Netmarble Games, in collaboration with game developer Netmarble Blue, launched Friday its first role-playing game of 2016. 

Called “Knights of Night,” the game hopes to combine the visual effects of existing RPGs with strong strategic elements, optimized for a mobile user environment.

“We focused on three things when preparing the game,” Netmarble Games COO Baek Young-hoon told reporters at the “Knights of Night” Media Day at the GLAD Hotel in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.

“First is stylish action, with clean-cut hits and evolved action. Second is dual action, fighting through the strategic use of two characters. Lastly is a new kind of PvP (player-versus-player) siege mode.”

The dual actions in “Knights of Night” allows users to pair a main character with a supporting character that can be called into battle at strategic times. 

According to developer Netmarble Blue’s CEO Moon Sung-bin, the game differentiates itself from existing RPGs by allowing the supporting character to gain experience and strength in tandem with the main character. Various combinations of the four character classes -- swordsman, knight, magician, priest -- will result in different skills.

Moon said that this dual action can be enjoyed in all modes of the game, with the exception of the siege mode.

Described as a PvP mode utilizing “user-generated content,” the siege mode allows users to build their own maps -- called “agit” or “hideout” -- and strategically place various monsters and traps. Users siege other users’ hideouts and defend their own to receive awards.

“We expect users to enjoy creating and attacking user-created hideouts, in addition to the maps that are pre-created within the game,” he said.

The lowest platforms for playing “Knights of Night” are the iPhone 5 for iOS and the Galaxy S3 for Android, although Moon said that users can toggle graphic resolution over a wide range to allow as many people as possible to play. The highest resolution is HD, although a full HD rollout is in the works.

“‘Knights of Night’ currently does not support Google Chromecast,” said Baek, adding that the visual experience of a mobile game could be less enjoyable when projected onto a larger screen. “I think this is a general problem we must think about and it is not limited to ‘Knights of Night’.”

After an initial three-day user test from March 11 to March 13, “Knights of Night” will be available in Korea at the end of the month, with a major update to come about two weeks later. The “Knights of Night” team also prepared the game with a global launch in mind, and the game will be available internationally within the first half of the year. 

According to Baek, the developing team has already completed most of the work necessary for an international release, including translations. 

More information about “Knights of Night” can be found at http://kon.netmarble.com.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)