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Dragons Nest - Initial Impressions
cdhames
Member UncommonPosts: 27
DN has a level of complexity to it that catches you off-guard. I think it has to do with the visual design of the game. You get the immediate sense that they aren't taking things seriously, and the first few quests lead you down that assumption but the more you play, the more you discover that a very well crafted game system exists here. My experience so far has turned my initial assumptions around 180 degrees. The game is well balanced for beta, and nicely polished (although there are few things they could integrate to assist users learning the game), and as far as game mechanics (operation of the game) go, it scales wonderfuly. Every few levels, a new mechanic is introduced; a new game tool that has complexity and usefulness. The tools are integrated very well which only compliments the breadth of experience you receive.
Without getting into too much detail (they're still in beta) Two of the things I dislike about the game are the heavy Instancing and the repitition of dungeon crawling. While I can probably accept the Instancing and continue enjoying the game, I suspect the repetition will eventually dampen the entire experience for me. Repeating a dungeon 2 or 3 times may be tolerable, but in order to craft certain items, I've learned (but have yet to experience) that some bit of farming is required. This in the end may kill my positive experience.
I'm very impressed with the costume system by the way. I was a little disappointed after logging in and seeing that there were only 4 types of characters to choose from, with limited customization. But after learning about costumes, and seeing the breadth of variety, I no longer worry about it. The second thing that really impressed me was that this game builds system on top of system. As I said earlier, there is a lot of underlying complexity here, that you would typically only expect from some of the largest MMOs. To find it here was refreshing.
Lastly, I have to give props to the developers for building a very stylish, and humorous storyline. I've been playing a sorceress for the past week, and the narraration (while often lengthy) has been a blast to read though. The writers are top notch. Nexon's found a unique combination of appearing not to take things too seriously, while at the same time building a very serious, and what I think will be a very competitive MMO.
I'm calling it here first. Dragons Nest will be the big MMO surprise of 2011.
Comments
Agree with everything you wrote, however this game is not made by Nexon, they just bought the license to publish it in US, its made by Eyedentity and owned by Shanda.
I am very impressed with Dragon Nest. Very polished game with amazing visuals and sound effects.They only thing I dont like is there are only 4 classes and they are gender locked. Every thing else about the game is amazing.
Pros:
Fun, fast combat that scales with difficulty setting
No tab targetting... you must hit your target
Lots of people playing
Random loot
Auction House
NPC Irine's skirt lifts up when you talk to her, you'll quickly figure out from what angle to approach her for the best view
Cons:
Heavily instanced
Cartoony/Anime graphics (maybe a matter of taste - though the female chars look good! - wait that's a pro!)
Linear, cant go off the path in "dungeons" and no open areas to explore
Nickel/Dime cash shop
gold spammers everywhere
dungeon repetition required
LOL I noticed that yesterday also.
Remember Old School Ultima Online
Dragon Nest is refreshingly different and, at the same time, regularly dissapointing for a game.
For one, the game is highly polished and extremely entertaining as far as combat goes. I wish that AAA MMOs would make combat half as fun as the combat in Dragon Nest. It;s the first game where as an archer, I felt like an archer. I could run and shoot on the fly and doge while fighting off mobs. This game reminds me a lot of Zelda with its combat mechanics. So far, I have not got bored with combat and enjoy it more than any other feature of the game.
As far as the rest of the game, it is entirely too linear, too repetitive, and absolutley no redeeeming social system that encourages you to group or even find a group. Also, everyone looks like a clone of the last one.
Another factor is that it has a cap on runnning quests similiar to guildleves. You have to spend performance points on each duingeon you do and these can run out pretty quickly. So, within an hour or so, you have used up all your points and either have to log or rolll an alt. There is probably a cash shop feature to get more points but I havent looked for it.
Compared to Vindictus, I found the combat and polish much better, but it is still just a heavily instanced, repetitive game that has a ton of potential but no place for it to live up to.
If only Final Fantasy or another AAA mmo would make combat this much fun with open world support, I would be hooked.
Lets hope Tera delivers on what you hope for. I know I am.
Misinformation in the third to last paragraph. Power points only grant bonus XP.
Is it posible to play this game from Europe or is it blocked?
The game gives me the impression of tons of instances hooked up by tons of portals. There is not really a real open game world. You can only see other players at towns. I imagine it can bring negative impact on social and sense of community in the game. As people said above, very linear gameplay, but combat system is definitly worth trying out if you haven't tried action MMO b4. Afterall, it is another cash-shop game, so personally, I would not go serious on this game.
Actually those points are similar to rested experience points in WoW, you still get XP when they're gone just at the regular rate.