Free MMORPG Forums

DarkEssence

La Tale. Yet another 2D sidescrolling mmorpg...or is it? The answer to that is no.

Story: 9/10
The biggest controversy right now for this game is if it's going to go up in flames just like Maple Story, and this is one of the features that truly gives it a leap forward. The entire story revolves around you, trying to figure out where you are and for what purpose. The game starts off with a beautiful comic-book style view of Iris Livier's last moments(as far as we know) facing the Demon King. It is also the basis of a small yet affective tutorial that teaches you how to move/attack and block. Basically the entire beggining is a vision you were having, and you are now strangely in a whole new world, called La Tale. And so your adventure begins, with you having to explore the land of La Tale while trying to figure out what the vision you had meant. Through the entire game you meet people and messages from Iris that tell you more about your purpose in this world, and more about Iris Livier's story.

Quests: 9/10
Again I would have to say that La Tale takes the cake from Maple Story. There are still a lot of "get me these items" and "hunt these monsters" quests. However, they have more story/dialogue/meaning behind them, making them much more enjoyable. You'll also find many new and unfamilier types of quests like discovering a certain pathway(Walking a certain piece of a land). A lot of quests also can be redone up to 3 times, making them play a huge role in power lvling. Alot more npcs have quests to give, and all of them have a story behind as to why they need a certain item or a certain monster killed.

Gameplay: 8/10
The grind is just about the level I want it to be for me to have fun with this game. You go around, do quests, slowly progress through the story, as you level up your character and raise up your skill/spell tree. You can even raise more than one skill/spell tree at a time. The party system is also done really well, however I am dissapointed that you can only make four-member teams. There's also a guild/friend system and a lot of people play, making interaction a key element. Something really cool about this game that I think everyone should know, is that La Tale provides a real sidescrolling experience, meaning not only do you walk a long road towards one locations, kill, level, repeat, but you actually have to dodge obstacles on the way, climb ropes/ladders, swing across ropes, and go up spirals. It adds to the fun, and is something that most sidescrolling mmorpgs lack. The only other downside I can think of is that not all of the promised features(like enchanting, pets, etc) are in the game yet, but they were promised to be released in the near time future.

PvP: 4/10
I have a problem with this because I have not been able to access this at all and I have looked everywhere to see if maybe I could find a little PvP guide. So far I have read that in order to PvP you have to click one of the npc's at the same time as someone else, and you can do 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, or 3 vs 3, depending on who clicks at the same time. I think that the system is really flawed and it should still be worked on. Maybe once I get to try it I'll give a little more review on this, along with a different score.

Graphics: 9/10
Very cute 2D graphics with beautifully animated magic/skills. Great city and field backgrounds, and I love the avatar/npc/monster models/sprites. A lot of graphical changes can be done with your avatar, more than in most side-scrolling mmorpgs.


Customization: 9/10
I don't know about you guys, but this is a really important feature that I like to have in my games. Not only the beggining options for your character but also the later look and feel of your character, and the right to express your inner self in the avatars. But no worries here, because La Tale deliver very nicely compared to some of it's fallen comrades. At the character creation screen you have 10 options for hair style, 7 for hair color, 7 for face style, 5 eye color, 4 skin tone, 4 for your top(clothes) color, and 4 for your bottom(clothes) color. You also get to choose between 4 classes; warrior, knight, wizard, and explorer. These also branch into two more seperate classes each at lvl 80; warlord and blader for warrior, templar and guardian for knight, sorceror and bard for wizard, and treasure hunter and gunslinger for explorer. As far as weapons warriors can use knuckles, two-handed swords, and spears. Knights can use knuckles, one-handed swords, and clubs. Wizards can use knuckles, daggers, and staffs. Travelers can use knuckles, daggers, bows, and crossbows. As far as clothes andd weapons, you're going to be impressed with the many items you can customize yourself with. There is a cash shop where you can buy items for real money(OR...). There's also a fashion shop in which you can buy beautiful cash-shop items for in-game money. Finally! La Tale is even less cash-shop based then most other games. Although I will warn that cash-shop items with in-game money tend to be pretty expensive.

Controls: 9/10
Very simple controls to learn. Great for if you're going to change computers or characters often, because for the most part controls aren't as flexible as in most games. You do have two tiers to customize the same buttons, and it's not too hard to get accustomed. The basic controls are z for basic attack, x for strong attack, c for jump, v for picking up items, and the next two closest buttons to put skills on are shift and alt. Don't worry you'll get the hang of it.

