Grand Chase

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Grand Chase

Grand Chase's logo
Developer(s) KOG Studios
Publisher(s) Gamania, Ntreev Soft, AsiaSoft,
Level Up Games
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Release date August 2003

Gamania
June 28, 2006
& December 28, 2008
January 31, 2008
Genre(s) Fantasy MMO Fighting Platform Side-scroller
Mode(s) Multiplayer
Media Download
System requirements Windows
Input methods Keyboard and mouse

Grand Chase (Korean: 그랜드체이스, lit. Grand Chase) is a free-to-play, 2.5D side-scrolling MMORPG developed by the Korean company KOG Studios. The story centers around the adventures of the Grand Chase team.

Grand Chase has servers in Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Brazil, Southeast Asia and the United States. The Taiwan and Hong Kong server calls the game as 3小俠, whereas in Southeast Asia, it is called GrandChase.

Contents

[edit] Story

While Grand Chase is primarily a sandbox game, it also has a short back-story for each character, as well as one for the continent of Bermesiah, which is the player's starting point. A continuing story of the Grand Chase universe may be revealed through visiting all the dungeons in the game in the order they are listed.

While the back-story for each character is the same throughout all servers, the back-story of Bermesiah, as well as the spelling of certain places, may differ across servers, although the events which took place are more or less similar.[1][2][3]

[edit] Storyline

The Kingdoms of Serdin and Kanavan have always thrived side-by-side on Bermesiah in peace for as long as anyone could remember, until the Queen of Darkness, KazeAze, infiltrated Kanavan, killed the ruling queen's most trusted advisor, disguised herself as him, and manipulated the Queen of Kanavan to wage a full-scale war with Serdin which lasted for five years. Many lives were lost in battle and much of the continent was levelled until either queen discovered who the culprit was. By then, it was too late, for KazeAze had fled. The Queen of Kanavan dispatched a group of elite warriors, known as Trackers, to find KazeAze, but all of them disappeared mysteriously.

The Queen of Serdin was determined to prevent another war of such devastating magnitude from taking place on Bermesiah again. To this effect, she created an army of warriors who are aligned to no one, and will fight for the tranquility of the entire continent. She called this army "Grand Chase".

[edit] Gameplay

An in-game screenshot featuring Elesis attacking a monster.
An in-game screenshot featuring Elesis attacking a monster.

Gameplay in Grand Chase is primarily keyboard-driven. Movement, including jumping, uses the arrow keys. Attacks, which include combos and special attacks, use the keys A, Z, X and space bar by default, but can be set by the player. Due to the combos and special attacks, the game has a feel that is similar to side-scrolling fighting games. While it is an action game, the designers took care to not make a "button masher".[4]

The game is free-to-play, where players are to gain currency known as Game Points to buy better equipments or items, but there are some items that can only be purchased with real-world currency. Instead of creating a character like any other multiplayer games, players are to roleplay as one of three main heroines, Elesis, Lire or Arme, and will come across with more playable characters throughout your quests. You may freely switch among the characters you have unlocked between missions, but their equipment and levels are separate.[5]

[edit] Leveling up

After each trip into a dungeon, characters receive experience. Experience is partially dependent on how well you did, and your level, but every player will gain some experience. Completing a mission awards additional experience. Once sufficient experience is obtained, the character will advance to a level. Higher levels improve statistics and grant access to better equipment. Experience can also be gained through PVP, and is significantly higher than dungeons at higher level.[4]

[edit] Party

When entering dungeons it is advisable to form a party. The game's interface makes it easy to create a party or join one created by another player. Friends can lock their party with a password or make it open to newcomers. The items that are found in the dungeons are shared by the party. To encourage group play, there is a slight experience boost when working together. Because there are six specific characters that each player chooses among, there is a chance (particularly at low levels) that two or more players will control characters that look the same; different equipment makes this unlikely however and player names always make it possible to tell them apart.

[edit] Player versus Player

Players can also compete against one another in combat. There are various modes of player versus player combat: three-on-three team battles, six-player free-for-all or Arena. Win/loss statistics are tracked for these matches. Team matches encourage players to plan their attack strategies and experiment with various formations. Six player free-for-all uses the survival fittest mode, where only the last man standing wins. Arena mode balances all the game stats, and you must select three characters in your hand. If one of your character dies, the other character of yours will replace his/her role.[6]

[edit] Characters

There are seven playable characters to play and players may switch characters between dungeons. Each character is leveled and equipped separately. Most equipment is character-specific. Character choice is similar to class choice in most MMORPGs.[7]

