Yearly Archives: 2010

Dragon Fable Review: First Impressions

Dragon Fable Review: First Impressions

By Umar Farooq (Kluey), OnRPG Journalist

 

Introduction:

When one comes across a browser game he expects a game with crap graphics, poor game play and horrible community. He or she usually assume that the game will be full with children who think downloading will give them viruses and blow up their computer. Dragon Fable is an animated fantasy RPG that can be extremely addictive.  Although Dragon Fable is F2P (free to play) it has an exclusive “members” option.  This is called the Dragon Amulet upgrade which unlocks exclusive areas and powerful items. Dragon Fable is constantly updated and is totally worth your time especially since you won’t spend anytime downloading it!

 

Starting out:

The character creation is pretty basic and surprisingly much more convenient than the complex ones you see in today’s games.  There are only basic changes you can make to your character. These include gender, class, hair, skin, and armour. There are tool tips you can read before choosing a class which is always nice. All in all, I like the character creation and it doesn’t have all the unnecessary elements like 3D previews or proper body physics.

 

Dragon Fable New Character

 

Gameplay:

The combat in Dragon Fable is very simple. I think if they were to work on one thing it would definitely have to be the combat.  Dragon Fable as you already know has a turn based system for combat. You can select skills to use which do have a cool down measured in turns to avoid making the combat have too much skill spam.  The skills at early levels aren’t the greatest graphic-wise but later on the combat does get pretty intense and extreme. I think that monsters look amazingly good. The concept art behind them really stands out.

 

Dragon Fable 20crit

 

Potions in Dragon Fable play a huge role. It is not as potion spammy as games like Maplestory but without potions the combat would be so much more boring and very, very grindy as monsters your level or higher usually take out a chunk of your hitpoints in each hit. You can also heal via Rolith and a handful of other NPCs’.

 

Dragon Fable Bear

 

Lore:

I really enjoyed the cheesy but fun story of Dragon Fable. It gets you away from the serious “oh my god, if you do not stop x, y and z will take over the world and the entire world will enter hell!!!!” and puts you in a relaxed mood.  Right away you are introduced with the words ” A hero is born bored” and it makes you chuckle and relaxed. The game jokes about fighting dragons at level one rather than puny rats. When you start to get in a battle stance, a little goblin-like characters comes out along with a princess and it turns out, they were just passing by. It continues to impress you by having a weird princess who doesn’t mention that her treasure box has been stolen because you were “in the moment” and she didn’t want to bother you. I think that the guys behind Dragon Fable did really well in making the game enjoyable and not too hardcore.

 

Final Verdict:

In conclusion, Dragon Fable is a spectacular choice if you want to get away from hardcore games and just sit back, relax and enjoy a nice game. If you’re looking for something that is competitive and takes 150% of your focus, Dragon Fable is a poor choice. If you’re looking for a nice game to kill some time on, Dragon Fable is a fabulous choice and you shouldn’t hesitate to try it out.

 

Pros:

Has a comedy element and almost never gets boring

-Not a lot of grind/ Not very time consuming

-Easy to get started. No download, activation or even waiting time.

Cons:

-Dragon Amulet gives a bit too much in my opinion.

-Not a long term game. Do not see myself playing this a month later unless it gets some serious updates.

-A lot of misclicking and can sometime be frustration.

Canaan Online Review: Too Cute to Be True

Canaan Online Review: Too Cute to Be True
By Vincent Haoson, OnRPG Journalist

 

Canaan Online is a flash based MMORPG that is just too cute to be true. The game reeks of cuteness from the get-go. I think it’s safe to assume a lot of hardcore online gamers would be immediately turned off with the cuteness level. However, Canaan Online is a prime example of a game that is good in its core gameplay even with all the fluff, sugar coat and cutesy graphics.

 

First Impressions

True enough; upon first logging into the game, I was welcomed by a lot of cute and zany choices in character creation. You have the standard set of job classes to choose from and you get to choose from 11 different hair and face designs.

