Video Game / Ragnarok M: Eternal Guardians of Love

Something familiar, yet quite new...

Ragnarok M: Eternal Guardians of Love (or simply Eternal Love) is a re-imagining of the classic MMORPG Ragnarok Online by Tencent in collaboration with GRAVITY for the mobile age. It entered development late 2017, before being released commercially later that year. It was released in China, Japan and South Korea. An English-language Southeast Asian localization was released in the last quarter of 2018 and in start of 2019, a global server.

The country of Rune-Midgard has experienced several years of peace and prosperity.Things have recently begun to change however, as rumblings of ancient evils thought dormant set their sights on the kingdom once more.

This is the situation that you, as part of a new generation of would-be-adventurers, find yourself in. Will you rise to the challenge?

Ragnarok M provides examples of the following:

• Achievement System: Features this. While it mostly tracks your progress in-game, completing enough of them often end up giving you an in-game Title that gives beneficial stat-boosts to your Character. One of the easiest to get, Sun (or Moon for female avatars) gives +7 hit points when equipped for example.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • Certain regular monsters like Smokies, Rotar Zairos, Jakks, and Alices in original Ragnarok Online are turned into mini-bosses in the mobile version.
  • Some other monsters became higher leveled monster than they were in PC game. One special case is the Marin, a variant of Poring that became monsters of Holy Ice Cave of Rachel and they look different either (they are blue Porings covered with ice rather than just blue Poring). Strangely enough, old Marins do appear in this game but only as Angeling's summon and in Valhalla Ruins.
  • Super Novices (renamed as Advanced Novice in English servers). In the original game, they are only given First classes’ skills and only gained the Second classes’ skills upon Expanding their levels, in addition to being a Joke Character post-Renewal. Here, they get skills from various class tiers from the start, in exchange of getting their Job Level reduced to 70 instead of 99. However, the Expanded Super Novice is renamed into Ultima Novice (or simply Super Novice in English servers), gains a completely new design, and serves as Super Novice’s advanced class with even more useful skills and higher stats modifier.
• Adaptational Modesty: Certain female classes, particularly the Wizards, Assassin Crosses and Royal Guards shows less skin than their original game version, yet Mages and Guillotine Cross remained Stripperific as they were. Some female-gendered monsters which went without clothing in the original game, like the Isis (who actually ran around with their boobs exposed), or the Moonlight Flower MVP boss (who didn't wear pants) suddenly gained clothes (a tube top and spats, respectively) to cover their naughty bits. For male monsters, Injustices now also wear torn pants whereas before they were effectively naked.
• Adapted Out
  • Certain towns like Comodo, Alberta, Einbroch and Hugel, and fields are not included in the mobile version, at least until later expansions. Einbroch in particular is stated to have became inaccessible due to a landslide blocking the path.
  • Sage, Bard, Dancer, and all of the Expanded classes were not included in initial launched and released in later updates. Other classes like Ninja, Gunslinger and Taekwon Kid are not present. The 2.0 update eventually introduced Ninjas.
  • Some monsters and even bosses are not included as well. One particular case is the Cat O' Nine Tails mini boss, the Moonlight Flower's lesser cousin is replaced by the Hyegun, Bongun’s stronger cousin who was originally found in Louyang.
• Adaptation Distillation: Some monsters are found in different locations as they were in the original game, like the Orc Ladies that appears in Clock Tower Basement instead of Orc Village. Some are justified as their original places are Adapted Out for time being like the Mutant Dragonoid mini-boss that originally appeared in the field between Morroc and Comodo, while appearing in Glast Heim Outskirts here instead, Atroce originally from Rachel now in Payon, etc.
• Adaptation Expansion:
  • Certain characters like Egnigem Cenia has been fleshed out in this game.
  • As of Episode 7 update, the mobile reboot introduced the "Fourth Jobs", that were not in the original game.
• Alternate Universe: The different servers and channels are described as such in-game. It’s a plot point in Al De Baran’s main quest that the Arc Villain Ouroboros is Jormungand from one of many alternate universes.
• An Interior Designer Is You: Episode 6 update introduced the Home system which allows players to own and decorate an in-game house which give various benefits to all characters in the same account.
