NCSoft has unveiled the latest about its new flagship IP, Throne and Liberty, in a Director's Preview that gives a peek into its next-generation MMORPG. The trailer also confirmed that Throne and Liberty will release for PC and next-gen consoles within the first half of 2023.
Featuring locations and action sequences along with fresh details about the game, such as a "Free-Class" system and living world, the short gameplay snippet gives a breakdown of what to expect from the upcoming MMORPG. Players will participate in regional events, join boss raids, and build strategic gameplay when they fall into unexpected PvP situations.
"Throne and Liberty's world is comprised of different and diverse areas, and competitions are based on the background stories of each region. For those regional events, all players in a certain region can participate. Players will compete for approximately 20 minutes in order to move up in rank," said Lee Moon Seop, Design Director of Throne and Liberty.
NCSoft has been working on remake and reboot projects such as Lineage 2, Lineage 2M, and Lineage W for a decade, but Throne and Liberty marks the first game to be developed from a brand-new storyline since Blade and Soul in 2012. Further along in the preview, Chief Creative Cfficer Taekjhin Kim and Principal Development Manager Moonyoung Choi went on to reveal fresh details about the characteristics of Throne and Liberty, including dungeons, environment, combat, and open world that can change depending on the weather condition.
Perhaps most interestingly, Throne and Liberty introduces a "Free Class" system that allows players to decide their role by the weapons of their choice, meaning they won't have to stick to one game style in combat. It has an immersive narrative where the past, present, and future are combined in a living open world with dynamic weather conditions and environmental gimmicks. Besides, the maps in Throne and Liberty will reportedly be divided, and the environment can change the ecology and terrain of the field to add dynamism to the gameplay.
"The world, which has no boundaries, is the foundation that allows players to connect with one another. It allows for endless ways to interact. Take for example an underground dungeon, with a separate entrance and main area. In it, there are multiple floors and spaces, but we have connected all the spaces together. Moving immediately to the lowest floor is possible," said producer Ahn Jong-ok. He also claimed that the reason Throne and Liberty has an interconnected world in a single time zone is to construct communities and discover who the player is in the essence of MMO.
Throne and Liberty's game service was also detailed in Director's Preview, offering a UX and UI suitable for both PC and consoles. "It features precise character customization to meet the differing demands of our global player base," the developer team said. The next-generation MMORPG also utilizes the "Memorial" system that makes it available to stream on mobile devices through the cloud.
Throne and Liberty is targeting a release on PC and consoles in the first half of 2023.