There were perfect counters, dodging, grappling, and air juggling. It was a game I would become obsessed with BnS NEO Divine Gems, waiting for each new trailer to appear in a grainy 720p. But excitement came and went, as Blade and Soul eventually found a Western release in 2016, four years after its debut in Korea. It didn’t arrive with a bang, but instead a whimper. And while NCSOFT pushed for an active PvP scene, it didn’t come to fruition.
Plagued with bots, gold-sellers, and an obvious favoritism towards specific races and classes, Blade and Soul clung on. However, in January 2025, NC America announced it was bringing Blade and Soul Neo, a revamp of the MMORPG made in Unreal Engine 4, to the West. And given its status as a “modern reinterpretation” of this once promising MMORPG, it’s more of a remaster, carrying over almost all of the issues from its original debut in the West.
Blade and Soul Neo is exactly what it claims to be. Remade in Unreal Engine 4, it’s more or less an exact replica of the game as it was released in 2016. There are a few things here and there that have changed such as a new user interface that is a bit easier to manage, but still has that cheap, simplistic shine of the modern Korean MMORPG, and a few adjustments to how players can acquire specific items.
The story is the same; you are the promising young student of a martial arts master that is betrayed by a former pupil, Jinsoyun. It is up to you to seek revenge against this foe and the various factions that have allied with her in some shape or form. While the premise is more or less stock and standard for Chinese wuxia stories, its flair for the dramatics keep it interesting and character moments engaging.
However, like most NCSOFT games of its era, the translation and voice acting are less than stellar. Blade and Soul Neo keeps the original voice acting and script, so nothing has changed here. Which is a shame, because the narrative of Blade and Soul is at least moderately compelling and unlike whatever else is on the market, so it could keep players interested — as I played the Japanese version of the game long enough to compare notes, back in the day. It feels like a huge missed opportunity with the Western market’s interest in traditional Chinese storytelling.
But that is largely my biggest complaint with Blade and Soul Neo, outside of NCSOFT’s continued issue with bots and gold sellers on their servers. This isn’t unique to cheap BnS NEO Classic Divine Gems, as it’s also a persistent issue with Throne and Liberty, and was at one point so infamous in Lineage II that it was even reported on in GameInformer in the mid-00’s.