This post is [currently participating in the Nexon PEAK Post Challenge].

I started with Mabinogi, spent a wonderful stretch of time enjoying Husky Express, and then threw myself into Mabinogi Heroes. Now, I’m playing Mabinogi Mobile. In Mabinogi, I lived as a Milletian; in Husky Express, I went from town to town diligently buying and selling goods. In Mabinogi Heroes, I began with Lann, moved on to Evie, and even played that sword-and-shield character whose name I can’t quite remember now. So, from Mabinogi to Mabinogi Heroes, from Husky Express all the way to Mabinogi Mobile, here is why, among the Mabinogi series, I recommend Mabinogi Mobile.

It isn’t only their story. It’s your story and mine, the story itself

From the legendary Three Heroes to the goddess Morrighan and Cichol, and even Tii and Cadan, Mabinogi Mobile brings together the heroes of Mabinogi Online, Mabinogi Heroes, and Husky Express. And rather than simply watching their stories unfold from afar, we become the ones who stand beside them and help shape those stories ourselves. It isn’t just “So that’s how it is.” We are participants in the tale. The phrase “And you” has stayed with me all this time, and I think it’s because this story invites us in—because it lets us interact with them and become part of it.

When a beloved IP continues on while adding a new layer to its world, it becomes all the more compelling. In Mabinogi Online, Mari dies and becomes Nao, but in Mabinogi Mobile, Mari belongs to the past, while Nao adventures alongside the player. In Mabinogi Online, even Morrighan and Macha come to wield the power of the goddess, but in Mabinogi Mobile, Morrighan vanishes. It’s a story that carries with it the thrill of wondering where it will go next, and perhaps that is why we keep following this cherished IP with such fond devotion.

You want to try this and that too—but can’t it all be enjoyed on a single character?
Freedom of class

In most games, your class is fixed. Very often, you decide it right at the beginning. I truly loved World of Warcraft, and even now I still consider it one of the great masterpieces of the genre. It’s a game that shows the beauty of class specialization. There’s a real thrill when each class performs its role to perfection. But once you begin by choosing a class for your character, that is the class you’re bound to play. If you want to try another one, you have to start over with a different character.

There are also games like Baram and MapleStory, where everyone begins the same but your path is fixed after job advancement. You move through first job advancement, second job advancement, and so on, continuing down that one line the whole way. It’s a structure that more or less forces you to keep digging the same well. But Mabinogi Mobile is different. With just weapons and emblems, you can step into a different class. Of course, it’s difficult to carry over every last part of your build, from weapon enhancements to accessories and everything else, but at the very least, when a party has no healer at all, there’s a flexibility here that lets you contribute—not enough to fully replace one person, perhaps, but enough to cover half of that role.

To me, the fact that you can switch if you grow tired of the class you’re playing now, or move over to a different one altogether, is a tremendous strength in itself. Sometimes a class looks exciting at first, only to turn out not to suit you. Sometimes you simply want a new experience. Being able to change in moments like that feels meaningful to me, because that happens in real life too. The work you’ve done before can make what comes next easier, just like how your in-game gear is all built around a certain class. But if you’re not simply walled off—if you can go out, find something new, and make that work too—then I think there is meaning in that as well.

Don’t you get tired of every player in the same class graduating into the same outfit? Fashion of my own

If classes are fixed and the final gear everyone has to obtain is the same, then each class inevitably ends up with its own standard endgame look. In the end, even if character customization differs a little, people start wearing very similar outfits. But in Mabinogi Mobile, you can dress in so many different ways. I hesitated over whether to mention this, since it feels different in flavor from Mabinogi Heroes and Husky Express, but because it is such a defining hallmark of Mabinogi Online and Mabinogi Mobile, I couldn’t leave it out. Free customization, a rich variety of outfits, and the joy of seeing even the same set look completely different depending on how each person dyes it—those things are part of the magic.

In the end, it all comes down to affection

I love the narrative of Mabinogi. I have memories of its people, and deep affection for them too. I cherish the residents of Tir Chonaill, the legendary Three Heroes, and Morrighan and Cichol as well. I hold affection for what changes and for what remains unchanged—for the past of the Dark Lord, for Triana’s thoughts, for all of it. And perhaps that is why we continue following new worlds within the same IP, letting that bond carry us onward.