Monthly Archives: December 2013

Early Access: Aura Kingdom Gameplay Impressions

By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), Resident Insomniac

Aura Kingdom Part 3

I’ve gone over customization options, achievements, and the intensive Eidolon system, but the most important element of Aura Kingdom remains: Gameplay. If the gameplay is awful, nothing else matters after all. Thankfully XLegend isn’t new to game design and has learned their share of lessons from past mistakes and successes. Granted this has the downside that they tend to not edge too far from their comfort zone with each successive title. But there’s enough of a technology gap as well as title gap (games either not released in the US or published under other publishers) that anyone who enjoyed Grand Fantasia or Eden Eternal will be in for a good time here.

 

Aura Kingdom Combat Fluidity

Combat Fluidity

Leading up to finally testing Aura Kingdom, I would often ask my contacts at Aeria if this game would fall into the category of ‘action combat MMORPG’ akin to legitimate titles carrying that name like Dragon Nest and TERA. At this I would usually get a wishy washy answer along the lines of ‘sort-of.’ This bugged me to no end but now that I’ve actually tried the title, I can better understand the logic behind it.

Aura Kingdom World Boss

While a large majority of attacks are point, click, auto-move into range, channel, and attack, there are still quite a number of skills that will activate on the spot whether you are in range to use them effectively or not. This might involve placing a turret on the ground, unleashing an explosion of energy in a circle around you, launching a slow moving projectile in a straight line, or flipping like a living buzz saw forward at any enemies present. While there are no active dodge skills, a number of skills won’t break the channeling time from moving, and some even offer advanced movement capabilities while using them, essentially turning these skills into dodge skills.

Aura Kingdom Eidolon Combo

Enemies in addition offer obvious red tales that have been made rather famous lately by promotional WildStar videos. Most boss monsters you’ll face as a result have 100% dodgable special attacks forcing players to remain mobile and active. In addition, players can deal bonus damage by coordinating with their tank to keep the dps classes behind the boss. All in all the result is a game that classic MMORPG players can relate to but is not something that you can lazily macro your way through with one hand, unless you’re that one jerk with epic fairy wings and overpowered armor that likes making your healer’s life difficult.

 

Aura Kingdom Nerf Pippers The All Powerful

Yes we’re talking about you, All-Powerful Pippers.

 

My biggest issue with the fluidity may actually be the spam happy nature created by it being too fluid. Sure that might sound like a strange complaint but you are going to have to play your keyboard like a piano at end-game to maximize your damage and this is something anyone with ping issues is going to find a rough feat to accomplish. Cooldowns are short (and only get shorter thanks to the option of putting offensive points into speed) and there is no resource bar limiting most of your attacks outside of said cool-downs, to the point that you will always be planning three steps ahead. Again this is another way Aura Kingdom cleverly implements an action combat feel without the actual physics engine strains typically associated with it.

Aura Kingdom Attack Blowback

One final mention on the fluidity of combat is the feedback offered by powerful skills. Though I wouldn’t say it’s terribly hard to dodge most boss attacks, on the off chance that you fail to you are going to know it. While running a particular three player dungeon designed to be a farming instance for gathering Eidolon fragments, our novice group was repeatedly blown halfway across a huge arena for not dodging said attacks. It’s so over the top it’s silly at times but given the Anime nature of the game, it flows quite well.

Aura Kingdom Gliding

Also gliding is awesome. Try it for yourself. You can’t explain how awesome it is till you’re soaring around mindlessly taking in the beautiful landscapes present throughout the game.

 

Aura Kingdom Lilith

Class Balance

I won’t comment too much on this as it would be silly to think someone with only four hours of experience could go into great detail on overall class balance. But I will say between the chaotic graphical overload that occurs during a battle, your constant piano string of hotkeys, and keeping an eye on the health and efficiency of your Eidolon, I don’t see players having time to worry about if they are doing x less damage than player y.

Aura Kingdom Combat Chaos

…and I helped. Probably.

With the crazy amounts of upgrading you can do to your character through soul stones and other armor upgrades, to your Eidolon through evolution and special food boosts, and to your skill set through mix and matching various dual weapon combos, the thought of the game being perfectly balanced goes out the window. But since the game is primarily focused on PvE with PvP as a seeming diversion still be trialed and tested at end-game, that isn’t a huge deal to me. Maybe it’s the casual nature I’ve taken to gaming as I’ve gotten older but I was content just enjoying  the pretty explosions and epic loots while feeling all warm and fuzzy that my Eidolon loves me for slaughtering pretty fairy girls.

