Vindictus the first MMO to break out of the usual repetitive mold of point and click MMO's to bring us something fresh and new to instantly and nearly be repetitive in it's own right.  Now I'm not saying that this game isn't fun.  In short bursts this game is actually thrilling and quite fun to play withing 1 - 3 hours.  The problem lies that within hour 4 - 5 it does get a little boring and hour 6 - 7 does get a little tedious..  This is also due to the complete lack of music where it plays only during the boss fights and the very kind open and friendly yet at times very quiet community.

There does seem to be a feature within the game to use Vindictus' voice chat however this function does appear to not be working at the moment.  The community is quiet during levels since you need to use the keyboard to chat and very few times have I ran into someone that decides to berate you for making mistakes instead of helping you through them.  The world never does feel empty and unpopulated as everytime you log in you can see that the place is packed nearly to the brim of people.  Yet on the mission side it also seems that they lump into a single level where they stay and play it over and over.

It's just one of the many faults that Vindictus has.  Being required to replay levels constantly does show that they didn't plan to have an ever expanding world and they would just like you to play within their little box.  The levels themselves are fairly straightforward and it does show signs of Diablo like maps meaning it does change at random sorta.  One mission can have a few variations of  the map you go through but at times it's hard to tell if anything at all has changed and quite often different missions can and usually are ran on the same map.

Of course you can't have quests and missions without something to fight.  Vindictus has a variety of enemies to battle against however you will find that you'll be fighting the same monsters within the same levels.  If you start off fighting Gnolls be prepared to fight nothing but Gnolls until you hit the next area where you'll be fighting nothing but Kobolds and so on and so on.  Normally and in most cases this would detract from the gameplay.  However it is at this time on what people should realize just what Vindictus really is.

Vindictus is a 3D brawler based MMO.  Yes most of us already know it's an action mmo.  Yet if you were to compare this game to other MMO's it would fall short in a lot of area's.  Instead Vindictus is a highly stylized version of Dungeon Fighter Online and other like games.  In a sense it's what we would get if we grabbed Double Dragon made it 4 player multiplayer and threw in wonderful graphics.  The system is very close to brawler games and if you play it long enough the brawler side does show.  You character is locked into a room filled with enemies and you can not progress until the room is cleared of enemies then you move into the next room until you hit the boss.

One of my biggest pet peeves are gender locked characters and classes.  At times it hardly makes sense to have the fighter be male, the tank be another male, the cleric and mage be female.  Vindictus is no different in this regard.  However they do get some bonus points for the tank to be actually female.  That is until the new tank comes out which will render the current female tank useless.  The gender locked classes and the fact that each class only has one other possible weapon choice shows the games greatest flaw.  That the developers were working too much on making the Source engine work in an mmo setting.

It is rather impressive that there are actual physics within the game.  You get hit with a giant 10 ton hammer and it hurts so much that you playing at home feels it.  Vindictus gives us plenty of clutter and pots to throw at enemies and of course much like Half Life if you throw something heavy it's gonna hurt the bad guys.  Although I do like this feature it does only just provide a few extra options as to how to dispatch enemies.  However I still find it amusing to throw a Gnoll into a log trap and watch the thing shatter.  It's a bit satisfying to see and does help add the extra fun element.  The source engine is well utilized here providing players with a hook shot to bring down and hold larger enemies while your team mates go in for the kill.

Graphically Vindictus is one of the better looking MMO's out there.  Another bonus is that you don't actually need the latest and greatest computer to run it.  It'll run just fine on lesser PC's and laptops which is in my opinion a great move as it does allow nearly everybody to play.  At the highest settings the game is dark and gritty which does set the mood rather well when your down in a dungeon.

The cash shop has a few options and it is a dissapointment that none of the purchasable hairstyles have a permanent payment option as buying the same hairstyle over and over can and will be expensive.  The game is still new and fresh however and I'm sure that there is plenty of room for more items to be added later on.  I am looking forward to it since at the moment despite wearing armor nearly every player character looks just about the same but with a few color variations of armor.

Overall I would say this game is good in between other games.  It's best to play it if you have an hour or two to kill.  It is ground breaking in the respect that it's not your usual point and click MMO.  That the developers of this game did at first think outside of the box.  Though with the gender locked classes, the recyling of enemies and maps and the total lack of music within levels doesn't do much to entice the player to play for long.  There is a heavy grind to get anywhere in the game and it does get really repetitive really fast, however this is not a bad game.  This is at best a mediocre game that other MMO developers should look at and take notes on and hopefully create a game that is better than this one.  I know that you get what you pay for and while Vindictus is free it could be a much better title than it is now.  Right now I am giving this game a 6/10 just barely being above average.  This is a good breakout game however and I would certainly like to see just what other game developers would create to make an MMO Brawler better than this one.

Ehhhhmmm Re Edit it and format it a bit for easier readability

Its not an essay mate you can use some sub-headings :)

On 2 points. The voice chat system works fine. I think the main issue is that players just don't seem to find any reason to talk, as they join groups quickly, run the dungeon quickly, and leave. There's no need to discuss or anything, people know what to do : Kill. And if someone happens to die, revive him, he thanks you, and rejoin the brawl.

