Unlike many other massively multiplayer online roll-playing games (MMORPGs) currently on the market, Lunia Online is played much like an action arcade game, allowing players to move around using arrow keys rather than a mouse. The game can be played with a console “D pad” style controller which makes the game familiar and easy to use for the millions of Xbox users throughout the U.S.
In Lunia Online, various attacks can be launched by pressing combinations of keys rather than clicking on an enemy to attack. In addition, special skills and items can be conveniently controlled with hotkeys. Unlike many other games, Lunia does not restrict its skill hotkeys to the function keys on a keyboard. This allows users to more fully customize and adapt the game controls to their personal liking.
In further contrast to many popular MMORPGs, Lunia Online also offers a detailed plotline and story to accompany game play. Battles between players and monsters take place in increasingly challenging stages which are much like chapters in the overall story. In each stage, the players accompany the three main characters: the Knight (Sieg), the Healer (Eir) and the Wizard (Dainn) in their adventure, often being required to complete certain tasks such as killing-off monsters in an area. These accomplishments advance the player through the story and are necessary to complete the stage. Animated cut scenes typically appear just before and after a stage, serving as transitions from chapter to chapter and additional sources of plot information.
Lunia has recently been test marketed in the U.S. by ALLM with favorable results and has received excellent user ratings from various game and fan sites. “We are excited to strengthen our partnership with CGI through the licensing of Lunia Online for the U.S. market,” said Jong Myoung Lee, president of ALLM. “We expect Lunia Online to be well received in the U.S. market and we look forward to expanding our relationship with CGI further in the future.”
“We are looking forward to launching Lunia Online for the U.S. market,” said Jeffrey Longoria, president of CGI. “With our planned addition of Lunia Online, we will soon have games operating in three major markets: China, Japan and the U.S. We intend to continue working aggressively to expand our commercial portfolio further this year and in 2008, as we plan to launch many exciting new games in the coming months.”
“Lunia Online breaks new ground in many new areas of the MMORPG genre,” said Ron Williams, general manager of CDC Games USA, a unit of CGI. Lunia Online is less complicated to operate than the typical MMORPG because Lunia Online is designed to be played like console games that are widely familiar to U.S. players. With the popular manga style animation and a strong crossover potential with console players, we expect this game to be well received in the U.S. market.”