 

Aura Kingdom Grinding

Grinding and Gameplay Variance

One of the primary complaints I’ve seen from players that got involved with the initial release of Aura Kingdom (Final Frontier) in Taiwan was that the game’s leveling curve allowed players to reach end-game too fast (resulting in empty lower tier maps quickly) and that the end-game itself was not challenging enough (as player power grew so fast it outscaled the monsters, making skill less important).

From what I’ve tested, Aeria’s localized version has addressed this by upping the challenge of the monsters to better test their playerbase and keep them actively dodging and reacting to their opponents to keep that action combat feel alive and well. There have been a series of quests added as well that break up the monotony of kill X and gather Y by putting players in scenarios requiring wit rather than gear level.

Aura Kingdom Parrot Pirates

One such scenario set you on a beach as a rogue trying to sneak past a band of scallywag pirates and their oversized stealth detecting parrots. It played out much like stealth missions in older console games (remember Zelda’s courtyard in Ocarina of Time?) and was sufficiently punishing when I allowed a parrot to catch me to see what would happen.

Aura Kingdom Detected by Pirates

Another instance saw me redeeming the honor of an inventor who wiles his time away building battle bots. This mode pit me against various creatures and inventions leading up to the championship battle bot match and offered gameplay mechanics along the lines of a rock, paper, scissors, band-aid match… if said match wasn’t turn-based and both combatants moved simultaneously. It was challenging (I never lost but the final boss did knock me down to 1,500 of my 8,500 HP) and more importantly, it was fun and engaging.

 

Aura Kingdom Social Engagement

Social Engagement

It’s clear in a game catering to the typical Anime MMORPG audience that focus on community building is key. It’s the real end-game that keeps players coming back for more, having crazy romances, and building guild empires to shake the foundations of the servers.

Aura Kingdom Chat Emotes

I’m happy to say that while limited and still very much in development, the foundations are clearly there to make sure Aura Kingdom meets these expectations. The chat box features twenty emoticons, and I found around 12 physical character emotes that seemed to vary between gender. Guilds are also in with all the major social functions you’d expect including customizable rank, privilege assignment, guild halls (very much a work in progress as they aren’t customizable yet), auction houses, community storage, and specialty shops.

Aura Kingdom Town NPCs

Guilds can also be leveled to unlock guild bonuses to help build pride in your faction for all your hard work. Typically guild leveling is based off of daily quests and actions players would normally do in their standard session of play so potential guild leaders don’t need to fret about cracking the whip on their members (minions) to see progress. Just recruiting active people is enough to make things happen.

Aura Kingdom Guild Menu

One hit to the social functionality I will mention is that crafting seems to be non-existent. Unfortunately it slipped my mind to question Aeria if this was something in development or not, but there are some odd mini-games such a fishing on the way that partially fill this void.

 

Aura Kingdom Verdict

Preliminary Verdict: Great

It’s still too soon to offer a concrete rating on the game but what I experienced, I enjoyed, and what I wanted to see included seemed to already be in development and testing. I ended up spending the majority of my time testing out mechanics so I’m not quite up to snuff on the lore but it sounds like a decent romp between angelic and demonic realms fighting for control of the rare resources in the human world. The game is still a few months away from developing into an excellent title but there’s enough fun to be had here to ensure Aura Kingdom will be profitable enough to build into a AAA tier Anime MMORPG title. But as always, Anime MMORPGs are best enjoyed in a social setting so grab some friends or make new ones on the active and enthusiastic Aeria forum and brace yourself, as beta is barely over a week away for founders and likely won’t be too much longer after for people lucky enough to snag a beta key.

Aura Kingdom Founders Packs

And on that note, now is your chance to enter to win our Early Access Grand Prize, a Platinum Founder’s Pack! Head to our forums and answer our final trivia question to be entered into our drawing for this prize!

Fields of War

Fields of War is a buy-to-play, third-person shooter MMO with a focus on large-scale mech battles over territories. Players are divided into two factions (North and South), and fight over control over the entire land. The game is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Features:

Larger, Persistent World: A large persistent world with a full day-night cycle, two distinct landscapes, and supporting 100 versus 100 battles with bots available to replace missing players.

Specialized Mech Types: Five mechs to choose from before going to war: Artillery, Demolition, Engineer, Infiltrator, and Tank.

