Mabinogi is a game that has been in live service for over 20 years. How do you remember a game that has spanned two decades? Even comparing memories from just a year ago, everyone's recollections are bound to differ, and indeed, no two players remember it quite the same way. Mabinogi is precisely that kind of game. The memories players hold and their individual visions of the game inevitably vary from person to person.
Yet, there are elements that remain unchanged—things that everyone shares in common. These include the game's atmosphere, the distinct feel of its graphics, and its background music. The aspects that players loved or found memorable linger as lasting nostalgia. Mabinogi Eternity accurately captures these core elements, showcasing a faithful revival of that unique charm.
🧚 Powered by Unreal Engine! Graphics and Atmosphere That Preserve the Original Charm
Right from the start, things were a bit bewildering. Expecting to see the beginning of the story, I was surprised to find Elves and Giants suddenly appearing beside me, while the goddess who used to whisper "Can you hear me?" with her eyes closed was nowhere to be found. However, Nao was right there in the Soul Stream, welcoming the Milletian just as she always has.
Naturally, with the upgrade to a modern engine, the graphics are noticeably different and vastly improved. Even so, Mabinogi's signature visual character remains intact despite the engine upgrade. While the visual improvements are clear, it is evident that care was taken not to turn it into an entirely unrecognizable game.
The color palette feels significantly brighter than the original. While it does not ruin the overall atmosphere, the slight haze or soft-focus appearance might draw mixed reactions. However, as long as graphic settings offer options to adjust this, it should be easily acceptable and not a major issue. Overall, the game's general atmosphere comfortably earns a passing grade.
While it may be too early to judge aspects like staging and cutscenes, the cinematic cutscenes shown in the alpha build felt natural enough without any jarring flaws. Personally, seeing the NPCs accompanied by nostalgic portrait illustrations alongside improved 3D modeling made the experience much better, as the visual discrepancy felt greatly reduced.
There are clear improvements as well. Characters' fingers move individually, clothing physics are rendered independently, and hair—previously blocky—is now finely detailed and sways smoothly. As a result, characters feel far more lively, and garments look significantly better.
Overall, the graphics and atmosphere address the limitations of the old engine by leveraging modern technology, yet the developers noticeably refrained from overusing flashy new engine effects. It successfully preserves the nostalgic charm that Milletians adore without disrupting the game's established ambiance.
✨ Familiar Combat and Progression Systems, with Some Improvements...?
To be honest, judging combat based on this build is virtually impossible. First of all, as an alpha build perk, characters were granted universal hit-stagger resistance, meaning attack animations were not interrupted, and my character did not fall down even when wolves pounced and used Smash. Experiencing the rock-paper-scissors style combat of classic Mabinogi was out of the question. Character growth was also accelerated; within just an hour or two after Rebirth, one could easily approach the level cap of 200.
Even so, the core progression system does not stray far from traditional Mabinogi. I played primarily as a magic user during the test, trying out Bolt spells, Ice Spear, Thunder, Fireball, and eventually Meteor Strike. Here, too, the essence of the original game remains intact, and the overall controls feel largely unchanged.
The feeling of Fireball swooshing through the air, dropping softly before exploding with a "boom," as well as the impact of Thunder's lightning strikes, felt very familiar. One notable addition was the dash mechanic. Pressing spacebar allows players to perform a quick dodge and dash, which seemed to grant a brief period of invincibility. It proved to be quite useful in combat, and since it can be used across all talents, it stands out as a welcome addition.
Monsters inside dungeons have also received graphical enhancements. However, perhaps because this was a test server, even the highest-difficulty dungeons were adjusted so they could be cleared solo without much trouble. It was a bit disappointing as it felt more like a preview of "how it feels" rather than an opportunity to analyze actual combat dynamics and pacing.
Additionally, a system was added that displays monster aggro targets when targeted, which looks to be quite useful in party play. The Succubus Queen in Rabbie Phantasm Dungeon only featured simplified attack patterns, and with Nao Revivals available, it could be cleared solo without knowing mechanics at all, making it impossible to evaluate actual combat difficulty.
Skill rank-ups still require training, though the required training values were set very low for testing purposes. Upgrades still consume AP as before. Talents were similarly presented at a basic preview level. Additionally, pets could not be summoned inside dungeons, and Mimics could not be detected using Windmill. Looking back, monster difficulty relative to character combat power was not explicitly detailed, limited instead to icons and color indicators.
