Fist of the North Star is probably the most famous “old” manga, it began a year before I was born (83) and “ended” in 1988. Over the years it spawned a faithful fanbase that accompanied it and ensured a few followup stories and even an MMO!

The beta testing has already started, and will last until March 3rd. If you have ever played Godhand on the Playstation 2, you’ll have a similar experience in this MMO game. Another curious thing is that rather than playing the role of a “class” you play the role of one of the actual heroes. But that probably means that even though it’s supposedly an “MMO”, only a few of you and your friends will play together, separated from the rest of the players.

The models, as you can see, feature a very low polygon count but a very characteristic texture style that give them a hand-drawn feel. But compared to the standards set by World of Warcraft or Lineage 2 one can’t help but look at this game as a less polished product.

With the exception of the .hack online game (which unfortunately didn’t last very long) I think this is the first time a manga/anime franchise turns into a real MMO. So that alone is a rather good accomplishment, or a good way of milking this franchise for all it’s worth.

[Via Akihabaranews]

Related posts:

A MMORPG Dancing Game
Shadow of the Colossus
Star Wars 30th anniversary celebrations
Outsourcing MMORPG Work
EVE Online Elects Overseers

Hope you like that post!

Forever Geek is a resource for all things geek. You can stay tuned by having the latest FG news delivered to you for free via RSS.