The Free MMO Part 5: Florensia

Today we’re taking a look at Florensia, a light hearted free MMORPG with a truly unique and witty sense about it. It is set in a maritime world featuring exploration both on land and at sea. Florensia is strait out of Japan, and currently resides in open beta. It is a sailor’s game, as much of the adventure happens at sea on your ship. You play a sea-worthy adventurer in a world with a dark history. Relics and clues about your ancestors which lead to many adventures and discoveries are scattered about the realm. There isn’t much available in the way of plot or storyline just yet, though one would expect this on a beta test of the game. You wouldn’t want to give away too much too early anyway.

Downloading and signing up is pretty simple and easy, with minimal hassle involved. The client is bulky with roughly 2.5GB to download. Once you download the client, expect about 15 minutes of updating prior to being able to start game play. Sign up required average information and email activation, though this is standard on any MMO. Chances are if you sign up after starting the client download, you will have plenty of time to make a sandwich before the download is complete.

Character creation is where you first get a very real sense that this game is apart from anything else you might have seen before. Characters are, well, cute. They have huge hands and big feet to match their sizeable round heads and large curious eyes. It has definite Japanese influence visually, and the characters can’t help but to be light hearted and cute. You won’t have much luck making a menacing or evil looking avatar in this world.

You have four classes to choose from. You can be a noble, a mercenary, a saint, or an explorer. The noble class is much like the typical mage class you find in most MMORPGs. The mercenary takes after the warrior, while the explorer is a ranged gunner. The saint class is the voice of nature though it ties in closely with a cleric rather than what you might expect of a druid or ranger class.

Once you have your character set up and ready, it’s time to enter the world of Florensia. This is where the impressiveness of this vibrant world starts to kick in. Once you boost the graphics up using the options menu, the beauty of the game really comes out. It’s not realistic, just artistic. The UI is beautiful and easy on the eyes. It takes after the modern idea of gel cap visualization, giving every window and button smooth corners and a transparent softness that makes it easier on the eyes and less of a distraction. You can even hide other players with a quick click of the letter V. All the players disappear and reappear as you see fit.

There are tutorial quests to get you started, and plenty of helpful hints to get you going on your way. Leveling up is a simple process and you can increase your skills as you gain experience. You have the ability to select your character skills from a skill tree. You do have to purchase a skill book and learn the skill before you can actually start distributing your skill points towards it. Skills and experience gained on land and at sea are different, giving you two different sets of skills to develop and utilize. Your toolbar even has a sea and land setting, enabling you to better set your character up for the different modes of play without bothersome resetting of the toolbar.

There is plenty to do, and you have choices about how you wish to go about your life in the game. I spent a few hours at the docks of Roxbury, the first village you start in, hanging at the pier fishing with other players. You can open your own shop and sell your goods as well. Questing isn’t quite optimized yet for lower levels, so you may be stuck grinding until you gain more experience.

The game is in beta, and early beta at that for the past six days. It’s difficult to judge a game so early in the creation process, though Florensia is certainly gaining high marks among players looking for a free experience that is as abundant as it is unique. This game delivers, and will no doubt capture the attention of many gamers looking for something new.

Link: Florensia