Mech Customization: Full control of your mech’s apperance, including camoflauge colors, to allow each mech to be unique.

Early Access: Aura Kingdom – Eidolons and Achievements

By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), General Manager

 

Now that we have the basics of customization out of the way, it’s time to look into the core concept of Aura Kingdom: The Eidolons!

 

Aura Kingdom Eidolon

A Pet, a Companion, a Narrator, and a Grab Bag

Eidolons don’t necessarily reinvent the wheel in terms of MMO pets. Rather they seem to encompass a half dozen great ideas from various other MMO pet systems, improve them, and offer them up in one complete package with enough customization options, variety, and visual appeal to send the typical gamer into ADD overdrive.

But at the start you’ll face the equivalent of the Professor Oak selection process to decide your starting Eidolon from four options. And don’t worry, the names can be changed to make you and your pet feel like unique snowflakes.

Aura Kingdom Eidolon Eternal Youth

Eternal Youth: Don’t be fooled by his spritely appearance – Serif is a warrior spirit with the courage to take on any foe. Darting through the air, he strikes with powerful punches and lightning attacks that leave enemies reeling.

Aura Kingdom Eidolon Cherry Sylvoh

Cheery Sylph: Merrilee’s bubbly personality and can-do attitude make her a perfect partner. She does her best to keep you safe with defensive spells and healing magics, but she can also turn the tables on foes with vicious ice attacks. I also kid you not, one of her abilities is called “Cheerleader.”

Aura Kingdom Eidolon Daring Dragon

Daring Digimon… er Dragon: A recently hatched dragon, Grimm doesn’t let his size prevent him from displaying the confidence and tenacity of a full-grown drake. He enjoys bobbing around enemies, body-slamming them in between blasts of torching flame.

And to keep that one guy in everyone’s guild happy.

Needs More Ponies

Yes you know the one I’m talking about.

Aura Kingdom Eidolon Regal Unicorn

Regal Unicorn: A svelte scion of unicorn nobility, Alessa possesses sacred powers that can purify ailments and heal injuries. The regal horn protruding from her forehead isn’t just for show either – she wields it with the deftness of a fencer’s blade.

 

Aura Kingdom Locked Eidolons

Don’t like any of the options? The world of Azuria is filled with countless Eidolons ranging from Iron Man look a-likes to famous historical mythological creatures. And methods of unlocking them are various including quests and drops to obtain a series of keys, guild hall summoning rituals, cash shop packs, and story rewards.

Aura Kingdom Eidolon Ultimate Combo

Each Eidolon brings its own unique stats, growth, skills (typically four including an ultimate combo skill with a cool-down ranging in the 2 minute mark), and personality to the mix, and a player can have 3 hotkeyed for fast summoning to swap between skill sets at any time depending on the changing nature of a battle. But beyond splitting skulls in the most adorable of ways and offering awkward upskirt screenshots, what sets these creatures apart from standard MMO pets?

 

Aura Kingdom Moon Bunny Upskirt

A Companion:  So you’ve found an Eidolon you have a connection to and want to see its power grow? Well for starters you’re going to have to spend time to get to know your Eidolon to make that happen in any timely manner. This involves running quests to obtain Eidolon food, participating in epic battles together to create memories, and just generally chatting with your partner about random nonsense to let them know their opinion matters to you. It’s certainly an odd system that’s not for everyone, but I can imagine roleplayers and pet enthusiasts getting really into this.

Aura Kingdom Eidolon Character Screen

But even if that’s not your interest, you’ll still need to learn the ropes of caring for an Eidolon as these creatures will offer a hefty boost to your damage, survivability, soloing speed, and in some cases can even act as a combat mount on top of it. I’ll be holding my breath though as PvP is still in the early stages of development so there isn’t a Eidolon battle arena yet to test your pet against other pets. Don’t keep us waiting XLegend!

 

Aura Kingdom Moon Bunny Narration

A Narrator: Your Eidolon team are watching you all the time. Judging you. Criticizing you. Occasionally complimenting you (or so I’ve heard. My Eidolons gave me no respect beyond being an awesome leader of “ExampleGuild2”). Eidolons you have set in your active slots will pop up during key boss battles to be sure to let the Fairy Queen know she  they’re no match for you and your iron men of death. Which, based on not knowing the backstory, often had me wondering if I was a hero or villain.

Aura Kingdom Eidolon Dialogue

Finally some recognition!

