Seal Online is an MMORPG originating from South Korea that was released in the early 2000's back when everyone all over the world tried to take their own slice of the MMORPG pie that World of Warcraft unleashed upon the world. A lot of my friends played Seal Online, but I know jack shit about the actual game mechanics. MMORPG's just don't really do it for me, be it the mechanics or the general gameplay, and the fact that you end up with what's usually a half-assed story. Not to put you down if you enjoy MMORPG's, but they are just not the style of game that I enjoy. I think Seal Online's not even active anymore? Wikipedia certainly tells me that like many other MMORPG's out there, its servers have been partially shut down relatively recently.But I do remember Seal Online very, very fondly, because a lot of my friends play it. And they played and talked about it a lot, that I have sort of gathered how the game tends to function by way of osmosis. Of course, more than a decade later, the only real thing I remember are the monsters. So a while back I ended up googling what the monsters looked... and, yeah, I guess we could do one of those monster review stuff. I'm just going to open the Seal Online wiki, and just talk about the monsters in a very rough order of when you encounter them as you level up your character in the game.
Piya
The weakest monster in the game is the humble Piya, which is... supposed to be a chicken, I think. Or a chicken-esque blob creature. It's a generically cute chicken blob, though -- sort of like a little smiley face with a very simple face. I can honestly see the Piya being the generic 'cute' mascot of the game, but I know they ended up going with an IMO more unique, if less cute, mascot.
Beanie
Another weak beginner monster is the Beanie, who is... a pea pod monster with a face painted on his huge bean face, floating Rayman glove-hands, and a vaguely Casper-like floating body. I actually like the Beanie a fair bit. It's not the most original or creative monster design, but I do kind of like it. It's kind what you expect from a bean monster.
Treasure Chest
You got to have your mimics in a video game, and I do find it hilarious that instead of going for the 'fanged chest-mouth' deal, Mr. Treasure Chest here just wallops you in the face with a goddamn spring-loaded boxing glove. I remember that I think you can loot the glove, and it's called "Dumb Knuckle" or something along those lines.
Mushroom Boy, Servant Mushroom, Queen Mushroom
I'm just going to group these all together. They're technically encountered at different parts of your leveling journey (unlike, say, WoW, Seal Online doesn't actually have that many 'repaint' monsters, but just has a whole lot of the same thing populating a segment of the map). Not much to say about either of these three Mushrooms... they're pretty basic as far as enemies go, just mushrooms with anime faces painted on them, but as early-game enemies, they're a bit more forgivable.
Q
The fuck? This thing is a... weird, puppy-faced seal. Just called 'Q'. An entire species of weird, deformed seals, just called 'Q'. Who named Q? Every other monster in the game has a relatively decent name, but this dude's just one letter?
Moo Moo & Moo Moo the Great
Another plant-themed monster, and one that I actually remember pretty fondly, is Moo Moo. I do like how much more intricate Moo Moo is compared to things like the Piya while still remaining pretty simple, with those charming dot eyes on a round radish body... and it keeps its design pretty simple, with four crab-like feet and a pair of headphones. It's a little radish-buddy that would feel at home among, say, the older Digimon or something, and that's meant as a compliment. I do like the combination of trying to make Moo Moo more complex than "just a radish with a face", and giving it something unique.
The Moo Moo's bigger cousin, Moo Moo the Great, goes for a more threatening design -- as threatening as you can make a radish, anyway -- and goes for longer legs, spikier leaves and a fun Kingdom Hearts enemy style alternating-teeth monster mouth. I prefer the regular Moo Moo a lot more, but Moo Moo the Great is kinda great.
Worm-O, Blood Worm-O
It's not just a worm. It's a Worm-O. Worm-O and its bigger, scarier cousin, Blood Worm-O, are pretty neat! Based kind of on leeches and lampreys, I do kind of like them! They're disgusting, creepy worm-monsters that really look like they can bite a huge chunk out of your flesh if they attacked you, and I love it!
