Ragnarok Battle Offline

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Ragnarok Battle Offline
screenshot from Ragnarok Battle Offline
Developer(s) French-Bread
Publisher(s) Flag of Japan French-Bread
Flag of South KoreaGravity Corp.
Distributor(s) Flag of Japan French-Bread
Flag of South Korea GRAVITY Co., Ltd.
Flag of Philippines Level Up! Games
Flag of Malaysia Game Flier
Release date(s)
Genre(s) Beat 'em up
Mode(s) Single Player, Multiplayer
Rating(s) Not Rated
Platform(s) Windows
Media Download/CD
System requirements Windows 2000/XP, DirectX 9, 1GHz Pentium III or higher, Video card with VRAM 64MB or above, 2GB of hard disk space, 256MB or more of system RAM
Input keyboard, mouse, 4 button gamepads recommended.

Ragnarok Battle Offline, or RBO, is a beat 'em up game for Microsoft Windows created by dōjin soft developer French-Bread. It is a homage and a spoof of the MMORPG Ragnarok Online created by Korean developer Gravity Corporation.

RBO so impressed Gravity Corporation that it has been given an official release outside of Japan. Released as Ragnarok Battle, the game has been distributed in Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand and a deluxe package in Korea which comes with its own gamepad. Recently, Level Up! Games, a licensee of Gravity Corporation Ragnarok Online game, has released an English version of RBO available in the Philippines. However, the English releases are based only on the initial version of RBO, which does not include the expansions released by French-Bread. There is also an unofficial English translation patch available for the Japanese version, made by a fan.

Though primarily a beat 'em up game, RBO also contains some RPG elements. The player creates a character from one of six basic classes and one unlockable class, allocate points to the character's stats and skills, and then enter one of the stages. Up to 3 people can play at once, using the keyboard or joysticks or gamepads.

Contents

[edit] Character classes

  • Acolyte - Acolytes are supporting characters. They may not be very powerful, but their heal skill and other support skills are useful in party situations. While slow at first, their "Increase Agility" skill can speed up the walking and attack speed of any character. Their only attack skill is "Holy Light", which can be launched with a special move, but they also gain special moves with stats.
  • Archer - Archers use bows and arrows as their main weapon, but they have a maximum arrow capacity with a skill to create more arrows. Their skills do not consume arrows but SP, which Archers tend to lack. By adding points to DEX to raise the attack power of their arrows, they leave themselves weaker in melee battle. They also receive the special move "Backstep" to get themselves out of melee range. Their "Charge Arrow" skill is useful against large groups of enemies, and their "Arrow Shower" skill has four forms, depending on the gender of the archer as well as whether the character activates it on the ground or in the air.
  • Magician - Magicians rely on magic attacks to damage enemies. Their normal attacks are slow and weak, but their magic is strong enough to compensate. Some spells are very hard to aim, but are unmatched in damage per second. Their low HP is offset by the two defensive skills "Energy Coat" and "Safety Wall", with a third skill "Fire Wall" keeping enemies from passing while doing damage.
  • Merchant - Merchants have unique skills; their normal abilities allow them to mug monsters or create money out of enemy attacks. The coins can then be used for their other skills. They are slow with high firepower, relying on the strong attacks to get them by. Their most powerful skill, "Mammonite", is limited in use as a result of its slow speed and high coin cost.
  • Swordman - Swordmen are close and mid-ranged fighters with skills such as "Endure" and "Moving HP Recovery" that help them survive, and strong attack skills such as "Bash" and "Magnum Break".
  • Thief - Thieves rely on speed and evasion to fight. They are not as strong as other characters in attack strength, but they are capable of fast combos and fast special move chains. Their skills and special moves concentrate on status effects ("Envenom", "Throw Sand") and evading attacks ("Hiding", "Improve Dodge"). The "Envenom" skill for female characters and the "Steal" skill for the male characters can be combined with "Hiding" to increase damage greatly.
  • Novice - Novice is a hidden class obtained by beating the game with each of the other six classes. They are the slowest of all characters and extremely weak. Upon reaching certain stat requirements, they gain powerful attacks, which consume HP as well as SP to execute.

Each class has a male and female version which has slightly different attacks. Male characters tend to be stronger and more HP, while the female characters tend to have more useful supporting moves and more SP. For example, only the female Thieves have the "Ninja Rope" air dash technique compared to the males' regular air dash, and only the female version of the Acolytes can earn the powerful "Luna Buster Lariat".

[edit] Character stats

Character stats play an important role in the game. Each stat is a little different than the MMORPG version.

