Monthly Archives: March 2012

Spirit Tales Preview: Cuteness Overload!

Spirit Tales Preview: Cuteness Overload!

By Michael Sagoe (Mikedot), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

 

X-LEGEND, the creators behind Grand Fantasia and Eden Eternal, are working with Koramgame on their cutest MMORPG yet: Sprit Tales (also known as Glory Destiny Online.)

 

 

I was completely on the fence about giving this game a try. The cuteness factor seemed to be the only thing going for it, but since I’m a complete sucker for cute things, I succumbed to my weakness and gave it a try.

 

 

From the character creation menu, players can select between a male or female character and two classes among different animal tribes: Gold Kirin, Maned Dragon and Lunar Fox. The character creation menu also displays the character’s spirit form. While males can transform into cute, but intimidating beasts, females on the other hand can transform into generic anime girls with animal ears & tails, which is kind of a safe, but fairly generic design choice.

 

 

I decided to go with a female assassin of the Lunar Fox tribe. Afterwards, more creation options were available. Several different eye, hair, ear, tail and color variations exist for each, allowing for some moderate personalization. Players can also try out different emotes for their characters and…

 

Umm…

 

HHHNNNGGG!!!

 

 

I had to turn away from my monitor for a brief moment because I thought I was about to puke a rainbow. That was just too cute for me! I decided to switch to a male assassin to see if I could make my character any less cute.

 

 

Nope. It was still pretty cute, but I did like the coy look on his face, so I decide to go with it.

 

 

After creating a character, the game opens with a brief cinematic, detailing the game’s backstory. Starting off in a place called Autumnal Grove; I was taken in by the game’s bright and colorful visuals. The world of Spirit Tales also had a “rolling ball” effect only seen in games like Animal Crossing, and it makes the game feel distinct.

 

 

The tutorial quest will set players off quickly by letting them right click on target enemies, items and NPCs in their quest log to set an auto-route to their next destination, making it literally impossible to get lost. The quests themselves, however, are typical of what you would expect from an MMORPG: Kill X/Bring Y/Go-to Z/etc. I was hoping quests would become more varied later on, but the game doesn’t even try to deviate from this boring old design.

 

 

Three kill & fetch quests later: I received another kill quest where I could earn a pet egg as a reward. Quickly after finishing the quest up, I hatched the egg and out came a tiny purple bird that was mine to train.

 

 

The pet system in this game was very interesting: Unlike most MMOs where pets only exist as vanity items or stat boosters, pets in Sprit Tales can act as stat boosters and as fighting companions. You can either merge with your pets to gain stats and passive abilities or have it fight alongside you with its own special attacks. Pets also level up with your character and can equip its own set of armor and accessories. It’s almost like having a second character.

 

 

Heading out from the Autumnal Grove and into the Jade Forest, I gained a key quest that would unlock my character’s spirit form. Quest requirements: head up to a special altar, activate my moonshade item and defeat a field boss.

 

 

Once completed, the power of the ninja fox was at my fingertips. Strangely enough, though, my fox spirit form didn’t look anything like the one from the character creation menu or during the brief transformation during the quest.

 

 

Getting a better feel for the combat, I was rather surprised by how fast paced it was. Perhaps maybe it was because I was playing the fastest melee DPS class available, but battling enemies was very quick and engaging. Instead of pressing a hotkey (1 through 9) to perform a skill, pressing a hotkey sets your skill to your right mouse button, which you can perform with your right mouse button once it has been set, so using skills did take a bit of getting used to.  After level 15 or so, I was zipping around, stunning enemies and laying waste one after another in the blink of an eye.

 

 

One thing for sure is that Spirit Tales is at least trying not to waste a player’s time before they can get to the more enjoyable content like dungeons and instances. MP Skills are quick with very little cooldown time, and my assassin’s MP could regenerate almost as fast as I could churn them out. Attacks from enemies are also very quick with animation frames that are almost unnoticeable, making mob fights a bit stressful.