I especially love that the Blood Worm-O model isn't just a simple red-coloured repaint, but they actually took the time to remove the regular eyes that Worm-O possesses, with one of the few English lore available on the internet telling me that apparently Blood Worm-O is basically a troglodytic animal. Neat-o worm-o.
Rabbit Rascal
And here we have the mascot of the series, the Rabbit Rascal (sometimes Rascal Rabbit), a perpetually grinning rabbit-snowman thing with that anime-angry-plus-shaped-vein thing permanently etched onto one side of his forehead. And he's always holding a goddamned cleaver like a serial killer for some reason. And that last detail is really what made Rabbit Rascal go from an utterly insipid ripoff design to something memorable. It's one thing to just randomly take anime tropes that don't make sense and shove it onto a character as a permanent fixture... but it's another to actually willingly make the Rabbit Rascal look like a grinning psychopath, seemingly on purpose. It's such a zany angle to take for the mascot of what's otherwise a pretty light-hearted game that tries to reel people in mostly with just its charm, although it's a shame that apparently they just didn't quite have enough charm to keep a playerbase going on for too long. I do like Rabbit Rascal, and I'm honestly surprised that there's very little variation -- just the regular one and a larger one.
Red Plumber, Blue Plumber, Golden Plumber, Giant Red Plumber, Platinum Plumber
What is it that made them go from "oh, let's make humanoid beetle monsters" and then deciding that they should be plumbers? And go around fighting by exclusively whacking people with their plungers? What's the association between beetles and plungers? I have no idea, and it might involve some wordplay in Korean that is just simply lost in translation -- like many a Japanese anime joke. The Giant Red Plumber apparently has open wings and a goddamn drill on his plunger, and the ultimate boss for these guys is the Platinum Plumber, encountered at around the time you're fighting angels and demons. Neat.
Cranky Rooster, Holy Cranky Rooster
You know, you go from a chubby Pac-Man ripoff to this god damned thing. A humanoid chicken monster isn't particularly interesting. But the Cranky Roster is so god damned buff and is wearing a 60's military uniform for some reason, and he has arms and whacks people with a goddamn club. What? That's such a weirdly bizarre way to make a chicken monster that I can't help but really like this thing. It looks so silly! And cranky. Cranky is a pretty accurate adjective to give this monster.
Around a hundred levels down the line, we get to see the HOLY Cranky Rooster, which is just Cranky Rooster swapping its uniform for a red one. And it's a holy chicken now. Somehow.
Flying Pig
Ehhh. I mean, it's cute and all, but it just feels kind of mundane. It's a cartoon pig with wings, called "Flying Pig". Also not a big fan of the random band-aid on his nose. Considering how much I like Moo Moo, Rabbit Rascal and Cranky Rosoter, I feel like they definitely could've done more with Flying Pig here.
Afro Tree
What is it with afro-themed monsters? It's not funny, it's never funny, and it's honestly kind of racist. I mean, Afro Tree at least holds a goddamn comb, which is at least somewhat funny in a 'dad joke' kind of funny, but honestly while I've praised Seal going for the bizarre and wacky, this is one where the joke kind of fell flat.
Mage Piya, Cleric Piya, Knight Piya, Warrior Piya
At around this late-beginner stage, you begin encountering Piya variants... and they only really bothered making one for each of the original classes, so ones introduced later on like Jester and Craftsman are out of luck. Knight Piya is boring, but the rest are pretty fun! Mage Piya is charming with his silly wizard hat and stick, but I absolutely love Cleric Piya's big fuck-off syringe and her cute nurse hat, while Warrior Piya just has two gigantic gloves bigger than his entire body. All pretty fun designs, if kind of obvious as concepts. I do like that they didn't go too overboard with this, though.
Stiff Horse, White Stiff Horse
"Stiff Horse" is such a weird name for a sentient wooden horse. It's not the most exciting concept, but I do like the bizarrely unnerving expression this thing has. And, well, his name, mostly. Also, Apparently the (much) stronger version of the Stiff Horse is an actual horse that has flesh and shit. Okay.
