Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
A L10 review- Loving the game
Vesavius
Member RarePosts: 7,908
Ok, so L10 isnt that high, but it has given me a few hours in game, taken me to a few zones and taken my first steps into the deeper House story lines.
First I want to say that I unashamedly love this game. I am a fanboy. That, in this case, dosent make me unobjective or uncritical. I don't feel threatened by other people not liking it, and I don't feel the need to convert those that have played it and don't 'get it'.
This is being written for those that are 'should I, shouldnt I?'.
To be clear, I didnt start off loving SB. In fact, prelaunch I was jaded and somewhat upset by how Acclaim handled things and I thought the game would be a solo ez mode shell of a game. I was wrong. There. I'm a big boy, I can say it... I was wrong.
This game is the single best mmorpg experience that I have had since classic Everquest (99-02).
What Spellborn is; A co-op soclal play themepark mmo that is suprisingly 'hardcore' in it's features for the modern genre, but one that can be played casually. Note that I personally do not agree with the common view that 'casual' has to mean 'easy'. .
My views;
GRAPHICS
Spellborn graphics are going to be a problem for some people.
I mean, the game runs very well on lower end PCs, without losing the immersion or awe of the gameworld, but the art style is new to most and will jarr their sense of 'WTF am I lookin at?'
The game looks 'Fablesque', as has been said before by me and others, and is somewhat cartoony, but in a good way. Fable II being so popular will have prepaprea lot of people for the art direction in this game, and thats great, but there will be a lot of manga and WoW fans that expect a ame to look like something else. All I ask of these guys is to open your minds a little and look around.
Anything stylised and with it's own character will divide opinion. Not everyone will like it, and thats fine, but personally I love it.
To me, the game world is stunning, the mobs are scary, characters look cool, and the hoppys are cute.
There are so many things in this world graphically that make me stop and say 'brilliant'.
8/10
QUESTS
To me, so far, this is the weakest part of SB.
It's not that they are 'hard' or I want a quest objective pointer, I don't, but they are somewhat generic for thw most part. A few to many 'Kill 10 X' and 'FedX' quests for my taste tbh. The only thing that keeps me going through these is the game lore and the well written NPCs who somehowm manage to make you care enough to go out and kill their 10 bears. Again.
Saying that, there are also a lot of fun, humorous and engaging questing out there, but more would always be good. Quest content is king in a 'themepark' mmo like this one. The rides have to be as good as the funpark is pretty.
6/10
SCORE
The music is beautiful. atmospheric, understated, but epic. Ambient scoring at it's best.
9/10
CHARACTER CREATION/ DEVELOPMENT
Just excellent.
Yes, you can look 'cool' from the very start. The variety of characters I have created using the set of tools provided is amazing.
The fact that you choose how your character looks at all times is great, and the character generation screens would be comparable to the rightly famous CoH if it had more options. It even beats that game for character design for me though because the look you set isnt static (as was CoH originally) and can be changed via gameplay.
I guess they want to leave some stuff in game for you to find
Oh, and too many ninja hoods!
8/10
COMMUNITY
Simply, once you are out of the 'freemium' zones, the best community so far in any game that I have played.
Friendly, helpful, funny. There are a lot of old school gamers around it seems, and the P2P membership seems pretty mature and together.
I guess it's because SB isnt even on a lot of the ubr guilds radar that it isnt getting the bad attittudes of most new mmo that they come into to abuse and dominate, and isnt the hip shiny new thing to attract the IP led kiddies, that SB has attracted the type of playerbase you would usually see in a game like Saga of Ryzom or similar.
This may change as the masses wake up to the game but lets hope the culture has now been set.
8/10
BUGS, STABILITY AND PERFORMANCE
These are a real, but fixable, set of problems right now.
A few of the quests are buggy and a few seem to be broken, and people are crashing a lot. Nothing gamebreaking, but it all needs fixing
I am hoping that they address the majority of issues in the patch coming today. It looks big enough to
I have faith in SiL to be aware and working to make things better, but for now it's all somewhat frustrating.
5/10
LORE
Original, engaging, wel written.
It is obvious that SiL are all about the story and every quest NPC takes it into consideration.
I would happily read books and play a PnP RPG set in thsi world, and thats something I have never said about an original IP MMORPG before.
10/10
GAMEPLAY
This is a strong group game, somewhat similar in feel to launch CoH in terms of combat. The system design choices seem to make sense and come very naturally once you have learned to let go what you thought you knew and retrained yourself to a better way.
No, you don't need a set roster of classes, so you can pick your friends based on who you like and not if they have Rezz , but every class brings unique and interesting abilities to a group. No 'holy trinity' can make grouping somehwhat chaotic and messy at times, but it also does mean that 'tanks' can swop roles constantly to keep the action flowing. Overall, the combat is interesting, fun, and challenging.
