Cloud Nine Online Review: Strong Rendition as Holic2
By Kei Beneza (divdielife), OnRPG Journalist
Cloud Nine Online is a 3D anime type MMORPG, visually similar to games like Rose Online and Fly for Fun. For those of you who don’t know, this game is actually an upgraded version of Holic Online, which served its purpose well before its closing date back in 2009. The story revolves around the land of Lunatia, a world torn apart by Gods who represent 6 human emotions. After speculating on the chaotic world below, the Gods of Hate, Emo (Sorrow), and Anger decided to fire up the human revolution by using their powers to aid people in the unholy war.
After realizing the folly of their fellow Gods, the Gods of Joy, Happiness, and Love decided to stop their misguided kin by battling against them. With death and destruction plaguing the land, it was also in this moment when The Divine God, (whoah, that’s a lot of Gods!) Gloria rose up to put a stop to this meaningless argument, sealing all her fellow gods (rendering them powerless) in a stone to prevent the world from breaking. Much like any other MMO, it’s the divine hero who can make a difference… that would be YOU… Good luck with the pressure lol.
Starting up
After choosing the Nation you want to represent, you’ll finally be taken to the character selection screen. All in all, there are 3 races to choose from: Seneka, Matsuka, and Koshare. In my opinion, you could say that there are 6 races in the game as their male and female versions tend to differ in terms of stat bonuses and specialties. Sexist much!?
Character Creation
Classes
Cloud Nine Online was actually gracious enough to provide us with a nice set of default classes to choose from: Hunter, Warrior, Mage, Monk, Cleric, and Rogue. If you think that’s all, Cloud Nine Online also kept a rather nerfed version of Holic’s subclass system, giving you the ability to customize your character in your own unique way. Flexibility is one of the best traits of this feature since you are not bound and glued to the linearity of your class. Players are only allowed to keep 1 subclass at a time, and must tend to them separately by switching to whichever class is useful at the moment. It’s a recycled (yet nerfed) feature, but it does pay to have an extra class lying around in dire situations. Some races also work better with certain classes as their racial abilities tend to enhance a class’ performance, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying out different combinations.
Monster Marathon
The best feature in the game would have to be their Monster Taming System. For those of you who don’t know, Monster Cards play a big role in this game, as they unlock certain taming items to allow players to acquire monsters, which can aid them in battle. These pets have their own attacks and special skills, and are quite essential if you want to gain the upper hand in combat. Similar to players and their classes, monsters also have their own specifications and are mostly different from their beastly kin, so always remember to keep an eye out for strong ones. Know that these pets can also level up and have the ability to evolve further as they progress with their new masters. While some monsters do extremely well in combat, others are acquired to act as mounts, allowing you to run faster.
Monster Player Marathon?
If you think that the Koshare and Matsuka are beastly enough, the game also lets players transform into monsters through items obtained from different enemies. After triggering this effect, your character’s stats and skills match with the designated monster, giving you more destructive power often leading to your advantage. There are tons of Monster Transformations in the game, and it would be just awesome to try them all out.
I remember you!
Personally, I really missed crafting and upgrading items. Since most of the new MMOs out there respect the loot system instead of the hardcore crafting and butchering of items, it felt quite refreshing after crafting my first item in Cloud Nine Online. Here you can create new items by mixing up looted materials from monsters, socketing them with gems that give extra effects and stat advancements. It’s a fresh comeback for an old outdated feature.
Graphics and Visuals
The ingame graphics are still no different from Holic Online. The background is still rendered with bright pastel colors, with minor adjustments in shade to indicate that you’re moving on to another area. The HUD and interface is very generic, which is a good thing as people tend to take time memorizing where their BASH command is placed. The characters are rendered in cell shaded format, similar to anime games like Rose and Fly for Fun. It’s a very old format, but still welcome nonetheless.
The Verdict
It’s not the freshest MMO out there, but Cloud Nine has still got some fight left in it. It may just be a new rendition of an old MMO, but if you’re gonna buy rebalanced versions of certain games like SUPER STREET FIGHTER 4, then why not try this one for free? It’s a good game overall, with tons of features and technicalities to pursue. The character class system is also superb as it enables players to completely customize their characters performance through the default dual class system. The learning curve is pretty short, so you’ll probably be playing like a pro in no time. If you’re looking for a fun game with fewer technicalities but tons of possibilities, this game is definitely something you should consider trying.
The Good:
– It’s Holic 2!
– Very basic yet deep character customization system
– Monster System
– Graphics are bearable.
– Crafting and Quests
The Bad:
– Graphics are still outdated
– May get old after some time
– Why exactly do we have to level classes separately?