 

Canaan
Creation.jpg

 

I wasn’t really impressed with my first foray into the world of Canaan Online. The game had a lot of standard features you will often see in other MMORPGs such as, quests systems, tutorials and what not. The funny thing about it is that I never expected to get something like this in a flash based MMO. I mean yeah sure you have all of these features as mainstays in client-based MMOs but I never expected them to be present in this game. I can even go as far as that Canaan Online feels more like a client-based MMO. This is one of the reasons why the game really impressed me after I realized what I was playing.

 

Cute– Never underestimate it

I must say however that the first thing that jumped at me at my first login is the cuteness of the game. Though I think this is already a dead giveaway seeing the site and the sprites it still surprised me that the game is this cute.

 

Cnaan 

 

The thing is, the game is not just cute, it’s relaxing as well. In fact this goes well with the claim that the game is more of a relaxing MMORPG rather than just the usual fast-paced MMORPG we often play. The game’s BGM also helps in setting the relaxing mood. To top it off, Caanan does not force you to keep on leveling unlike other MMOs where they indirectly tell you to level up faster. The game let’s you cruise along your own leveling pace, which is refreshing for an MMO.

 

PVE-ing

The other thing I liked in Canaan Online is the automation of the battle system. All you need to do is click on the monster and set the default attacks for both you and your pet and you’re all set. I also liked that even if there are lag spikes, the battle automation will still attack your enemies.

 

Canaan

 

Players who don’t want the automation system may opt to turn it off. The game allows you to switch between manual and automatic targeting so that you can be pretty flexible in the way you fight your battles.

 

Gameplay

While Canaan Online introduces a semi-automated battle system, everything else is reminiscent of typical MMORPGs. The game uses a stat point system in character growth, you can actually see the clothes your characters equip on them and the game emphasizes the use of pets as companions and partners in battle.

 

Pets

Canaan Online’s Pet system is a pretty cool feature. Pets work as your battle partner and you can set them to attack, defend, rest and possess. While the three attack modes are self-explanatory, pet possession mode is the one thing unique to Canaan’s pet system. Pets in possession mode will “boost” their partner’s stats in battle. However, the “boost” is correlated to the harmony between you and your pet. The happier the pet is with you the greater the boost your pets have on your stats.

 

Canaan

 

The possession mode for pets keeps things interesting in the game. There will be moments where low-level characters may be able to compete with the higher levels as long as they have a strong pet with a high happiness rating with their users. I also liked that you can capture most of the monsters in the game and make them your pets. This adds another interesting element in the game because you have another feature to set your eyes on. You can even fuse the pets you have to get a stronger pet. Canaan’s Pet system in fact reminds me of Shin Megami Tensei Imagine’s pet system. In both games, the pets have big parts to play in your adventure which makes the game more interesting and adds more reason for you to keep on playing.

 

Training

There will come a time when real life starts to meddle with your gaming. Like any normal player you’d worry about the lost time you have spent in real life where you can just sit down and level your avatar. Canaan Online presents a solution for that. The game will “train” your character for a fee. Depending on the amount of hours you’ve set the training session your character may jump more than just one level. You can even leave your character for a whole day training just as long as you can afford it.

 

Canaan

 

Conclusion

I like the fact that even if the game presents itself as cute and fluffy, Canaan Online still delivers more than I expected from a flash-based MMO. The developers didn’t just rely on the MMORPG-ish elements of the game to keep player interest but the additions to the already strong pet system made the game more addicting.

 

If I had any complaints with the game though, I would say that is was that there are times where the game freezes for a second or two whenever I’m traveling the world using the keyboard buttons. This may be a pretty minor flaw but it’s quite obvious especially if you’re traveling to one map after another. Overall, I like how Canaan Online plays and anyone who’s looking for a relaxing MMORPG that doesn’t sacrifice its core game play should play this one.

 

Pros:
– Tons of features for a flash based game
– Pet system keeps you interested for a long time
– The game is pretty relaxing for an MMORPG.

 

Cons:
– The game freezes at times for a second or two while traveling with the use of the keyboard controls
– The game is too cute for hardcore gamers
– The party system can be irritating at times.

