Preview: Blue Protocol Offers Dynamic Action in an MMORPG

Blue Protocol is an MMORPG developed by Bandai Namco, with Amazon Games to release it in North America and Europe. This cel-shaded title features a plethora of classes and a unique story with voice acting and a fully customizable character. At gamescom 2023, Amazon Games provided access to a high level area, which allowed me to more sufficiently test the handful of classes Blue Protocol will have at launch.

My time with the game included moments with the Spell Weaver and Foe Breaker, both primarily ranged classes with their own unique gimmicks. As someone who generally plays a support, I thought the Spell Weaver would fit into that slot nicely. However, Blue Protocol functions differently from your standard MMORPGs and has a lot more in common with Bluehole Studios’ TERA Online than Final Fantasy XIV, for example.

Blue Protocol is an action game through and through. The Spell Weaver reminded me a lot of how the Priest class in TERA played. While that Priest was a healer, it was also capable of dealing significant amounts of damage while also being mobile. The only difference between these two is that the Spell Weaver actually cannot heal at all. Instead, it is a purely offensive class that allows you to fling various elemental spells at enemies. Each of these elemental spells has their own range and unique feature as to why they would be more preferable in certain situations than others.

Thankfully, the class is given a very generous dodge (like all classes in Blue Protocol), which allowed me to gain some distance and charge up a Fire Blast to immolate my foes. You can also regenerate mana as well, which will need to be done between combos to keep the flow of combat going. It offered a nice balance and doesn’t feel too difficult to do. However, my opinion of that may change when I get to tackle high end raids and such when the game officially comes out in North America and Europe.

In contrast to the Spell Weaver, the Foe Breaker is a hybrid ranged and melee class that uses bullets to perform its skills. My first thought when looking at the Foe Breaker was that it reminded me a lot of the Heavy Bowgun in Monster Hunter. You can perform ranged attacks to keep enemies at a distance, or rush in and slam the ground with your combination hammer-gun. What makes the Foe Breaker unique is that you will need to manually reload, and if your rotation consumes the standard amount of bullets, you will be granted an additional bullet on your next reload.

This means you can squeeze in another attack in your following rotation. It’s all about balance with the Foe Breaker, and it was the class suggested to me by the Amazon Games representative when I told them my tanking class in FFXIV was the Gunbreaker. I see some similarities, mostly because I am using bullets to attack foes, and the Foe Breaker is a little sturdier than most DPS classes in Blue Protocol.

However, after everything I’ve experienced during my brief time playing the game, I’m excited! I love action based MMORPGs. TERA and Blade & Soul, while experimental by comparison to the popular MMOs we have now, were some of my favorites in terms of gameplay. Blue Protocol seems to have more in common with those games over more traditional experiences like World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy XIV. I can’t wait to get my hands on the game and give the other classes a shot. It’ll definitely be on my list of games to sink my time into once it officially releases outside of Japan in 2024.

Blue Protocol is currently available to play on Windows PC in Japan. PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X versions are set to release at a later date. Blue Protocol will release worldwide in 2024.

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