Wood Golem, Steel Golem, Super Steel Golem
Huh, I do like these guys! "Golems" tend to be a sort of fantasy monster that games tend to try and be super-creative about, even if they try and stick close to the most common media portrayal of them. These are... these are fun-looking clunky dudes with a bucket for a head and gears as a neck collar, and I do like the little grabby-hands they have.
As with most golems in fantasy series, variations exist -- the weaker wood golem with a grinning face, the scarier-looking Steel Golem with a massive underbite, and the Super Steel Golem that looks like it went to the same fashion store that Yu-Gi-Oh monsters do.
Windy
Windy's... she's a humanoid lady fairy-spirit. We're definitely overdue for a humanoid enemy (even if PVP is apparently big in this game), and Windy is... a pleasant looking wind spirit. As usual, though, I tend to not really have much to say here.
Silky Joe the Boxer, Joe the Kick Boxer
What? So apparently when deciding to adapt silkworms into monsters, they turned them into... boxers with oversized hands and wacky accessories? What the shit? This is just so utterly ludicrous and out there, and I feel like it's done in a far better way than something like the Afro Tree. Definitely a charming pair of monsters.
Nixie, High Nixie, Magical Nixie, Nyx
Oh, look, mermaids! These are named after Nixies, the name of a relatively obscure water spirit from European folklore, somewhat popularized by the D&D game (although even in D&D, Nixies never quite stuck it big as a mainstay). They're pretty decent-looking mermaids, I suppose, with the standard Nixie holding a traditional trident, and the more powerful variants having scythes and horns. And both Nyx and Magical Nixie are basically the same thing, but with extra accessories. Don't really have much to say here, they're neat!
Happy Bah Bah, Gloomy Humbug, Creepy Humbug
The Happy Bah Bah is kind of a boring sheep-man with shirt, which is... kinda neat, I suppose, but simply just not as memorable. Gloomy Humbug is... it's Bah Bah, but with a... what is that thing around his head and chest? A sheep gimp mask or some shit? I dunno. Not a big fan of these.
Until you get to Creepy Humbug, that is, appearing in way, way higher levels in the game than you'd expect. Apparently the Creepy Humbug has fucking murdered a wolf, is wearing its skin as a hod, and is holding a big, weird giant... what is that? Some gun prop from a low-budget 80's sci-fi movie? It's hilarious.
Dancing Pumpkin
I love pumpkin monsters and scarecrow monsters. Dancing Pumpkin is a pretty simple iteration of the classic jack-o-lantern headed scarecrow design, with an appropriately gangly body. He's got a fun little lantern! It's a design that I just really enjoy in fantasy fiction, and I am definitely a huge, huge fan of Dancing Pumpkin over here.
Baby Bear, Mama Bear, Papa Bear
Presumably based on the fairytale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, these three populate the same area, and they're... well, they're funny, I guess? There's just something morbid about fighting a literal 'baby' that's holding a giant milk bottle, though, and killing them en masse. They're otherwise pretty bland, in my opinion.
Flora, Glora
A pair of flower fairies! They're very pleasant looking, and I do like that while they do keep the upper bodies of the traditional women with bug wings, they have these funky, serpentine (wasp-like?) lower body. Adds a lot of charm into what would've been otherwise another simple dismissal like I did with Windy.
Crow
He's just an anime crow with a huge-ass beak and a necklace! Nothing wrong with that. It's been a while since we've got 'just a monster'. Plus, all of these monsters tended to be pretty huge, around human-sized, and a human-sized crow is definitely pretty damn horrifying.
Tarantula, Tarantula Ben
Giant spiders are a staple in fantasy games, and their inclusion is obligatory. And... and Seal Online decides to give their Tarantulas sunglasses, which is a groan-worthy joke. But then they take it a step further and give them buckteeth as well. Either one would've been a bland and uninteresting joke, but both at once? And the stronger version is just called "Tarantula Ben"? Yeah, these are funny.
Pumpkeneer, Pumpisto
A far, far funner design than the already excellent Dancing Pumpkin, Pumpkeneer and Pumpisto are pretty simple concepts as far as Jack-o-lanterns go, but they are pretty dang fantastic! Just a big jack-o-lantern with two legs made out of angrier jack-o-lanterns? It definitely has some Magneton-esque vibes, and I really do love the asymmetry between the eyes, as well as the random stick-arms that Pumpisto has. "Pumpisto" has to be one of the most fun names to give a pumpkin monster, too!