 

 

I spent some time searching around to find any signs of any non-cuteness…

 

Uhh…

 

Uhrgh…

 

…but I couldn’t!  Just about everything in this game is made for cuteness. Even the manliest NPC I could find looked adorable.

 

 

A few more levels later: extra tutorial dialog opened up, informing me that along with receiving pet eggs as quests rewards, players can earn pets by catching common monsters that are under level 25. I spanned the last few areas looking for pets that I’d like to catch, and then I remembered the bug warriors back in the Jade Forest. I wanted to catch one of them, but the game wouldn’t let me. I guess human-like enemies aren’t considered monsters. Bummer.

 

No bug women slaves for you!

 

 

After that bit of disappointment: I decided to catch a wild boar instead. The pet system further reveals that players can further customize their experience by merging with one pet and fighting with another, allowing for some neat combinations.

 

 

I managed to hit level 20, which was halfway from the game’s level cap of 40. I decided that I wanted to try out a dungeon before calling it quits. There was already a dungeon quest on my list, and everything was a cakewalk up to that point, so I thought it would have been a breeze.

 

 

That was a big mistake.The first wave off monsters hit twice as hard as any field monsters would. Plus: they were using skills to stun me in place. I couldn’t help but watch my HP plummet. Unfortunately this was during the press preview event so I had no one to call for help in defeating the dungeon.

 

 

Overall: Despite the lack of innovation, my experience playing Sprit Tales turned out to be quite enjoyable. The combat is fast and engaging, while the cute visuals are so sweet and saccharine that it gave me diabetes.

 

 

Closed beta for Spirit Tales is set to begin March 15th. OnRPG has plenty of keys to get you and your friends into beta so be sure to drop by our Events Page to snag one!

 

Meanwhile, I’ll be taking my insulin medication.

 

HHHNNNGGG!!!

Blacklight Retribution Release Date Announced

Blacklight Retribution Release Date Announced

 

Blacklight Retribution

 

Perfect World Entertainment is pleased to announce today that its highly anticipated free-to-play first person shooter, Blacklight Retribution, is set to launch on April 3, 2012 in North America and Europe.

 

 

“After five successive months of closed and open beta testing, Blacklight Retribution has recruited a strong community of dedicated players that have provided valuable feedback for our development team to create a tight and polished free-to-play game with innovative and exciting features,” said Andrew Brown, Executive Producer for Perfect World Entertainment. “Our team has been working really hard to prepare the game for its release, including additional content like new game modes, supporting maps, and a variety of new weapons and related gameplay enhancers.”

 

 

Blacklight Retribution is one of the most graphically stunning online games featuring cutting edge visuals and expansive customization. The adrenaline pumping FPS offers a multiplayer experience with action-packed battles, futuristic maps, and a wide variety of weapons and gear. With endless customization options, players can customize everything about a weapon, from its barrel, to ammo types, stocks, muzzles, optics, colors and even weapon tags. Unique tools like the Hyper Reality Visor (HRV) allow gamers to see enemy locations, team movements, and primary objectives to jump right into the fight.

 

 

Also check out their latest trailer showcasing the Vertigo Map.

GDC 2012 Day 2: Tactical Intervention

GDC 2012 Day 2: Tactical Intervention

By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), OnRPG Editor-in-Chief

 

 

GDC 2012 was filled with quite a few surprises. One of the most notable ones though came from the OG Planet nestled in the Korea booth towards the back of the main hall. 2012 seems like a popular year for releasing F2P online FPS games so I was a bit skeptical when I heard OG Planet was throwing their hand into the ring as well with Tactical Intervention. I have to say though after watching 20 minutes of gameplay, I think this game might be able to go the distance.

 

 

Maps and Modes

The majority of the maps take place in modern western urban environments. The main idea is the same as Counterstrike; the terrorists are up to no good and the counter terrorist group needs to put them in their place. A simple concept but when combined with the awesome looking game modes OG Planet has in store it really comes together well.