LEGO: A Whole New Universe

LEGO: A Whole New Universe
By Jonathan (Ardua) Doyle OnRPG Journalist

 

I know I have had my calendar marked for a while. Perhaps some of you have as well. Today, October 12th, is one of two big dates this month for NetDevils Lego Universe. Today is, in fact, the start of the pre-order play period where anyone who had already ordered their copy of Lego Universe gets two weeks with the world to themselves. Some of the beta players, now called Founders, have been able to play since the 8th giving them a little something in return for their hard work testing the game. As today is the launch day for the pre-orders, today in the mail I received my copy of Lego Universe. Nowadays many games have Collectors Editions and Pre-order bonuses and other bits to show favour to the fans who come early or pay more. Lego Universe is no exception.

 

Lego universe
(Picture: mail contents)

 

Lego universe
Picture: Interior

 

 

 

Lego Universe
Picture: Instruction book and game manual (It is a big one) along with Faction Guide.

 

There are pre-order bonuses in the package but compared to some games recently, there isn’t a vast amount. An Astronaut Minifig and a code card for in game items.

 

I admit that for an adult, I am so very much a child at heart. In the grand scheme of things is it important that I got a Lego Astronaut and a code so that I can look like him in the game? No not really. In fact as Pre-orders go it is hardly the most elaborate that I have ever seen. Does that make it somehow inferior? Not in the slightest!

 

Lego Universe
Ready for lift-off

 

I think however that is entirely the point. The game isn’t necessarily for adults, it is aimed at a much younger audience. There is ideally enough to entertain them while the game installs along with a nice little coded perk for afterwards. If it proves enough for a child, it is enough for me.

 

This game has always been more about the joy of creation and of exploration than anything. It doesn’t matter who has what or who gets what. It is, in a very zen moment for a very young audience, all about the journey. Just over two weeks now to the actual launch and then that journey begins. Players will be able to pick their faction, collect their bricks for free-building on their lots and generally doing the one thing that Lego has forever been brilliant at. Exercising peoples imagination.

 

In the game it takes Imagination to build things you come across, just like in the real world. Is it any surprise at all that Lego Universe wants you to save imagination? The Maelstrom awaits, get building!

EverQuest 2 Game Update 58 Arcanum Revealed

EverQuest 2 Game Update 58 Arcanum Revealed

 

Beginning October 12 2010, EverQuest II players can login to find a new zone, tons of updates, in-game events with Game Update 58 Arcanum Revealed!

 

Before his death, High Shaman Zraxth meddled in dark magics, spiritual and arcane. The secrets he discovered and the planar forces that he tapped into should have been lost deep within his tower upon his death. Those attuned to spiritual forces are now having visions of a sinister power trying to force its way into Norrath, from somewhere hidden deep within the hallows of Guk. Now you must travel to the Ruins of Guk, and challenge what lurks inside the Unseen Arcanum.

 

Beginning October 12 2010, EverQuest II players can login to find a new zone, tons of updates, in-game events with Game Update 58 Arcanum Revealed!

 

Game Update 58 Includes:


– New Rare Dungeon Drops – Challenge the Unseen Arcanum for the chance to get the new Arcanum armor pieces or the Fetidspine Prowler mount. Collect all the pieces for a matching set!

– Seven Year Veteran Reward – Nestled in the mountains overlooking Loping Plains, this beautiful mansion was built for the guests of Mayong Mistmoore himself. Now empty, it is available to those who sign a mysterious contract.

– Mount Appearance Window – Store mount whistles in a separate inventory and equip any of your mount stats with any of your mount appearances.

– Currency Window – Organize your inventory by placing all currency into the new interface.

– NPC Cast Bar – See the cast progress of enemies to interrupt or avoid attacks.

– Retain Master Spells – Keep master spells even after betraying from one class to another and back.

– Improve Display of Mitigation Score – View differences in armor mechanics to gauge their worth and effectiveness.

– PvP Token Consolidation – All PvP tokens are now consolidated into one type for easier reward claims.

– BattleGrounds PvP Fixes – Instantaneous combat mode addition and more.

– Click-to-Cure UI Element – Cure curses and damage instantly with the new UI tool.

– Warfields now cover more level ranges.

– New Battlegrounds weapons and accessories.

– Additions to The Hole, Vasty Deep and Erudin.