Traveling Cat in Boots
It's a Puss in Boots, but with an oversized staff. It's neat, I guess? Not a particularly huge fan of this one.
Ghost Mage, Ghost Knight, Ghost Midnight
I always love it when ghosts aren't just, well, bedsheet ghosts. Taking a page out of Legend and Zelda, these guys kind of resemble the Poes of that franchise, being floating cloak-globs with a black slit that only show their eyes. And they hold weapons to bash your face in. Not sure what the weird little... head-wing-ear things are on their head, though, which kind of is an unnecessary detail that distracts from an otherwise clean design.
Head of Dullahan, Body of Dullahan, Dullahan
Oh, I love these guys! I remember them very fondly. See, Dullahan is an Irish fairy that tends to be described as a headless rider, and thanks to pop culture osmosis is probably one of the many inspirations of the "Headless Horseman" in various European folktales. Dullahan is also surprisingly popular, and I've seen monsters called Dullahan in various Japanese anime and video games. Seal's Dullahan is just a chibi knight riding a horse, with a big-ass cleaver instead of a whip made out of human spine... but I really do like the fact that you just meet the disembodied head that hops around relatively early. Multiples of them.
And then when you level up a whole lot more (from the 40's to the 70's and 80's, according to the wiki), you meet the body, and finally you meet the Dullahans who have restored their head. It's just such a fun little series of monsters!
Forest Ogre, Cave Ogre
Ehhh not really feeling these two. I suppose they tried to be unique with that malformed, giant hand, but that just makes them look weird. I do like the Forest Ogre's weird Moomin-looking face, though.
Tarantula Queen
The Tarantula Queen is basically a Drider from D&D with a goddamn parasol! That's... that's kinda neat. I've always liked the concept of spider-centaurs, and the Tarantula Queen is sort of a pretty safe depiction of those. She's neat!
Eyez
I also like giant eyeball monsters! Eyez (it is spelled with extreme letterzzz) just looks so fucking bored to be around, though. It's a big glob with teeny-tiny wings that barely keep it afloat, and it would've been "just another eyeball monster" if not for the utterly hilarious bored expression he has. I think that makes Eyez more memorable than he would've been otherwise.
Scorpy, Sergeant Scorpy, Sphinxcor
Giant scorpions! Giant scorpions are just inherently cool, and I remain firm in my belief that the scorpion is just straight-up one of the most badass looking designs in the natural world. Scorpy here is just a pretty regular giant scorpion, though. Sergeant Scorpy, on the other hand, basically has the same drider-esque centaur layout as the Tarantula Queen up above, and I really like its giant crab-like claws, and the fact that it appears to have some sort of... armour? It's neat!
One of the more powerful variants encountered later is a scorpion with the upper body of a sphinx, which is pertty novel and combines two different desert-themed monsters together, even if the model is kinda cluttered and clunky.
Samba Cactus
What is it about cacti and maraca that make them often paired together? Samba Cactus here is just kind of a combination of Togemon from Digimon and Maractus from Pokemon, with a rather bland anime face with blush-on stickers tacked on. I do like that his little maraca has angry smiling faces, though.
Conceited Ostrich
She's an ostrich that looks more like a duck. And she wears a skirt, and is so concerned about her appearance. Kind of forgettable and a joke that doesn't land for me, honestly... these silly monsters tend to be hit-and-miss.
Knight of Darkness, Warrior of Darkness
We are shying away more from sillier, wacky designs into more serious RPG stuff. The Knight and Warrior of Darkness are pretty typical giant dark-suited armoured knights. Only thing I can say here is that they have some really fun proportions with those big-ass shoulderpads and big-ass lower arms. The models are a wee bit too under-detailed for me to really make out much.
