Rusty Hearts just entered closed beta, so we decided to fight our way through Perfect World Entertainment's anime-inspired action MMO.

A Focus on Instanced Dungeons

The game itself is in the formula of a central quest hub that allows for story NPCs, quest-givers and shop keepers to send you into the instanced dungeons. Upon entering an instance, the dungeon shows players a map of available areas and their level ranges. Upon selecting an area, the player must decide one of four difficulties (Normal, Hard, Very Hard and Blood). Normal is the default, and completing the area with a high enough ranking unlocks Hard, which in turn unlocks Very Hard. Blood needs a special item to access, and almost certainly requires a party. While Hard and Very Hard difficulties recommend parties of 2-3 and 3-4 respectively, I managed to solo every map in the first instance in Hard difficulty without any issues. Enemies will have higher levels do slightly more damage and potentially come in larger numbers or stronger types, but my character was never in danger of dying until I got to the first “end boss” of the dungeon (a giant lobster). Even then, I killed him on Hard on my first try with just a couple of potions used.

The party system is rather easy to use; pushing “P” in the town area brings up a list of groups, and players can join a current one or create their own. I noticed that adding other people to the mix made enemies die almost instantly; I also noticed that getting SSS rank was much quicker.

Quests Help Advance the Plot

The quests vary in their requirements and rewards. Story quests are marked on the town map by “STO,” while other quests can be marked “NOR” for normal. When entering a dungeon with a story quest active the main characters will speak, even if they are not actually the character you're controlling. In some dungeons, certain areas or bosses won't open unless a quest is active. This does a fair job of advancing the plot, but it doesn't change the fact that in the end the game revolves around clearing the same dungeons time and again. The quests provide experience, currency and items as rewards; in the dungeon itself, a player is graded on his or her “style,” with a final rank between F and SSS. This rank determines the experience bonus at the end, as well as if a harder difficulty will be unlocked. I never quite managed to pin down the formula for the ranking, but it seems I received more style points for the more specialized skills and combos I used. As HP and MP refills drop frequently, I had no problem spamming my way through everything in the lowbie zone.

Reminder: The Game's in Closed Beta

Considering the game just launched in closed beta, there are still a number of other features I'd like to try out. From what I've heard, crafting is pretty advanced in Rusty Hearts; players can make all sorts of equipment, enchants and costumes. The materials drop from dungeons of course, but can even include cash shop items. I also did not get to try PvP, although there are matches available.

While Rusty Hearts will certainly undergo some changes before it launches, a few things did irk me about the game. First, the camera, as mentioned before, is utterly useless. Having a fixed camera angle got old around the time of Resident Evil 3. Second, the inventory system contains both a limited amount of space and a weight limit, which made trips back to a vendor a necessity after only a few dungeons. This usually wasn't a huge deal though, since I would need to hand in completed quests around that time as well (and there always seemed to be more to take; some were tough, like getting S rank or higher in a Very Hard dungeon). Finally, there is a green stamina bar that decreased as I visited instances. Once this bar hits 0, players no longer receive experience. Luckily, the bar is reset each day; I would estimate that it would take around 4-5 hours of play for me to empty my stamina bar, but I'm not sure if the rate of decline is affected by dungeon difficulty or level range.

Conclusion, Keys and a Trailer

Those complaints aside, playing Rusty Hearts was a blast. While mindless grinding can get old after a while, mowing down hordes of enemies with flashy combos while bobbing your head to great music was definitely enjoyable. It certainly seems to appeal to several groups: anime fans will enjoy the cut scenes and overall look; arcade fans will enjoy the combos and blocking/guarding mechanics; and dungeon delvers will enjoy, well, diving into dungeons. So far as free-to-play games go, Rusty Hearts probably wins my recommendation over all the other titles I've tried from Perfect World Entertainment. Watch the closed beta launch trailer below to see the game in action, then grab one of our closed beta keys and try it out for yourself!

Paul "LockeColeMA" Cleveland, Staff Reporter