Ministry of War Preview: Civilization’s Browser Brother

Ministry of War Preview: Civilization’s Browser Brother
By Vincent Haoson, OnRPG Journalist

 

Ministry of War is a strategy browser based MMORTS game from Snail Games USA. The game plays upon the concept of civilization supremacy in an MMO setting. You are given the choice to represent one of the four factions found in the game in a race for supremacy and a chance to earn the title champion.

 

First Impressions

MoW has all the markings of your typical browser MMORTS. With the game running on the Flash engine I didn’t expect it to look like it’s an MMO equivalent of old Civilization games. The game’s visuals were nicely done and it’s beautiful to look at while not being distracting or even heavy on your browser.

 

MOW
Nations

 

You get to choose from the game’s our factions, each one with its own strengths and weaknesses and  that pretty much dictates how your gameplay turns out as you progress. I personally think that the choices are quite limited but at least they are varied enough to give you the impression that choosing a different faction would feel different. The thing that MoW has that got me is that the interface is pretty clean and the texts are just right. Unlike in Snail Game’s Heroes of Gaia where the interface is pretty cluttered, MoW’s was organized and everything seemed to fit just right in the browser window.

 

Gameplay

MoW follows the usual MMORTS game scheme, farm-build-train. While the core gameplay isn’t new, MoW has one game system in place that differs from other browser based MMORTS, it has an endgame. While endgames are not exactly new to the whole MMORTS genre (there are numerous text-based MMORTs that use this mechanic), games like MoW have never used this as part of their game play.

 

Build
Building

 

MoW’s endgame is reached by defeating the other three factions– this is what’s stated in Snail Game’s press release, however the details are still sketchy on how you defeat the other factions, it is either by fame, currency or military power. I personally like the endgame mechanic in MoW because it gives players an ultimate attainable goal to achieve instead of just mindlessly playing till you grow tired of the game. The endgame encourages people to go with alliances and even socialize with their fellow faction-mates, which normally people won’t do. It doesn’t hurt that the winning faction also gains spoils if they win in the next realm cycle.

 

Interface
Interface

 

MoW uses the hero system where your “hero” is the representative of your troops in battle. Your heroes also serve as the commander of your troops while he/she also takes part in battle.

 

Features

I liked how robust MoW’s features are. If the gameplay provides the meat of MoW, its features are the bread that wraps it into a very delectable game. MoW provides you with three areas to explore; your city, your suburbs and the world map. Unlike in other browser games, MoW let’s you decide where to put your structures inside your city. The grid reminds me of the various MMORTS games on the desktop and I was pretty surprised that MoW has that. The suburbs on the other hand are the areas within your walls. This area can be considered the “training area” for your heroes. There are random monsters that your heroes can take on without the fear of being ganked by another player’s hero. The suburbs are also the area where you can see your resources and this is where you upgrade them in accordance with your strategy.

 

MOW
Suburbs

 

Lastly, you have the world map. This area is similar to the suburbs however, the monsters are more varied and you can also face players and also acquire land and send out missionaries to spread your religion.

 

MOW
The Game World

 

Speaking of which, the missionaries are in fact greatly used in this game and that they also help in increasing your civilization points to further stabilize your civilization.

 

Battles

Among the numerous features in MoW, the one thing that stood out the most is the game’s battle system. MoW’s battle system is done in real time plus the game gives you the reigns in commanding your troops in battle as it happens. The battlefields are wide areas where you can maneuver your troops in accordance to your strategy. This is pretty unbelievable for a browser game and this practically took my breath away.

 

Battles
Battles

 

You have the option to let the AI fight your battles for you however; going “automatic” is only suggested if your enemies are weak. I’ve had the misfortune of having a lot of unnecessary deaths in my army if I just controlled them. The game also utilizes the arena system where you can go against heroes of other players in set matches. This happens in real time and pretty much fills the dull moments in the game.

 

Ages

One of the most surprising game features that MoW has is the age system. You can think of this as the ages in games such as Civilization and Rise of Nations where players can “evolve” into the different ages of man which opens up the rest of the technology tree that each faction has.

 

MOW
Ages

 

The age system is the short-term goal setter for players in conjunction with the endgame goal for each faction. The age system in fact meat’s up the whole game, which in turn provides players with more things to concentrate on.