  • Elesis: Elesis is a Kanavan Knight and daughter of a Kanavan Tracker who never returned after he was dispatched to find KazeAze. Her reason for joining Grand Chase is to find her missing father whom she loved. Elesis specialises in close- and medium-ranged combat. She is also notable for her ability to reflect arrows, and her ability to berserk, which causes all enemies within her range to levitate and drop onto the ground, receiving considerable damage, much like Gravity Crush. Her alternate jobs are Spearman, Sword Master, and Savior.
  • Arme: Arme is a cheerful Mage from Serdin, the Kingdom of Magic. After hearing that KazeAze can dispatch powerful black magic, she joined Grand Chase in order to meet her. She is able to switch between white magic and black magic to defend herself and her allies or attack her enemies respectively. Although she is notable for her fairly-quick moves, as well as a short-range teleport that is useful for getting behind her targets, most of her attacks are extremely weak and only deal considerable damage in combinations. Her alternate jobs are Alchemist, Warlock, and Battle Mage.
  • Lire: Lire is an Elf from Eryuell Island, a community famous for their combat skills, but they are naturally pacifistic and try to avoid becoming involved in Human conflicts. She is sent to join Grand Chase to prevent KazeAze's plan from happening, which threatens their island. While she has the best jumping ability and is skilled in quick, long-ranged attacks, her attacks may be difficult to aim for beginners, and some characters may even block or reflect her arrows. Lire's alternate jobs are Crossbowman, Arch Ranger, and Nova.
  • Lass: Lass is a mysterious young man who was possessed by KazeAze and is released from her grasp by Grand Chase. Upon recovery, his only memories are his name, and him being controlled by KazeAze. He joins the Grand Chase to atone for his sins caused by his hands under the control of KazeAze, which still lingers in his mind. Lass has the best mobility among all characters which allows swift and stealth attack, but lacks attack power and defense. His alternate jobs are Mercenary, Dark Assassin, and Evan Stripper. Lass is an extra character and must be unlocked by finishing a specific quest. The only server that does not have Lass is the American server.
  • Ryan: Ryan is a forest elf from Eryuell island living peacefully with animals, but after the war on Bermesiah, most of the place was destroyed and his beings are almost extinct. Hearing the calls of the nature, he trains with the spirit of his ancestors and joins Grand Chase to protect the forest with all his strength. Ryan is known for his brute strength and ability to change into an animal. Initially a Druid, his alternate jobs are Sentinel, Viken, and Xenocider. He is available as an extra character in the Korea, Taiwan, China, and Brazil servers and can only be unlocked by finishing a specific mission.
  • Ronan: Ronan is the descendant of the Erudon Family, the legendary family of Spell Knights in Kanavan. He was a Royal Guard Master whose duty was to protect the Royal Family of Kanavan. His mind was being controlled by Kazeaze who invaded the kingdom, but he regained control when Grand Chase came to rescue and shattered the Shadow Orb. Ronan realized something wasn’t right when series of mysterious events took place; first the Invasion of Dark Anmon and then the discovery of passage to the New World took place. Seeing all that had happened, he decided to join the Grand Chase force and investigate more in the New World. He uses knowledge of magic and his sword wielding attacks to quickly defeat foes. Ronan is an extra character and must be unlocked by finishing a specific quest. Ronan's alternate jobs are Dragon Knight and Aegis Knight. The only server which does not have Ronan is the SEA server.
  • Amy: Amy is the Xenia continent's beloved star model. Her dance is able to subdue evil from conquering, and often accompanies the holy gods to prevent the dark gods from conquering her continent. Unfortunately, her continent is being taken over, so she escapes her continent and find ways to save her continent. She uses a pair of chakram and combines dancing with fighting, which allows her to do both supporting and attacking. To date, she is an extra character on the Korean, Taiwan, and Hong Kong servers.[8]

[edit] Releases

Grand Chase was officially released in Korea sometime in August 2003, and Brazil on June 28, 2006.[3]

Beta testing for the SEA server commenced on November 21, 2007 and ended on December 28, 2007, whereupon it was officially released to the public. Patches are released almost weekly, usually to add or remove region-specific game events.[9]

In North America, the game was officially released on January 31, 2008.[10] There are few known bugs and the designers seem to be focused on adding new content to bring the game to the full release that they desire.[11]

There was also a Japanese version of the game which commenced beta testing on August 10, 2005, and went gold three months later. However, the Japanese servers have been taken down as of June 22, 2007.[12]

[edit] Expansions

In its initial release on all servers, Grand Chase only includes Elesis, Lire and Arme as playable characters, Bermesiah as a playable continent, and all the various game modes, albeit being restricted to areas on Bermesiah only, with additional content and bug fixes added into the game through patches.

In January 2008, KOG Studios released an expansion titled Grand Chase Season 2, which is essentially a patch featuring a plethora of new features and content, such as playable continents, into the game.[13] As of June 2008, the Korean, Hong Kong, and SEA servers have incorporated Grand Chase Season 2.

[edit] Notes and References

[edit] Notes

  1. Ciabai, Calin. Family-Friendly MMO, Grand Chase Getting Closer — This is the sixth MMO game from AsiaSoft. Softpedia. Retrieved on 2008-06-11.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ntreev's Official Grand Chase Site — Background Story. Ntreev Soft. Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
  2. ^ The Beginning — GrandChaseSEA. AsiaSoft. Retrieved on 2008-06-02.
  3. ^ a b Grand Chase for Windows — MobyGames. MobyGames. Retrieved on 2008-06-11.
  4. ^ a b Grand Chase Interview. RPG Vault (IGN) (2008-01-31). Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
  5. ^ Grand Chase — Three Key Elements. RPG Vault (IGN) (2008-03-11). Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
  6. ^ Grand Chase for PC - Grand Chase for PC Game - Grand Chase Computer Game. SpawnPoint.
  7. ^ Ntreev's Official Grand Chase Site — Character Guide. Ntreev Soft. Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
  8. ^ Amy — Hong Kong Grand Chase Season 2 Website. Gamania. Retrieved on 2008-06-02.
  9. ^ Notices — GrandChaseSEA. AsiaSoft. Retrieved on 2008-06-04.
  10. ^ Grand Chase Website is Live!. GameZone (2008-01-22). Retrieved on 2008-06-10.
  11. ^ Grand Chase Open Beta is Live. IGN (2008-02-14). Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
  12. ^ End of Service Notice for Grand Chase Japan. Nexon. Retrieved on 2008-06-13.
  13. ^ Upcoming GrandChase Season 2 — GrandChaseSEA. AsiaSoft (2008-03-11). Retrieved on 2008-06-04.

[edit] External links

[edit] Official Sites

[edit] Other Sites