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Sep 25th, 2012 at 01:25:15 - S4 League (PC) |
A friend introduced me to a game called S4 League. The game is a MMO developed by GameOn Studios. It was released in Korea in 2007 and moved to the Euro/NA servers in 2008. The game is quite simple compared to the other games I have played. The game is a third person arena. You control your own character and work either as a team to defeat the other team or play alone. The game is pure arena meaning there are no missions/quests. Because it is a PvP game there are many different modes. Some example of the modes they have are Touchdown, Seize, Deathmatch, Battle Royal, and Chaser. Each mode is unique because there are different objectives in order to beat the other team. In Seize, the concept is to capture a “base” and defend from the other team. Points are gained over time as you hold the base or you take one over.
The gameplay itself is not too difficult. There are few keys to work with. As I played this the game usually includes lots of spamming attacks. This makes the game easy yet hard to play. There is some skill required. Another thing I found out when I played this game was that the 'GameGuard' for this game is really loose. There are hackers in a majority of the games I played. The hacks could include infinite HP to 1 hit KO's. The matches can be intense at times and fast paced at times since it is a PvP.
Aside from the gameplay, the customization of the game lacks detail. The character creation is very short and there are very little combinations so my players look similar in game. Along with the customization, the item/shop system also needs improvement. First, there are not much items in the shop. I do not know if you get more options as you level/rank up higher, but the “start out” items are lacking. The items in shop are also timed. After purchase the item will only last for short amount of time. You can buy permanent items, but it cost real money. The stats of the items that cost real money are more superior to the ones that are time limited and use in-game money. This system sort of forces the player to use real money on the game. There is a lottery system where “unique” items can be obtained.
A confusing aspect of the game is the rank system. It seems like it is for prestige, but I am not sure if you acquire more skills or more item choices or whatever. Over all the game has a nice anime artistic design to it. It is a fun game to play and I do like the idea of a pure PvP arena game. It is competitive, but can get frustrating. There are many parts of the game that, in my opinion, don't work as well as it could. It was a fun game that I may play some other time, but the chances of me playing it a lot is not high. I do recommend the game however.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Sep 25th, 2012 at 01:26:28.
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Sep 18th, 2012 at 00:35:34 - C9: Continent of the Ninth Seal (PC) |
Last week I wrote a review about C9: Continent of the Ninth Seal. As I stated, I only started playing this game. After a week of more gameplay, I have done a decent amount of exploring and tinkering with the game. I have learned many new aspects of the game that I did not try last week. Some of these are the upgrading, guild, and party dungeons.
The item upgrading in this game is similar to the others I have played. A certain material is required in order to upgrade the weapons. Different leveled equipment requires different grades of the material. The upgrade materials can be acquired through quests or simply spamming dungeon runs. I found it not difficult to collect these materials. Running a dungeon few times got me a decent amount. Along with these upgrade materials, gold is needed as well. Gold is a large factor in upgrading. Each upgrade requires one material; however the gold increases per upgrade. There is a failure chance (I do not know the percent). Gold is difficult to increase since you are constantly using it. As long as you have gold, you can upgrade your items, which is like most games now. One thing I dislike about the upgrade system is the failure rate. It seems like the chance of a fail upgrade isn’t high and it doesn’t increase per upgraded level. This way many people can max out their gear causing the game to be unbalanced. Some of the games I played have insane failure rates such as Cabal (I will write about this game in the future).
Another aspect I tried last week was the guild system. At first I joined a random one. I played around with the guild features and such. Later I quit that guild and decided to make my own. By doing this, I can play around with it more. The guild system in C9 is quite elaborate. The guild is divided by levels. Each level can get different things. For example a level 3 guild has the ability to create a guild house. There are also guild skills which help the members of the guild. In order to level up a guild, GP is required. GP can be obtained after each run of a dungeon. Each member of that guild is eligible to acquire GP. I really like the guild system in this game. The guilds take time to build up and force the players to run dungeons.
As I said this game was recently released, therefore the game will get many updates. This last weekend a new update did come out. A new expansion called The Ruined Empire was released in C9. In this expansion, the level cap was raised. It also came out with a several new dungeons for those levels. The storyline also continues in this expansion. I am currently slowly making my way up. There are still many things I have not yet done in this game. Next week I will most likely try out the Arena (PvP) as well as something called Intrusion, which I am really looking forward to.