• Anti Poop-Socking: Given that the game was made by a Chinese developer ^Explanation which government enforces such methods to curb video gaming addiction since around 2006, the game has a fatigue system called Combat Time, or what the playerbase simply calls Stamina. Essentially, a character has a 300-minute limit (about 5 hours) allotment to farm per day. This replenishes every day at 5:00 AM, and the remaining combat time can be accumulated on the next day up to 600 minutes. (In practice, this means that if a player hadn't played for 3 days, they will have 900 minutes to play the game with.) What happens when you go OVER your daily 300 minute limit? The Experience and cash gained from monsters gradually drop to essentially nothing, to the point that you can be gaining 1 point of EXP and 1 point of cash after 3 hours going over your character's stamina allotment. Lighthalzen Episode update shortens the limit to 150 minutes at minimum and 450 at maximum and using the Meteoric Chain item accelerates the consumption of combat time further.
• Art Evolution:
  • Episode 6 changes appearances of certain 1st job classes.
  • Seyren Windsor and Magaleta Sorin's appearance changed in Lighthalzen main quest. Prior to that, they looked like generic Lord Knight and High Priest respectively.
• Artificial Human: The focus of the Sunset Lovers quest. Ambrose is literally a statue come to life, while Tammi was a painting.
• Attack Animal: Pets now service as an extra partymate this time around, and contribute their own attacks alongside their owner. The Lunatic with its Soul Strike attack and Obeaune for its auto-revive are particularly popular with players.
• Badass Boast: Cenia's thing, really.
  Cenia: I will be the adventurer queen!
• "Blind Idiot" Translation: The English translation quality for Southeast Asian version borders on this, which other English-based versions follow. Considering the game is mainly developed in Chinese, which is one of the harder languages to translate into English, this is inevitable. However, some early-game texts have passable translation, and the playerbase generally agrees that Episode 4 update was when it got significantly worse.
• Bragging Rights Reward: Special headwears like the Devil Wing are only unlocked all achievements of Glast Heim region and beyond, which can be done through a series of That One Sidequest, and crafting them is another story.
• The Cavalry: Most of the NPCs you aided over the course of the main story arrive as your reinforcement once Baphomet breaks the seal under the Pyramid and razes Morroc town to the ground. In Glast Heim, a literal cavalry is stationed there to aid the player character, though they arrived before in order to set up their base camp.
• Camera Fiend: The players are given cameras and are encouraged to take pictures of monsters and places to unlock monster's data and to level up their Adventurer ranks.
• Catfolk: The Kitty Cat Mercenaries, and later, the Dorams.
• Central Theme: As the title spells it out, “Love”. This is especially apparent in quests, which showcases all kinds of love, be it romantic love, familial love, platonic love, and so on. Also, several of the game’s unique features put a heavy emphasis on romantic couples. Events in particular focused a lot on the very aspect of "Love" in all forms.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Agnes, the female priest the player met once in Capital Sewers, appears again in Lighthalzen main quest who saved the player character in pinch and serves as Achilles' Heel against Shey, Wolfchev's strongest henchman who turns out to be her traitor sister.
• Childhood Friend: Your character and Cenia. Also, Eremes and Cecil, as the former revealed in Payon’s main story quest.
• Credits Running Sequence: You get this after you defeat Berserk Baphomet in the main story sequence. You get another one after saving Laurell Weinder's soul from the Dark Lord.
• Crossover:
  • The tie-in event with Rebuild of Evangelion is definitely out there, even as far as franchise crossovers go. It even includes an instance where the players turn into EVAS and fight Angels, literally doing millions of damage in the process.
  • The game also have one event with Ultra Series, particularly Ultraman Tiga and Ultraman Orb. It also has an event dungeon where players turn into Ultramen and fight monsters and other adversaries like Gomora and King Joe.
  • In some time, the game had an event featuring BLACKPINK's LISA.
  • In January 2020 for Chinese and Southeast Asia versions, there was a tie-in event with Kumamoto prefecture’s mascot Kumamon.