These events will not only build your relation but be brought up by your Eidolon during conversation later. Or they’ll just point out that the grey slime toad somehow managed to kill you for the next three weeks, much like an overbearing girlfriend that takes joy in reminding you of your greatest failures.

 

Aura Kingdom Eidolon Grab Bag

A Grab Bag: Outside of combat and fluff features, the most physically rewarding part of building a strong relation with your Eidolon is when you expend relation MP points on reward quests. This typically involves your Eidolon doing some sort superstitious ritualistic dance not unlike the one your crazy uncle does to ensure his football team makes it to the playoffs. Just with more fireballs and flashy effects thrown in.

Aura Kingdom Eidolon Link Grab Bag

After ten minutes of summoning a Spirit Bomb, your Eidolon will return to you with a decent prize. This can range from experience orbs to boost your Eidolon’s level to specialty foods that up your Eidolon’s stats. Once in a while they may even surprise you with items found only in the cash shop so don’t miss out on playing the Eidolon lottery every chance you get.

Just note that you can’t have your Eidolon carry you through the game EZ-mode style by spending all your time focus leveling it as your Eidolon can never exceed your character’s level.

Aura Kingdom Riding Eidolon

Evolution: The last note worth mentioning about Eidolons is the evolution system. This exists only for those that have put in the time to actually level an Eidolon all the way to level 40. At this time you can make the choice to spend precious items to reset your Eidolon back to level 1, but with a higher rate of leveling strength this time around. It’s a tedious process to be sure but worth it in the long run if you want to acquire the most powerful companion possible.

Aura Kingdom Cartception

The ostrich driver heard I liked carts. So he gave me a cart to put the Moon Bunny in for carting while carting in his cart. Cartception Achievement Unlocked.

 

Completionist Paradise

There’s of course more to Aura Kingdom than a glorified Pokemon pet collecting game. While the character grind itself is quite short (a boon to those lacking as much time for MMOs though a bane to hardcore grinders I’m sure), the quest to obtain all achievements and titles is another story.

Aura Kingdom Titles And Stats

If you thought Eden Eternal threw an endless barrage of unlockable titles at you, prepare to be overwhelmed by the sheer wall of question marks awaiting you on the second page of your character menu in Aura Kingdom. And rarer titles will open up stat bonuses that are cumulative, meaning once you have them unlocked, they will be unlocked and active at all times across all characters on your account whether you are wearing the title or not. This means altaholics are going to be a force to be reckoned with, as each of their new characters will be more powerful at level 1 than their newbie first character brethren. I’ll say it makes alts more appealing as well since your added power will ensure a faster clear of content to level up quicker the second time around.

Aura Kingdom Medals

And while not all achievements are accompanied by sweet titles, they will still reward you with Aeria’s new loyalty point system, a nifty and free way to obtain cash shop goods without paying a dime. I felt this system of hiding achievements behind every corner from jumping up a strange cliff face to killing x number of y monsters to listening to NPCs in town rant about personal drama llamas helps alleviate that race to end-game feeling by giving you physical rewards for just enjoying the beautiful and colorful world around you. And the ever growing tally of achievement points is sure to stand as a competitive benchmark for various completionists to brag and challenge each other with. Even trophies are in the early stages of development for those that prefer a giant golden medal over a raw numeric value to drive their bragging rights home.

 

Aura Kingdom Bunny Cart

Story and Gameplay Impressions coming soon…

We’ll be following up this evening with a look into the actual combat feel of Aura Kingdom as well as the story itself coincided with my personal likes and dislikes of the title later this evening. But if you’re here for a second chance at winning your own pack of Aura Kingdom playing cards, follow this link and answer our forum’s next question.

D&D: Arena of War

Dungeons and Dragons: Arena of War is the first free-to-play D&D game for mobile devices. An action role-playing game, Arena of War takes place in Forgotten Realms during The Sundering, an event that will reshape the world above and below. You must fight as a champion of good to restore the balance before the Sundering is complete. Customize your warrior with hundreds of powers, battling with touch-based attacks and facing new enemies every month – and call upon your friends to fight evil with you.

Pantheon Legend

Pantheon Legend is a mobile fantasy, card-based RPG that features upgrade, evolution, instances, and more. Play as one of nine classes, each with unique skills, and garner gods and demons from across the world to your side. Gather and upgrade your cards through four grades of evolution to find your ultimate heroes. There are over 160 stages and instances to challenge you and your allies.