Dark and Light

Release Date: May 30, 2006

RPG, FPP, TPP, fantasy, MMORPG, sandbox, MMO, crafting, internet

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Steam

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An MMORPG initially developed by NPCube in cooperation with Farlan Entertainment and published in 2006. Years later, the rights to the game have been acquired by Snail Games, who decided to reboot the game in 2016 with entirely new visuals, a different business model (now the player has to pay for the game only once), and a number of improvements to the game's mechanics.

Plot
Mechanics
Technical aspects

Dark and Light is an MMORPG set in a medieval fantasy world with a quite unusual story. The first version of the game featuring a free-to-play business model has been created by NPCube in cooperation with Farlan Entertainment and published in 2006, however it did not receive positive reviews. To make things worse, two years later, the creators were found guilty of illegal use of a technology and the servers of Dark and Light were shut down. In 2011, Snail Games – the studio responsible for supporting the game with post-release improvements – purchased the rights to the game. In 2016, after years of work, Dark and Light has been rebooted with completely new visuals, a different business model (this time it is buy-to-play), and a number of mechanics' improvements.

Plot

The action of the game is set in Ganareth, a medieval fantasy world comprising a number of Kingdoms represented by gods subject to the ultimate god – Gothar. Moreover, there are three feuding factions, each one controlling one large city, which is the neutral zone for characters affiliated with a given faction. Upon starting his adventure, a player has to choose which faction they want to join.

Mechanics

Dark and Light has always featured an open world covering the area of approximately 40,000 square kilometers. Moreover, the sandbox like gameplay has been combined with a lack of traditional story quests. The original version of the game featured 12 races and 14 character classes divided into 4 main archetypes: Warrior, Hunter, Healer, and Mage. Each character could use 12 equipment slots, wear armor, and wield 2 types of weapons (or a weapon and a shield). The elaborate crafting system was an integral part of the game allowing players to create numerous items depending on the chosen types of professions. The original version of the game featured quite an unusual character development system, in which players received three types of development points – Combat, Crafting, and Social. Combat points were awarded for killing enemies, Crafting points for creating new items, and Social points for joining guilds and completing guild related tasks.

The new version of the game, even though faithful to the main convention of its original, has introduced a number of changes to the gameplay mechanics. The most prominent one being the new character development system, now without any classes – all characters learn certain professions by progressing in the way preferred by the player – it is even possible to combine several professions. What is also worth mentioning, the rebooted version of Dark and Light allows players to erect structures (from small houses to grand castles), features a more arcade combat system (inspired by FPS games), and introduces new types of steeds (both ground and mid-air) that facilitate the in-game world exploration. Moreover, both the time and the seasons correspond to the time flow in the real life (one minute in the game equals a minute in real time).

Technical aspects

In comparison to the original installment, Dark and Light for PC is a significant step forward that eliminates most technical errors, fixes poor balancing and improves the visual – the last aspect has been completely redone and eventually based on the Unreal Engine 4 technology. Because of that, developers could fulfill the initial concepts for the game, impossible to carry out back in 2006 due to unavailable technology. Interestingly enough, the realistic weather system features rain, storms, shining sun, snow, and hale all of which cause precise effects in the virtual world. For example, during a snowstorm all the local stores are closed, and when a player uses any frost related spell, additional blizzards occur.

Last updated on August 10, 2017

Videos and Screens

[1:15] Dark and Light early access trailer

[1:20] Dark and Light new version teaser trailer

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