8/10
CRAFTING
Crafting is a system of collecting recipies and ingredients and combining at a forge to create. There arnt any craft skills, anyone can have anything made by the smith if they have the components.
I personally love it. No x3656578 hours collecting mats, no grinding x1000 arrows to level, no byzantine rules set.
For full time crafters though, this prolly isnt the game for you, but for everyone else it's great.
They DO need to give us banks and shared guild banks though. The new Market Place will also be a massive help and allow us to all start trading mats to get what we need. I normally hate AHs tbh, but SB is definitly, with it's 100s of resources and waste items, a game that requires it.
The game also needs item linking.
8/10
DIFFICULTY
Spellborn is a wolf in sheep's clothing. It really isnt what it pretends to be on first glance.
For a game that is all dressed up on the surface as casual ez mode solo lite, it really has some what most of the current gen of WoWified mmorpg gamers would consider 'hardcore' elements, and I love it for that!
Death penalty? Check! Losing PeP hurts as a death penalty way more then any system in any game I have played since EQ (99-02). It is the best reason to not die I have seen in a long long time, especially considering how slowly it builds. It brings perfect levels of fear and tension to the game. Brilliant.
Slow-medium levelling? Check! The levelling rate is perfect and spits in the face of the current trends of instant gratification. It dosent throw me up through the zones at a retarded speed before my quests have been done and it allows me to see the environment and 'bond' with a zone and it's NPCs before I move on.
Skill based combat? Check! Sure, you can spam, but the holy grail of 'easy to learn, hard to master' has been found here. Learning to play is just gonna get more and more imprtant as you level. No letting the character do the fighting for you here.
PvP zones that have unique rewards, if you can survive to get 'em? Check! If you want the best, you have to fight for the best. Shard conquest? Can't wait.
Grouping and co-op play required? Check! Though it looks like a solo quest grinder, SB isnt. It requires co-operation and social interaction to get the best out of. Thank God.
No arrows pointing to quest objectives? Check! Though the concession has been made to mark quests and updates on the map, which I woudlnt have done myself, there are no arrows or glowing trails here. You have to actually look around, reads the quest text, and look at npc names. In short, learn the zone. It's a perfect mix of GPS map support and player driven exploration. You think that quest text is vague? Ask the community if they know! This is how communities are built, by cooperation, communication, and mutual aid. Well done.
High aggro range tough mobs? Check! This game makes you consider the environment all the time before you start to fight that mob. It demands thought, add control, and awareness of roamers. You thought you could fight in the middle of that spawn ground? Death. Single mobs are properly difficult, multiples are deadly. See 'grouping' above.
Trains? Check!! Think you just have to handle your own situation? Think again. make sure you are also aware of who is fighting around you and how they are doing. Situational awareness is essential. A train can ruin your day. EQ would be proud of some of the trains I have seen.
Underneath it's friendly exterior, this is a skillful and challanging game, yet remains accessible to those willing to learn to play.
One day, I will give you my views on why SB is more hardcore then Darkfall
10/10
OVERALL
Spellborn is a triumph and the love put into making it seeps out of every pore.
It is a game made by gamers for gamers.
'Nuff said.
9/10
If you get this far, well done btw, and decide to pay to play, give me a shout in game and ask any questions. I play as Iceberg, Opium, and Vesavius with the guild Radiance on the PvE server.
Comments
I got started on TcOS yesterday and I like it, I agree with a lot that the Op posted. It is different and in many ways far more hardcore than many other new games. I still have huge problems getting used to the combat system with aiming and such, BUT when you get used to it the tactical opportunities increases and the way you fight in a group changes too.
This is interesting and well worth a look, as some people said in the area chat yesterday "I have not been this exited since my first days in EQ1 and AC" I am not that positive myself but I may get there.
Knytta PvE server
Chi puo dir com'egli arde é in picciol fuoco.
He who can describe the flame does not burn.
Petrarch
Good to hear you like it
, I'm resubbing to the euro client soonish when I get a new PC (the old one didn't run it all too well ;D). As ex-CB player I'm more than happy to hear that the game somewhat launched in the rest of the world (or a bit of it atleast). What server did you play on Vesavius?
look me (as vesavius, iceberg, or opium) or Slaiyne up in game if you decide to play and need a guild Knyt. Any Joy Division fans are welcome
Ahh Im on Acclaim PvE...
Chi puo dir com'egli arde é in picciol fuoco.
He who can describe the flame does not burn.
Petrarch
There are PvP zones on the PvE server?
If so I will jump on later. From your review it sounds like this is the game that I was looking for.
It's gotten to the point where some MMOs have been reduced to little more than success dispensers. Don't think. Don't challenge yourself. Do as little as possible... but still be rewarded for it. Yeah.. *that's* fun.
-- WSIMike
Available for NA yet?
Yes, open beta started on the 20th I think.
