IGN has a scoop on the new 'Nocturnal Sonata' expansion to Sword of the New World, an MMO also known as Granado Espada in Asia. Sword of the New World is a free-to-play title brought to North America and Europe by the K2 Network. Massively has looked at this game in the past and found it to be a quirky title; IGN describes its setting as 'the European Baroque period if it was designed by a modern anime artist'. Sword of the New World becomes even more surreal given that its old world setting is juxtaposed with a techno soundtrack.

Surreal qualities aside, the game has some interesting features, particularly the use of collectible UPCs, or Unique Player Characters. The concept is somewhat comparable to the Heroes in Guild Wars. You control up to three characters at once who are members of your 'family'; certain NPCs for whom you've successfully completed quests offer themselves up to be added to your family as UPCs and called upon to aid you in your adventures. They provide access to special hybrid classes with unique powers to match. There are over 40 such UPCs, and two more are initially being added in the Nocturnal Sonata expansion: Vincent Rio (who inflicts damage with music) and Baek Ho (martial artist extraordinaire). Yet more UPCs are to follow in the coming months, adding new gameplay possibilities to Sword of the New World. The Nocturnal Sonata expansion will be released on June 25, and closely follows the 'The Land of the Dead' expansion released only three months ago.

After announcing that Korean MMOG, Granado Espada, would be commercial on 30 August, 2007, Asia-Pacific operators IAHGames have announced that the MMO will be free-to-play at some (as yet) unannounced date in the Asia-Pacific region in the very near future (The game is, as we understand it, already free-to-play in North America, having gone free-to-play on 21 August 2007). That's Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.

Granado Espada (also known in North America as Sword of the New World, where it is operated by K2 Network), won the 2006 Korean awards for Best Graphics, and for Game of the Year. Reviews and responses in North America have been more mixed, but Granado Espada does provide some interesting departures from more regular MMO fare.