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In the beginning, the world was one. All races lived in peace, united under the banner of a human king. Great cities prospered under magic and technology.

When the Pom Maestros developed the NeoSteam Receiver, it became possible to harvest the NeoSteam from ancient energy stones, located throughout the world. But the discovery was met by fear. The king banished the Pom Maestros to a small island off-shore.

Here the fantasy gaming progression of NeoSteam continued. It is unknown what further advancements were made in the meantime. But even fantastic worlds are burdened by the Murphy's Law. A meltdown of the stored NeoSteam resulted in worldwide chaos and the unleashed energy split the lands.

The three current continents have since rediscovered NeoSteam. Its very presence still a mystery, the races have now met it with joy instead of fear. Already, the nations are largely dependent on the resource. And because NeoSteam is limited the peace did not hold. It's hard to tell who is 'right', but everyone is acting out of necessity. The wars for NeoSteam are needed to ensure the survival of every nation.

NeoSteam

Steampunk is a subgenre of fantasy gaming. It mixes elements of the victorian and technological (steam technology) with fantasy and science-fiction. Father of many wonderful Anime, and a whole design sub-culture - Google for images to get a peak at the ambience. Imagine the joy when word came out of a steampunk MMORPG fantasy game.

NeoSteam was announced in 2008, with little progression after that. Just when steampunk fans all over were losing hope, Atlus - famous for several console games - announced their purchase of the rights. In 2009, the game finally went public for the international English audience.

Gameplay

As might be expected, NeoSteam tries to blend steampunk with classic MMORPG fantasy gaming. However, due to the ever bigger roles of fantasy and magic elements, steampunk is not very much noticeable outside of certain parts of the technological continent - the Republic of Rogwel. The victorian elements are hardly present. I'd like to see a real steampunk game someday. Nevertheless, even though the steampunk elements could do with an upgrade, NeoSteam is an amazing game.

Like most MMORPG's, NeoSteam comes packed with those most basic features. Leveling, looting, Player vs Monster, Player vs Player, different races, and a ton of quests. NeoSteam distinguishes itself in one major feat - the game's division into different nation.

At character creation, you're prompted to select one of two nations: the Republic of Rogwel and Elerd Kindom - all housing a number of races, and several occupation classes. The interesting parts lies in the inability of members of opposing races to communicate. All throughout the game, NeoSteam really plays the patriotism card.

Graphically, NeoSteam isn't a work of art - the eyecandy is mediocre, and not the reason you should be playing this game. However, as an MMORPG, NeoSteam does not fail to entertain. The quests are many, and the story is decent. Living up to your class, training a pet animal, and learning your way in the (vast!) ingame world is a quest on itself.

We would've liked a little more steampunk, but NeoSteam was incredibly fun to play.