Grand Fantasia Origin: A shadow of its former glory

Grand Fantasia : ORIGIN

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ActionAdventureMassively Multiplayer

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Some Background: (SKIP TO THE GAME SECTION FOR THE ACTUAL REVIEW)

Grand Fantasia Origin is the revival of an old MMORPG launched around 2009 with a fascinating history, it was published first by Aeria Games, handed to Gamigo in 2016 after the company crashed into a million pieces and now it's published by the original developers, X-Legend.

Note that the "original" GF(Grand Fantasia Global) is STILL running under the same company, so we have two versions of the same game, by the same company, is that confusing? I say "original" because the game's name changed to "Global" after a big server merge of different regions.

The difference between Global and Origin:

Origin was advertised as a fresh start with bold changes to its economy to return gameplay to the old school days where the game was at its best and everyone was teaming up to run dungeons.

This was attractive because the original game(Global) was turned into a merch simulator, where one overpowered player sells dungeons runs to noobs, so they can get gold from said dungeons, gear up, and start selling dungeon runs themselves.

This happened because around 2016 or so, dungeon runs were made unlimited, in possibly the worst decision ever made in Grand Fantasia's history, cursing the game forever with hyperinflation because it made gold lose all its value.

Another difference is classes, one of the things that broke the balance in Grand Fantasia was two new branches that were erased in Origin, they also added a new class, Ninja, it's okay.

So the idea of Origin was very attractive, and it started with a banger, with tons of players migrating and returning, good stuff, but it didn't last.

The game:

It's a pay to win grind fest just like the original and I'm not complaining, the game is fun if you focus pve and don't give a damn about competitive.

The quests and dungeons give you everything you need to have a smooth experience as a new player, but the game itself doesn't have a lot of players anymore, so join an active guild unless you wanna get bored.

The combat system is great, tab target and smash keys to win, no dodging or real time action mechanics, it's mostly about learning your skill rotations.

Classic roles, tank, dps, healer, assassin, the good stuff.

To today's standards, endgame is hardcore, you have to be severely addicted or a cash cow to manage, and it used to be harder.

Oh, and it doesn't really feel too old school at all as they promised, so there's that, merching is still the focus, and they've been releasing levels slowly for no damn reason, the content already exists, they aren't actually producing it, so, yeah, that's weird.

Another thing to note is that it has one of the most rabid, mean spirited, toxic, ultra hostile communities ever, guild  and cross-guild drama is extremely common, have a different opinion on Discord and find out how bad it is.

3/5 - It's okay as a time killer, it can be fun but don't take it too seriously