Elf Online is a relatively new game but certainly it doesn’t look new. Elf Online has a classic isometric 2D camerae view which was very popular in the early 1990s in both online and offline RPGs. Elf Online also handles combat differently than most MMORPGs. Players fight monsters through random encounters which can occur at anytime outside cities and other safe areas. Elf Online is not the only MMORPG with random encounters, the field also includes Myth War Online and Wonderland Online, both published by IGG.

Character creation in Elf Online is very simple, pick a name, a gender, and one of several hair styles and you’re done. New players start in a small tutorial area which involves walking forward a bit and talking to a NPC. Interface, movement, and combat basics will be shown then players can choose one of two villages to teleport to, Carefree Village, or Wulong Village. Both towns will offer players additional quests which are usually kill quests. Luckily Elf Online has an auto walk feature which means players can open their map and right click where they wish to go and watch as their character runs. Additionally, players can specify which NPC they wish to walk to and the character will automatically move towards them. The interface and map in Elf Online are both generally very functional.

As stated earlier, combat is through random encounters. Players start out fighting simple creatures such as lizards, flowers, mice, and rabbits but quickly move on the more difficult monsters. Each player can control a pet during combat. There are several pet types and each pet can learn different skills. Some pets make great tanks while others can heal. Each player’s main character has five stats: Strength, Wisdom, Agility, Stamina, and Luck. Each level players are given 5 points to distribute among these five stats. How players choose to allocate these points determined by what job they are aiming for at level 10. There are 4 first job changes, and they are: Magician, Scholar, Rover, and Soldier. At level 40 players can make the second job change, each class has 2-3 choices for their second job.