The way Vindictus (AKA Mabinogi Heroes) handles gender-locking leaves a little to be desired. Unlike Dragon Nest, the character classes in Vindictus don’t have developed personalities to hide the limitations of the game’s original character creator. They each have a name and their own unique animations and fighting styles, but that’s about it as far as the actual game is concerned.
On the main site, you can find that each character has a bio, and sometimes before a new character is launched, the site will release a short story that tells his/her background. Karok, for example, is from an endangered race of giants, and is desperate to keep his people’s legacy alive. Unfortunately, this can only be found on the site. No character addresses Karok’s size, his race, or his story during the actual game.
No matter which character you play, none of the dialogue changes aside from one instance where a guard flirts with any of the three females. This may not seem like a problem to most, especially since the game’s focus is challenging combat, but it’s a wasted chance to add a new layer of depth to the game’s narrative, and to give a reason for why Vindictus gender-locks.
And it’s not like Vindictus is incapable of telling good character stories. Each NPC you meet has a developed and interesting personality. For instance: Reilly is a kooky old man and a powerful magician who loves to terrorize his pupil Brynn. But when someone does something truly dangerous, he gets serious and becomes a man to respect and fear.
Vindictus’ Reilly
If the playable characters were developed like this as well, Vindictus would only be better for it.
That isn’t to say that the classes are completely devoid of personality. The animations for waving, dancing, cheering, and even sitting give subtle hints at their character. There is a huge gap in modesty between Evie’s dance and Vella’s dance. If only that was highlighted in the game and made clear in dialogue between characters.
I’d love to see those differences in personality between all of the characters show in the game. I want them all to shine like the rest of the cast and become memorable characters.
Quick-time Tangents 