Soul of the Ultimate Nation

Soul of the Ultimate Nation
S.U.N. Japanese Promotional Poster
Developer(s)	Webzen
Publisher(s)	Webzen (Korea, South America, Australia, Europe, rest of Asia), The9 (China),GameOn(Japan), NHN (North America & UK) via ijji, Ingamba (Russia)
Composer(s)	Howard Shore
Platform(s)	Windows
Release date(s)	April 19, 2007 (Taiwan). May 24, 2007 (China), April 21, 2008 (Japan), October 21, 2009 (Europe, South America, Australia, rest of Asia), late 2009 (North America), 2011 (Russia)
Genre(s)	Fantasy MMORPG
Mode(s)	MMO

Soul of the Ultimate Nation (often abbreviated as S.U.N.) was a fantasy-based massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) produced by Webzen, a Korean-based company. It is operated in Korea by Webzen and in mainland China by The9. The game was launched in Taiwan on April 19, and in China on May 24, 2007 as a paid online service^[1] and closed on July 3, 2013.

In December 2005, Webzen sold an export contract for the game to The9 for $13 million USD in total, which at the time was the largest single export transaction in Korea’s online game history.^[2] In 2006, S.U.N. was selected as the most anticipated online game at the 2nd Annual ‘Best Online Game Selection’ in China.^[3] In a survey by Gametrics, the largest Internet cafe survey website in Korea, S.U.N. was ranked among the top 10 games in Korean Internet cafes.^[4] Also, S.U.N. received the award at the Digital Contents Awards by Ministry of Information and Communication and SK Telecom^[5] in 2006.

Like some other MMORPGs, S.U.N. utilizes the "hack and slash" way. Players are part of a rebel group known as "The Guidance". Items can be strengthened and upgraded throughout the game play of SUN. For large-scale combat such as siege warfare, Soul of the Ultimate Nation utilizes a combat map with partitions that divides players into multiple fields each containing 20-40 characters; the outcome each battle having direct effects on the combat occurring on other fields. SUN also allows players to strategically set the stage for battles by choosing different types of maps, entry numbers, degrees of difficulty and types of monsters for a customized game play experience. SUN has three types of specified maps using a zone map system. Players start the game in a city and have to create zones to play the game. In terms of maps, the mission maps are the primary places where players can solve missions. The hunting maps are for tracking down monsters to level up characters, gather items and acquire in-game money. The quest maps are used to fulfill quests and to help users better understand the overall scenario of the game.

The game has already undergone four stages of beta from September 2005 to May 2006 in South Korea, and received high marks from gamers. S.U.N. Taiwan moved from closed beta to open beta on 20 December 2006.^[6] The current open beta is allowing the game developers to improve the field maps, add a competitive hunting system and a mission ranking system.

SUN Korea adopted F2P mode and item mall model on November 14, 2006.^[7] NHN USA Corp., the publisher of SUN in North America which made a license agreement with Webzen on May 21, 2009, and SUN Global (run by Webzen), will also adopt the same model.

S.U.N. is available for distribution and operation in North America through the gaming corporation ijji.^[8] Recently, Webzen announced that the company itself will be the second publisher of S.U.N. in the territories, where NHN USA doesn't have rights to distribute the game. A beta test of Webzen's version was held from October 14, 2009 until October 16, 2009. Webzen's S.U.N. version came out October 21, 2009.

Battle Zone System

Under the Battle Zone System, players can create "rooms" for battles, be it against monsters or other players. Players will have to talk with a specific non-player character (NPC) in each town to create such rooms. They can select different types of maps, areas, set the entry numbers, degree of difficulty and types of monsters within the map. For a players vs. monsters map, players will form a party and usually have to proceed through the map to complete certain map objectives, such as killing the boss monster. At the end of the stage, experience and loot are shared among the participants.

More quests and missions will be added to S.U.N. to continue the ongoing story. Additionally, when a mission is near completion, tips will appear for readers to unlock hidden missions.

Character classes

Like in Webzen's earlier MMORPG, MU Online, players have a selection of five different character classes: Dragon Knight, Berserker, Valkyrie, Elementalist and Shadow. For each class height, hairstyle, and face may be picked from several alternatives, but each class has a predefined gender. However, since Episode 2's release, each class is available to another character. For example, a Dragon Knight can now be a Valkyrie, and an Elementalist has the possibility of being a Shadow; all of this is in terms of skill set and play-style. But it allows any class to be any gender without limiting gameplay for that class.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for this MMORPG was composed by Howard Shore.

Episode 2

In July 2011 Webzen released Episode 2 which was long waited by the players of SUN. New bonuses were added including new genders for the classes. Valkyries now can look like a valkyrie but have the skills of Dragon Knight or Berserker. Dragon Knights can look like Dragon Knights but might have the skills of Valkyrie. Shadows and elementalists have also those specifications.

References

External links

• S.U.N. Official Korean website
• S.U.N. Official America/Europe website
• S.U.N. Official Taiwan website
• S.U.N. Official Russia website
• S.U.N. Official S.E. Asia website
• S.U.N. Official Japan website