Taking part in the NEXON PEAK Post Challenge

​

Hi there~

I'm a gamer girl (^^), and today I wanted to share some of the games I've played

that have stayed with me over the years—

my all-time favorites,

the ones I really wish everyone would try at least once.

Let me tell you about them!

​

Of all the games I've played, my favorites are:

1. The War of Genesis III Part 2 - A CD-based game from Softmax

2. TalesWeaver - A game from Softmax and NEXON

3. Mabinogi - A game from devCAT and NEXON

4. Trickster - A game from Sonnori, Ntreev, and Netmarble

5. Honkai: Star Rail - A game from HoYoverse

I'd say these 5 are the games I've loved most and spent the most time playing ㅎㅎ

​

The War of Genesis III Part 2

This PC game was released by the Korean company Softmax,

and came out on December 22, 2000, on 4 CDs.

It also brings the long-running The War of Genesis series to a close.

​

The story is huge and so carefully woven together,

and I think the whole arc was perfect, from beginning to end.

Every character has their own backstory,

and their individual illustrations, stories, skills, abilities...

It was all so well done.

​

Even back then, the voice cast was incredible,

and most of them are considered legends today...

Kang Soo-jin, Kim Young-sun, Yang Jung-hwa, Kim Il...

​

This was the first game that made me cry over its story...

Probably because it's from the old Windows 98, 2000, and XP days,

it doesn't run on today's Windows 10 or 11. Sad, isn't it? ㅠㅠ

You can get it running with some help from other programs,

but playing from the official CDs seems pretty much impossible.

​

If you enjoy nostalgic games and play mainly for the story,

this is one I'd recommend.

TalesWeaver

This MMORPG was made by the Korean company Softmax.

It was released on December 17, 2002.

It brings together the worlds of Jeon Min-hee's Children of the Rune and the online community 4LEAF,

and here's a fun little detail: “Nayatrei,” who appears as an Easter egg in The War of Genesis III Part 2,

is the same “Nayatrei” who appears in TalesWeaver ㅎㅎ

NEXON, its publisher at the time, acquired it,

and it's since become known as one of its 5 classic RPGs.

Of course, TalesWeaver is probably best known for its OST ^^!!

​

Back in its early days, TalesWeaver also

had a great story, and each character's combat style, skills, and systems felt just right.

I did need a break now and then once I reached those levels where the grind felt endless...

But there were plenty of players around, so

I made lots of in-game friends and started a guild,

and got to know so many people along the way.

This game was with me from elementary school all the way through high school.

​

With all the updates TalesWeaver has had over the years,

the old stories (Episode 1 and Episode 2)

are now tucked away in the Library of Memories,

and since the Nenyaffle school was added,

the way you level up has changed a lot, too.

Anyone logging in for a little nostalgia tends to be taken aback...^^;;

Still, I found it worth hopping in and giving it a try.

You fly through the early levels, which is pretty fun!

Mabinogi

Developed by devCAT Studio,

this MMORPG was released on June 22, 2004.

NEXON acquired it, making it a fully NEXON-owned game!

​

Back in Mabinogi's early days,

you got 2 free hours, paid-item benefits at PC cafés, and no forced logout while in a dungeon.

With that setup,

it was a great game for students to play a little at a time.

It gave you so much freedom, too—

whether you were a warrior or a mage, you could switch whenever you wanted!

And get this—

the endgame is... dungeons? Achievement hunting? Bosses? Story? Nope!

It's actually...

Playing dress-up + chatting!! Ta-da!

​

It really was a lovely game to play casually.

Of course, if you wanted to take on bosses or play at the veterans' level,

you did have to spend real money...

(Buying pets... paying for a monthly subscription to play for more than 2 hours...)

I was so proud when I made a 10-year-old character, beat a bear, and earned that title!

Like TalesWeaver, this game was with me through my school years,

so it holds an extra-special place in my heart.

​

Even today, Mabinogi still has those same core systems.

I think it's become really welcoming to new players.

They've removed the limits on free play, and the helpful tutorials make it easy to level up quickly.

They give you plenty of pets, too,

so I'd say you can pretty much play without having to spend anything.

(Of course, if you want to get deeper into the game, you'll need to upgrade your gear,

so you'll still need to spend a bit...)

If you're looking for a quick trip down memory lane, I really recommend Mabinogi!

Trickster

Made by Sonnori, it first opened on April 10, 2003 (with its official launch in July)

as a casual MMORPG.

Netmarble published it, and I remember mostly playing through Netmarble.

It later moved over to Ntreev, but sadly, it eventually shut down...

​

It had 4 character types—Charm, Power, Sense, and Magic—

with cute animal friends to play as.

There were all sorts of systems, including combat, drilling, and pets,

and the new drilling concept was especially divisive,

but I remember really enjoying it.

​

The story was pretty good,

but what I loved most was the scenery—it was so, so cute.

The combat system was pretty good, too.

That said, unless you put everything into Sense

or bought an automatic drill with cash (once those were added),

drilling manually was nothing but grinding, and it really wore me out.

Then again... back in those days,

everything was a grind, from leveling to digging up items...

I'd love to play it again, so it's a shame that's no longer possible now that it's shut down.

Honkai: Star Rail

Nostalgic? This one's a bit too recent for that,

but it's a game I'm really into these days~!

​

It's a turn-based RPG released by HoYoverse in April 2023.

It's said to be the fifth entry in HoYoverse's Honkai series.

I tend to prefer turn-based games to open-world ones, so maybe that's why

it's been such a good fit for me.

​

Maybe it's because it's from the same company as Genshin Impact,

which opened the door for anime-style games,

but the systems, the story, the character models—they're all good,

and it feels solid all around.

​

For me, the story and the OST & BGM are the real treats. Hehe...

The character arcs are really well woven together, too,

so if you love a good story,

I'd definitely recommend it~

There are so many different games out there,

but I have so many memories tied to NEXON games that

those two (TalesWeaver and Mabinogi) just have to be my top recommendations...!!