Last Chaos

Game overview

Last Chaos is a bit of an oddity. Despite its age and dwindling popularity it seems to preserve in an MMO ecosystem rife with other choices. It’s a relic of a bygone era, and maybe this is what makes it compelling to some players.

Originally published way back in 2006 by Aeria Games, their first game ever in fact, Last Chaos has recently changed hands and is now being handled by Gamigo. Last Chaos is a game victimized by its own age. Its graphics, animation, and systems all attest to the game’s age. None are particularly impressive by today’s standards.

However fans looking for a nostalgic MMO experience may find Last Chaos enjoyable. It has a classic feel that modern games can fail to capture. Last Chaos boasts a plethora of classes to choose from, these are gender locked however. Unfortunately with all of it’s classes and somewhat charming nostalgia, Last Chaos still falls flat gameplay-wise. It’s repetitive, and for the most part uninteresting.

➔ Main points:

• Guardian System
• Level Cap is 184
• Classic Gameplay
• Robust Crafting

Trailer

Full review

A Relic of the Past

The most striking aspect of Last Chaos is its graphics. While the game seems to be on par with other releases at the time, it quickly becomes apparent that Last Chaos is lacking in a few areas. Mobs fall from the sky as they come into view, the resolution is capped at 32bits. Animations also leave more than a bit to be desired.

The game drops you into its starter area without much explanation, and tasks you with killing a few low level mobs to complete quests. Quests are your standard MMO fair. Most boil down to killing enough mobs or collecting enough of certain items and returning to the quest giver for a reward.

It can be hard to notice when you level, as you won’t be given a prompt or alert. Whenever you do though, you are given skill points to allocate into either Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, or Intelligence. Due to this system a great deal of research and planning is required to build your character successfully.

The game needs a ton of prior knowledge to understand what is going on. While this may be tedious for some, I think gamers who are used to older games, or like more hardcore statistical RPGs would find the systems enjoyably obtuse.

Guardians and Leveling

One of the coolest features of the game, and one that slightly minimizes the steep learning curve, is the Guardian system. Think of Guardians like mentors. They are higher level players that help new players through the beginning stages of the game. New players can open a menu and choose from a list of potential Guardians. Their guardian will be with them until they reach level 30, however you can of course play with your guardian after you reach this point.

Think of Guardians like mentors. They are higher level players that help new players through the beginning stages of the game.

I think this is a unique learning system, and it provides opportunities to build friendships and encourages player interaction. Overall it’s an interesting solution to the games lack of tutorial and explanation, however it can be hit or miss. A good Guardian is hard to finds, and playing with one that isn’t helpful may sour your early game experience.

Luckily, as mentioned, the Guardian system only lasts until level 30. This is because at level 31 you are able to choose your advanced class. Each base class has two specializations to choose from that alter their progression in a variety of different ways. While this is in no way new its always been one of my favorite aspects of MMOs that have the feature. It gives the player an added layer of personalization and adds incentive to replay content with a different specialization.

After choosing a specialization it will be time to grind to cap. Which is currently set at a whopping 184. It is one of the highest level cap’s I’ve ever seen in a game, and makes leveling very grind dependent. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though because once again it adds to the game’s old school hardcore feel.

Learning the Craft of Crafting

As much depth as Last Chaos has within its standard gameplay, crafting is on another level. It operates on a tiered system. Starting with the gathering phase. This is split into three skillsets, mining, herbalism, and absorption. These are used to gather raw materials. The materials are then refined using Stone Processing, Energy Processing, and Herb Processing. After this the actual crafting stage ensues. Which are Weaponsmithing, Armorsmithing, and Alchemy.

Crafting is on another level

I actually had a ton of fun crafting, it surprised me that it was one of my favorite aspects of the game. Progressing through the different tiers and mastering each craft was satisfying in a way that few other aspects of the game are.

Final Thoughts

Last Chaos is an old game. Plain and simple. There are aspects that are fun. I quite enjoyed the crafting and the Guardian system made interacting with the game’s hardcore player base a bit easier. Because of its age however, Last Chaos has a myriad of issues. It’s graphically unimpressive. The UI is a mess, and learning to play the game can be as challenging as actually playing the game.

As unfortunate as those aspects are, Last Chaos still offers a uniquely hardcore experience. The game will speak to players who may feel babied by modern MMO offerings. I think the fact that the game has survived for so long and retained a small but loyal audience attests to this.

Last Chaos isn’t for the casual player looking for something easy to jump into, it’s for the gamer who misses the more complex games of a bygone era.

Ready to enter the world of Last Chaos? Click here to play now!

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Review summary

1. A Relic of the Past
2. Guardians and Leveling
3. Learning the Craft of Crafting
4. Final Thoughts