 

 

The first game mode I came across is a crowded mall filled with hostages running around everywhere that you are penalized for killing. Players will be able to hide inside convenience stores and storage closets, or within the shirt racks of major shopping centers to get the jump on their competition.

 

 

The next mode takes a step outside the box and actually has the counter terrorist group escorting a diplomat carrying an important briefcase full of information. The terrorists must eliminate this threat before the time limit is reached in order to succeed. This mode takes place on a crowded freeway and players will be forced to drive the diplomat to safety as terrorists and counter terrorists alike hijack cars and do all they can to prevent each other from reaching their goal. It gets really wild when you bring in the helicopter and start raining bullets from the sky as cars explode left and right.

 

 

The third game mode they had on display was still in the very earliest stages of design but looked like a hell of a lot of fun. The terrorists have a car bomb that they must drive under a moving airplane taking off from a runway while the counter terrorists attempt to stop them. Players will have to drive their vehicles maneuvering around fast moving aircraft while having a high speed shoot out with each other. It’s really something you have to see to believe.

 

 

The Environment and Realism

While the game modes might seem new and refreshing, the high production value of the game carries over well into the detail they put into designing the game’s environments. If you shoot into a line of shirts hanging on a wall, you’ll actually see the fabric get torn up by bullets. If you shoot the windows of a moving car they will explode glass everywhere. If you shoot out the tires, the car will lose control, and players will have to get out and change the tire before the car is operational again. Heck if you’re a crack shot and can deliver a series of shots to the gas tank, the entire vehicle will explode.

 

 

The environment isn’t just there to react to the player but also as a tool to help you through certain situations. For instance, one of the weapons shown during the demo was a fire flash grenade that can set a part of the map ablaze with intense high reaching flames for a few moments. This is ideal for cutting off an opponent’s escape or buying time for your team to regroup. But a crafty player with a sharp eye can grab a fire extinguisher off the wall and put out the flames early!

 

 

Players will also be able to use other environment props like riot police shields to tank heavy fire while providing cover for the rest of their team to infiltrate a room. And when you no longer need to provide  cover you can throw the shield as a projectile at an enemy combatant to disorient them while you open fire. Another way to use the environment is as a weapon! Say your foes are hunkered down inside a room camping your team and it’s suicide to merely open the door and walk into their hold out? Simply place an explosive on the door and watch as the door is blown off its hinges, damaging any unfortunate soul unlucky enough to get hit by the flying scrap metal as it soars across the room!

 

 

Miscellaneous Perks

There was a lot of information to take in during the short demo but two unique features really stuck out to me. The first of which was the fact that you can actually have a pet in an FPS game! The demo explained the various uses and commands you can give your police dog such as guard duty. Have no one to watch your back? Simply station your hound on your flank and he will start barking if any enemies start sneaking up behind you. The dogs are also useful for causing mayhem by sending them in to attack in opponent just before your team starts opening fire. The controls seemed simple and intuitive and should be easily accessible without taking players too far out of the normal FPS frame of mind.

 

 

Another side note I found cool is that players can heal each other. Teamwork is extremely important in this game so going rambo and getting cut off from the rest of your squad is the fastest way to lose a match in Tactical Intervention. Although they aren’t really dedicated classes in the game, you can choose to pimp out a few weapon types to carry an advantage in what you’re proficient with into battle. Silencers, scopes, and faster reloading are all among the possibilities of upgrades.

 

 

By far the part of the game that looks the most entertaining though is the vehicles. One player is responsible for driving their vehicle while other players can call shotgun or hop in the backseat (max 4 players to one car). Players that aren’t driving can actually duck in and out of the windows to take pop shots at opposing vehicles. The same control mechanics are in operation with helicopters! Players can sit in the open back end of the chopper shooting down at opponents. When the right time strikes, they can even grab onto bungee ropes and drop down to the surface to join the fight.

