"Naraka: Bladepoint is a breath of fresh air in the battle royale genre, where new titles often feel like "more of the same", and genre-defining innovation is a rarity."
On 13 July 2023, Naraka: Bladepoint relaunched as a free-2-play title, with full cross-platform multiplayer support between all current and new (PS5) platforms, increasing the reach and longevity of one of the most interesting and unique titles to come from the Battle Royale genre since Fortnite (2017).
Naraka: Bladepoint is visually stunning and performs incredibly well; however, this performance comes at a cost; Naraka: Bladepoint is one of the first games that actively discourages players from installing it on a mechanical drive.
While technically playable on a traditional HDD, the performance hit renders Naraka: Bladepoint borderline unplayable even on high-end gaming HDDs such as a WD Black Gaming Drive.
When running Naraka: Bladepoint from an NVMe SSD, the performance gains are unparalleled, with ultra-smooth 1080p/120fps (RX 7700 XT) gameplay that rarely drops below 100fps, even during large-scale, multi-team engagements.
Naraka: Bladepoint was the first 9th generation battle royale, and while the current gen upgrades received by titles such as Fortnite Battle Royale and Call of Duty Warzone are appreciated, there are unavoidable limitations that come with being a cross-generational title.
Naraka: Bladepoint has freed itself of those limitations by requiring an SSD and moderately powerful hardware, which, while sad news for those who are still limited to 8th generation hardware, is great news for owners of higher-end PC hardware and 9th generation consoles; finally, we have a battle royale that takes full advantage of our hardware.
In short, Naraka: Bladepoint is stunning, the map is spacious and inviting, and the character models are of higher quality than anything the genre has given us before, with polish and production values to rival even the best that the genre has to offer.
While Naraka: Bladepoint was originally intended to be a 9th generation exclusive, a version of the game with lower-quality visuals and resolution was eventually released for the Xbox One in December 2022, around six months after its Xbox Series X launch (June 2022).
However, just two years later, in June 2024, this version would be pulled to allow developers to focus on PC and current-gen offerings.
Naraka: Bladepoint has one of the strongest character customization systems I have ever seen. Players are given a huge amount of facial customization options, including the ability to upload a photo of themselves to aid in the character generation.
You may notice I said facial customization, and that was no mistake; with the exception of skin tone, players are unable to change any other aspect of their character’s body through the customization panel.
Naraka: Bladepoint is incredibly fun to play; once you get out of the “bot leagues”, while I understand and actually support putting players in bot lobbies for the first few matches to acclimatize them to the map and their character’s abilities, I can also understand why players who find out their early wins were essentially meaningless are disappointed.
I feel a greater sense of accomplishment in my 2nd and 3rd place finishes vs real players than I did from a string of victory royales vs bots.
While the bots in Naraka: Bladepoint are miles ahead of the bots in Fortnite and Call of Duty Warzone, they are not that bright and often flee from combat, exposing their undefended back to the player.
While being a battle royale at its core, Naraka: Bladepoint utilizes several systems that are more commonly found in role-playing games (upgraded character traits and stats) and hero shooters (unique hero abilities).
While these features alone do not make combat between high and low level characters impossible, it does give a slight advantage to players who have levelled up a character’s traits considerably.
On the topic of levels, using a weapon to strike down foes earns experience in that weapon class, unlocking rewards, immortal treasures (loot boxes), and unique cosmetics, while this alone is not reason enough to main a weapon that doesn’t match your playstyle, it is certainly a motivation to explore other playstyles, even if only for a few matches.
This is funny; despite playing for hours since the game launched, I have not communicated with a single member of the community; while one player forgot to mute their mic and treated the team to a constant stream of keyboard clicks, overall, the community is rather reclusive.
That being said, what the community lack in vocabulary they make up for in teamwork, and every team of randoms I have encountered has worked well together, marking items and points of interest for each other as well as calling out locations and covering for one another during intense engagements.
Naraka: Bladepoint is in a rather unique place when it comes to the portrayal of female characters, most female characters wear clothing that could be deemed sexy or revealing, and yet, the style of clothing feels more like it was made to cater to a fashion conscious, predominantly female gaze.
While there are backless dresses, short skirts, mermaid costumes and more, there are virtually no outfits which cater predominantly to a male gaze, such as in titles such as The First Descendant, in which most female characters look and dress like sex dolls and strippers.
While some may dismiss this as a non-issue, I feel strongly that making content purely to titillate is wrong, and while there is a time and place for nudity in games, making every female character eye candy is offensive, and for those who are prone to acting on their lust, dangerous.
Naraka: Bladepoint is a free-to-play battle royale game developed by 24 Entertainment and published by NetEase Games Montréal, it released on 12 August 2021, and is available on PC, Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Naraka: Bladepoint supports:
Naraka: Bladepoint offers the following matchmaking options:
The Naraka: Bladepoint in-game store sells:
Naraka: Bladepoint supports the following peripherals:
Naraka: Bladepoint is rated PEGI 12+ and contains:
While Naraka: Bladepoint may not be as popular as it once was, it is still one of the most popular games in the Battle Royale genre, and more importantly it is one of the most unique, due to its heavy emphasis on melee combat and mobility.
While its predominantly Chinese playerbase means matchmaking is not as quick as many games on this side outside of Asia, due to its robust crossplay support, there are still more than enough people to fill lobbies even during off-peak hours, even if you may have to wait a few minutes for each match to start.
Ultimately, Naraka: Bladepoint is one of the most unique and interesting games the genre has to offer, and I would love to see it become more popular in the west, ensuring the matchmaking remains viable, and the developers have a vested interest in supporting western audiences for many years to come.
We found Naraka: Bladepoint to be a masterpiece of a game, meaning it is a must-play for almost every gamer, due to its near-perfect gameplay experience.
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