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[Review] - Ether Saga Online
skydragonren
Member Posts: 667
Ether Saga Online Review - by - Skydragonren
This is going to be a review for the closed beta of ESO/Ether Saga Online. The open beta is scheduled for Marth 17th 2009.
Also keep in mind I have only gotten to level 30 out of 105 known levels. I am not completely sure what max level in ESO is right now, but the final skill for each character states level 105 so it is safe to say 105 is a possible cap. First I will break down my opinion on the various areas of the game. These are opinions only as each users taste will vary. I will attempt to give a very un biased opinion on these areas. Alright on with the review.
Graphics - 9/10
The graphics are done in a cartoon/anime cell shader style. The most common use of these graphics come in the game World of Warcraft. When I compare it to WoW it is only in the capacity of color scheme and artistic direction. It is typical of an asian grinder MMO. ESO is not a typical asian grinder, however we will get to that in a moment. If you have ever played such games as Flyff or DOMO, this games art direction will remind you of these titles, in my opinion though, is leaps and bounds above them. It supports max resolutions and full scale configuration of graphics which most typical F2P asian grinders do not support. It also supports V-sync control and anti-alias control which can make this game super clean lined and crisp. In my opinion it is the best looking anime/cell shade MMO to be produced to date.
The world is very well done, the villages and cities seem alive as they have gone a new direction and added "roaming npc's" to the game which makes the cities feel less static and more alive.
The skills are also very dynamic and vibrant. In this area the skills are very cool with unique effects. It is a definite plus for the game.
All in all for this style of graphics, it doesn't really get any better than this. As far as anime/cell shade go, I gave it a 9/10. The only downside to the graphics, as in the reason I didn't give it a 10/10 is due to the fact that some of the models are a little TO childish. I know the goal of the art team was to make the anime style childish in effect, some of them seem a tad over the top. Nothing game breaking.
Example of what I speak is this. Let's say you play a Dragoon, you are suppose to be this great warrior weilding a long spear, and your pet is a pink fluff ball. How threatning do you seem weilding this huge spear and heavy armor running around with a pink fluff ball as your campanion. If not for these little quirks in the game I would have easily gave ESO a 10/10 in the anime/cell shade graphics department.
If you are a huge fan of anime or cell shade graphics, you will love this games look. If you are a fan of more traditional style art such as everquest 1 or 2 or Age of Conan, this game will seem very childish to you and you may want to steer away.
Gameplay - 8/10
When I started the download for this game, my expectations going in was, "oh here we go, another RMT free asian grinder that will more than likely only hold my attention for 2 days".
I was wrong....
When I first logged into ESO, I didn't even look at the NPC's I went straight to the first area of mobs and started the grind. After about 5 minutes I noticed something that I did NOT expect.... They weren't giving me much exp and leveling was going quite slow. I thought to myself, well what's the problem, this is an asian grinder is it not. I did notice several quest NPC's on my way to the mob area so I decided to go check them out. I took all the quest in the starter town and proceeded to complete them 1 by 1.
After completing them I went back and turned them in. To my suprise, 1/4 exp bar for 1 quest WOW!!!
FINALLY an asian game without a grind but quest!! I was amazed. I did the entire series of "training" quest and got myself to level 10 within an hour of play! On top of that the "training" quest do a really good job of teaching you how to upgrade your armor and weapons, train your pet, give you some good background on the story, and just get you ready to play ESO in general.
The games complexity also surpised me. There are many different things in ESO that all play a part in the game.
1. Pets - this little guy whatever it may be as I have come to discover there are MANY different pets inside ESO that all do different things. They each have a unique skill set, and they each bring something new to the table. They can also do fusion, I do not know much about fusion yet, but from what I gather you can fuse with you pet to morph yourself into something new, fusing your stats with your pets stats and in doing so opening up an entire new set of skills making you more powerful. Much like Digimon or something of that nature. Pets have their own health and mana bar and also have thier own skill hotbar. You can control them as a completely seperate entity or have them focus on what you are doing. They even have equipment. Also you feed them and care for them to help them grow in skill and strength. This is something pretty unique in terms of what they have done with it.
2. Skills - they level and grow with you. Each skill is gained at a particular level however each skill can gain levels also. You can choose to focus on particular skills to make them stronger, or save you skill points to gain access to skills down the road.
