Finding the right online RPG is kind of like dating. There are a lot of options, sure…but most of them are kinda low rent. But once you find the right one, it’s a match made in heaven. If you love RPGs and hate spending money, you should check out a free RPG called Elgard: The Prophecy of Apocalypse. 

What is it and what does it do

Main Functionality

Elgard: The Prophecy of Apocalypse is a free fantasy MORPG game developed by RntsMedia.

Pros

• Seven unique character classes: Knight, Swordsman, Gunner, Sorceress, Elementalist, Assassin, and Hunter
• Great graphics and a suitably epic soundtrack
• Great range of people to interact with

Cons

• You can’t dive into the game right away: there’s registration, server and channel selection, character creation, and intro text to wade through first…and then a lengthy “crawl” with game backstory. There’s also a tutorial to wade through, though this is skippable.
• Some in-game instructions seem poorly translated/constructed

Discussion

What exactly is the tipping point between a MORPG and a MMORPG? That’s one question I found myself asking when I heard about this game. How many players do you need to have in order to get that second “m” added to your game’s designation, and become truly “massive”?

One thing that could hold back growth to reach that crucial “massive” level of a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game is simple: the language problems. Throughout the game’s instructions and in-game text, there are tons of spelling errors. Coupled with poor sentence structure, it’s a bit confusing if you’re trying to follow along with the game’s backstory. When players are confused, it is hard to get them invested in the game.

Another annoyance players face early in the game is dialog boxes. When you talk with NPCs, you have the option to click a “quest” button and see if that character can send you on a mission. However, you have to click the button to learn whether there is a quest or not. After doing that half a dozen times, I started to wish that the “quest” icon would just be greyed out unless there was a quest available.

Overall, the controls are responsive, and getting around is pretty simple. The tutorial involves a bit of story, so it feels like less of a drudge than other games I’ve played. That being said, the iPhone’s screen does make the various slots and icons seem a bit cramped. Perhaps the UI could be simplified a bit in the future.

There’s a lot to do in this beautifully-rendered world, but I sometimes found myself getting bored with this game because of confusing dialogue or long waits to join a party. Elgard is a fairly new release, and so I think it needs a little more time to take on some polish. There’s a lot of potential here, though.

Conclusion and download link

Elgard is still finding its legs. The developers really need to clean up the language throughout. However, the graphics are great, and the controls are simple and responsive. Elgard might be a real stunner a few updates from now. As it stands currently, I could take it or leave it.

Price: Free

Version reviewed: 1.2.0

Supported OS: Requires iOS 5.0 or later

Download size: 123 MB

Elgard on Apple App Store