Dragon Nest

''Dragon Nest'' ( ko, 드래곤네스트) is a free-to-play fantasy MMORPG developed by Eyedentity and currently available in different regions and languages. Aside from boasting a non-targeting combat and skill system within instance dungeons, ''Dragon Nest'' also revolves around a rich story which is told in different points of view depending on the player's chosen class. ''Dragon Nest'' receives new content, balance patches and cash shop items on a monthly basis. Major expansions that include several new dungeons, Nests, new classes, multiple new features or remake of old ones, extensive class adjustments and a raise on the level cap take place every year.

The game has over 200million players as of 2013, and had grossed () by 2012. From June 2012 to July 2015, the game was known as ''Dragon Nest 2.0''. From 2015 to 2016, the game was known as ''Dragon Nest R'' which stands for "Action Reverse, Stress Relieve, Content Reboot". From 2016 onwards, the game is known as ''Dragon Nest A: Will of the Gods'', the A stands for "Awakening".

Gameplay

''Dragon Nest'' incorporates non-targeting system gameplay to create a fast-paced action-filled experience. Players choose from a range of hero classes, characters that are of the Dragon Nest storyline that can equip customizable gear and weapons. Characters exist in one world, Kalahan, which resulted from Nexon uniting all four worlds to unite the characters. Devastating skills can also be learned, to increase one's power when defeating monsters in instance dungeons or defeating other players in PvP.

''Dragon Nest'' also has the advantage of being nearly completely skill-based, with lower level characters being able to defeat high level characters in PvP with skill alone. This allows a more experienced player that is of a lower level to dominate a less experienced player of a higher level player in PvP.

Class role and playing style

After reaching lv.15 players can choose to specialize in one of the second classes available depending on their class, and third class at level 45 to boost some aspects of theirs skill sets.

Combat in player vs environment

In ''Dragon Nest'', players fight groups of monsters using skills and attacks received by class trainers throughout the game. The monsters drop money, boxes, collectables, materials, weapons or equipment that can be used by the player, sold, traded or thrown away.
Dragon Nest is world know like

In-game shop

The Cash Shop is an in-game shop where players use real-life currency to purchase equipment not widely available in-game. Special items can also help in the development of the characters such as Approval Stamps, Protection Jellies, and Dragon Eggs. Player can also buy pets, costumes, cosmetics to personalise their character.

In ''Dragon Nest NA'', the Cash Shop is known as the "Dragon Vault".

Storyline

The Goddess Althea, creator of the land of Alteria (Altea in the NA version, Lagendia in the SEA version), is poisoned by her evil sister Vestinel. The poison can only be cured using an antidote made using the source of the poison itself, Vestinel's magic grail, which has disappeared somewhere within Alteria. The players as heroes of Alteria must comb the land fighting evil dragons in order to find power stones that enable them to communicate with the sleeping goddess in order to find the grail, wake her and save the world.

Releases

East Asian release

On November 2, 2007, Nexon Korea Corporation secured rights to ''Dragon Nest''. It was announced that the game would be entering its closed beta in the middle of 2008 but delayed to fall of 2009. ''Dragon Nest'' was officially released in Korea in March 2010.

In December 2007, Shanda, game publisher in China, announced that it would be publishing the Chinese version of ''Dragon Nest''. The Chinese closed beta began on 25 March 2010 with an official release later that year.

It was announced on 21 November 2008 that NHN Japan would publish ''Dragon Nest'' in Japan on their Hangame JP portal. On 17 April 2010, GACKT was announced to be the artiste for the "Black Version" of the theme song of the game titled "EVER". NHN Japan subsequently began ''Dragon Nest Japans closed beta.

