Lost Ark was mostly a pleasant surprise for me when I reviewed it back in 2022. I enjoyed both its spectacular ARPG combat and its increasingly absurd MMO story, which shifted from conventional fantasy fare to throwing you into enormous clown battles and exploring islands inhabited by Borrowers-like characters. But there came a point where the progression barriers were thrown down, and my movement across its colourful archipelago was increasingly inhibited by grind.
It seems I'm not the only person who has struggled with Lost Ark's progression, as developer Smilegate and the game's Western publisher Amazon are cooking up a bunch of changes designed to improve the RPG's forward momentum.