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Sep 10th, 2012 at 16:06:08 - C9: Continent of the Ninth Seal (PC) |
Continent of the Ninth Seal (C9) is a game recently released by Webzen. Webzen has developed quite a few notorious MMORPGs like MU and SUN, however each with a different type of gameplay. Originally I was beta tester but never got around to actually play the game. Because I missed the beta, I don't know what the game was like before it was released and what improvements had been made. The gameplay of C9 is in third person. It is a hack n' slash/dungeon crawler RPG. Unlike some hack n' slash games, C9 is not a side scroller. It is pure third person view. I don't usually play hack n' slash games but this game has caught my eye. There are few aspects I find amazing in this game.
Last week I talked about Phantasy Star Online 2 and its character customization. This game is similar since both games have elaborate customization. However, the customization in C9 is class based. This means each class has a specific set of hair, eyes, tattoos, etc. This limitation actually helps create a better diversity of players. Besides that, everything else is generally the same except that C9 is more realistic/medieval while PSO2 is more anime based.
Another aspect of is that it has no “lock on” as well as no aiming reticule. This makes the game a bit difficult play but engages the player more. The controls are also engaging since there a few hotkey skills. Most of the skills and attacks are based on combinations of keys and left/right clicks. The difficulty of game chances by the class you select during character creation. Each class has a specific difficulty. For example, one class may have more key combination skills while other class has most hotkey skills. This variance of class difficulty really changes gaming experience. C9 is also different because there is no skill tree. New skills are acquired my level. Once you get to a certain level, you can can a new skill but there is not a “tree”. One skill is not required to learn another.
There are much more in this game that I have not played, but I know I will definitely continue playing it. Actually I am going to play it after I finish this blog. I have not yet tried the crafting, trade system, party dungeons etc, etc. I will get to it eventually and continue to update blogs on this game.
This entry has been edited 6 times. It was last edited on Sep 10th, 2012 at 16:14:04.
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Sep 4th, 2012 at 00:04:18 - Phantasy Star Online 2 (PC) |
Phantasy Star Online 2 is a game introduced to me by a good friend of mine from Japan. I have been playing this on and off with a couple of other games, however I decided to write about this game because it has not been released in the NA servers yet. The only server that is running is the Japanese one, which is the one I am playing on. The game came out July 4, 2012, which makes it fairly new. PSO2 is the second in the Phantasy Star series, coming after PSO, which came out in late 2000 for the Dreamcast, GameCube, Xbox, and PC.
PSO2 is an action MMORPG. Unlike most other RPGs out there, PSO2 utilize both the first and third person views. While most of the game is in third person, the game lets you switch to first person when you are in a “mission”. This control of perspective gives the game better feel as well as gameplay. In addition to change in perspective, PSO2 also allows players to choose different classes on the same character. Most RPGs require a separate character to play a different class. PSO2 allows you to switch between their 3 classes by talking to a NPC. The three classes so far are Gunner, Blader, and Mage. By allowing players switch between classes, the game makes it easier to work with. Instead of having multiple characters, you can easily play all of them. Also this makes the game less like an RPG.
Another difference I found between this game and most RPGs is that it doesn’t have much of a skill tree except for the one controlled my the NPC. Skills are obtained by drops from monsters in missions, and there are no level requirement for a specific skills. By doing this, the game limits the player of a more “free” RPG. Another aspect of this game that differs from most RPGs is the terrain setup. Even though the game is a free roam, the maps for missions are limited and linear. A player can almost never get lost since the map is so detailed and guides you well.
There are many parts of the game I have not fully explored yet. The language barrier hinders my explorations a bit since the words are in Japanese. However, there is one part of the game I have mastered - the character customization. Out of all the games I have played, this game has the most elaborate customizing options. When I first made my character, it took a it took a good one hour just to make it the way I wanted to. The customization in PSO2 is divided by the 3 sections: the head, the upper body, and the lower body. Each section is then divided by many other sections each containing many options. Some options include shape of the face, positioning of the ear, weight, height, body proportions and much more. And before you ask, yes…you can also change “that”.
PSO2 is a great game to play. I have high expectations for this game and will continue to play it. I will also continue to log this game from time to time.
This entry has been edited 3 times. It was last edited on Sep 4th, 2012 at 00:23:20.
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MChang has been with GameLog for 12 years, 2 months, and 23 days |
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