 

 

It’s hard to name off all the little nuances that make this game so interesting so I’ll conclude with this last one. Players can choose to lean their character to peak around corners without exposing their whole body. This helps prevent the typical instant death associated with campers. But if you’re sure there is a camper down a hallway and you absolutely have to get through, you can activate something called blind firing. In this mode you reach around the corner or over a ledge with only your arms and open fire. It comes at a heavy price to your accuracy but the safety it provides makes this feature very valuable in the right situation. Also combined with the third person view you can get a pretty good look at what’s down the hallway without much risk.

 

 

Unlike many of the games shown at GDC, Tactical Intervention is right around the corner so expect closed beta as soon as the end of March! In fact if you hurry before Wednesday the 14th you can get in this weekend! Just visit our forums here and follow the instructions to enter!

GDC 2012 Day 2: Game of Thrones Online

GDC 2012 Day 2: Game of Thrones Online

By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), OnRPG Editor-in-Chief

 

 

 

One of the more surprising visits in my time at GDC came from my visit to Big Point’s booth. Now I won’t pretend to be some major Game of Thrones fan or expert so let’s put that out there right from the start. In my eyes all I saw going into Big Point’s demo was a fantasy browser title cashing in on a major HBO IP that is also a relatively popular novel. And like most veteran gamers, the term fantasy browser MMO leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Nonetheless I agreed to the meeting and went into the back room of their booth with notebook in hand to see what they had to tell me. Ten minutes later my mind was blown at just how far they’ve pushed the Unity Engine to create this monumental game.

 

 

The biggest selling point from an unbiased observer is the sandbox elements Game of Thrones Online brings to the table. You have player controlled castles that can be fitted to have siege engines, oil drums, and all kinds of fancy things set up inside to show the grandeur of your house. These houses also provided unique resources vital for setting up specific defenses for your properties. But maintaining said grandeur comes at a heavy price. Let’s break this down from the start.

 

 

Players will start out with no real stake in the political dealings that dictate all major factions in the Game of Thrones Online. Instead you just choose some basic customization options like hair, hair color, skin color, facial hair, and family lineage and get thrown into the north, south, or western part of a medieval setting best described as Sopranos meets the Roman Empire. So begins your long journey to reach level 100 in a classless system.

 

 

You read that right. It wouldn’t be a proper sandbox with classes now would it? Players can choose to specialize in a number of skills including ranged, melee, and commander type actions totaling in 20 skills at launch. You will have to know your skill set by heart as combat in this game is incredibly action oriented for a browser game. Players will be able to strike their foes with low, medium, and high swings as defending players will have the option to defend these strikes with little to no ping issues involved!

 

 

Once you get your feet wet in the system you’ll learn of the death of King Robert and the ensuing chaos as various political factions attempt to assume his throne. The major three houses, Baratheon, Stark, and Lannister have an oligopoly on power in the region and if you want to become anybody in this world it’s in your best interest to form and join a lesser house that is allied to one of these three great powers. Each house offers varying buffs to their allied lesser factions and will be your primary vehicle for what really matters in Game of Thrones Online… the pvp.

 

 

PvP in Game of Thrones Online occurs in three major ways. The first is by wandering into the territory owned by a rival faction. In doing so any players allied with the faction will be able to attack you on sight with no penalties so expect a constant battle so long as you reside in their lands. The second route is through official arena battles consisting of 5v5. Players will be able to go in as a group or solo queue to fight alongside randoms, and individual elo ratings will be rewarded to keep matches as even as possible. The third and most meaningful PvP though is fought over the control of castles, forts, and keeps.

 

 

When I first heard this I expected some kind of watered down series of mini-games deciding the outcome of battle. But much like the show, Game of Thrones Online is full of unexpected twists. They’ve actually managed to implement full-on massive siege instances in real time that will include as many as 100 players going at it at once with siege weaponry and capture points. The idea here is that controlling a castle gives you a lot of power in the political system to collect taxes and hoard resources vital for dominating in PvP. Those ruling a lesser house that claims one of the game’s 8 castles may even rise to the level of Hand of the King through a voting system. But like all good things in life, claiming one of these castles is no easy feat.