  • The game had crossover with classic animes Ronin Warriors, Mashin Hero Wataru and Slayers which introduced event-limited special jobs.
• Cute Ghost Girl: The Sohees in Payon Cave. The cute part is even more emphasized in this game than the original game. They can be captured to become pets which boosts the owner's magic power and can cast Cold Bolt.
• Cute Witch:
  • The Black Witch, who looks like a magical girl wearing a witch hat. Oddly enough, they don't spawn in either Glast Heim or Nifelheim as you'd expect, but in the Clock Tower 1F. What's more, they're neither Demihuman race or Dark elements, but Undead as well. They can be also capture to become pets.
  • For a non-malicious example, Vik, a jolly and Big Eater witch from Nifleheim main quest.
• Difficult, but Awesome: Auto-attack builds on certain classes, especially Lord Knights and Snipers has the highest DPS in the game. However, achieving the high DPS requires really expensive gears and cards, as well as investment on Louen Runes which requires lots of resources.
• Darkest Hour: Happened twice which both involves Baphomet.
  • The first one is in climax of Morroc main quest where the adventurer alliance failed to defeat Berserk Baphomet which caused the player character to resort on risking own life by using the Heart of Ymir shard.
  • The second one is during the final parts of Lighthalzen main quest when the entire humanity is on losing battle against Wolfchev's monsters in defending the Yggdrasil Tree, to the point that Jormundgard and Hella have to intervene by yanking out the artificial Heart of Ymir from Ultimate Baphomet to have chance to winning. The battle ended with a lot of humans died including named NPCs, though they are all resurrected by the Will of Yggdrasil as a gratitude.
• Doomed by Canon:
  • Egnigem Cenia, Seyren Windsor, Eremes Guile, Magaleta Sorin, Armeyer Deje, Laurell “Pound” Weinder, Katerina Keyron, Cecil Damon, Alphoccio Badger, and Trentini are all killed and turned into ghosts like they were in original game as of Lighthalzen main quest.
  • Arunafeltz State is not ruled by monarchy in the original game, which means Shatira, Lucas, and Cesia are going away and the royalty system will be abolished. Additionally, even though Lucas survived the aftermath of Rachel main quest, he’s going to step down as the Pope and choose an odd-eyed little girl to fill in the position.
• Down the Drain: The Capital Sewers (alternatively called Prontera Culvert) and the Glast Heim Culvert.
• Dub Name Change: Lots and lots of it due to "Blind Idiot" Translation and, in several cases, to preserve some of the inconsistent names from Ragnarok Online.
  • Special mention goes to Shecil Deveen, as known as Cecil Damon in the source material’s official translation. “Shecil” is how Cecil’s name is spelled in her Cards, so it has some basis from the original game. Her surname, however, underwent change twice in this game: from “Damon” in the original game, to “Dhevine” up to Episode 4, and then “Deveen” in Episode 6.
  • The Japanese version has been trying to match their own translation with the source material whenever possible ^Examples Gingerbread City is Lutie, Fiery Deviruchi is Diabolic, and so on, though there are still oversights.
  • As noted above, Super Novice and Ultima Novice from Chinese version become Advanced Novice and Super Novice respectively in English translation.
• Dub-Induced Plot Hole: In “Forever Cenia” sidequest Poya is shown alongside other dead characters, and a later update adds a cherry blossom tree dedicated to her. Most players don’t have any idea that she died because Satan Morroc raid, which explains her death, is not yet implemented in non-Chinese version.
• Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Each monsters has an elemental affinity which dictates which element the monster resists and weak against. Players can have access to elemental attacks through skills or enchantments, as well as give their armor resistance against certain elements.
  • Elemental affinities usually resists themselves, thus it's not a good idea to use fire attacks against a fire monster.
  • Fire beats Earth beats Wind beat Water beats Fire. Each element also resists the element they beat.
  • Holy and Dark/Shadow beats each other.
  • Poison element beats Fire, Wind and Earth but weak against Holy.
  • Ghost element mutually resists non-elemental entities and beats Undead but weak to Holy and itself.
  • Undead element No-Sell Dark, Poison and itself but weak against Holy, Ghost, Fire and Water. It can be also harmed by healing spells.