  • Strength (STR) - The Strength stat increases the maximum physical damage that characters can deal with basic physical attacks and combos. At 30 STR, a character will do twice as much damage than at 1 STR. Strength plays a predominat role in the Swordsman and Merchant classes. It also helps Acolytes who use special moves and normal attacks as their main offense, as well as allows thieves to do more damage per hits. Arrow damage, however, is not affected by STR.
  • Agility (AGI) - The Agility stat increases the character's evasion and speed, including cast speed for Magicians and Acolytes (as opposed to Ragnarok Online, in which DEX determined casting speed). Many of the classes require 10 to 20 AGI to gain an A-button combo move. AGI is an important stat for Thieves and Magicians due to their low HP, but is not useless even for Novices and Merchants, who are the slowest classes in the game.
  • Vitality (VIT) - Vitality increases the character's hit points (HP), defense against physical damage, resistance against status ailments such as Poison, and hit stun. The Swordman has skills which are augmented by VIT, such as HP Recovery, Endure, and Moving HP Recovery. Any character who receives damage can make use of this stat.
  • Intelligence (INT) - Intelligence raises the maximum SP, the damage dealt with spells by Magicians and Acolytes, and spell defense. Also, every 16 points of INT raises the potency of the Acolyte's "Heal" spell. Intelligence also affects the rate at which SP recovers, which is useful for any class who's going to rely on spamming skills as often as possible.
  • Dexterity (DEX) - Dexterity increases the minimum damage dealt by the character. For Archers, DEX determines the maximum damage dealt by their arrow attacks as well. For every 10 points of DEX, the character can also chain another heavy attack into a combo.
  • Luck (LUK) - Luck increases the critical hit rate by 2% for every 3 LUK. The game manual also says that LUK raises "lucky", which is short for the term "lucky dodge", much like the one on Ragnarok Online. With the exception of the female Merchant who needs 10 LUK to gain an A-button combo move, the LUK stat is not required for any special moves.

Another role of character stats is that each class has moves with stat requirements. These stat requirements must be fulfilled before the characters gain certain moves.

[edit] Stages

[edit] Original stages

There are eight stages in the initial release of the game. The character cannot proceed to the next level before beating the current level. The eight levels are reminiscent of Ragnarok Online. There is a secret ninth level in Prontera City which is unlocked if all eight levels have been beaten with the Novice class.

  • Prontera Field
Mini-bosses: Willow, PecoKnight w/ Poring Train, Rocker, Ambernite, Pupa/Creamy,
Boss Monster: Eclipse
  • Sograt Desert and Ant Hell
Mini-bosses: Golem, Hode
Boss Monster: Phreeoni, Maya
  • Payon Cave
Mini-bosses: Munak & Bongun, Greatest General, Ninetails, Sohee
Boss Monster: Wolyafa (also known as Moonlight Flower)
  • Orc Village
Mini-bosses: Orc Lady
Boss Monster: Orc Hero
  • Undersea Tunnel
Mini-bosses: Obeaune, Thara Frog, Penomena,
Boss Monster: Deviace
  • Geffen Tower
Mini-bosses: Giant Whisper, Marionette, Jakk, Nightmare
Boss Monster: Doppelganger
  • Mt.Mjolnir and the Labyrinth Forest (Hidden Temple)
Mini-bosses: Ground Petite & Flying Petite, Baphomet Jr.
Boss Monsters: Mistress, Baphomet
  • Prontera City
Boss Monsters: Eclipse, Maya, Moonlight Flower, Orc Hero, Deviace, Doppelganger, Baphomet, and the "Kafra"

[edit] Expansions

The first expansion, RBO Extra Scenario Vol. 1, was released on August 14, 2005. Scenario Vol. 1 added two new stages, an arena mode with 50 stages (10 of them are unlocked by finishing the previous 40 with each class), some character balances, and increased difficulty such as doubling boss and mini-boss damage. A second expansion, RBO Extra Scenario Vol. 2, was released on December 29, 2005. Scenario Vol. 2 added three new levels, decreased the requirements for unlocking the extra arenas from all classes to two classes, and further tweaked gameplay. The third expansion, RBO Extra Scenario Vol. 3, was released on May 21, 2006. Scenario Vol. 3 added one new level.

  • RBO Extra Scenario Vol. 1
    • Prontera Culvert
    Mini-bosses: Female Thief Bug & Male Thief Bug, Cramp
    Boss Monster: Golden Thief Bug
    • Sunken Ship
    Mini-bosses: Mimic, Ghostring
    Boss Monsters: Drake
    • Arena Mode
  • RBO Extra Scenario Vol. 2
    • Lutie and the Toy Factory
    Mini-Bosses: Chepet, Angeling, Christmas Jakk
    Boss Monsters: Hatii, Stormy Knight
    • Pyramid
    Boss Monsters: Amon Ra and Osiris
    • Sphinx
    Mini-Bosses: Pasana, Marduk
    Boss Monsters: Pharoah
  • RBO Extra Scenario Vol. 3
    • Amatsu and Tatami Maze
    Mini-Bosses: Shinobi, Tengu
    Boss Monsters: The Paper and Incantation Samurai

[edit] External links