3. Combo system - this works much like a macro. You open up the combo window and set in a series of skills.
Attack -> Special Skill -> Special Skill -> Heal -> Loop
If you set a combo with the above parameters, and set the icon to lets say F1, you will hit F1 and your character is attack the monster, use special skill1 then special skill2 then heal then start over. and it will keep doing what you set until the mob dies. All with just pressing the F1 key once. This save on the tedious task of pressing 5 keys. Which is a welcome feature, though some people may prefer the interaction with the keyboard, they at least give you the option to ease of the task of button pressing.
4. Leveling/ Questing - this part will be a mixed bag for some people, the quest are generally pretty easy enough, most of them are collect a item dropped from a particular mob, or kill X amount of mobs. Pretty straight forward. However you level faster in this fashion than any other way so it does make things better than the typical grind.
5. Dungeons and Instances - The instances and dungeons in this game are very well done, and to my surprise the bosses are extremely hard. As in there is no way you could ever solo one. However they offer a unique take on the grouping fuction which is nice. You go to a NPC that teleport you into the instance, and it will tell you if anyone is in this particular instance or not. So you can just join ones that already have people inside and just join their party. No need really to spam LFG in chat. If people are doing it and you go inside, you will always be a welcome addition, because the bosses are just that hard. No one is going to turn down some extra heals or dps.
6. Transformations - according to game lore (and daoist lore) there are 108 stars of destiny, in this game there are 108 celestial transformations you can achieve. These come from "Transformation Cards" that drop from monsters and are given from quest. When you receive a new transformation or card you can learn it and add it to your transformation window.
Some transformations are infinite, while others require fuel, fuel being cards. The ones that are not inifinite only have a set number of times you can transform into that particular form and once depleted will need another card like it for fuel. Each transformation is broken down into races/archtypes as in elemental or human or beast type. Each transformation is strong against some forms of monsters and weak against others. Transformation play a key role in the game because they are used to help strengthen you against some enemy types you wouldn't be able to fight otherwise. This is something I have yet to experience in an MMO and I found it very unique and intriguing. This is a definite plus to the game.
There is way more information to the gameplay than I have time to write out, but as you can tell the game has many things you must master in order to do well. This game although childish in appearance, is much deeper and complex than you could ever imagine. Just out of it's complexity and entertainment factor alone, I gave this game a 8/10 in gameplay. When I started this game the first night, I played it 7 hours non stop, a feat I have not done in quite some time. The last game that made me play that long on end was FFXI. It was that entertaining to me I just could not shut it off.
It won't be for everyone, but if any of the above gameplay features intrigue you in the least, you will have fun with ESO.
Controls - 8/10
The controls are also non-typical. Typical of these games are your standard "point click go" controls were to click on the ground to move. In ESO this is still there but not the standard. WASD controls have been added and function very well. Also Jump is included in this game with the space bar. So it now plays just like most western MMO's such as WOW, or Guild Wars.
Everything responds very well. Hotbars function properly when keys are pressed and everything feels fluid and smooth. The only downside to the controls in the in ability as of right now to map keys to the keyboard. I think this is a feature that is being worked on however and should be included by the actual release. For that reason it gets an 8/10 from me because the mapping feature is needed, for myself in particular I use the arrow keys typically in my MMO's to move. I can play with WASD but the mapping feature is missed.
Crafting - 7/10
Crafting and gathering are both in the game, however they seem limited compared to the other aspects of the gameplay.
Each class has a particular crafting line that is beneficial to them, in which they can make items to help them along on their journey. Also there are gathering skills to help you make money such as hunting, or herb gathering.
Like is said crafting is there but needs some work, it is simple enough, and is needed in the world, just needs some more attention. It has been mentioned by many testers in the beta forums that crafting needs some love, so I am sure they will work on it for release.
Fun Factor - 9/10
If you can over look such things as the keybaord mapping not being implemented yet, and the anime cartoon style, along with some bugs due to beta, this game offers tons of fun. Like I stated in my case I played this game 7 hours none stop the first night. No game has made me do this in many many years. It was almost as though I couldn't wait to find out what I would learn next. In an entertainment capacity for a F2P game it doesn't get much better than ESO.