🍃 'Life Skill Grinding' Remains, with Attempts at Quality-of-Life Improvements...?
Life skills are an essential part of Mabinogi, and Eternity provided a brief taste of them. Almost all life skills were granted at Rank 1. In this test, crafting via life skills was mandatory to enter high-difficulty dungeons, forcing players to engage with them whether they wanted to or not.
Certain gathering skills offered faster speeds and higher yield as skill ranks increased. Refining and Weaving material crafting allowed bulk or automated crafting. The process of finishing an item after reaching partial completion remained identical, though the finishing phase was processed automatically in this build.
Overall, life skills will likely involve repetitive grinding in certain areas. Nevertheless, effort was made to minimize tediousness by introducing quality-of-life features. While life skills no longer granted bonus stats, using them required equipping the corresponding tool kit. However, coupled with the overhauled bag UI, finding these tools proved somewhat inconvenient. It would have been better if visual shading had been applied to make items easier to locate.
The inventory system has also been reworked so that each item takes up only a single slot. Veteran players who remember carrying stacks of bags inside their inventory will find that system gone, replaced instead by a weight capacity limit. Weight was hardly a concern during the test, though some traditionalists might be disappointed by this change.
Crafted equipment was divided into quality tiers, though crafting outcomes currently rely on RNG. The highest tier was Master rank, and the test version supplemented lower-tier crafts by allowing players to exchange them using tokens. In practice, performance gaps between tiers for the exact same item were larger than expected.
The dye system was also briefly testable, and surprisingly, players could specify exact color values. Milletians who memorized their signature RGB values could input them directly to dye items. However, picking 1 out of 5 slots or aiming for maximum palette coverage still required playing the mini-game manually. In this test build, dyeing was possible using the cloth palette regardless of material, such as silk or metal.
In life skills as well, there is a clear attempt to preserve Mabinogi's signature vibe while introducing quality-of-life features to reduce inconvenience. However, player reactions to these changes are likely to be heavily divided. While hard to judge from a brief preview, future test phases will likely generate substantial feedback. On a side note, Simon's shoulder dance animation is gone.
🌱 20-Year-Old Nostalgic Romance: A Game Worth Watching
Before concluding, one additional point is that this 'Alpha' test closely resembled a traditional game test. In recent years, game testing has often degenerated into marketing promotions rather than true testing, straying from the step-by-step progression of Alpha to Closed Beta to Open Beta. In contrast, Mabinogi Eternity felt like a genuine, old-school alpha test, which was actually refreshing.
Even on day two, new additions and bug fixes appeared that were absent on day one. Furthermore, developers held a live stream on the first day to discuss development direction with players in real time. This makes tester feedback and gameplay data vital. The development team is now in a phase where they must review this input to refine their direction and vision.
Reactions to this game will inevitably split into extreme opposites depending on player perspectives: those who view it as a 'remake' attempting to recapture the nostalgia of classic Mabinogi, versus those who view it as a brand-new game built on a modern engine.
Evaluating it from the latter perspective will lead most to conclude that it falls short. However, judging it solely by modern standalone standards contradicts the project's core purpose. That said, optimization was slightly disappointing even in this test build. Playing on a system with a 9800X3D, RTX 4080 Super, and 32GB of RAM at maximum settings ran smoothly overall, but maintaining a rock-solid 60 FPS felt slightly out of reach.
From the former perspective, however, I would give it high marks. As a test build designed for the development team to validate their core direction, it served its purpose remarkably well. That does not mean the game was flawless in its current state, but rather that presenting a build of this scope at this stage was commendable—essentially asking players, "We are trying this direction, what do you think?" While Mabinogi's nostalgic soul remains vibrant, player feedback will be crucial regarding how systems have been reinterpreted for modern standards.
Mabinogi Eternity is a romantic endeavor. It is costlier, more complex, and fraught with potential pitfalls, but it exists to deliver the graphical overhaul that Milletians have longed for while recreating the feel and gameplay on a new engine. From this alpha test, the soul of Mabinogi felt genuinely intact, right down to options allowing players to toggle classic BGM tracks to stir up nostalgic memories.
Based on this test, I hope Mabinogi Eternity shapes up into a project that fulfills Milletians' expectations. It will certainly be exciting to watch its progress.