As for Cash Shop, the lack of diversity in armor will likely remain. Just like Dungeon Fighter Online, the Devs wants players to buy Cash Shop Avatars to feel different, so we'll see more CS Avatars added as time goes on. As for new armors (non-CS), only when new content is added, but people will continue to look the same.

Yeah I kinda figured as much.  The cash shop stuff kinda reminds me of AQ Worlds in how it will be handled.  You'll have a mix of free and pay for items.  As far as the voice chat goes I figured it didn't work since nobody was chatting back though it's good to know that it does work.

Pretty much spot on.

Like I said in another thread. A buddy and I hop on about once a week and play until we run out of tokens.

For those who aren't aware, after level 10 you have to start paying tokens to use the boats to go on missions. You are given 30 tokens 3 times a week, with a max of 30 at a time. The first few boat rides cost 1 coin, then the more you play the more it costs. You can buy more tokens with real money.

Originally posted by skeaser

Pretty much spot on.

Like I said in another thread. A buddy and I hop on about once a week and play until we run out of tokens.

For those who aren't aware, after level 10 you have to start paying tokens to use the boats to go on missions. You are given 30 tokens 3 times a week, with a max of 30 at a time. The first few boat rides cost 1 coin, then the more you play the more it costs. You can buy more tokens with real money.

It's 50 Tokens, not 30.

Man, gender locked classes?  Maybe I'm weird but I HATE it when games do that.  I have stopped playing some decent games here and there just for that reason. 

Is it really that hard to create a male and female model for each class?

Originally posted by MadnessRealm

Originally posted by skeaser

Pretty much spot on.

Like I said in another thread. A buddy and I hop on about once a week and play until we run out of tokens.

For those who aren't aware, after level 10 you have to start paying tokens to use the boats to go on missions. You are given 30 tokens 3 times a week, with a max of 30 at a time. The first few boat rides cost 1 coin, then the more you play the more it costs. You can buy more tokens with real money.

It's 50 Tokens, not 30.

So you have a hard limit on how much you can play weekly except if you pay real money?

Originally posted by EricDanie

Originally posted by MadnessRealm

Originally posted by skeaser

Pretty much spot on.

Like I said in another thread. A buddy and I hop on about once a week and play until we run out of tokens.

For those who aren't aware, after level 10 you have to start paying tokens to use the boats to go on missions. You are given 30 tokens 3 times a week, with a max of 30 at a time. The first few boat rides cost 1 coin, then the more you play the more it costs. You can buy more tokens with real money.

It's 50 Tokens, not 30.

So you have a hard limit on how much you can play weekly except if you pay real money?

Pretty much. You receive 50 Tokens every Monday, Thursday and Saturday, although your total amount of Silver Coins can never exceed 50.

There is another limit that exist. The basic cost per dungeon is 2 Token, but after 6 dungeon, the cost is increased to 3 tokens per dungeon and after 13 runs, 4 tokens (Caps at 4). Basically, if you play casually, you should never run out of Token. But if you plan to make this game your "main" game and spend lots of time on it, you will have to spend on either Crimson Token (which can be bought from cash shop and sold to other players through in-game currency) or Platinum Tokens (Cash Shop only). If you use Crimson or Platinum Tokens instead of Silver, it will only cost 1 Plat or Crimson Token per run.

Of course there are ways to gain Silver Tokens (once a week) by trading in Seal Of Dedications, which are gained by helping players 11 levels below yours through their dungeons, or reviving players (any level). You can exchange 40 Seal for 10 Silver Tokens. There's also Seal Of Enjoyement which can be gained from Fishing, I believe it's 20 for 10 Silver Tokens (again, once a week).

I think you can get tokens from fishing.  I also recieved something to turn in for tokens for ressing somebody but cant figure out how to turn these in to the person it says to.

Ya this game is definitely intended for the casual.  In both terms of dungeon repetiveness and the token system.  Even with both things considered, I play 2-3 hours a day and sometimes longer and Ive never even come close to running out of tokens. 

The other thing people arent saying is that you can run the 1-10 level dungeons even after you hit level 10 for no tokens and farm materials to sell or to gear up alts.  Ya, that gets old REALLY fast but just saying you're not completely locked out of playing if you spend all your tokens.

The game is pretty fun; my biggest problem with it is the fixed characters. You have to play as a female to be a mage? WAHHH! I want to be a male mage.

Originally posted by VooDoo_Papa

The other thing people arent saying is that you can run the 1-10 level dungeons even after you hit level 10 for no tokens and farm materials to sell or to gear up alts.  Ya, that gets old REALLY fast but just saying you're not completely locked out of playing if you spend all your tokens.

There's a big part of that you left out. If you take players 11 or more levels lower than you through those dungeons, you get Seals of Dedication which you can turn in for silver tokens.

