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i just played up to lvl 7
xenageo
Member Posts: 31
this game is amazing. don't be afraid for the first 5 levels, like exploring any new mmo, this one seems huge and daunting. within an hour or two, you are already well immersed into the world.
firstly, graphics. with stiff competition from games like darkfall and aion, its hard to imagine a game on an old unreal engine competing. but make no mistake, it is beautiful. any modern video card can run tcos at max settings, at maxed out, the game is very pretty. the graphics have a hand-painted look to them, colors are very vibrant.
sound, every review i read said sound blew them out of the water and i wasn't sure what to expect. this game has AAA sound. both music and sound effects, they sound realistic and they are well syncronized. the music is epic.
combat, oh yeah, this one is the motherload. if you heard any hype about tcos its probably about the combat system. well let me say this, up until lvl 7, combat sort of sucks. just like SiL promotes, its easy to learn but mastering takes a lot of calculation and tactics. the skill deck rotates an available 3 skills to choose from, i find it best to keep 1 ranged, and 2 melee or magic spells available. i keep 1 heal in my 9 available skill slots. the skilldeck rotates sides every 2 seconds or so, and cool down for skills is well timed to match the skill deck and the pace of pvp and pve.
pvp - oh man, its so good and also so demanding. because players are unpredictable you really have to move quick and make the best out of the skills you pre-selected.
pve - significantly easier than pvp because mobs aren't as smart as people, but AI is very good. if you fight a bear in the line of sight of another bear, that bear will rush into the fight. pve is not as hard, but its by no means easy or boring. tcos will throw a lot of big rooms of enemies at you, you can choose to fight them off or sneak around pockets of them.
quest system - this is nothing revolutionary, but its getting a lot of hype. and it is well deserved hype. the quest system makes you use your map and quest log actively. this is not to say it makes you do boring research, maps show buildings, but not building names, in order to see the building's name you must hover your mouse over the map. you must also read the quest log carefully to know where to look on the map. this is all very introductory newbish stuff. again, after an hour or 2 of playing you have explored a lot of the first area and should be more familiar with it.
this doesn't sound like a huge deal, but it makes the game just more fun to play with other people. it feels more like oblivion than other MMOs that have the flashing arrows indicating your designated location.
the minimap is the only source of displaying NPCs. npcs will not show up on the main map, but they will appear on the minimap when you are in their general vicinity. to improve this feature, you can zoom the minimap out further and see more of the map around you.
items, clothing and sigils. by lvl 7 you have minimum interaction with any items, you might collect a new weapon or two, a sigil or a piece of clothing. that is about all you'll get from the f2p. however, it is very clear these items are designed how SiL explained. they are not powerplayer unique divine items. sigils will do an increase of .5% damage. a small increase of only 1 of 3 types of damage. and not just all damage, you can put sigils in your melee weapon, your ranged weapon, or even in your skill slots.
so with all that said let me describe my experience. like i said, a little slow at first. then i got into a rhythm and started plowing through quests. you will hear people say this is, and is not a grinding game. what is excellent about tcos is you can choose to grind mobs or quests and each will give you plenty of EXP.
this is great since most people do not feel that grinding or quests are often generous enough with exp, or at least not worth the time they require to finish. there will never be a scenario in tcos where you need exp and cannot find a quest or exp source.
combat combat combat, i actually just died in a cave in the f2p area and that is why i am here raving about this excellent game. i solod my way down these tunnels, fighting through small groups of bandits and assassins.
i entered a giant room and finally met my end as i attracted too much attention from too many mobs.
but it was fun, up until i died. you have to have very fast fingers to select different skills based on constantly shifting combat. i use the scroll wheel on my mouse to switch between skills on my skilldeck, but the numbers 1-5 also work in selecting skills (like fps gun toggles)
before i write any more pages of this book i'm going to call it a wrap and give this game my blessing of a 8.5 out of 10.