 

 

Outside of the 8 castles are 16 forts and numerous keeps that stands as the first lines of defense for ruling parties. Lesser houses seeking to conquer a castle must first engage in many 20 versus 20 siege battles over keeps to gain a foot hold to launch an assault on a fort. Fort battles are on a much larger scale and will allow up to 30v30 player battles. Beyond this is the grand daddy of them all, the castle siege. Castles can be equipped with boiling oil vats, NPC guards, and tons of other traps and goodies to keep unwanted guests out. In order to claim a castle the invading party must break through the outer walls and seize control of a number of control points within the castle.

 

 

As I mentioned earlier, the castles offer rare resources vital to setting up the best defenses. Having the right resources to properly defend your castle will be vital to political success so I imagine quite a bit of trading between castle lords will occur so the rich can stay in power indefinitely. However a king without trustworthy vassals is nothing at all. Players will need to find ways to cement the loyalty of the rest of their lesser house factions to stay in power. This is because the penalties for switching your house’s loyalty to one of the other two major houses are extremely low. Thankfully lesser houses can’t vie for control of a castle until leveling up their guild quite a bit through various guild questing endeavors so not everyone will be in a position to make a claim for a castle. Still I would expect to see plenty of bribery and scheming going on as alliances rise and fall in true sandbox fashion.

 

 

So beyond the political and pvp systems you might be wondering what else this game did to catch me so off guard. For one it has an awesome dynamic weather system in-game that provides for low, medium, and dense amounts of fog, clouds, rain, sleet, and snow to fall as players adventure through the realm of Westeros. Mounts will also reside in-game and be one of the primary routes that players can customize themselves to stand out in a crowd. Big Point was pleased to point out that authentic sounds and music used directly on the show would be present in-game to help build immersion. Also as the game expands they plan to include as many as 9 total major houses with unique buffs belong to each to add just a touch more of chaos to this political sandbox.

 

 

We’ve got a bit of a wait before the Game arrives, but you can expect to get into game sometime this fall. I’ve seen some interesting browser games in the past, but if Game of Thrones delivers on its promises this could be a turning point in the way we all look at the fantasy browser genre as a whole.

Game of Thrones Online

Game of Thrones Online throws you straight into the action of Westeros. Build a house, align yourself with potential kings, and fight to claim castles in the name of glory and political power.

 

Features

 

Epic Siege Warfare: Fight in 20v20 battles for keeps, 30v30 battles for forts, and 50v50 battles for Castles including siege machinery and capturable points within the castle.

 

Action Combat: Use the 1, 2, and 3 buttons to launch low, medium, and high attacks along with 20 skills you can master. All characters are classless so you can build yourself up any way you’d like.

 

House System: Align yourself with a major house and vie for political control of Westeros. There can be only Hand of the King per week and only the top clan leaders will be able to maneuver the chips on the board to claim this lofty title.

 

Experience SWTOR for free with the Weekend Pass

Experience Star Wars: The Old Republic for free with the Weekend Pass

 

Star Wars The Old Republic

 

Now, even more gamers can experience the massively multiplayer online game that is taking the world by storm! Starting this Thursday, players around the world will be able to jump in and experience Star Wars: The Old Republic in the first Weekend Pass Free* Trial. This limited time opportunity will give individuals who don’t already have a previously-active Star Wars: The Old Republic account a chance to experience the groundbreaking, story-driven MMO from EA, BioWare and LucasArts for up to four days for free, with no payment method required.

 

 
Individuals who take part in the Weekend Pass will be able to experience the opening adventures of each of the eight character classes in the game, exploring both their Origin World and may even have the opportunity to visit their faction’s Capital World. Additionally, Weekend Pass players will have the chance to face off against other players in PvP Warzones, or join up with friends and play through a couple of early faction-specific Flashpoints in the game, The Esseles and The Black Talon.

 

 

The Weekend Pass Free Trial opens Thursday, March 15th, 12:01AM CDT and ends on Monday, March 19th at 2:00AM CDT. To learn more, visit the weekend pass gateway. Players can begin registering and creating their accounts on March 15.