Skullo, Ruthless Skullo, TNT Skullo
I'm surprised we didn't get skeleton enemies a bit earlier! Skullo is a pretty fun skeleton enemy, giving him a really brutish-looking face instead of a more traditional, anatomically-accurate skull face, and gigantic claw-fingers. Always a welcome design in these skeleton-based monsters! Ruthless Skullo takes an interesting route by giving the Skullo two extra hands and arming all of them with cleavers, which definitely looks pretty neat! TNT Skullo, meanwhile, encountered much later, is just a skullo with a backpack filled with bombs and he lobs them at your face. That's... that's kind of hilarious, I'm not going to lie.
Sandy Windy, Violent Sandy Windy
And here's the payoff to Windy the boring fairy girl in a dress, because apparently they turn into Sandy Windies, which are these whirling hurricanes of doom with hurricanes for arms! Yes, these sort of elemental designs are pretty commonly seen in most fantasy media, but I've always felt like the 'sentient tornado' wind elementals tend to be the ones that look the most natural. It's not much, but the fact that I know these are actually stronger versions of a blander monster turns these whirling ladies to be far, far more interesting than if it's just an elemental of air that exists.
Abyss
Abyss over here is just a giant floating skull with demon horns with a shit-eating grin. Not the most interesting monster, and clearly at this point in the leveling range they're going for an bit of undead skeleton theme. Not much to say here. It's pretty neat!
Meow-gician
It's another cat-person, this time dressed like a street magician or something? Eh. It's not the most interesting creature on this list by far.
Mining Ant, Soldier Ant, Soldier Fire Ant
Based on the different background and clearly different art style, presumably Mining Ant here is part of a mine-themed area that was added way after my friends quit talking about the game. It's a cute ant with a cute little cart. Soldier Ant is even cuter, with a cute little knight's helmet, a lance and a funny little shield. At this point, I think I'll refrain from talking too much about monsters that I don't remember, so if you're following the 'list of monsters' on Seal wiki, I'm definitely going to skip around a fair bit. I'm just going to do reviews up to level 100, I think, and call it quits for the day. Not sure if we'll have a sequel for this one.
Coal Mine Mole
Another one from that mine dungeon, I suppose? It's a funny mole monster with a huge drill-gun. Kinda neat, but not my thing.
Saloa, Peroa, Queen Meroa, Meroa
A trio of flower fairies that are presumably stronger versions of Flora and Glora up above, with more intricate models and butterfly wings. And random midriffs for some reason. Not particularly interesting. They just keep showing up at like, intervals of ten levels or some shit. Bizarrely, the golden-coloured Meroa is somehow more powerful than Queen Meroa.
Computer Freak
Kind of a joke that fell flat for me, honestly. The Computer Freak is someone who's so obsessed with computers (and games, presumably) that he's mutated into a blob joined with his chair. Just... what? The concept is kind of interesting, but the execution feels so half-assed that I can't really find myself liking this design.
Naive Succubus, Naive Incubus, Succubus, Incubus
(Sorry, I can't find a picture of the Succubus that isn't twice the size of everyone else's)
One of the more popular monsters out there because, well, they're basically super-attractive men and women showing off their assets. And you can murder them and loot their wings, which you can then wear. They're... they're okay, I guess, as far as depictions of succubi and incubi go, being pretty traditional versions of "attractive man/woman with devil wings and horns". I do find it... bizarre that they decided to call the weaker versions "Naive", though. They're succubi and incubi, but they're... naive? What? Are they just sex demons that simply hasn't had the chance to fuck anyone yet? Eh.
Aleph, Mutated Aleph, Cold Aleph
Borrowing her name from the name of the first letter of Semitic alphabets, Aleph is... some sort of lady monster with a harlequin-hat-like hair, giant gauntlets on her wrists, and seem to be bolted to a 'stand'? And apparently when mutated, they become red? An interesting design, actually, for a fairy-like monster.
Mr. Catfish
Oh wow, jokes making fun of the LGBT crowd really didn't age well in the last decade, huh. I'm not going to touch this.
