Bless Unleashed Details Cash Shop: Mounts, Outfits, Dyes, Boosters, And Services

Apart from the gameplay itself, probably the most important thing a free-to-play game needs to get right is its cash shop. The next-most important thing it needs to get right is communicating about its cash shop. And whatever you might think about the game, Bandai Namco certainly nailed that second part this week with not one, but two, articles about what's going to be in the Bless Unleashed shop.

The first article covers the most basic transaction you'll make: buying Lumena, a.k.a. the currency you'll need to buy other things from the shop. Next up is what you'll buy with that Lumena, namely mounts (for the equivalent of about $10), outfits ($20), and dyes, which you can buy in a five-pack for 300 Lumena, or roughly $3. You'll also be able to use dyes in-game by paying the proper NPC 1,000 gold, which we hope isn't the sort of thing that will take dozens of hours to earn.

The second article focuses on convenience items, which come in two categories. "Time-saving items," a.k.a. boosters, can increase your EXP, SXP, reputation, and gathering gains, while services include such standard things as additional character slots, bag expansion (which can be earned in-game), or the ability to summon a portable mailbox for when you're too lazy to hike back to town.

All in all, it doesn't look like there's anything offensive here -- for now, at least. I'd put the odds of something cropping up in the game's first couple of years that rankles players and draws out "pay-to-win" accusations at at least 50 percent, though.