10 FANTASTIC Video Games (You Should Never Play)

Smilegate's MMO finally reached Western shores in 2022, almost overnight becoming one of Steam's biggest-ever launches.

Were the five-digit login queues on release worth soldiering through? That depends on who you ask, but anyone who stuck with Lost Ark through its wobbly first few weeks swiftly discovered why Arkesia's population in its native Korea spanned hundreds of thousands of visitors. Sublime combat, intricately designed endgame encounters, and more build diversity than a capital city proved Lost Ark's staying power. It's as much of a joy to play today as it was two years ago, in fact, but experiencing the best of what the game has to offer is another matter entirely.

Similar to other KMMOs, vertical gear progression is locked behind substantial RNG, with its horizontal counterpart less so, but requiring hours upon hours of grinding to make your character 'presentable' to other endgame players. If you lack any of the necessary upgrades, items, or titles to prove your worth, as it were, you're liable to be gatekept from even using the in-built party finder to join a group.

You'll encounter this same issue in other MMOs, of course, but it's much more pronounced here. To catch up with others who have been playing for years, you'll need to still go through the very same content veterans did but without the experience, leading to a vicious, neverending cycle of applying and being denied from actually engaging with the best of what Lost Ark has to offer.