• Equipment Upgrade: Equipment made through the in-game Item Crafting system can all be improved something better if you're willing to spend a bit of money on item ingredients. Every equipment will have four upgrade levels, with each item "level" unlocking a new passive ability, with the final level upgrading the equipment to its next form, while at the same time retaining the previous abilities that were unlocked.
  • To give an example, Rogue Clothes can be upgraded to Thief Clothes, or the Sword Mace to a Noble Cross. The only thing not retained (for some reason) are any item slots that were put into the items.
• Enemy Mine: Jormungand teamed up with his former enemies, the Clock Tower guardians against the Golden Jormungand. He eventually pulled a Heel–Face Turn at the end when he swears to protect Al de Baran, the city he once attemped to destroy.
• Faking the Dead: The originally Novice-only skill Play Dead is kept upon advancing to Tier One jobs and so on. This can be used to quickly recover HP and SP as well as to lose enemy aggro, although bosses won't be fooled by it and will attract their aggro instead.
• Family Business: All NPC that craft and upgrade equipments belongs to the merchant clan Ugarte.
• Giant Mook: Many of the monsters fought at the end of the quest lines are these. The so-called "alien" monsters coming from the Time Rifts are these as well.
• Giant Spider: A series of shiny quests in Capital Sewers 1F is about a docile giant mutant spider that made a nest in the sewers.
• Godzilla Threshold: Using a shard of the Heart of Ymir, which in-game dialogue point to be a very very bad idea. Your character is forced to do it anyway, as a final power-up to defeat Berserk Baphomet.
• Guest-Star Party Member: Each Chapter of the main quests and some side quests feature one or two NPC who will accompany the Player and sometimes fight alongside them. Any Escort Mission from Board quests treat the one who needs to be escorted as such.
• Guide Dang It!:
  • Several quests don’t have indicators for the object or person required to advance them.
  • The hidden photo spots, although this can be mitigated by turning on Camera mode while walking around a map. Even then, there are several spots that require the player to do certain actions before the picture can be registered in Adventurer Book.
  • There’s also the Achievement system. Most of them require time and investment, but there are some achievements that are permanently missable if the player doesn’t consult to a guide. The achievements related to cooking and marriage/divorce system are infamous for this.
  • Starting from Glast Heim, the Minstrel will ask the player about the previous stories from other Minstrel. Thus, unlike other quests that allow players to ignore the plot beyond what you can get out of it gameplay-wise, the player is expected to either read the stories or consult to a guide.
• Hired Guns: The Kitty Cat Mercenaries, again. As long as you can meet their quest requirements and price, they don't really care what you're up to.
• Horse of a Different Color: Lighthalzen Episode update adds CoolHorses available for characters in their final tier class.
  • Rune Knights and Royal Guards has King Lions, a ridable lion, although they already have Peco Peco, Ferus or Gryphon so getting these lions are completely optional.
  • Warlocks and Sorcerers get Nine Tails, which are not only cool but also helps a lot with Mages' slow movement speed.
  • Guillotine Crosses and Shadow Chasers get Galion, the mini-boss in Plains of Ida in Rachel region.
  • Archbishops and Shuras gets Alpacas. These fluffy mounts however are also optional as Acolyte classes have high movement speed already via their Blessing and Agility buff.
  • Rangers, Wanderers and Minstrels get Ostriches, although only optional for Rangers since they can ride their Wargs already.
  • Mechanics and Genetics get Savages, which helps the latter a lot for their slow speed.
  • Super Novices get Porings.
  • And lastly, Doram Mesmers get a stallion pulled by a giant rat.
• Hotter and Sexier: Some of the Card art has certainly undergone this. Compare the original art of the Obeaune, Isis, and Maya, to how they now look in Ragnarok M.
• Killed Off for Real:
  • Mentioned in Doomed by Canon above.
  • As of Episode 7, Prontera NPC Poya and Mayfair Linse are stated to killed during the Raid of Morroc. They are eventually replaced by their respective relatives. Both of their mementos are found near where they used to be found.