North American release

At the Penny Arcade Expo in 2009, Nexon America announced that it would be publishing ''Dragon Nest'' in North America. Originally, ''Dragon Nest'' was scheduled for a mid-2010 release. Nexon America announced that a playable version of ''Dragon Nest'' would be shown at the upcoming E3 show in Los Angeles. Its release is now set to be towards the Summer of 2011. On 21 April 2011, a closed beta application was started and testing was due to begin on 17 May 2011. However, on 6 May, an announcement was made that the closed beta testing would be pushed back to 15 June 2011. Closed beta ended on June 20, 2011. ''Dragon Nest'' open beta testing opened on July 26, 2011. The game was slated to go live on August 11, but this date has since been pushed back. The North American version was level-capped at 32 with the Saints Haven release on September 28, 2011. Characters, items and skill from the open beta test were not cleared, so players kept the progress they made in the OBT. In mid December 2011, the North American version has extended its level-cap to 40, giving the player the ability to learn their 2nd sub-class's final skill. The Tinkerer class was added in the June 2012 patch. The first Dragon class nest, Sea Dragon Nest, has been released on 24 July 2012. On 24 October 2012 the North American version extended its level-cap to 50, giving the players the ability to learn their 3rd sub-class. On 20 June 2013 the level-cap of the North American Version was extended to 60, allowing players to learn two EX skills.

South East Asian release

Shanda and Cherry Credits released the localized version of ''Dragon Nest'' for South East Asia region. Closed beta testing period for ''Dragon Nest SEA'' ran from 13 July 2011 to 19 July 2011. Open beta was opened from 16 August 2011 to 20 October 2011.

Official release of the game begins 20 October 2011 onwards, with the release of Saint Haven and level 32 cap on 18 October to mark its grand opening. There was four servers at the time of ''SEAs installation, namely (in chronological order) Westwood, Springwood, Greenwood and Holywood. The English language voiceovers for non-playable characters and the song "The Warrior Call" for this release were produced by Deniss Berezins of Overdrawn Records.

Level cap has been increased to 40 on 13 December 2011. Additional content related to the increase has been added which includes new Level 40 items, Manticore Nest and the Apocalypse Nest. On 24 April 2012, the long anticipated Academic class has been released, bringing the total playable starting characters to 5. The long-awaited Sea Dragon Nest was released on 4 June 2012, and also the much anticipated Level 50 cap was released on 28 August 2012, together with further advancements in their current job classes. On 2 April 2013, the new Kali class was released. On 13 May 2013, the level cap was increased to 60. On 11 February 2014, the level cap was increased to 70, giving access to new EX skills, and the Anu Arendel dungeons. On 18 March 2014 the Assassin character was released. And the level cap was increased to 80 with new lvl 80 EX skill & equipment in 2015 also with new lvl 80 dungeons and nest. The new Lancea class was released on March 3, 2015 bringing a total of 8 playable characters.

European release

Closed beta began on 27 February 2013. ''Dragon Nest Europe'' was officially released on 6 March 2013 by eFusion. From 24 October to 29 October, ''Dragon Nest EU'' had a server transfer and officially changed host to Shanda.

On 31 January 2016, ''Dragon Nest Europe'' suffered a massive data loss of all players and the server came back online on 5 February. On 16 March, ''Dragon Nest Europe'' changed the publisher to be part of Cherry Credits.

On 27 March 2019, ''Dragon Nest Europe'' publisher Cherry Credits announced the server closure slated for 15 May 2019, the service contract was no longer being extended to Cherry Credits by the developer Eyedentity Games.

Russian release

Localization in Russian is handled by the holding company Mail.Ru Group. Closed alpha began on 28 August 2012. Closed alpha began on 5 September 2012. Open beta began on 26 September 2012.

Dates of important updates:
* Level cap has been increased to 40 on 29 October 2012.
* On 29 January 2013 Sea Dragon Nest has been released.
* On 26 February 2013 Academic class has been released.
* Level cap has been increased to 50 on 30 May 2013.
* On 3 September 2013 Green Dragon Nest has been released.
* Level cap has been increased to 60 on 12 December 2013.
* On 26 February 2014 Kali class has been released.
* On 29 May 2014 Desert Dragon Nest has been released.
* Level cap has been increased to 70 on 31 October 2014.
* On 23 December 2014 Assassin class has been released.
* On 26 March 2015 Black Dragon Nest has been released.
* On 27 April 2015 Sea Dragon Nest has been released.
* Level cap has been increased to 80 on 8 July 2015.
* On 11 December 2015 Red Dragon Nest has been released.

After this patch on Russian Server was starting problems.

Next update has been released only on 3 February 2016. It was Red Dragon Nest (Hardcore), Hero Battlefield (Hardcore) and Argenta's Costume.
After this patch next update has been released only on 31 March 2016. It was Rumble Mode back. This patch has been released with bag: characters could up their level, but 90 cap was not released. On 1 April 2016 this bag was fixed.