It's gotten to the point where some MMOs have been reduced to little more than success dispensers. Don't think. Don't challenge yourself. Do as little as possible... but still be rewarded for it. Yeah.. *that's* fun.
-- WSIMike
yep been available for the NA sect since 3/20
Download set up an account and come find us all on TCoS!
And to those registering you'll be happy to know the Registration page is now FIXED! you won't have to sit there til you grow old and die for it to acknowledge you are registering an account.
Yeah, there are, plus of course soon-to-come arenas and shard conquest.
the only real difference on a PvP server is that the PvP zones are bigger.
Hope to see you ingame
Chi puo dir com'egli arde é in picciol fuoco.
He who can describe the flame does not burn.
Petrarch
I was wondering how strong the grouping aspect is in this game. Is it grouping for instances or soforth and also is this the type of game i could sit down for a hour or 2 and get something accomplished? Thanks for the anwser
IDK... I played this up until about lvl 5, then uninstalled it. It wasn't a bad game. I agree with pretty much everything OP said. It was just missing that something... Well, for me at least.
However, I would definitely reccommend this game to anyone even slightly curious. Great game here with some cool new ideas. Just not for me personally.
There is a ton of stuff to do solo within that time frame.
The trick is, if you don't have a guild, is to put out calls for group quests to do the harder stuff while just gettin on with the 20 solo quests you will have. None of the group stuff is essential, but there are a ton of people doing it so it's easy to get groups. Obviously gettin into a supportive guild is a good thing tho.
Do I get stuff achieved in a 2 hour period? Sure, lots, and if it isnt finished in that time I pick it up in my next 2 hour sesh. SB is very friendly to the casual player
Thanks vesavius very helpful reply:)
Excellent review Vesavius!
And... I've seen you in-game. You were recruiting members for the guild 8+ yesterday but at the time my character was only lv 6. He's now reached level 8 and having a blast.
So far, the game is very good. In all honesty though, the interface is a bit cludgy and could use a little work, but nothing ground breaking.
I find the difficulty level refreshing. Mobs aren't on easy mode. You need to move and dodge to be effective in melee. Also, you are not having your hand held to complete quests and this presents an opportunity to explore and figure them out for yourself. Very nice so far.
I have paid for the next 30 days and see myself sticking with this one.
Feel free to contact me in-game. Character name is Ranvarian.
Enjoy!
I posted reply on main forum too. I just wanted to point out to many who try to level 5 or so then quit. It may be obvious to some they are not into this style of game but I found I needed to level past 5 to really start getting a feel of the game. Each level past 6 in fact greatly added to my enjoyment. I look forward to the meat of the game past 10 as most are reporting.
Other than a uninspired newb zone that turns many off pre-level 5 I am seeing many not adapting to the combat style. They call it clunky or simplistic. This is entirely due to not understanding it and bothering to learn its complexities. This is one area that needs longer play time to explore.
This game really does deserve at least one month of trial...not just level 7.99. It is a nice test but more time is needed. I think the off pay structure is throwing people off. Seems odd that people are willing to pay $50 for a box set and get one month free but whine like babies when playing 7.99 levels free and need to pay $15 to further test it. This game needs a box set at some point and tranditional cc monthly payments. Many simply do not shop online yet.
You stay sassy!
Great review, Vesavius. It's Slaiyne ingame, haha, didn't know you were active here.
The game is great, people. And if you're having a hard time finding groups and are have a P2P account, come join us on the PVE server, Radiance is always recruiting more people.
Agreed 100%, tho I didn't find the starter area uninspired, you just can't appreciate the gameplay as much in the zone as it's just constantly pressing tab trying to find a bear or a boar, haha. The game really does start to pick up each level past 7, tho. The classes really start to go into themselves and more group oriented content is added.
Which, I am loving how they have distributed enough solo content to keep me busy, and the group content (wanted signs, etc) is still very rewarding, while not forcing you to HAVE to do it for upgrades, or whatever.
No probs
Thanks
i have added you to friends, will send a tell soon.
hehe yeah, I come in here now and again
sometimes have to take a break from these boards tho due to troll overload. Darkfall all but wiped me out last time lol.
Figured SB was a game worth tolerating the flames for over here again tho
Thanks for the review.
hehe yeah, I come in here now and again
sometimes have to take a break from these boards tho due to troll overload. Darkfall all but wiped me out last time lol.
Figured SB was a game worth tolerating the flames for over here again tho
Haha agreed Vesavius. So im downloading the client right now while im at work and will be getting on to try it out tonight, and thanks to your review im super ancy to get off work! lol....well if i like it i will deff hit you up because i dont know anyone that is playing currently and im sure i would love to join a guild
Thanks bro, and awesome avatar
V for the win
QFT!
I like that alot.
You are being promoted, positive, for not dying. Instead of just only being punished when you die.
I'm so broke. I can't even pay attention.
"You have the right not to be killed"