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My Non-Bias Review & Bias Review of Rift Beta 5
GrandoReaper
Member UncommonPosts: 147
Non-Bias Review
Upon being invited and downloading the client I realized that this has been one of the easiest games to download & begin playing that I have ever done, I mean it is even easier than downloading most F2P games which have the big "PLAY NOW" button. When the servers opened early at around 9:30 AM PST (which is a good sign) I began my journey into the life of a guardian. Character creation is pretty good the class system is boiled down to the MMO Trinity (kind of) at first but once you finish the tutorial area it branches out to a large range of classes you can swap between.
When I started I chose a Warrior, the issue I have with this "revolutionary" way of doing classes is that I felt like the embodyment of all warrior classes. Because I was. It led to more confusion than anything else I didnt feel like I was broken free from my single class chains of any other MMO instead I felt like a complete mess, I had too many abilities and talent points to know what to do with.
This actual CG Cinematics that have been executed very nicely to add to the atmosphere of the game which is "world is going to h*ll.. we f*cked!" Sadly the quality in the Cinematics far superior in graphics compared to the game with ultra settings selected in the video menu. Graphics wise it is a somewhat pleasing game I believe they could have done better because it felt a bit on the barren side, otherwise I have no other complaints on graphics.
Quests are the generic go to point A kill monster X. Then you find these "rare dynamic events" called rifts... these things are all over the place! They even show up on your map for crying out loud why would you go hunting for them if its so obvious where they are? People from the whole area make a great exodus of their current hunting grounds to make the venture off to the most recently opened rift to get a piece of the pie. These rifts drop currectly unique to the event, which can be traded for decent gear if you have a ton of it.
It is a very fun game but I found myself using only 2 abilities out of the million that I was granted through the use of roots, it was just way too confusing to sit down and go through the process of calculating which combination would work better. If I only needed 2 abilities to down mobs in 3 seconds that was good enough for me. If you are looking for a traditional version of a MMORPG this is the perfect choice for people looking for something different, new, and playable.
Based on my personal experience I give this game a 7.5 score out of 10.
Bias Review
It has the UI of Guild Wars 1, the character models of AoC, the quest events of WAR, the skill tree concept of WoW. Only new aspect are the WAR PQ's that move as a "invading force".
Review: Stay with your current MMO nothing insanely cool here if your bored of your mmo make the switch.
Comments
Three comments if you please:
Yesterday was a rocky day, so most people didn't get to play much due to login issues. When they did manage to get into the game, it was so crowded that it wasn't as fun for me as it was in beta 4 and a medium populated server.
I'm not sure how many abilities you expect at the level range you're in. If you want more abilities, you should invest higher up in the level trees, so more can unlock.
I got overwhelmed as well with the amount of trees, thus I used the suggestions provided when mixing the souls. It's a good starting point and you unlock all the souls fast enough anyway.
So let me get this straight, the amount of choice confused you so you stuck to 2 buttons that would "get the job done". By level 6 i had that at least 6 different skills to use on mobs. At least they give you a choice on how you want to kill things and you can completely change the way your character plays by swapping out souls instead of rerolling. There is the "holy trinity" in this game but it plays way different because you have the choice of customizing how you want to play. there is not cookie cutter spec for tanking because there are going to be situations where yor are probable going to want one soul over another based on the fight. IMO it gives the holy trinity a new dynamic healers arent just healers with no dps tools or buffs you can make them play however you want based on soul selection.
The "rare dynamic events" called Rifts are server controled based on how many people are in the zone average, level of players etc. Once you get past the started zones people tend to care a lot less about Rifts , progress a little farther into the zone and yeah Rifts are still spawning because there are a ton of people in the zone but not nearly as many people closing them. During Beta 1 the capitol city was getting attacked by invasion forces because there were a lot of people in the zone but not nearly enough closing rifts it can get crazy.
I hear so much about the Rift PQ's. Yet never hear anything about the Zone events that take place. I found those to be kinda new and fun... yet no one talks about em... o0
The UI is more like WAR then any other game. Being able to inport your hotkeys, layout, or about anything from any character on that server. The layout editor lets you move and resize about everything. Its a lot like WAR just cleaner and better done imo.
Its the little things that add up that makes this game. The first 10 or so lvls is kinda just the norm. Then you start seeing the little things that are just better. Like mass-loot. If you get stuck in a big fight and end up killing a ton of stuff all in one spot. You can just loot one body and loot them all. Many small improvements like this have made my experience better and better.
As far as too many skills. I don't see the prob with this. The more options the better imo. At low lvls the only skill prob I have, is something that will not change. Every Soul gets base abilitys that you just need to survive and lvl up right off that bat. Every MMO is like that. The prob comes into play when you get more then 1 soul that gives you almost the same skill. In the long run this is not a prob. Yet early on I can see how it is kinda weird and might be confusing.
Just wanted to comment briefly:
First, I have a good first impression of game play. It was easy to pick up, fun to play and the world is immersive and doesn't feel like a retread of any other MMO I've played, in spite of sticking to fairly standard archetypes and races. Usually, I can say "this game looks/feels alot like X title". Not the case here.
Second. The questing is not an exact retread of what we get in other games, in spite of the OP review. They do a good job of mixing up the types of quest objectives you have, so it is not all "kill X of Y". I wouldn't say that the quests are unique, but they seem to have done a good job of figuring out what works in the genre and finding ways to provide a good rotation as you go to fight boredom.
Third, Character class mechanics. It is in NO WAY a retread of the WoW talent tree system. Yes, there are trees, but the layout is very different as well as skill progression; plus of course the fact that you can mix and match from three subclasses at a time. The trees prevent players from just picking the most powerful combination of skills and taking them all early, but you really do have a lot of freedom in customizing with in your archetype to find a class that perfectly suits your play style.
Now, of course, it's easy when you have so much freedom to somewhat gimp yourself if you don't make good choices. A lot of people enjoy working out specs in a system like this to find something that will work well for them and provide a powerful character. For those who find it a little overwhelming, we all know that by launch, there will be many sites with many builds that have been assembled via various degrees of theorycrafting. There will be flavor of the month builds, builds that will be effected by nerfs or buffs, etc... as time goes on, but there will be resources to guide players to put together a solid pre-designed build, if they don't feel capable of experimenting on their own.
I've had MMOs where a solid first impression, or even a solid first month, have ended up in disappointment, so I know not to judge long term appeal based on early play. However, I have to say that the first day experience, for me anyway, ranks up there with the best.
I'd stress that there is just something about this title, where in many ways it's familiar, but it still somehow manages to feel unique. You can probably find most of the individual ingredients in other MMOs, but they've been assembled quite well into one very interesting recipe.
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
