Grand Chase

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Grand Chase is a free-to-play, two-dimensional side-scrolling MMORPG developed by the Korean company KOG Studios. Based on a manhwa, the story centers around the adventures of the Grand Chase team.
Grand Chase has servers in Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Brazil, Philippines and the United States. Alternate names for Grand Chase include "Three Young Heroes" on the Taiwan and Hong Kong servers.
Storyline
The Kingdoms of Serdin and Kanavan have always thrived side-by-side on Bermesiah in peace for as long as anyone could remember, until the Queen of Darkness, Kaze'aze, infiltrated Kanavan, killed the ruling queen's most trusted advisor, disguised herself as him, and manipulated the Queen of Kanavan to wage a full-scale war with Serdin which lasted for five years. Many lives were lost in battle and much of the continent was levelled until either queen discovered who the culprit was. By then, it was too late, for Kaze'aze had fled. The Queen of Kanavan dispatched a group of elite warriors, known as Trackers, to find Kaze'aze, but all of them disappeared mysteriously.
The Queen of Serdin was determined to prevent another war of such devastating magnitude from taking place on Bermesiah again. To this effect, she created an army of warriors who are aligned to no one, and will fight for the tranquility of the entire continent. She named this army "Grand Chase".
Gameplay
While gameplay in Grand Chase is primarily keyboard-driven, the game menu's interface is, by contrast, primarily mouse-driven, although some in-game key commands may be user-defined. Due to the combos and special attacks, the game has a feel that is similar to side-scrolling fighting games such as Street Fighter 2 or Double Dragon, while the appearance and design of the backdrops, as well as the characters and monster, puts the game in an anime-esque setting. While it is an action game, the designers took care to not make a "button masher".
The game is free-to-play, where players need to earn currency known as Game Points (GP) from completing dungeon quests, individual missions, or defeating other players to buy better equipments or items, but there are some items that can only be purchased with real-world currency. In Grand Chase, players start off role-playing as one of three main heroines, and will be able to unlock more playable characters by completing specific missions. However, the player may freely switch among the characters he or she has unlocked between missions, each with their own specific equipment and experience level.

Characters
There are three playable characters to use and players may switch characters between dungeons. Each character is leveled and equipped separately. Most equipment is character-specific, and the choice of character is similar to class choice in most MMORPGs.[7] Players are given the first three characters — as listed below in order from top to bottom — as their starting characters, and will have to unlock other characters through quests. These quests can either be purchased through GP or real-world currency.
Elesis
Elesis is a Kanavan Knight and a daughter of a Kanavan Tracker who never returned after he was dispatched to find Kaze'aze. Her reason for joining Grand Chase is to find her missing father whom she loved. Elesis has the most defense out of all characters, and specializes in close- and medium-ranged combat. She is also notable for her ability to reflect arrows, and her ability to "Berserk", which causes all enemies within her range to levitate and drop onto the ground, receiving considerable damage.
Job tree: Knight → Spearman → Sword Master → Savior
Lire
Lire hails from from Eryuell Island, an elf community residing on Bermesiah who are famous for their combat skills, although they are pacifistic by nature and try to avoid becoming involved in conflicts. She was sent to join Grand Chase to stop Kaze'aze, whose evil plans threaten their island. Lire has excellent mobility and specializes in ranged attacks allowing her to barrage her opponents from afar. Her heel stomp and grabs also make her a formidable foe in close combat.
Job tree: Archer → Crossbowman → Arch Ranger → Nova
Arme
Arme is a cheerful mage from the Kingdom of Serdin, the Kingdom of Magic. Her natural talent with magic has earned her a membership to the Violet Magic Guild, the greatest guild in the Serdin Kingdom at an early age. She has mastered both black and white magic, but her curiosity about magic is insatiable. Arme decided to join the Grand Chase, hoping to find Kaze'aze and study the Queen of Darkness' powerful magic.
Job tree: Mage → Alchemist → Warlock → Battle Mage

Releases
Grand Chase was officially released in Korea sometime in August 2003, and Brazil on June 28, 2006.
There was also a Japanese version of the game that commenced beta testing on August 10, 2005, and went gold three months later. However, the Japanese servers have been taken down as of June 22, 2007.
Beta testing for the SEA server commenced on November 21, 2007 and ended on December 28, 2007, whereupon it was officially released to the public. The SEA servers have been taken down as of April 14, 2009.
In North America, the game was officially released on January 31, 2008. There are few known bugs and the designers seem to be focused on adding new content to bring the game to the full release that they desire.
A server has been set up in the Philippines in October 2008 and is in commercial release as of November 18, 2008.