Aion: The Tower of Eternity.. you should definitely try it.. Be informed grinding is involved..
While games like AoC and Warhammer tried and failed... this NCsofts jewel, doesn't need to have a big Name behind it to be a success..
Aion has a reach colorful fantasy lore backing it up.. It may not be for everyone, and especially not for people who look for a Tolkien like world, but none of the less this does also speak of gods, bad foes, and a world cut in half, which adds enough epicenes to the background of the game. .
The game play itself isn't revolutionary, but that's not bad by any mean... It's build up on well known, tested and working mechanics and adds some new fancy stuff...
I.e. The combo system adds a nice twist in pvp or pve combat...
By triggering ability you get a bunch more to choose from... That makes pvp a bit more tactical, by making you think what your next ability should be... or what chain you may follow...
The world itself doesn't seem big enough at first sight... That's part of the linear world progression... The first zones are small, but big enough to guide you through the starting storyline of your character and your first 10levels... While you progress in the game the areas are getting bigger and bigger, with the late 40-50 area being the biggest of them all.
PvPvE is the main focus of the game... PvPvE stands for player vs. player vs. environment... and explains how the Abyss works...
The abyss is the primary pvp battlefield.. It's a hell like place of floating islands you can fly to, on which are fortresses you can siege and claim.. But also a nice hunting place for Abyss points which are like renown or pvp points from other well known games.. You get them by either killing other players or hunting down Abyss monsters. The more AP you get, the better rank you get, the more you got to lose, but the better armor you get..
With that said, yes when you die on pvp you lose a part of your hard earned AP points.
Open PvP isn't really present in this game.. You can't attack the enemy's city.. Ofc that's also explained through the lore of Aion (remember, a world cut in half, what's sky for you is the world for others)..
The only time you can hunt some enemies down without joining the abyss is through rifts.. Rifts are Teleport Gates that open randomly on both worlds allowing player to pay a visit to the other side of the world, and spread some death and destruction... Ofc rifts are announced server wide allowing the pve folk to move over to a safer zone if they choose so...
Another way PvPvE is used in this game are some instances they introduced at release.. For instance one of those allows two enemy groups to join an instance... Whoever makes it first to the boss can kill him.. Ofc there is space for tactical thinking.. I.e. you can try to be the first to clear the trash mobs.. Or you can attack the enemy group and slow them down etc etc..
Ofc there's seems to be enough for pve fans also.. Some great instances await you at later levels!
Flying.. Yes you can fly in this game.. Ofc stop dreaming and comparing Aion to Flight Simulator.. It's not.. You can fly, it's great.. But you will always come across invisible barriers that will limit the way you can use your flight ability...
With that said.. Flying is a great addition.. It's not only a method of transportation but plays a tactical role also...
There are moves especially designed to be used in flight.. But it also is a way to get some breathing air in the thick of a battle..
Graphically the game is immersive.. Don't except Crysis like graphic, you won't find it cause that's the first gen engine used in Far Cry 1.
But that's enough to add many ''ooooh'' moments while you strive through the world of Aion, and it's far better from what we have seen till now in the mmo genre...
That ofc doesn't mean you need a high-end pc to play this game.. The engine is so well configured, you don't get any lag even in the main cities with hundreds of pcs around you..
To have something to compare.. I got around 20fps in Dalaran (WoW) with everything on high but shadows on my hd4870.. I get 30fps+ in the main city with 8x anti-aliasing and everything on high in Aion..
Final Word:
Aion is a great game.. It had a great start, with no server downs but only queues.. Ofc queues are to be expected as balance plays a great role in PvP games.. We don't want some Warhammer de ja vu now do we?
Basically what NCsoft choose to do was to maintain the queues the first days to see, when and how many will continue to log through weekdays and choose either to raise the player limit or open new servers.. That way a healthy server balance is achieved..
Now what the grind goes.. I didn't have to grind any mob to level 20 but only for like 1 or 2 bars, as my way to play is to follow the level that my main storyline quests are..And that was pretty fast too..
That's ofc to be expected especially when you are lucky with quest with a low drop rate..
How things go on, later I really don't know.. But I have some guild mates that managed to level to 25 in just like 3 days.. With that said leveling isn't slow really...
Is Aion the next big mmo? Well for me it surely is.. It's better from every other attempt in the last 2 years.. It's solid, the bugs are ironed pretty fast, and there are really none ... If NCwest manages to have good support over this game, I can't find any reason for Aion not to be the next big thing.. till now at least..
UPDATE 2 SUBSCRIPTION CANCELED:
Well, now 2 months after it's release i' ve canceled and revised my review.. The thing is that I, as a casual player can't manage the time needed to grind through the higher levels..
Let's be honest, the first 20-25 levels are beatiful done, it just makes you believe that it can get only better.. But then you realize that whatever is better you won't get it till max level.. and believe me if you can't grind, yep GRIND, day after day for 8+hours the max level is months away..
You said grind? Didn't you say grinding isn't that bad.. Well i failed.. grinding is big in this game, not as big as in a pure Asian mmo, but there are numerous repeatable quest that ask you to kill millions of mobs to get some coins reward that then can be exchanged for smth better.. and that's how things are.. Nothing interactive nothing new, just pure grinding.. And if 30-40 is hard 40 to max is the hell..
Well with that said, I still belive it's a good game.. but the way leveling is right now, i refuse to pay to bore myself to death..
Till they raise the xp you get in general..
So long and thx for all the fish