Naraka: Bladepoint is one of the newer entries into the battle royale line-up, and it’s also one of the more unique attempts at revitalizing this oversaturated genre.
The game is made by 24 Entertainment and the studio seems to be doing an okay job so far addressing player concerns and adding new content. For the most part, Naraka is actually innovative, as there are quite a few things the title does differently than its peers. So, let’s go over some of the biggest deviations it takes from the classic BR gameplay loop, address whether these deviations work well or not, and why.
8 The Chinese Mythology Angle
First and foremost, the studio, 24 Entertainment, is based in China, and a lot of the inspirations for the game and characters are based on Chinese mythology and history. Stuff like Omnyoji magic, monks, religious concepts based around Islam/Taoism/Buddhism, and even the fact that their dragon design (called Moonbane) is of a stereotypical Eastern dragon, rather than a western one (basically it's like Shenron from DBZ instead of the dragons from Game of Thrones).
There are a ton of references or homages to be found in the character designs, abilities used, and more, making it a great game for fans of legends and history.
7 The Focus On Melee Means Players Usually "See" Who Beat Them
One of the best aspects of Naraka: Bladepoint is the fact that its melee combat almost entirely eliminates the possibility of being “sniped” by an enemy from miles away, without ever getting a chance to retaliate. Obviously, this is radically different from other BRs, as gunplay is sort of the focus of this genre a lot of the time.
While Naraka does have ranged weapons, and some of them are very strong, they're a secondary source of damage, and the majority of them are meant to be used within 50 yards or so. This is an aspect that other BRs like Warzone and Apex Legendsor even upcoming shooters like Halo Infinite lean into rather than attempting to "fix", and that's because it’s not necessarily a bad thing. But, for those players out there who find themselves incredibly tired of always being wary of snipers hidden in the mountains, Naraka: Bladepoint might be more their speed.
6 Environmental Traps & Hazards
Just about every BR has some gimmick (sometimes even multiple) that really separates it from the other ones. Warzone throws an absurd amount of guns, loadouts, and vehicles at players to mess around with, for example. Meanwhile, Naraka obviously has melee combat to set it apart, but the environmental hazard system is also pretty unique to this genre. Though, with the newly released Bloodhunt, even the melee combat isn't entirely unique anymore.
Spread throughout Morus Island are plenty of little traps and destructibles that players can hit from afar to drop them on their opponents. Sometimes it’s something as small as a Shadow Bush that allows players to hide in or even just little demonic spirit creatures that hide on rooftops to attack careless players who get close.
5 The Combo & Parrying System
Alright, this article has danced around it long enough, it’s time to talk about the fact that Naraka: Bladepoint is a melee-focused BR game. It's designed so that players fight face to face, even if that involves an ambush to start things off.
So, for those checking out the game, be ready to learn the visual tells for when to parry, which combos work best for which situation, how to use the grapple hook efficiently, and when to focus on offense or defense. It's a bit of a hurdle at first, especially for beginners to the genre, but once a player clicks in with the combat, they'll very likely get addicted to Naraka's gameplay loop.
4 The Unique "Ultimate" Abilities
In Battle Royales, classes/characters tend to have some sort of “Ultimate” ability they can use, the concept is similar to “Supers” in fighting games or even the Hero Ultimates in something like Overwatch. Apex Legends especially has a lot of unique characters with thematic Ultimates and interesting backstories.
Well, Naraka: Bladepoint has Ultimates as well, but they’re so innately different than anything in other games in the same genre, at least for the most part. Just to name a few examples:
- Tianhai can literally turn into a big angry god-being (AKA a Vajra) using his “Titan’s Call” Ultimate
- Viper Ning marks all nearby enemies in view for five seconds using her "Twilight Crimson" Ultimate. If she’s able to charge these marks for the full duration, all marked enemies are stunned.
- Matari’s “Unseen Wings” Ultimate turns him almost entirely invisible, and depending on the build can even turn his entire squad invisible as well.
3 The In-Depth Character Customization
Frankly, this next feature feels like something out of an MMORPG rather than a BR. Basically, players can pick any character in Naraka with any skin they have unlocked, but they can also go in and “modify” their appearance even further. In other games, this would just mean picking between some different “color palettes" for the skin, but in Naraka, it allows them to fully edit the individual attributes of the character and create some hilarious monstrosities. So far, players have used it to:
- Create horrifying creatures reminiscent of the creations in Souls games.
- Re-create iconic characters such as Handsome Squidward or Saitama from One Punch Man.
- Or, they've simply used it to turn the characters 24 Entertainment came up with into their own original characters.
2 The Insufferably Forced Bot Matches
There are a lot of little things developers think of when designing a game, and methods of making sure players enjoy their first experience with the title is really important. This is why there are so many games that start with a big bossfight, the player character with all their abilities unlocked, or, most recently, online multiplayer games that populate the first match with bots. This last method is done so that players trying out some new shooter or BR feel very accomplished/skilled on their first attempt, which usually leads to them playing more. It's a smart tactic, there's no doubt about that, the only problem is when that "forced bot game" is a bit too forced.
Naraka goes a bit too far with this concept, sadly enough. The fact that Bladepoint forces players into bot games even after their first game, without telling them, has been a constant complaint fans have made since the game was released. Other games like Pokemon Unite or Spellbreak did this too, but every time it’s done the backlash is always immense so it's odd that new games keep trying to integrate it.
1 That $20 Baseline Price
And lastly, to end things on sort of a sour note, Naraka is different from other BR games in the sense that it costs money to play. Up until now, it seemed like all BR developers agreed that this genre of game should use either:
- A purely free-to-play design.
- F2P with cosmetic microtransactions galore that players could spend money on.
- Some F2P structure with Battle Pass integration.
- Or any combination of all three.
However, Naraka: Bladepoint decided to double down on its potential returns and charge players for the game outright, while also putting a bunch of cosmetics in the game that cost more money to obtain. The base game costs $19.99, while there are other editions that are more expensive.