Kinbara, Warrior Kinbara, Cankura, Mighty Kinbara
These are like a race of snake-men, which... which is always neat, I guess, but also kinda boring since they didn't have too much of a twist beyond sticking a human torso, a snake tail and anime hair onto a design. Cankura is the feminine version of Kinbara, and she looks 100% cooler by virtue of carrying around a huge scythe.
Gun, Abuca
Gun would've been a pretty boring giant muscle-armed dude until you realize he actually has a chicken head. This is like the super-duper awesome version of the Cranky Rooster up above, isn't it? Otherwise, though, kind of a bland design. I'll lump him alongside Abuca, who's a more straightforward burly-guy design with... I'm not sure if what that head is supposed to be, actually.
Cool Guy
In between all these snake-men, incubi and snow crystal goddesses we have "Cool Guy" here, who's a deformed, blue-skinned dude with a hideously malformed belly, dressed up in hockey armour. What? Like Computer Freak, this is definitely a memorable design, but in all the wrong ways.
Snow Princess, Elegant Snow Princess
A pretty cool design for a snow elemental princess thing, I guess, with a dress made out of icicles and a giant snowflake on her back. Not my thing, but I appreciate that it looks fairly cool.
Solar
Okay, WHAT? This is the sort of ridiculous I can get behind! Solar is clearly based on a sunflower, but has the face of a grumpy old man pasted onto where a happy sun-face would otherwise be. And it walks around in a weird set of vine-spider-legs, which is always a cool feature for plant monsters to have! And, of course, it shoots out Solarbeams from its fucking face like a Pokemon. Pretty fun design!
Bubble Dragon
I don't think we ever actually have actual, proper dragons in Seal Online, but we do have Bubble Dragon, which is like a very non-threatening dude that's more lizard than dragon, has wacky flippers and a snorkel. It's... it's goofy as shit, and I actually kind of like this one.
Scissors Beetle
Not much to say here, it's just a giant angry beetle that looks like a trademark-friendly version of Digimon's Kuwagamon, but it's still badass. I love beetle monsters and I can't lie! It's just cool.
Dark Owlian
An interesting design that brings to mind Warcraft's Abominations, the Dark Owlian does look pretty cool as this giant, corpulent fat shambling corpse-thing with stitched-up features on his torso and stomach that forms a second, creepier face. I actually like that! It's appropriately creepy, and the only real point against it is that it feels so out of place compared to the rest of Seal's more whimsical theme.
Broken Railor
I do love how much the sprite and the name communicates the story of this thing. It's like a robot train-thing that looks kind of like a skull, and it's constantly placing train tracks in front of it or something. Kinda neat!
Rayshark the Third, Rayshark the Second, Raywell the First
Huh, these are... kinda neat! Rayshark the Third is a shark-man wearing a pirate outfit holding a giant anchor, and it's a funny, wacky one-off monster. But then his brothers apparently got released in subsequent updates, and I really do love how Rayshark the Second is a sawshark with a smaller, sleeker-looking anchor, and the big brother is Raywell. Like ray-whale? Pretty funny batch of monsters, actually.
Dark Mariel, Dark Gariel, Mariel, Gariel
At this point there's a bunch of random ice monsters and 'repaint' monsters that I'm not covering, plus a bunch of weird ones that are clearly made by a different team with models that scream "knockoff WoW", and I'm just going to jump around as I please. Anyway, have more angels.
These are basically non-chibi versions of the Incubus and Succubus, and this time around, their 'true' forms are angels and their weaker forms are the 'dark', corrupted ones. Not a particularly huge fan of these guys, but, like the incubi and succubi, I remember them being particularly popular.
Malicen
I actually kinda like this one-eyed fat genie guy. He's not the most interesting design out there, but he's definitely neat!
A Bah Bah, B Bah Bah, A Humbug
These are aquatic versions of the Bah Bah squad. They're actually kinda neat. Especially like the one riding a seahorse, for the simple fact that the seahorse also has a fucking snorkel for some reason.
Giant Octopus
An interseting depiction of a 'giant octopus', for sure, not actually resembling any real-life cephalopod. Instead, Giant Octopus is a gigantic spiky shell with glowing eyes, vaguely octopi-like tentacles sprawled out from the central shell, and two squid-like arms. It manages to tick a lot of boxes of what actually makes an octopus monster without actually looking like an octopus, squid or cuttlefish.