Negative Thoughts - 5/10
Here are some negatives I have found that might not be negatives to all but to some. Some quest require items from the RMT shop for the game. Items for the quest to expand you bag space and bank space come from RMT. I know some of the testers have made suggestions in the beta forums about allowing these items to also be obtained from epic quest, but as of right now some quest can only be completed through RMT. This is a negative for me, however not a game breaker. As far as I can tell it isn't going to be something that you can't live without if you so choose.
I can forsee the RMT to be an issue for players such as myself who will never use one.
Crafting is another negative for me as it needs to be more in depth, I am sure though this aspect will be fixed so it is only a negative for now.
The low 5/10 score is for the sheer fact of RMT, I never really agreed with it or liked it, but some do and that is ok, it isn't a game breaker for me.
Final Thought - 8/10
I have been waiting for years for a game to come out on the scene that took the style the asians are known for, and the western gameplay that the americans and europeans are known for and combining them into one game. ESO has finally done this in my opinion. It has taken the Clean anime style of some of the best F2P grinders out there and combined it with western questing, and story driven content.
There are many things I did not include in this initial review such as the clan/guild system and more in depth analysis of the fusions, the PvP aspect and so forth however, these things I just haven't gotten to yet. I am waiting until open beta after the "last character wipe" to dig in much deeper and start a clan. At which time I will make a new review when I have gotten much higher in the game. As of right now though, I would recommend this game to anyone with the same interest in gameplay and style that I have. If you liked anything positive I had to say about this game, it is worth the free download and time.
I look forward to seeing what they can do with this game in the long term.
As you can tell I am not exceptional at writing reviews, however I just tried to give the reader my take on what looks to be a very good game.
Comments
very good job
i too thought this was going to be another grindfest, but i will definately try it in open beta
Good review.
While, I wouldn't call this game a "grindfest," it is still fairly grindy. Over the past couple days, I've had to kill a couple hundred Jaqisac Arsons for quests. It's a pretty game, but I don't think there's enough depth to keep even a child engaged more than a few months. If you're looking for a F2P game with a decent pet system, this one will probably hold you over until Free Realms releases.
Well I will agree with the killing the arsons thing.
Here is the thing though, when I think of a grinder, I think games like Lineage 2. Killing the same monsters over and over for the duration of your 80 levels. L2 has some quest but not really. You can't level with them.
At least ESO breaks that up with the quest being the majority of the exp while grinding isn't as beneficial.
It has you going places to find quest and read, as opposed to just standing in the fields kill 40 thousand arsons.
You are right the quest are go here kill 20 of these or 30 of these, some of them are go kill these till they drop a stick.
Which I guess is still a grind, but it is a grind with story and a grind with the appearance of purpose as opposed to 20 million of these downed from level 1-105.
I don't know though, It appears to have enough quirks for me to play it for quite some time, like trying to collect all 108 transformations.
There are things in the game to hold attention.
Like I said It won't be for everyone, but some people may find it worth a look.
The Kill Quests would be more tolerable if they could be stacked. That's why I ended up killing a couple hundred of the same mob. I accepted several quests to kill the same thing, thinking they could be completed simultaneously. Doesn't work that way. I also don't like when I turn in a Kill Quest and the NPC then wants me to kill a different mob that is found in the exact same spot as the previous target. Just tell me everything you need wacked over there the first time! They have a lot to learn when it comes to economy of quest design.
This is true, I read a bunch of suggestions on the beta forums yesterday about this exact thing. People wanted the mob kills to stack for all quest they were on.
I feel the same way as you.
I know it has been suggested, let us just hope they listen.
The game does have it's fair share of negatives along with it's good sides, I think it has more positives than negatives when it comes to a F2P. At the very least they have moved into the right direction when it comes to selling the game to the western market than their previous attempts.
They still have a lot to learn, but this is a step in the right direction.
You get this Mirror through a quest at 18 that allows you to Bot for up to 3 hours. You can put potions in the mirror and the skills you want to use, and let your character go massacre guys for hours. Haven't tried it, but it seems interesting ~ atleast it know it's a grinder.
I agree with the art comments.. it's a beautiful game. Lot of character and style. The models are not reused as you level up, each enemy is a possibility of pet and they figure it's important to have the diversity.
Open beta begins very soon and there will be a character wipe~ so one may wait till that happens.
Very nice review. Thank you for posting it! How big is the game world? Are there zones or is it a big open world? Can you go off and explore and find things to do or is it more linear?