And it was the last update on Russian Server. Next update should have been 90 cap, but problems became harder. Server had juridical disagreements with developers and alsothe game became not in priority for the Mail.Ru Group company. All gamers expected update and long time listened promises of the game producer. But 90 cap update had not been released.

On 31 January 2018 the company announced the closure of the game servers.

Sequel and spin-offs

''Dragon Nest Labyrinth (드래곤네스트:라비린스)''

A top view dungeon crawler for iOS and Android developed by Eyedentity Games, said to take place 500 years after the events of the original ''Dragon Nest''. Players can choose between the Warrior, Archer, Sorceress and Cleric to explore random generated dungeons. According to the game description in the official site Geraint (unspecified which one) and Velskud will eventually be encountered in an unknown future update.

''Dragon Nest: Awake (龙之谷：Awake)''

Also known as ''Dragon Nest Mobile'' is a hack and slash game for mobile devices for the Chinese market developed in Unity. The game uses various assets from the original ''Dragon Nest'', including the 3D models. Players will clear stages to progress through a brand-new story loosely based on the original game, said to be focused on Geraint and Velskud. The game has a hub modeled after Saint Haven for players to interact with one another, manage menus and speak to NPCs like Argenta.

''Saint Haven: Dragon Nest''

The mobile game for android and iOS, was released globally on 25 April 2017. New system and UI has been implemented such as semi-automatic skill and open field monster, and AI companion in the form of "Heroes". This game is different from Chinese counterpart, ''Dragon Nest: Awake'' that use all system as same as on the original game on PC.

''Dragon Nest II Legend''

An action game developed by Eyedentity Games for iOS and Android and has been released on 5 August 2017 on App Store. The story takes place 500 years before the events of ''Dragon Nest'' but speculated to be on an alternate timeline due to incongruencies with the main story: The game's story states that Geraint defeated the Black Dragon, but was exposed to the potion and to prevent corruption he sealed himself. In the process, Geraint lost his memories but eventually meets someone that will help him recover. Geraint's physical appearance also differs: He is portrayed with platinum blonde hair, paler skin and blue eyes.

Players take control of Geraint, Argenta, Marian and Garvel, each with 20 different skills that can be unlocked by progressing in the game. The game trailer teased that outfits to dress up the characters will also be available.

''Dragon Nest Origin''

No details were given of this game, and it's said to be on a very early stage of development by Eyedentity Games for iOS and Android. Announcement trailer only played gameplay clips of the original ''Dragon Nest''.

''Dragon Nest: The Light of Daybreak (龙之谷：破晓)''

Also known as ''Dragon Nest: Warriors' Dawn'' is a side-scroller beat 'em up game for iOS and Android developed by Beijing ZhangKuo Mobile Multimedia Technologie Co., Ltd. based both in the original ''Dragon Nest'' game universe and the film '' Dragon Nest: Warriors' Dawn'' universe. Players can take control of the Warrior, Archer and Sorceress to progress through stages and meet popular NPCs of the franchise, but Kali and Assassin have been teased in trailers and adverts. Currently only available for the Chinese market.

''Dragon Nest: Continenth Exploration (龙之谷大陆探险)''

Also known as ''Dragon Nest Wonderland'' (新龍之谷大富豪 WONDERLAND) in Taiwan and Hong Kong, was monopoly style game for iOS and Android released in July 2014. The game was only released in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong before shutting down in November 2014. The game interacted with the original ''Dragon Nest'' and players could participate in events, collect virtual cards, win items or merchandise through this game.

''Serencia Saga : Dragon Nest (セレンシアサーガ：ドラゴンネスト)''

An upcoming action game Developed by Primus Inc. a Subsidiary Company of Gumi, led by a former producer of the PC version of ''Dragon Nest Japan''.

''Serencia Saga: Dragon Nest'' features 4 familiar playable characters at the start: Warrior, Archer, Cleric, and Sorceress. With a brand new storyline, players set foot on the world of Serencia as a “Knight of the Seal Dragon”, going through trials set by a goddess. The game can be played in either landscape mode or portrait mode according to the player's preference, switching at any time. Pre-registration is now on in Japan, with a launch expected summer 2017. It was later shut down on 28 March 2018.