• Layered World: Episode 7 reveals other worlds exists above Midgard which are connected to it through the Yggdrasil Tree. One of them is the Mysterious Realm where Louyang, home of Dragon people, and Eclage, the fairy realm are found.
• Level-Locked Loot: All over the place, compared to the equipment requirements worked in Ragnarok Online. Some of what could be considered "basic" gear in the original game can now only be used after level 20, with some equipment having requirements of the 60s or 80s to even wear.
• Living Memory: Concentrating hard enough in the garden to the west of Prontera allows you to experience the early life of the person who would become the Fallen Hero Thanatos.
  • Once Lighthalzen main quest is finished, an additional side quest is available. It’s about Player and Morgan investigating a lingering phantom of Cenia re-enacting her last moments around Lighthalzen.
• MacGuffin: The Heart of Ymir, as always.
• Made of Iron: Any monster with a "*" beside their name have about three times the hit points and does more damage than a "regular" monster of its type. On the flipside, these usually give better loot drops.
• Make Way for the New Villains: At the very end of Luoyang main story, Bijou and Himmelmez, the two witches who caused trouble during Glast Heim, Gingerbread City and Luoyang arcs, are slain by Sara Irene who according to the Goddess of Fate poses a greater threat than the two witches.
• Money Multiplier: The Lightning Chain, a consumable item that you can get as a quest reward, which increases item drops and zeny gained from monsters by two but also doubles the consumption of combat time. Unless you are on Premium, you can only use them seven times per week though. Lighthalzen Episode added the Meteoric Chain that has twice the effect of Lightning Chain.
• Or Was It a Dream?: You didn't really talk to the Fallen Hero Thanatos while you were slowly experiencing Sanity Slippage on the way to closing the Sograt Desert rift... Right?
• Paper-Thin Disguise: As the player, it's plainly obvious that the false "goblin king" formenting trouble between the goblin tribes and Geffen is... a swordsman wearing a goblin mask. No one seems to notice this, not the least the goblins themselves. Given that the swordsman happens to be the Doppelganger, well...
• Physical Heaven: Niflheim, the town of the dead. Living people can go there despite being a home of soul of the dead, should the Yggdrasil Tree permits them.
• Plot-Triggering Death: The main quest in Al de Baran started with a Champion NPC died during his wedding ceremony, which investigation uncovered secrets within the Clock Tower.
• Retcon: Alice's background changed from being a mechanical maid created through an advanced Lost Technology of Glast Heim to a personal maid created by the Dark Lord.
  • Seyren also gets Cenia as another of his younger sister in addition to Katerina. Additionally, Seyren and Katerina are not blood-related, as the latter was orphaned only to be taken into custody by Seyren’s father Haulemann.
• Revenge: The Payon Forest shiny quest is about a witch who took revenge against Payon villagers that lead to her brother's death. The said brother reincarnated as a white bear that serves as the witch's moral compass to prevent her from destroying the village and give her peace of mind, becoming a hero in the process.
• Samus Is a Girl: Himmelmez initially had an appearance of a generic cloaked male NPC until her cover is blown up after taking an Asura Strike from Dawin.
• Secret Art: Some skills are locked behind the two Rune systems. One example is the Meteor Storm skill for Wizards.
• Shout-Out:
  • One loading message jokingly discloses access to the secret GM job, "Up up down down left right left right B A B A".
  • The Mandragora Seed pet can "evolve" to something like Elvis Presley when it's affection reached 10.
  • Late in Glast Heim’s main quest, Lisa calls Dawin “the man with Super Saiyan hair.”
  • Cenia’s Badass Boast, before later translations changed it, is ”I will be the adventurer queen!“
  • The Shiny quests in Pyramid 1F are about a magical item named “Millenium Magic Cube”, which is shaped like an upside-down pyramid with an Eye of Horus engraved into it.
• Socketed Equipment: Makes its return from the PC game. Unlike before though, weapons normally max out at two item slots, while crafted armor have no slots at all. You can still have slots added however, though nowadays one needs at least 11 copies of the item (the item you want to put the slot into, plus 10 extras) to do so.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Ambrose and Tammi. Due to the nature of the enchantment that Aleister used to create them, they can only meet in that short period before daytime turns into night.