Music: 8/10
I'd have to say that if you actually give careful attention to the soundtrack you will be pleasantly surprised. Most of the music and sounds in the game fit nicely into situations and are lively enough to keep you awake at night, during those long night-training hours. However you won't feel like you're missing much if you just turn off your speakers either. Also a lot of tunes reminded me of ragnarok. Same style of music I suppose.

Community: 8/10
Every community in every game is going to have their "bad seeds", sort of speak. However the creators of La Tale have done everything they can to prevent these bad seeds from ruining the game for the rest of us. First of all, you can only see YOUR drops and no one elses. That means that no one else can see or steal your drops. Next,If someone tries to ks you, they only get part of the exp, based off how much damage they do to the monster. Item drops are based off of whoever gets the most damage to the monster, and if you are in a party you can alter how the item drops are distributed. For the most part these features should keep the environment drama/stress free. If you have a question you can usually find more than just one helpful person at a time, often-times finding an entire group parked near you trying to solve your dilemma.

Replay: 8/10
The grind is just a the point where you get the chance to really experience hands on with all of the clases. Each class has a different basic/strong attack depending what type of weapon they are using. So you get 4 beggining classes to mess around with and those that you want to grind to 80 with, you get 8 more classes to try.

Overall: 8/10
After I figure out how PvP works, or if it's improved at all this score will go up to a low to high 9. So far I deffinetly reccomend downloading and trying this game. If you love 2D cute anime games, and you want an improved version of Maple STory(lol) thenthis is the game for you. With the enriching story, high ammount of well-paying quest, and fun classes to play with, along with a huge active community, you can't lose here folks. This is a must try.

Copyrighted DarkEssence 2008.
Gamefaqs and OnRPG have my permission to use this.

__________________

Ne0n

Pretty good review.

I really want to know how the PvP thing work and I don't like running in the game cause it doesn't work sometimes. o_o;

Is it lag?

__________________

.Katie

I'd say the lag is a pretty big flaw... :U It kind of wounds skill and reflex-based PvP, munts my beloved knuckle knights, and makes exploring the world a chore rather than a pleasure at times.

No, it's not the game's fault, but the review should take into account the whole package including the shortcomings of the publisher, since that's how we actually experience the game.

And with their front page poll saying 90% of the community has a ping 800ms or higher, that's a pretty huge shortcoming indeed..

Other than that, I agree. xD They need to implement new content soon though.

Ne0n- I've heard it being called "synchronization issues" as well- either way OGplanet needs to get all over it like stink on a chimp.

DarkEssence

Actually I have never lagged on this game using my roommate's desktop, but I have using my girlfriend's laptop. :/ Same network. Her computer is a lot worse though. I also have encountered quiet a few people that have never had lag either D:

Also thank you for the compliments/opinions ^^

__________________

Ne0n

I don't really get lag too but the running doesnt work sometimes.. its weird.

__________________

DarkEssence

Oh, yeah on my girlfriend's laptop sometimes I have to double tap the button numerous number's of times. However I do not have that error on the desktop. O.o I've also noticed that the lag has a lot to do with what time you are playing and how many players are on, which is usually during the day in pacific time. :/ I decided to not even include it in the review since based on the poll I am guessing that they are working on fixing it in some way right now. That, and the fact that not everyone is affected by it.

__________________

Cereal&Milk

PvP doesn't work like that.

When you click on the Sign Up NPC, you're automatically sent to a waiting room-esque loading screen after choosing your room type. When another person clicks on the NPC, they are put through the authentication process. Depending on which type of battle that person picks, they'll end up in a room with you, someone else, or a group of people.

Only worry about someone clicking the NPC at the same time if you want to fight a specific person. PvP fights are randomly assigned.

__________________

DarkEssence

Well that's weird. Nothing ever happens when I click her. Are there certain requirements for PvP?

__________________

Soren

I been having a lot of fun with Latale, but the lag is pretty bad. Yesterday i had a bad run of run and climb on ladders and ropes. Almost died because i couldnt get up the ladder.

__________________

DarkEssence

Yeah that happens especially if you are on at the same time as most of the other players. Hopefully another server will be made shortly, or a different solution will be proposed to most people's lag problems.

__________________