 

Conclusion

Overall, I’ve enjoyed my experience with MoW. I loved that the game pushed the boundaries set by browsers. The RTS experience MoW brings is pretty top-notch considering that it’s just a browser game. However there are times where I feel that the game is in fact a browser game especially in the loading times whenever you change maps. While this isn’t really much of an inconvenience, it is a reminder that regardless of how you look at it, this is just a browser game.

 

MoW is a game you can’t ignore. I was amazed to realize that I’d been playing the game for three hours straight. So don’t think that this game is like other browser MMORTS games out there. For the most part I enjoyed my CBT experience and I would think that MoW has the potential to have a lot of followers when it opens to the public.

PW Malaysia Announces The Legend of Mermaid Expansion Pack

PW Malaysia Announces The Legend of Mermaid Expansion Pack

 

Perfect World Malaysia has announced their new expansion “The Legend of Mermaid”.

 

The expansion will bring players into the whole new world of Thalassa where they can discover new maps and locations and play Perfect World from a new point of view. Introducing two new playable characters, The Legend of Mermaid allows players to play as the Nightide’s strongest and deadliest warrior, the Rogue or the clever and manipulative Magician.

 

Perfect World Malaysia has announced their new expansion "The Legend of Mermaid".

 

A New Server: Fantasia
To accommodate the expansion pack, Perfect World Malaysia has set up a new server called Fantasia. Meet old and new friends in this brand new server. Existing players can enjoy the challenge of building up their characters from scratch and new players will be able to experience and enjoy the Perfect World phenomenon with the addition of the new maps, characters, skills and weapons.

 

Competitions for players with virtual items and cash prizes to be won will be held in Fantasia to help new players on the block level their characters. Watch this space!

Craft of Gods Announces Largest Patch To Date

Craft of Gods Announces Largest Patch To Date

 

Kalanticus announced the launch of a new patch for its MMORPG Craft of Gods, the largest one released to date.

 

The new patch will introduce new content for both the P2P and the F2P servers of the game. It will not only fix many bugs, introduce new items, mobs and quests (including a Social Quest that will give out Kuns for every friend invited), but it will also introduce in the game many new features, some of which have been in the works for quite some time, as well as a new AI for many mobs, that will now make use of powerful spells and buffs.

 

The first interesting feature to be introduced will be the Cave of Tallion, a huge dungeon with 2 entrance one for Light players and one for Dark players divided in three areas. The first one is open to everyone and features also 4 bosses and some quests for both factions. The second area is closed by a gate players will need to do a quest in order to get a key to enter there. The area in inhabitated by higher level mobs and other strong bosses. The last area is closed by another gate that needs a key too. In the last area there is the strongest boss of the game: “The creature”.

 

Kalanticus announced the launch of a new patch for its MMORPG Craft of Gods, the largest one released to date.

 

The patch will also introduce three new battlegrounds (one for levels 1to 20, one for levels 20 to 40 and one for levels 41 to 60). Players can register in the queue to enter the areas by talking to an NPC that will be located in every town; the battleground will start when there are at least 2 players for each side in the queue. Each event lasts 30 minutes, the side that will reach the highest number of kills will come out as a winner.

 

Last but not least, events will be introduced in the game. There are four types of events: mob, drop, quest, double exp. Each event is announced with a server message. Mobs event will see a special mob with special drops appearing in some maps for a limited period of time.

 

With regards to quest events, an NPC called Herald located in the two towns during an event will give out some quests that will have to be completed during that same event. Drop events will feature mobs dropping special items needed for quests only during the event: so players can get the quest in any moment but the items will be dropped only during the event. Finally, double exp events will provide double exp from all the mobs for as long as the event lasts.

 

The patch will be released on October 14th.

TibiaME

TibiaME is one of the first massively multiplayer online role-playing games for mobile devices. Come together with hundreds of players and experience adventures in a colourful virtual world! Along with your friends you explore the mysterious land of TibiaME, fight your way through hordes of evil creatures and solve ancient riddles to find untold treasures. With every monster you defeat you will grow in strength and power. TibiaME is based on the successful online role-playing game Tibia which attracts thousands of players every day.