The world is completly open end, no loading in the world. It is seemless. It isn't HUGE, which I thought was kinda a negative but the dungeons and instances add a lot to the depth of the game.
There is an NPC in the cities that is a "teleporter".
When you speak to him a window will open with all instances broken down into levels. If you meet the level requirements, he will teleport you inside.
The cool thing though is it keeps track of who is inside. It will show you a number of players already fighting inside.
It also shows you the realm that they are fighting in.
I should explain this part, as of right now there are only 2 servers, 1 west coast and 1 east coast. There are roughly 14 realms inside each server and 1 trading realm.
When you make a character it can change between these realms at the character select screen. I am assuming they did this to reduce lag and over population.
So if you want a quiet night of leveling you can pick a high number I typically play in like 10-15. If you want a lot of people around you should go to 1-5.
Anyway, the teleporter will show you which realm a party is fighting in. If it isn't your realm, simply log to character select screen and choose the realm you seen them in. When you spawn back in game you will still be standing in front of that teleporter. Just pick the instance and join them. It really saves on looking for a group.
The game world is free roam however. Cool thing is you unlock you flying mount around level 10, which is 2-3 hours of play maybe. Then you can just fly way up in the air and explore that way.
There are quite a few quest that are going to send you into dungeons, many of the items needed come from the instances and dungeons as well.
What the world limits in size it makes up for in things to do, the quest are a plenty. granted as you have seen some of us discuss the quest are usually as simple as going to kill x amount of mobs, or kill this guy to gain these items. However the quest do a good job of easing you into areas you are ready for. At level 10 they wont send you into a group of level 30 mobs.
I played for a week and only seen about 1/4 of the world and 2 instances. So It has a fair share of things to explore. I hope this helps.
Something about this game i like, even though i hate perfect world, this game has a similar engine but the style is different.
The game is pretty casual, and even though it is a grind game, it is extremly quest heavy, youll never be out of a quest to do so you will always be kept busy,
Though i agree the item mall for the bank quest is a pain in the ass, but its the only quest that does it, And you can get buy without doing those quests,
The game also has a built in bot as a reward from quests, which allows you to auto grind for up to a day on quests and stuff like that, for people who want to take a break and let the game go on. ANd some people dont like the possessor but i think its a nice addition. I never understood why people want to be so heavly vested in the mundane day to day hacking and slashing.
Im looking forward to this game at launch, although i dont plan on using the item mall, i may psend 10-20 bucks if i feel i need the bag space.
Quotations Those Who make peaceful resolutions impossible, make violent resolutions inevitable. John F. Kennedy
Life... is the shit that happens while you wait for moments that never come - Lester Freeman
Lie to no one. If there 's somebody close to you, you'll ruin it with a lie. If they're a stranger, who the fuck are they you gotta lie to them? - Willy Nelson
An important note: after level 45 the game becomes open PVP. As of yet, there are no PVE servers.
How is it? Any pvp instances or objective based pvp or is just a gankfest?
At the moment, there is no objective-based PVP. Though I don't expect the "cutesy" style of the game to attract many people of the gank mindset.
A statement from a community mod: "We are developing PVP instances for both small-scale encounters and large-scale battefields. These will be scheduled releases after the game launches. In these instances, players do not receive penalties for killing other players (since it's the objective and all)."
IMO, with the emphasis on pets, I think they should make Pokemon style arenas where just the pets fight.
This game is a total grind fest, what are you talking about? Almost every quest is about killing upwards of 20-50 mobs for different quests and it's not uncommon to have 3 or more quests at one time to kill the same mob. BUT, the kills don't apply to all the quests, so if you have 3 quests that require you to kill 20 of x mob, you have to kill 60 of them. I put 20 levels into it and that's enough for me. They can keep their grind and cash shop happy selves.
This.
The game has a couple nice features, but god there is so much grinding in this game ( I'd even say more then an average asian grinder)
Dragon1613 says:asdfasdfafsdfw111111123123123213
-server-Dragon1613 has died
I have been playing this game for the past few days as a Yaoh Ranger. I LOVE IT! It's addicting. I'm up to level 14. I love the pet system, the transformations, the varied item drops, etc. I can't believe I am having so much fun. I'm enjoying it so much I've been neglecting my single-player games. It may not be everyone's cup of tea but it sure seems to be very well thought out and high quality.