Gran Saga 

(그랑사가) Gran Saga - Cross-platform mobile gacha korean anime pseudo open-world action MMORPG using Unreal Engine 4, developed and published by NPIXEL.

Gran Saga is a beautiful, very poorly advertised (although somehow managed to make millions of dollars on it's initial release) game that unfortunately released right after Genshin Impact, in which it got overshadowed by. The majority of people who did know about it's existence (mainly Genshin fanboys) only bashed on it and called it a cheap Genshin clone, blinded by their honeymoon phase (which is factually incorrect, as Gran Saga existed longer publicly). The game also got quite a bit of backlash in it's respective country (Korea) for copying other games, mainly Granblue Fantasy's artstyle (as if the name itself didn't give it away).

Fast-foward 2 years later, it's on it's anniversary update and it's ghost town in the Korea servers. That update is what broke the camel's back, as it only introduced even more p2w (yes,thegameissuperp2w,asyouneededtopullfortheappropriatecards/skillsinordertobeatlategamebossesandothercontent.thisismostlyduetothecombatbeingstagnant,meaningyoucan'tdodgeattackslikeanactualactioncombatgame,you'reforcedtotakehitsandcanonlydodgeaoeattacks.theonlywaytocounterthemisbyusinggachaskills.yes,thatincludesbosseswithoneshotattacks) and only felt like a cash grab update rather than thanking it's players for staying along the ride.

Cannot add more due to character limit

Hype: Gran Saga is better than Genshit Impact and Tower of Fantasy combined, change my mind.

Nope: Gotta disagree with you on that, bud. This game looks insanely generic, and there's auto-combat and auto-pathing, which instantly turned me off into trying it out.

Hype: You can at least admit that it looks better graphically and aesthetically...

Nope: True. Not only did that carry the game, Taeyeon did, too.

Gran Saga by Autismo_Manifesto March 22, 2023

Gran Saga: Unlimited 

After Gran Saga was giant flop in Korea (it's doing bad in other asia regions too), NPIXEL resorts to making a cryposhit game, along with making a blockchain branch named METAPIXEL in order to save the Gran Saga IP.

As you would expect, this got some backlash, as NFT games (and NFTs in general) are universally hated, and rightfully so. NFTs are infamous for scamming people, and the concept itself is asinine. METAPIXEL says their game will "redefine NFTs", which is such a boldface claim.

According to legitimate sources, it's releasing in Q3. It will be a PC exclusive game, the gameplay will also get an overhaul (the graphics too from the looks of it). Admittedly, gameplay wise, it does look better than the original Gran Saga. It seems they're going for the AAA game feel. The gacha, auto-combat and auto-path will also be removed from this version to make it a fully-fledged MMO.

On the bright side, the original Gran Saga global version was confirmed shortly after Gran Saga: Unlimited was announced, however, there was no info on the release date. Just like Gran Saga: Unlimited, the gameplay will get an overhaul, but it is unknown to what degree. METAPIXEL co-owner quote: "The global version of Gran Saga is being prepared. It will come out after many parts of the game have been fixed in the current service version. It will be released when kindness, convenience and content quality are maximized. Everything will be reflected in the Korean and Japanese version."

Sadge: It's an NFT game? That's ashame, I thought the game looked incredible before being informed that.

Hopium: Hey, at least the non-nft, one exists, right?

Sadge: The problem with that version is it's too mobiley for my taste.

Hopium: I mean, you could always just cope with the fact and play Gran Saga: Unlimited.

Sadge: Meh, i'll need to see how things play out first. If the NFTs are intrusive to my gameplay experience, i'll have to pass.

Gran Saga: Unlimited by Autismo_Manifesto March 22, 2023