  • The local drunk in Payon and Fox Jade are this especially since the latter is a fox spirit that constantly drains his life force just to be able to take human form.
• The Syndicate: Rekenber Corporation as always. They serve are Arc Villain for Yuno and Lighthalzen main quests, though it turns out the corporation itself is only manipulated by Wolfchev.
• Tower Defense: The Battle of Cake is sort of a tower defense where the players have to defend the cake from monsters by obstructing their advance through upgrading the three defensive towers and setting traps.
• Tree Top Town: Umbala which lays on branches of Yggdrasil Tree.
• True Sight:
  • Priest's Ruwach and Hunter's Lightning Arrow can expose invisible enemy Thieves.
  • The camera can be upgraded to be able to see invisible monsters like Whispers and Marionettes, and further to be able to have them exposed and becomes attackable.
• Unholy Ground: The Morroc Rift, the location where the hero Thanatos defeated Satan Morroc centuries before. As the climax of the Desert Hornets quest line shows, the place has been known to drive people gradually insane the longer people stay there.
• Villains Out Shopping: The plot twist of “Planet of the Snake and Silence” sidequest is that Jormungand comes to Juno in order to...enjoy the city’s delicate cuisine. Granted, at that point he is more of an Anti-Villain, but still.
• Weapon-Based Characterization: Each jobs has specific weapons of choice, which some has choice of two or more depends on the build the player prefers.
  • Swords: One of two choices of Swordsman-based jobs, as well as for Bash-type Super Novices and melee-focused Ninjas. Merchants can wield basic swords but those are not the optimal weapon for them.
  • Spears: The other choice for Swordsman-based jobs which is exclusive for them.
  • Bows: The main weapon of Archer class and its Hunter path. Rogues can also use bows for their ranged builds. Being based on Archer class, Bards and Dancers can also use bows but with limited efficiency.
  • Daggers: The basic weapon of Novices, but daggers are specialities of Thief class, which either branches have dagger-dedicated builds.
  • Katars: The Assassin-exclusive weapon, the other choice besides dagger.
  • Maces: The weapon on physical-oriented builds of Acolyte classes, as well as an optional weapon for Merchants and Super Novices.
  • Fists: These claw-like weapon are exlusive for Monks and one of two choices, aside from maces.
  • Axes: Primarily used by Merchant classes and Cart build Super Novices.
  • Staves: The primary weapon of Mage classes, as well as magic-focused Priests and Super Novices.
  • Books: The optimal weapon for Sages.
  • Whips: The Dancer's exclusive weapon.
  • Instruments: These guitar-like intruments are the main weapons of Bards.
  • Fuuma Shuriken: The Ninja exclusive weapon which comes with two types. One is for physical ranged Ninja builds, and the other is for magic-focused ones.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: At level 50-65 bracket of Board quest, one quest reveals that the Nameless One, one of the leaders of Assassin Guild is terrified of Mukas, to the point seeing one will give him nightmares. Bear in mind, Mukas are docile wiggling cactus monsters.
• Wutai: Amatsu and Louyang.
• You Don't Look Like You: The Doppelganger causing the trouble for the Goblins and Geffen uses a different model from the actual Doppelganger boss.
  • President Karl looks noticeably much older than his original game’s self, now sporting a whitened hair and a more royal-looking uniform.
  • Hella, the queen of Niflheim here looks much different from her original game version.
  • This applies to half of Biolabs monsters’ pre-mortem self who make an appearance in the game, especially after graphic update in the Chinese version. Magaleta has shorter hair and fancier robe, Eremes and Cenia have different hairstyles, while Deje and Katerina look absolutely nothing like their original game’s selves. Katerina’s case is especially bad since she got a different model that is more in-line with her original game’s self in Juno update, only to get reverted back into her original model in Lighthalzen update.
• You Have Researched Breathing: Going through a quest to learn how to sit down makes a comeback, but with the advent of Adventure Skills, one has to now use up skill points to get your character avatar to blink, and later, do facial emotes without using emoticons.
• Zerg Rush: Bosses summon multiple regular monsters to attack players when their HP reached certain points.