By Andi Nuruljihad for Gamesforum

A3: STILL ALIVE is the sequel to the obscure Korean MMORPG A3 (Art, Alive, and Attraction). Published in 2003 in Korea, A3 found moderate success in India with the release of its English version in 2005 but failed to capture a player base beyond South Asia. By 2009, all official A3 servers had been closed.

The original A3 was marketed as an “adults only” title like no other, but in truth, it was little more than a clone of popular pre-WoW MMORPGs. While A3: Still Alive bears little resemblance to that 2003 game, it at least continues the tradition of duplicating other popular MMOs of its time.

This isn't the first time NetMarble has taken an underperforming MMO property and transformed it for mobile. They're also the publishers behind Lineage 2: Revolution, a wildly successful autoplay mobile MMORPG based on the Lineage franchise. A3: Still Alive seems to built on the template that made L2: Revolution such a hit, and if not for its Battle Royale mode would feel almost like a reskin of that game.

A Battle Royale RPG

This game should come with an epilepsy warning.

Like most modern MMORPGs, there are actually two different games within A3: Still Alive: the single-player PvE campaign and the PvP Battle Royale game mode.

The Battle Royale isn’t much more complicated than your typical MMO PvP mode. Essentially, players are thrown into 30-man free-for-alls and must survive for as long as they can, defeating other players in the process. Where it stands out is its unique leveling system and arena design.

The arena is a large circular island that’s broken up into three rings -- a unique take on the ever-shrinking battle zones of your typical Battle Royale shooter. Every few minutes, the playable area will begin to shrink, forcing players to move toward the center of the map, one ring at a time.

Players all begin the round at level 1 and a single starting skill of their choosing. Defeating monsters and other players reward you with experience points and the occasional Enhancement Stone for weapon upgrades. This makes the beginning of Battle Royales a mad scramble for experience points as players battle to find and kill monsters.

It’s largely skill-based, though monster placement seems to be random, which can affect how quickly you earn experience points at the start. Thankfully, the playing field remains even thanks to a notable lack of pay-to-win elements. The only rewards from a good placement in Battle Royale are extra upgrade materials for your PvE character.

Most of the advertising leading up to Still Alive’s global launch has focused on its PvP Battle Royale mode. Yet, in its current state, the Battle Royale is little more than a distraction. With one map and only a few viable, competitive builds, there just isn’t enough content there to make repeated play enjoyable.

The Game That Plays Itself

Your character moves, fights, and interacts with NPCs automatically.

The single-player PvE follows the MMO trend of autoplay -- everything from speaking to NPCs and combat takes place automatically with very little player input. A3: Still Alive isn’t so much a role-playing game as it is a character management simulator. Essentially, the game plays itself until you reach a point where your character can no longer comfortably defeat the enemies around her. At that point, you either go back to a lower-level zone to farm, or you spend money on upgrades that bring up her power level.

Core gamers and fans of traditional MMORPGs might cringe at the thought of autoplay in their role-playing game, but stats don’t lie: autoplay MMORPGs are super popular. A3: Still Alive is almost a note-for-note recreation of another NetMarble mobile MMORPG, Lineage 2: Revolution, which has generated more than $1.7 billion in revenue for the publisher.

Ticking All the Boxes

Soul Linkers are A3: Still Alive’s gacha heroes.

Just to be sure they’ve ticked all the Asian mobile MMORPG tropes off the list, there’s also a gacha system in Still Alive. There are partner characters who accompany your hero through her adventure, attacking your enemies and supporting you with buffs. They’re called Soul Linkers, and you’re introduced to your first one, Hannemorin (a typical magical girl anime archetype) about half-an-hour in. Still Alive has four currencies and you can spend all but Gold (the free currency) on gacha boxes.

Monetisation Model

You can spend money to upgrade or enhance virtually everything about your character.

A3: Still Alive may borrow a lot of ideas from other MMORPGs, but thankfully, excessive PvP monetisation is not one of them. Its PvP Battle Royale is refreshingly devoid of pay-to-win elements: currently, there’s nothing you can buy from the in-game shop that will give you an advantage in PvP. Even spending real money to purchase and level up the Battle Pass only gives you rewards for the PvE game mode.

The difference between the PvP and PvE monetisation models is like night and day. The PvE Game Mode is where the majority of the game’s monetisation is focused, and keeping track of them all can be dizzying. Virtually all aspects of your character can be upgraded and enhanced via the game’s four main currencies: Ether, Blue Diamonds, Diamonds, and Gold. There’s also Topaz and Hayren’s Essence, just to make things more confusing.

Gold is the free currency and is used to upgrade your equipment and Soul Linkers. Gold alone isn’t enough, though -- you’ll also need enough of the appropriate Enhancement Stone, which can only be purchased with Hayren’s Essence (the Battle Royale reward currency).

Then, there are Diamonds and Blue Diamonds. Blue Diamonds are rewarded to you for completing quests and can be used to purchase gacha boxes, inventory slots, and Soul Linker slots. Diamonds are the premium currency only obtained by spending real-world money and can be exchanged for gacha boxes, and accessories for your character. For some items, the two currencies are interchangeable, meaning both can be used to make a purchase. However, if you have both Diamonds and Blue Diamonds in your account, the game will spend your Diamonds first before dipping into your Blue Diamond stash.

The PvE Battle Pass is built around in-app purchases.

On top of all this, the PvE mode also has its own Battle Pass called A3 Members. You collect A3 Member Points by competing quests and making purchases from the in-game shop. You then use your points to increase your A3 Member level to obtain different daily rewards.

Then, there’s all the stuff you can buy with your real-world money: Diamond Bundles, Gold Bundles, Starter packs, and even levels.

The Final Word

There isn’t much of an actual game here. The Battle Royale is fun in short sessions, but poor balancing and a lack of content mean different matches will play out almost identically. Meanwhile, the main game is an autoplay MMO that’s excessively monetised -- the only interaction the player has with A3: Still Alive is when they’re skipping dialog or making a purchase from the in-game shop.