Crack Crab, Voracious Crack Crab
Crack Crab and his bigger cousin, Voracious Crack Crab, are just here because I kinda like their design as big-ass giant hermit crabs with a long, decorated shell, giant spiky claws and mustaches that trail into the distance.
Chainsaw Zombie
A wacky, super-buff ogre-like zombie with a cartoonishly silly buzzsaw (that's not a chainsaw!) is actually kind of hilarious, I'm not going to lie. and he's one of the few late-game monsters that I actually genuinely find to be pretty funny and not just a generic Eastern RPG game powerful cluttered monster or a rehash of an older monster.
Lizzard Man
Not Lizard Man, not Gizzard Man, but Lizzard Man. And I'm actually kind of... bemused that they decided to give the lizard man a model that's like 90% buff lower arms. You really don't tend to associate lizards with having big buff arms. Or big buff anything.
Chaos Gear
Chaos Gear is a pretty badass name for a robot, isn't it? It's ultimately kind of a generic-looking 'rusty warmachine' robot, with a single eye and gun-arms, but ultimately the only notable thing about them is that other than him and the Broken Railor, we don't really see a lot of robot monsters in this game.
Wood Wood, Woodreaper
What a charming design overall! This is meant to be the giant treefolk/treant of the game, but what a charming... well, everything! The giant clunky arms, the adorable eyes, the gigantic underbite that goes all the way around his body, the spindle-like legs, and even the name, "Wood Wood"! It's just fun. There are various variations of Wood Wood too, but the most hilarious has to be Woodreaper, who's a deformed Wod WOod that has traded in his jagged underbite for a more traditional one, and apparently swapped his eyes for stick-on googly-eyes.
Dog Brutal Crab
What is this thing? A crab with a cute puppy's head? And it's called "Dog Brutal Crab"? It's just... it's as charming as, say, Wood Wood or whatever, but it's certainly a fucking bizarre design for sure!
Legion
Based on the biblical Legion, I do kind of find it funny that this supposed mass of demonic souls is a flying huge blob with lion faces presumably pulsating in and out. A far, far more interesting demon monster than the many other "just a dude in fancy anime armour" for sure!
Cute Turtle
The Cute Turtle is certainly cute, especially with that big-ass nerf tank cannon strapped onto his back! And those goggles!
Titan Skull
You know what? None of the other monsters really appeal to me and I'm not going to review them. I'm just going to cover a couple of the 'world bosses' that require a lot of people to beat up, as per MMORPG tropes. First up is the Titan Skull, who is the weakest world boss and his variants would show up as generic enemies later on. It's a pretty cool-looking giant skull monster, with the contrast between the slim body and the giant, hulking lower arms, and the spiky claws on both arms and legs, being done pretty damn well. It's also not cluttered, which is a bonus!
Ohm, Gnome
Is this like, the big boss daddy of Alephs? Certainly has the same sort of 'base' as them. I do like the design of Ohm, he does feel like some sort of powerful being that's sealed in place... and I probably could have said something more if I actually knew anything about Seal's bare-bones lore. Regardless, though, it's actually a simple and interesting design.
Also included here is Gnome, who's... who's like this giant golem tree-thing, and I really do like that it's named "Gnome", which we traditionally tend to associate with lesser fairies or dwarves in fiction, but here it's this giant tree-demon-god thing. Like Ohm, Gnome also looks rooted to one spot, quite literally!
Knight of All-Evil, Soul Collector MK 2, Hanaiel, Tipareth
And... and that's it! This went on a bit longer than I expected it to be, and I'm not sure what brought this on. I was just looking into games with monsters I can talk about and ended up looking up the entire list of Seal Online's monsters. It's been fun, especially since I actually don't really know anything all that much about the game itself, so I'm just talking about these designs purely from an aesthetic and flavour standpoint. It's... it's definitely interseting to see what a game that's utterly unconcerned with adapting any sort of strict aesthetic guidelines ends up coming up with.
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