8.5 only because the game has so much more potential, and lucky for us, SiL knows it. they are excellent developers, and because this is their only game, they are very dedicated to the quality of the project. i am firm believer that an MMO is only as good as its development after it launches, and SiL is demonstrating with 5 patches, and 1 big expansion going in today, that they are definitely dedicated.
thanks for reading!
Comments
Sounds like a great game... now if they'd only release it over here in NA so we can give it a first hand look.
Stiff competition from DF regards graphics?!
Sorry, I stopped reading there, helplessly laughing.
Quest system is getting a lot of hype? ROFL
I stopped reading when I saw that lie.
Stiff competition from DF regards graphics?!
Sorry, I stopped reading there, helplessly laughing.
The still shots of DF look great and the graphics in TACoS is nothing that special, so the comparison is fine.
I'm glad to see more positive opinions. Its interesting that you didn't like the combat. At first I wasn't very excited about it, but by level 5 I was having a great time with it. After 7 levels with a Deathhand I thought it was awesome.
yeah tcos graphics are far superior to darkfalls, however darkfall is an upcoming competitor with more realistic graphics, instead of the vibrant, stylized graphics of tcos.
also, the quest system is as hyped as it is criticized, it is not revolutionary, but it is not going unnoticed either, i am hyping it :P
hmmm.. Well I've been looking for a few new games to play so I will give this one a go.
sounds better han any modern mmo ive played but i still want darkfall more
ill play this if darkfall is somehow bad.
im w8ing for lvl 10, lvl 9 now, so i can use my 4 skills per 4 barrs, really like the combat after lvl 5, before .. well if you compare to wow lvl 1-10 its still more fun.
btw criticise is ok, but if you dont like this game, just dont bother about it, dont spamm post your o so bad exp with this game, even if it aint released for most of you ..
/agree with 8.5
This game is very easy to get in US and even subscribe too....look around this forum ...if ya made to here you can do it...trust me.
The game is very different from the wow-cloneaton thats been coming out.....yes I agree the quests are similiar but what do ya want?
combat is where this game is at I think even a step ahead of AoC's melee combat that I felt was a new twist...but this takes it a step foward. Especially if you use mouse-turn and the scrolling wheel to choose your skills. I have never been good at pvp because I hated using the mouse to turn...this game has made that so simple for me...
w,s is foward and back like most
a,d is strafing
holding right mouse button for turning
left mouse button clicks to attack
scroll with wheel to choose the different skills as your deck scrolls after each attack....its friggin genious I love it.
if they add end game content..which i hear there isnt much of this game will be a real sleeper.....theres always pvp till that content gets added.
servers certainly are not like standing in orgimarr...but far from dead
Lol - another thread of mysteriously low post counrt people raving about a new game.
I am sure there are many wonderful low post count players out there, but my paranoid antenna are twitching.
WOO WOO WOO.. is something amiss here?
This game did forests really well, when im walking down a path and there are forests on both sides I kind of get nervous lol, because they did a good job of hiding whats in there, I once walked into a forest just to explore and two wolves jumped out of nowhere and almost killed me lol.
PS. If I make a new char and give him or her a red hood I could make a Little Red Riding Hood video lol.
Only your own paranoia. But that doesn't mean that everyone here isn't out to get you.
Stiff competition from DF regards graphics?!
Sorry, I stopped reading there, helplessly laughing.
It's funny... I can play TCoS on max settings and still manage high frame rates. Whereas games like Vanguard and AoC had to be muddied up to the point the graphics looked like crap to get desirable framerates for me... not to mention their hideous art styles (IMO). TCoS graphics might not be the latest and greatest.. but they look really good and the game runs really well... that counts for a lot in my book.
It's a game, the play makes it fun.. not the graphics. If graphics are choppy or there are an excessive number of loading screens it tends to take away from the game play. TCoS has some of the better graphics in all the mmorpgs I've played over the last 9 or so years.