Lost Ark gameplay video delivers a crash course in the hit Korean ARPG
The over-the-top Diablo-alike is coming West in February.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
We first heard aboutLost Arkall the way back in 2014, when we described it as “an exceptionally good looking ARPG” that struck us as an absurdly over-the-top (but in a good way) Diablo-like. Lost Ark came out a few years later in 2018, but only in Korea. After that it mostly fell off our radar until mid-2021, whenAmazonannounced that it was teaming up with developer Smilegate RPG to localize Lost Ark for North America and Europe.
We took a closer look at the game during its November 2021 beta test, and even though seven years have passed we found that it still “redefines over-the-top.”
“Every time I fast-travel I pull out an electric guitar and play a sweet lick and I still don’t know why,” weekend editor Jody Macgregor wrote. “When I hop on my mount I have a choice between a horse and a cloud that can put on a fireworks display. Where Path of Exile looks like it’s been cursed by a witch to look drab so a prince won’t fall in love with it, everything about Lost Ark is garish, cartoonish, and glorious.”
I get the same impression watching this new Lost Ark gameplay video. It starts innocuously enough, with a quick rundown of the five classes—Mage, Martial Artist, Warrior, Gunner, and Assassin—and abilities, but moves quickly from there into character customization, a crash course in the setting and story, sailing ships (yes, there are ships, complete with crews), strongholds, raids, PvP, and more. There’s a lot going on, to put it mildly, and it looks great.
Lost Ark is set to go live on February 11 and will be free to play, but you can get in early on February 8 by purchasing a Founder’s Pack. There are multiple options ranging from $15 to $100 onSteamandAmazonand along with early access you’ll also get an array of in-game items including a mount, a pet, avatars, currency, supplies, and more. You can find out more about what’s happening atplaylostark.com.
The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill.Lotsof Henry Cavill.
Vampire Survivors’ Castlevania DLC map is so big that I keep getting lost, but I’d do it all over again just to have Sonia Belmont’s sonic whip
Kojima Productions acquires Death Stranding IP rights, presumably meaning the series will only get more unhinged
Genshin Impact’s missing English voice acting returns in its latest trailer, but players aren’t sure if they should celebrate yet