• 50 silver tokens given to players 3 times a week
• Tokens available in NX store
• Tokens tradable on marketplace
• Tokens obtainable through helping lower level players
• Tokens obtainable from handing in Seals of Enjoyment (gained passively just from beingon a fishing boat)
• Having a friend/guildie/alt in the party pay for your trip

And because of the graphics and the "physics engine" this shit is acceptable??

Got them suckers!

You should at first describe what Vindictis is like and is about, assuming that not every reader knows it. And adding some screenshots would help giving an impression of the game.

Thanks anyway for the review. :)

Originally posted by MadnessRealm

Originally posted by EricDanie

Originally posted by MadnessRealm

Originally posted by skeaser

Pretty much spot on.

Like I said in another thread. A buddy and I hop on about once a week and play until we run out of tokens.

For those who aren't aware, after level 10 you have to start paying tokens to use the boats to go on missions. You are given 30 tokens 3 times a week, with a max of 30 at a time. The first few boat rides cost 1 coin, then the more you play the more it costs. You can buy more tokens with real money.

It's 50 Tokens, not 30.

So you have a hard limit on how much you can play weekly except if you pay real money?

Pretty much. You receive 50 Tokens every Monday, Thursday and Saturday, although your total amount of Silver Coins can never exceed 50.

 

Actually that might not be entirely true.

The "new player" dungeon is always free. At least that's what the npc indicates. It's the next dock and all the subsequesnt docks that cost those tokens.

So feasibly, if one was higher lvl and wanted to play those lower lvl areas on hard mode I imagine it could be done.

By the way, I hvae to say that I've been playing this game all week. It's a bit shallow but also a bit addictive. I just love that huge red gnoll chieftan fight.

In some ways it's a shame that the game is the way it is because I'd love to see it be more expansive, more "world" like. But I suppose there might be limits with the technology with such a fighting system with the physics (?)

Sort of making me long for tera now.

Originally posted by Sovrath

Originally posted by MadnessRealm

Pretty much. You receive 50 Tokens every Monday, Thursday and Saturday, although your total amount of Silver Coins can never exceed 50.

Actually that might not be entirely true.

The "new player" dungeon is always free. At least that's what the npc indicates. It's the next dock and all the subsequesnt docks that cost those tokens.

So feasibly, if one was higher lvl and wanted to play those lower lvl areas on hard mode I imagine it could be done.

By the way, I hvae to say that I've been playing this game all week. It's a bit shallow but also a bit addictive. I just love that huge red gnoll chieftan fight.

In some ways it's a shame that the game is the way it is because I'd love to see it be more expansive, more "world" like. But I suppose there might be limits with the technology with such a fighting system with the physics (?)

Sort of making me long for tera now.

Yes I forgot to mention that Perilous Ruins was Free, or to be more accurate all dungeons in Perilous Ruins below Lv.15  (or whatever level it is that the last token-free mission is). Although they can be run over and over again at no token cost, regardless of player level. But the Lv.30 quest, Trampled Fields/Plains (not sure which it is) in Perilous Ruins does cost Token.

Hard Mode doesn't cost any Token in Perilous Ruins, but I believe Heroic does (not added yet).

Originally posted by MadnessRealm

Originally posted by skeaser

Pretty much spot on.

Like I said in another thread. A buddy and I hop on about once a week and play until we run out of tokens.

For those who aren't aware, after level 10 you have to start paying tokens to use the boats to go on missions. You are given 30 tokens 3 times a week, with a max of 30 at a time. The first few boat rides cost 1 coin, then the more you play the more it costs. You can buy more tokens with real money.

It's 50 Tokens, not 30.

  That and i'm pretty sure it also costs a minimum of 2 per boat ride, then after about 6-8 runs the cost goes up to a max for 4.

 But having the mind set of jumping in once or a few times a week is all that really matters, if you're capable of doing that and playing/doing something else in the meantime then there is absolutely nothing that doesn't make the game free.

 100% free so far atleast, but if everyone see's and plays the game thinking that way then their cashshop will likely begin to shift more towards selling game breaking items. They've already shown the NA version can differ from the orignal KR's by adding the additional token reset day, so breaking the chain yet again and selling "pay2win" items is completly possible too.

Originally posted by Slaynn

Man, gender locked classes?  Maybe I'm weird but I HATE it when games do that.  I have stopped playing some decent games here and there just for that reason. 

Is it really that hard to create a male and female model for each class?

Just so you know its because of the story the MMO is based on, Mabinogi, they are characters from that MMO. So to have them be both male and female would be ruining the story. 

Originally posted by Slashed316

Originally posted by Slaynn

Man, gender locked classes?  Maybe I'm weird but I HATE it when games do that.  I have stopped playing some decent games here and there just for that reason. 

Is it really that hard to create a male and female model for each class?

Just so you know its because of the story the MMO is based on, Mabinogi, they are characters from that MMO. So to have them be both male and female would be ruining the story. 

That doesn't really make sense, since you choose the appearance and rename your character, if you were meant to play that exact character, you wouldn't get those options either.