When not exploring, many Lucent Heart players enjoy chilling in town and socializing with others. You’ll occasionally find special dungeon-creation gems when looting enemies, and if you use the gems in tandem you can enter a custom dungeon, with an environment, monsters, and difficulty of your design. And if you’re willing to start out with zero skill points, you do have the option of fully changing your class later in the game to something completely different.Īs for dungeons, there are the regular five-man affairs that are tailor-made by the developers, but also customized dungeons. Then further on down the road, you can change class again into a further specialized version. At that point you can go with a basic class like a warrior or mage. You don’t actually choose a class at first, not until later on when you’ve gained a few levels. You can have many soulmates ( kinda cheapens the whole idea, doesn’t it?), but only partner up with one at a time, which can easily lead to juicy in-game drama.īut this isn’t just some dating sim-it’s a full-fledged MMO with all the standbys. Soulmates who party together enjoy perks like increased experience and access to a variety of buff-bestowing lovers emotes, from simple kisses to jealous slaps to something along the lines of “woohooing” in The Sims. You can use a cupid-ish NPC in town to search for partners based on any number of parameters, like level, astral sign, and gender-after which you and your match become “soulmates” in-game. LHuses horoscopes which, in addition to the obligatory fortunes, give you a global chat channel that you share with anyone of your sign, stat bonuses that change from day to day and encourage grouping with players who have bonuses that complement your own, and romantic (or friendly) matchmaking. The biggest thing differentiating Lucent Heart from its competitors is the approach to the social elements that are at the core of any MMO. Those friendships and marriages are not just encouraged in Lucent Heart, the game hinges upon them.

On that spectrum, the free-to-play Lucent Heart plants itself firmly in the former camp, the colorful animé-style characters and soft, bright tones fostering a community that stands steadfast like a beacon of humility and human decency amidst the sea of elitist jerks and trolls that swarm other online games. Since the rise of Everquest, stories involving the true social implications of MMOs have run the gamut from long-lasting friendships and even real marriages to virtual funeral raids and cases of jealousy and murder.

It is a strange beast, one that unites and divides, thrills and disgusts.

Lucent hearts raiding