Utopia: Origin Mobile MMO

PhelimReagh

Utopia: Origin ( http://utopia.herogame.com/index_en.html ) is an MMORPG for mobile made in (soon to be Communist Chinese) Hong Kong. The concept is you run around the immense open world in First or Third Person view, and you decide what to do ("Play Your Way" is the subtitle/ catchphrase to the game). It is pretty much as close to a sandbox that I have ever seen or played. I cannot understand why this does not have 1,000,000 players! Apple and Android version available.

(Add my character “Phelim” on the US/NA PVE Server, there is only one.)

Utopia: Origin has its flaws, do not get me wrong. Plenty of them. But you can search those out somewhere else. Despite the many small-to-medium issues, the actual game play is addictive engrossing. The parts I love:

• CRYPTOCURRENCY: Every minute you play you earn some token (don't know which one, very likely obscure).
• SANDBOX - Outside of the starter area there are basically no quests. You have to decide what to do.
• PLAYER CONTROLLED ECONOMY – As far as I can tell so far, there is very little in-game currency (Gold/ Silver/ Copper) of any sort coming into the game. All of the in-game currency traded on the Auction House between players. The economy is completely player-run.
• HOUSING - The "Hearth" and "Tribe" housing are the greatest housing design system in an MMO  I have ever played. Once you get past the initial learning curve, the sky is the limit! Players can create their housing units virtually anywhere in-game. There are no housing slots where you must create your Hearths, they can go ANYWHERE!
• OPEN WORLD - The world is fairly immense, with several island continents. Getting around can be slow, but once you are a veteran you have so many super-fast transportation vehicles via land, sea and air that you can cover ground in a flash.
• PVE - On the PVE servers, everything is totally safe for those uninterested in PVP
• PVP - Conversely, on the PVP servers it's pretty intense.
• INEXPENSIVE - I have been playing for a long time and cannot find a reason to spend real world cash/ money.

You can kill: 

• roaming, passive herds of harmless ruminants who just try to run away;
• smaller herds of passive but tougher ruminants who will fight back;
• sparse groupings of wild, dangerous and aggressive varmints, sea-creatures and predators;
• undead beasts guarding valuable treasures;
• zone bosses whom you are advised to attack with groups;
• after midnight, groups of aggressive "imps" appear from everywhere, carrying rewards essential for many activities; and finally
• the ultimate prey: other players (if on a PVP Server, but not if you are on PVE).

Don'the want to kill? Not to worry, you can:

• Mine metals and rocks (i.e. stone, iron, silver, gold, crystal and obsidian);
• fell trees, which reward you with logs;
• gather things off the ground (e.g., vegetables, sand, mud, cotton, etc.); and
• fish at any water source to get various sealife depending upon the area on the map.

Once you have killed and gathered, it's time to build and craft!

HOUSING and CRAFTING

Almost everything in game has to be created in-game by players. Aside form the occasional Achievement rewards, all your clothing, items, weapons, materials, etc., must be gathered and crafted by the players. Economy is completely player-driver.

There is no “bank” in this game. You must either create your own house, or “Hearth”, and put storage inside it. There are various storage units, varying in size from 30 spaces, all the way up to 100. You can have several different kinds of each, so you essentially can end up with hundreds up on hundreds of storage slots.

If you do not want to bother building your own “Hearth” but still want storage, you can join another player's Hearth and simply build your storage units  in the other player's Hearth instead. However, this is limiting, as each hearth can only have “X” number of each type of storage units. So you are best of creating your own Hearth.

In addition to storage, all of the crafting machines have to be created by players, and they are placed in their Hearths. Using the dozen or two different crafting machines, you can create hundreds of in-game items, as well as hundreds of different housing items.

An interesting capability: upload your own photos to put on flags and clothing! I haven't tried this out, but I have seen it and it's cool

When you craft tools, you can add upgrade items to give random boosts to your items. Some of the upgrades can be pretty useful.

THE NEGATIVES

Graphics are fairly unimpressive, but it is mobile after all.

The character view is very, very limited. Moving around is annoying because the camera does not follow the player as they go.

Being a sandbox, it can be rough. Storage is not very easy. You have one place that you have all of your stuff, and you have to return there any time you need to “bank”.

Transportation throughout the world can take a lot of time. There is limited teleporting locations, and you can only use the inter-zone teleports 3 times per day (you can teleport home, however, unlimited numbers of times). So you have to be careful and plan out your travel to not waste your 3 teleports.

Very limited game documentation. The only wiki is old, outdated and sparse.

There are no real “skills”. Leveling up really doesn't do much. Characters can wield or use anything, and use of skills or abilities have no effect on improving your play. A “Gold Sword” in the hand of a level 5 character does very little less damage than one in the hand of a level 55 character.

There are quite a few other issues you'll find no doubt, but those are the biggies that come to mind. For those interested in an engrossing game, I'd say the negatives are doable.

CONCLUSION

This isn't the best or most encompassing review. I hope I got across the fact that Utopia: Origin is an undiscovered gem of a game. For those who like unrestricted, off-the-rails gaming with other players, I cannot think of a better one, and certainly none as inexpensive.

oxbone00

Please someone give me an recommended mobile mmorpg.
Get so much boring ald.

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