Ragnarok Online returns to Malaysia

Way back before MMORPGs like Everquest and World of Warcraft were popular, there was another game cut from a similar cloth that offered many of the same mechanics – grinding, farming, tons of classes to aspire to, Player versus Player shenanigans and some of the most memorable music in gaming history. We speak of Ragnarok Online.

Gaming grognards from the mid-90’s onwards have likely wandered around its numerous towns and dungeons from an overhead perspective with rather cutesy sprites for friend and foe alike. Despite its popularity then, it faded from the public eye with the advent of more aesthetically appealing offerings though its nostalgic aspects remained even as its core players graduated from punching Porings to punching time clocks. If you’re one of them, rejoice because Ragnarok Online is returning to Malaysia!

The game was officially launched at Publika Mall in Malaysia last month to the accolade of hundreds of fans who thronged the mall to participate in a grand carnival to celebrate the game. The revived Ragnarok Online keeps much of the same aesthetics as the original including the overhead view, cute sprites and more though it will offer regional customisation to take into account local festivals for in-game events as well as new interface and other gaming tweaks for a new generation of gamers. There will be ingame purchasable content to accelerate in-game progress though the core of the game will remain ‘play to win’ with gamers on a shoestring budget able to advance with sufficient grinding. The developer, Gravity, has also assured users that the game build features significant protection against those who use bots or other illegal third-party software.

The game is currently free to download and is in Open Beta with new features regularly added to the mix. If you want a taste of nostalgia to see what one of the earliest and most popular MMORPGs were about, you can download the official game client here. For more details about the game, swing by here.