Prius Online: I Choose You!
By Vincent Haoson, OnRPG Journalist
Prius Online is a 3D fantasy MMORPG from CJ E&M. The game circles around your character, the only remaining survivor of a team of racially diverse soldiers who were annihilated. You have lost your memory and through that you start off (once again) in your adventure to regain your memories and return to your “pre-amnesia” state of greatness.
Getting Started
Starting off in Prius Online is a pretty surprising (and welcome) change in terms of MMORPGs. The game tries hard to establish your origins story where it is explained what happened to you prior to your Amnesia. The game tends to really ham it up which seems to be the game’s bread and butter (more on that later) aside from being visually attractive since the game seems to borrow heavily from the anime art style.
Job Classes
Prius Online has your typical array of classes; you have the ranged attackers in the guise of the Hume female gunslingers and for the male Humes the occultist class. The Lon Race on the other hand has the berserkers for the male and the huntresses for the female. The third race in Prius is the Ayin which is separated to the Legionnaire for the male and the Shadow Templar for the Female. Finally, you have the Beriah race which has the support class, the Minstrel.
Game Features
The game has the usual bells and whistles you’d find in a lot of MMORPGs these days. Prius has the title system which basically works as both a source of awkward character name extensions and very useful character buffs.
The game’s character growth is anchored heavily on the job class you choose. While the base stats growth is determined by your chosen race/job class, customization in the form of skill allotment allows you to differentiate yourself from your peers.
The game also has the automated player check-up system in place where you have to key in the proper image to check if you are a human “player”. Failure to click said image will force the game to transport your character to the nearest town.
Prius also has a mount system where you can acquire cute bunny-like creatures or dark horse-like ones as your trusty steed. The Cerelo system is also a handy way of travelling long distances without the tedium of having to control a mount yourself.
The game also has a Coliseum and PK system in place which follows the usual system in most MMORPGs. Most PvP happens within the “coliseum” which is viewed by the community as the honorable source of combat amongst players. Those seeking to grief instead of obtain glory will be glad to know the freedom to PK the living daylights out of other players also exists. Of course, to counter balance the abusive players, the game has the bounty system in place so that players can “report” abusive PKers so that other players can have a go at them for rewards.
Prius also has the guild system set, however it’s not yet active as of my review.
The Game’s 3Cs
Prius Online’s defining feature is its 3C game system which comes from the concept of controlling three characters. Aside from your main unit, you also have an “escorts” in the form of a small girl called Anima. The Anima can dish out spells against the monster you are targeting or support you. You have complete control on the type of Anima you are controlling which is then dependent on your preferred playstyle. On rare occasions you will also be able to gain control of a Gigas. These Gigas are robot-like creatures under the control of Animas (based on the game lore), that deal out massive damage to enemies for a short amount of time since controlling a Giga is limited.
More on the Anima
The Animas tend to be more like a little kid that tags along on your journey. I think the best parallelism I can think of between the Animas and you to other games would be Pikachu in Pokemon Yellow. There will be times that you need to actually talk with your Anima and in-between fights there will be pop-ups that allow you to interact and grow your relationship together.
Conclusion
Although the gameplay itself and elements of Prius Online are solid, the story telling really let me down. I mean the elements are already there including beautiful graphics and a gigantic rich world to explore. Prius just needs to take what it has and clean it up a little better.
I know I shouldn’t really bank on the story telling attempts of MMORPGs in general, but there are a few key points I would love to see the developers iron out. The animations need a bit of work to make me really feel attached to the characters. The out-of-sync voice acting also was a barrier that kept me from feeling the same attachment I felt towards Pikachu in Pokemon Yellow. I guess this might not be a huge issue to most MMO players but as a writer it nagged at me constantly.
All in all I can say that Prius has a lot of potential as an MMO. It looks good, plays great and even the community is decent enough that the usual headache I get from communicating in world chat never surfaced. However the game tries hard in presenting a dramatic story theme and doesn’t quite get it right.
For a more indepth look at the game features, be sure to check out ColbyCheeze’s video impressions.
Graphics – 4/5
Controls – 5/5
Features – 4/5
Customization – 3/5
Community – 3/5
