The game was originally made with the intention of being the spiritual successor to Grand Chase by upgrading the graphics from 2D to 2.5D.

It is based on arcade Beat 'em ups, and require the player to properly execute combos within the specific range of their character much akin to a fighting game, mixing the elements to provide a side-scrolling beat 'em up fighter.

Once characters achieve 3rd job and then enter Rigomor by completing the final Varnimyr region dungeon, they can advance to Master Class, by either purchasing an item from the mall (this applies to all jobs) or completing the quest provided by an El Master NPC.

Players traverse the land of Elrios, defeating enemies and leveling-up to unlock new job classes and skills.

As players explore the world, they travel to eighteen unique regions, most containing a "hub" town and around six dungeons.

Some dungeons feature branching paths, light puzzle-solving, and interactive elements such as collapsing buildings.

There are fourteen [citation needed] different playable characters as of March 2023, each with four different job class paths that can be chosen starting at level 15.

KOG later created a short series of manhwas different from ElType, involving Chung and his transformation into his second job advancement.

[4] An animation version of the game titled Elsword: El Lady adapts the story from Hamel to Lanox.

Elsword was originally a reboot of Grand Chase, another MMORPG created by KOG Studios.

The two shared many similarities, such as Elsword, Aisha, and Rena, formerly named Elesis, Arme, and Lire, respectively, who were a few of the main characters of Grand Chase.

The obvious identical traits were scrapped when Elsword came out of beta testing, as the two games were hosted by different companies.