Lost Ark
Common Sense is a nonprofit organization. Your purchase helps us remain independent and ad-free.
Lost Ark
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
Suggest an Update
A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this game.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Lost Ark is a downloadable free-to-play, action-adventure MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) available on Windows PCs. Players are "The Chosen One" who will bring balance to a medieval fantasy world by collecting ancient, powerful pieces of the Ark. But the demon Kazeros seeks this out as well by leading his evil hordes and spreading evil across Arkesia's continents, which players must travel through by completing fetch quests, raiding dungeons, and accumulating better items and gear to increase their power. Players need to invest a lot of time into learning and mastering the game's systems by creating routines to complete a host of activities and challenges. There's an elaborate in-game economy where players acquire many materials and currencies to level up their gear and collectibles, but real money can be spent on cosmetics (outfits, pets, furniture, etc.) and items to speed up timed processes or simplify upgrading. During combat, enemies will often explode into ambiguous chunks of flesh with showers of blood, sometimes leaving skeletons behind, but there's no detailed or exaggerated gore. Language is rare with words like "hell," "damn," or "bastard" appearing every few hours. Female characters, especially with players, have outfits that generously show off legs and cleavage, along with suggestively animated stances, walking, and emotes.
Community Reviews
There aren't any reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.
What’s It About?
The backstory of LOST ARK is dependent on which character the player selects. The Martial Artist comes from years of training to avenge his brother's death at the hands of a demonic invasion, while The Assassin is sent out to use her demonic abilities for good in spite of the fear surrounding her dangerous, risky power. Regardless of which character type is chosen, this has minimal impact on the main story, which begins with an angelic being summoning the player to seek out the missing pieces of an ancient artifact: the Ark. Its power is needed to stop the resurgence of demons and their leader, Kasaros, who seeks the Ark for himself, as he did millennia ago in an epic war that nearly tore the world Arkasia apart. With kingdoms and cities in trouble from demonic influence and hordes, the player must set out to restore justice and peace in a sprawling journey.
Is It Any Good?
MMOs (massively multiplayer online games) often scale down their presentation for sprawling worlds to explore and intricate systems to master, but that's not the case here. Lost Ark has graphics that blend photorealism and anime to create a lot of beautiful fantasy settings, ranging from Gothic castle grounds to crystalline salt planes. The game's cinematic and larger than life with action-packed cutscenes and flashy, satisfying animation for dozens of combat moves. Scale is the game's defining trait, but underneath the veneer, Lost Ark is still a competent MMO with its gameplay. But some players may be quickly put off by the first 20-30 hours with a stream of boring busywork with shallow fetch quests and errands. The main story is incredibly linear with lots of handholding, but the latter is intentional because—if players stick with the decent challenges that bosses and dungeons pose, along with the fun of the simple yet smooth combat—Lost Ark is largely about preparation for end-game content.
The core mechanics are simple to get used to, such as the excellent Combat Skills. Players gain new moves and improve them with points that can be freely reallocated without penalty to try out others, which can be improved with stat boosts and elemental attributes. Depending on the player's class, moves can require charging or timing, so they don't all feel like mindless button mashing. Managing inventories, traversing the world, and navigating menus is made as smooth as possible with plenty of tutorials and in-game reminders that will help MMO newcomers. Players will need to construct complex routines and strategies for the end-game content, since there are various dungeons to complete, which can provide waves of increasingly harder enemies or a single yet difficult boss where certain mechanics are limited. This turns Lost Ark into an experience of completing daily and weekly challenges, and managing things like "Rapport" points with key characters, stat boosts, Guild quests, and more. All of this is much more fun with friends, and whether that entails a casual playthrough or buckling in for the long haul, Lost Ark has a lot to offer on a scale and with a polish that's uncommon with its competition.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about spending money. What are items that can be earned with a little extra patience? Which are exclusive or important for saving a lot of time? What kind of boundaries should be set for a budget with what to buy, and how much?
Even though games always provide incentives to do good deeds, how should we carry that forward into our lives? It's easier to be motivated when we have something to gain, but why is it important to help others even if there is no immediate or obvious payoff?
Some people are ashamed to admit where they come from or whom they are associated with, even when these factors were out of their control, so how can we be mindful to not immediately judge people based on their appearance or a lacking context with their stories?
Game Details
- Platform: Windows
- Subjects: Math: estimation, money
- Skills: Thinking & Reasoning: decision-making, strategy, Self-Direction: achieving goals, effort, goal-setting, identifying strengths and weaknesses, set objectives, time management, work to achieve goals, working efficiently, Communication: conveying messages effectively, friendship building, multiple forms of expression, Collaboration: cooperation, meeting challenges together, teamwork, Responsibility & Ethics: following codes of conduct, honoring the community
- Pricing structure: Free
- Available online?: Available online
- Publisher: Amazon Game Studios
- Release date: February 11, 2022
- Genre: Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG)
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy, Adventures, Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
- ESRB rating: M for Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence
- Last updated: February 14, 2022
Our Editors Recommend
-
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
Rebooted fantasy adventure MMOG with combat and mild blood.
-
Guild Wars 2
Beautiful fantasy MMO with rich story but violent combat.
-
World of Warcraft
Become a hero in an enormous online fantasy world.
-
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Play as Jedi or Sith in this story-rich, combat-laden MMO.
For kids who love role-playing games
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate