maps. To make things worse, the game was quite slow and clunky for us that it just didn’t feel right. We’re used to playing the original RO which runs much faster and smoother, so it felt more natural and intuitive even though it’s click-to-move.

Ragnarok Origin, in our experience, feels familiar compared to Ragnarok M. For starters, the former’s beginners’ area tells a story, compared to the latter where your character just appears in Prontera South Gate out of nowhere (as far as I can remember). Like in Ragnarok Online, you arrive at the tutorial area as a Novice adventurer in need of guidance. The original tutorial area in RO called “Novice Training Grounds” was an island with a castle that functioned like a school. It was there where new adventurers were taught how to interface with the game, including basic combat, status attributes, party system, and ultimately the various Job classes. This was, however, replaced in the iRO server in 2012 with the Criatura Academy on the northern part of Izlude town.

Registering your character’s name with Guide Sprakki

In ROO, it’s pretty much the same as the old RO tutorial. Riding an airship, you arrive on an island with a castle called “Adventurers’ Academy”. With other Novices like you running around, you go with a female guide who introduces you to an old professor who talks about the world of Ragnarok and its lore, and to a warrior who teaches the basics of combat, skills, and Job classes. And then you change to your First Job. It’s easy to follow even for total beginners who have never played any Ragnarok game before.

I prefer this tutorial to that of Ragnarok M‘s Eden Group considering they were introduced in RO as a group that helps new adventurers by giving them beginner equipment, consumables, and EXP gained through quests posted by random villagers in need. Yes, the Eden Group is there to help but not to train Novices. But that’s just me. Which one do you like better?

Will Ragnarok Origin be as memorable as Ragnarok Online? Will it attract as many players as Ragnarok M? For now, we’ll continue playing in the Japanese server to bring you as much information as we can to prepare you for its English release. We hope you’ll join us in this new adventure!