''World of Dragon Nest''

Eyedentity Games has been revealed about next installment of ''Dragon Nest'' and will be released in Summer 2018. ''World of Dragon Nest'' will feature characters from the original PC version and introduce in new characters. Players will face new enemies called "Paradise Exiles", according to the lead designer Do-hyung Kwon at Eyedentity Games. Of course, the new game will focus on larger scale combat and in the future, the end-game content will include guild wars which involves 60 players, 30 from each side, fighting each other.

Since ''World of Dragon Nest'' will be released on the mobile platform, there will be auto combat, Eyedentity Games confirms. However, you can switch to manual mode anytime you want. The biggest feature is of course the non-targeting combat, and it's where the development mainly focuses on. In the new game, there will be a gauge on the screen and it is like an ultra skill system. Making both genders for each class is the other thing the developer team puts a lot of resources into. In addition to gender lock removal, ''World of Dragon Nest'' completely ditches the class / skill system in ''Dragon Nest''. There will be new class called "Slayer" joining in the game.

Media

Manga

There is a manga based on the game named . It is drawn by TATSUBON and published by Kodansha. Three tankōbon volumes has been published with about 12 chapters in total. It was serialized from the July 2010 issue to the May 2011 issue of ''Monthly Shōnen Rival''. The first volume was published on 4 October 2010, the second volume on 4 February 2011, and the third volume on 3 June 2011. It follows the adventures of Warrior Sedo Nobusutatto, Archer Okiron Igunohisu, Sorceress Yuuri and Cleric Benetta as they fought to rescue the Prophetess Rose from a mysterious black figure, and to protect Saint Haven from a great danger.

Another manga based on the game, called started serialization from 27 July 2019 on the LINE Manga mobile application, with chapters released twice a week on Tuesday and Saturday. The manga was later also released on the Comico manga mobile application on 4 November 2019, with the last chapter released on 19 January 2020, with a total of 60 chapters.

Music

Numerous theme songs have been used for the Japanese version of the game. There are three main theme songs for the game itself, the "White Version", the "Black Version" and the "second" theme song. The "White Version" theme song "Road to Glory～for Dragon Nest" was performed by KOKIA, and the "Black Version" theme song "EVER" was performed by GACKT. The song "Road to Glory～for Dragon Nest" was released on 18 August 2010 as part of the single " Road to Glory~long journey~" (the song is also in the album " REAL WORLD"), while "EVER" was released on 28 July 2010. The 'second' main theme song "THE END OF THE DAY" was performed by YELLOW FRIED CHICKENz and the single was released on 14 September 2011 (the song can also be found in their album "YELLOW FRIED CHICKENz I"). The game story chapter "Resurrection" theme song "live your life" was performed by ViViD. The song was released on 27 June 2012 as part of their album "INFINITY". The theme song of the story chapter "Side Story: Codename Zero" was " Battle of Destiny", performed by KOKIA and the single was released on 20 February 2013. To commemorate the launch of Dragon Nest "Reboot" in 2015, Uverworld will perform the theme song of the reboot, "I love the World", which is also their 28th single, which was released on 26 August 2015.

Drama CD

There is also a limited edition ''Dragon Nest'' drama CD, called . It was released by Japanese record label Voice Records on 20 April 2011.

Figures

Japanese hobby products manufacturer Good Smile Company has released figures based on some characters in the game. A regular 1/8th scale PVC figure of the playable character Sorceress, sculpted by Usagi, and a Nendoroid figure of the popular non-playable character Events Planner Irine, sculpted by Shichibee, was released on 30 May 2013, with initial pre-orders only available in China. On 21 November 2013, Good Smile Company has announced that pre-orders for markets outside China is available and that the figures was expected to be available in Spring 2014. Nendoroid Irine was later released for retail on 24 April 2014, whereas the PVC figure of Sorceress was released on 2 June 2014.

Films

A film based on the game, '' Dragon Nest: Warriors' Dawn'', was released in 2014.

A film sequel, '' Dragon Nest 2: Throne of Elves'', was released in 2016.

References

External links

Official site of Dragon Nest North America
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150628155202/http://dragonnest.nexon.net/ , date=28 June 2015

Official site of Dragon Nest SEA

Official site of Dragon Nest Europe

Official site of Dragon Nest Indonesia

Official site of Dragon Nest Thailand

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games
2010 video games
Hack and slash role-playing games
Video games developed in South Korea
Windows games
Windows-only games
Persistent worlds
Shōnen manga
Online games