Mabinogi: the hardcore kiddie MMO

Korean videogame giant Nexon has brought its latest free-to-play MMO to the U.S., "Mabinogi." Variety's Tom Chick isn't too impressed. In his review we just posted, he writes:

The latest arrival in the Korean invasion is "Mabinogi," a massively multiplayer online game (MMO) from Nexon, the folks behind "Maple Story" and "Kartrider." These games are built around cute graphics, challenging gameplay and a presumably "free to play" business model. Although they've been wildly successful in Asia, they're struggling to find an audience in North America. With its unforgiving difficulty, unfriendly interface and annoying incentives to make players pay, "Mabinogi" is a perfect example why.

What's particularly interesting is that while the game is full of anime-style children, "after several hours, the average player will hit a brick wall." But Tom also notes that "a player who wants a better magic skill has to cast a certain number of spells, whereas a player who wants a better fishing skill has to catch a certain number of fish. The refreshingly simple DIY system is essentially 'Do what you want to do and you'll eventually do it better.'"

You can read the whole thing right here.