On a new frontier with a grand vision forward, A3: Still Alive promises to soar above the limits of the mobile genre but ultimately may fly a bit too close to the sun. Released 17 years after Korean hit-MMORPG, Project A3, developer Netmarble has jam packed A3: Still Alive with both MMORPG and Battle Royale integrated functionality.
MMORPG
Traditionally, MMORPGs rely upon 4 basic pillars of gameplay to appeal to the most possible players: Combat, Progression, Exploration, and Story. However, that’s how most MMORPGs function, and that core is subverted in the design of A3: Still Alive.
Unmistakably, there are elements of each of the basic pillars, but more present and pressing, is the ability to simply skip them all. That’s right. Just skip through it. Or rather, simulate it and watch your avatar run from quest to quest, killing the requisite monsters or fetching those always missing items, for you. Honestly, I was baffled to come across a system like this so devoid of actual gameplay. On top of that, there is even more incentive to skip or simulate through the actual content of the game by purchasing in-game currency for resources you would otherwise need to grind for.
In a game that actively pushes you to simulate and pay through the boring grind, you better believe that the grind is … well … boring. There’s rarely a challenging fight and even more rare an interesting plot development. The core gameplay fun here is not strategizing good builds, pushing mechanical limits, or enjoying a good narrative–its getting those overloaded, jackpot style mobile game login and participation rewards while watching clips of your character shoot pretty pixels at weak punching bags.
Amidst its dysfunctional core there are at least a few redeeming aspects. The character customization and differences between classes is quite pronounced. Soul-linkers are a novel integration allowing for even further class variance. Endlessly upgrading still feels like progress is being made, albeit somewhat empty progress, but dopamine inducing nonetheless. And the artwork/graphics for a mobile game are fantastic.
Lastly, many MMORPG players look for late game staples like PvE raiding, guild politicking, and PvP laddering but those are mostly lacking from A3: Still Alive. There are late game dungeons, guilds, and large scale PvP, but there’s nothing here to hold a candle to genre-titans like close relative Genshin Impact.
Battle Royale
Unlike every other MMORPG I’ve played, A3: Still Alive integrates the progression trees of its core RPG with a battle royale PvP mode. It’s quite important, especially towards late game skill and gear progression, to play at least a few matches of battle royale to get the few unique currency tokens.
In terms of gameplay, A3: Still Alive’s battle royale mode resembles other level-grinding BRs like Shadow Arena, where players contest an ever-smaller map to kill mobs for loot and each other to win. Players get to choose 1 of 4 weapons to play at the start of a round, and gear from the campaign world gets stat normalized so everyone is on a level playing field to begin.
Unfortunately, A3: Still Alive manages to capture the weaker elements of the genres it is trying to blend. It takes the monotony of grinding mobs for loot from RPGs, condenses it, and turns it into a cutthroat competition where third-party mob sniping (flying in at the last second and stealing the last hit for the loot) is your best strategy. Another further problem with this BR structure is the fact that the player with the highest level–normally whoever got the best random mob spawns, stole the most mob kills, or avoided wasting time with drawn out player fights–will dominate the end game. Allowing players to become exponentially more powerful than each other while pursuing these non-competitive routes turns a purely competitive genre into a shell of itself.
Again, the only bright spot I was able to find while playing was the variance in character playstyles. Each class did shine with its own light and required a decent amount of skillful mastery to make a claim towards the inner circles.
Conclusion
A3: Still Alive tries on many different hats, but doesn’t quite nail the fashion of any particular one. It promises an in-depth solo campaign with character customization, an expanding world narrative, and innovative PvP in battle royales, but what is delivered resembles more of a loot grinding, RPG simulator with a tacked on mini-game. Soulless might be a bit harsh for the overall experience, but it is lacking in meaningful inspiration. Scoring A3: Still Alive is tricky because while it certainly isn’t my cup of tea, I can see where some people can value the finely tuned loot progression through a simulationist perspective. Given its free price tag, A3: Still Alive has a lot of unclaimed potential that may be worth a shot.
Check Out the A3: Still Alive Trailer:
A3: Still Alive is available via the App Store and Google Play.
Recent Michigan State University grad and current Game Studies researcher who plays fantasy RPG's to escape, Smash to compete, and Stardew to chill. Also have a +1 to rage/toxicity resistance due to the many hours sunk into WoW, R6, and LoL.
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