Mobile MMORPG Fantasia goes beta

Over three years in development, Fantasia from Korean developer Lemon has just seen its initial test release go out to the public – allowing gamers to play both on their mobile phones and on their desktop PCs.

The game appears to follow the usual sci-fi/fantasy epic quest-based gameplay, but doesn’t seem to scrimp on the expected MMORPG features just because it’s accessible through a mobile system.

Community features such as a postage system, item transactions, chatting, guild management, and party management, and also supports competitive play between users through an exclusive ‘arena’ application.

"Starting with the closed beta test, we are planning to release the game after going through an extensive verification process. We are targeting the commercialisation of Fantasia around the first half of 2009," says Lemon’s CEO Yun Hyo-seong.

Although the exact same game can be played whether through the mobile or the PC, there are a few mobile specific functions included that are intended to immerse players in their online personas more closely.

For example, the system will send players a text message with information from the game world even when they’re disconnected – something which will undoubtedly be of significant appeal to guild members.

Korea is well known for its love of online gaming and virtual socialising, so Fantasia is likely to capture the imagination of its local users quite quickly – especially considering the close integration between the game’s persistent world and the mobile user.