I think Aion is well polished (so far in my limited experience probably the most polished of any of the newer MMOs, but keep in mind AoC at low levels was too). It blended a lot of the better aspects of MMOs like Perfect World (flight system) and World of Warcraft. Death penalty is neither neglible nor too extreme, something I don't think any MMOs have done correctly yet. Despite running it on what's probably an imcomplete translation, the dialogue and story is fairly good. The quests could be a bit more interesting (everything is a kill, collection, or fed-ex quest... or a combination of them). Graphics and animation are superb too, I like the animations and graphics even better than AoC's. The emotes are extremely well done and some are so over the top they can be pretty hilarious.

Character customization is fantastic. It's a notch above AoC's and better than Perfect World's. Although you won't see CoH's level of customization, aside from CoH I haven't seen a MMO with better customization. There are plenty of hairstyles, tattoos, and additional facial features to choose from and you can customize every part of the face and body that matters. Every feature you can tweak gives a noticable difference and wasn't added just for the sake of having an extra feature that no one will notice anyway.

The UI shares a lot of similarities with WoW (which is a good thing, don't fix what isn't broken). It's pretty easy to find what you are looking for. Locations of quest turnins are marked on your map when you are within the vicinity. You can also search for specific requirements of a certain quest (though some locations will not be shown if you are meant to search for it, or they'll just point you in the location you need to search around). You can see where everything around you is on your minimap (including monsters). When you aggro'd by an agressive monster a noise is heard and an excalmation mark is displayed over it's head, so you will generally be aware of when something is attacking you. Skills that can only be used at certain times and buffs are clearly displayed with their appropiate times left.

The combat system was the same hotkey/autoattack style combat system you see in every other MMO, but the skills are well designed enough that I wasn't pressing the same keys over and over in the same rotation. For instance, as a Templar some of the skills rely on shield blocking. Sometimes the shield blocking skill would be available during a "chain skill" and if I break it to use the skill that's activated on shield block I would have to wait for the cooldown again on the chain starter. There was actually a bit of thought on whether to use a defensive oriented skill or wait for a shield block or whether to use offensive skills. Combat was difficult, but soloing was still possible (with a Templar). Downtime was high without the use of consumables (such as bandages, potions, and treatment powders), even while using the rest command. Consumables were relatively cheap and always easy to obtain.

From the very beginning there is a lot of depth in the game. While you start with one of four simple class template you can later specialize into a more specific role at around level 10 with one of two choices. There is also a DP bar that fills up much like a EXP bar (it seems to reset when you die or log off though) that can be used to execute powerful skills you get starting at level 10. It even has varying levels. The tutorial is done similar to World of Warcraft where exclamation marks with quick explanations glaze over various aspects of the game. It's very inadequate and I'd imagine someone new to a MMO will have trouble getting used to the game.

I didn't get much experience with crafting, but everyone gets gathering skills by default (you have 2 gathering skills, aethyr and vitality). When you gather you get 2 progress bars that randomly fills up with either a fail or success. The rate at which you get fail progress versus success progress seems to be based off your skill in relation to the difficulty of the item to gather. Each node can be harvested up to 3 times (a fail will count as one of those times). One complaint I have about this system is that if you click the node too fast after you harvested it, it will automatically result as a fail.

Almost every piece of gear has a socket available (and better gear usually has multiple sockets) even at lower levels and you'll receieve these gems to socket even at level 1. The gear looks fairly impressive even at lower levels and after the first few levels you probably won't see many clones running around. There also seems to be a huge variety of gear that drops too. This can lead to some pretty unique gear customization. There seems to be in deeper elements of gear customization with refinement stones, godstones, and the ability to customize an item's appearance; however I didn't get to a high enough level to experiment with this. It also uses WoW's color system of rarity (gray is vendor, white is common, green is uncommon, etc.) and soulbinding and no trade items.

The flight system is decent however some classes have more an advantage in using it over others (for instance the Spiritmaster has it the worst, they'll lose their pet, while a Sorceror is actually going to have an advantage attacking from the air). The amount of flight you can use is limited, though it recharges fairly quickly. This can make using it somewhat dangerous and you have to be careful when using flight or you might plummet to your death. One thing that irked me was that you cannot use flight in some areas, even within some outdoor areas where it really should be allowed.

The Chinese servers were stable and despite distance lag the game ran fairly smoothly. In the 10+ hours I've played so far there hasn't been a single crash (but from the client and the server) or severe lag. Granted it's going to be hard to tell just how stable the servers are due to the time zone difference.

Overall while I think the game is similar to WoW I feel it greatly improved on a lot of areas WoW is lacking. Although I personally would have liked to see something a bit more unique, I plan on picking up a retail copy on US release and playing for a couple of months at least until something really fresh is coming out. If you like/liked WoW (or Everquest) then you'll probably like Aion even better. Even if you didn't like WoW, I still recommend giving Aion a trial run because it improved on so many aspects of WoW. If you don't like MMOs in general or don't like fantasy games then it's not likely this game will change your outlook and you may want to avoid it.
 

 I will have to agree that 1-10 is very polished. Smoothest framerates I have seen in a mmo. 

No bugs that I noticed. All mobs pathed well.

I have limited experienced with Aion but I played it for 4 hours and its not doubt  a solid game.

Like you said Conan was exceptional 1-20, lets hope Aion has endgame, and for the US market it probably will since the game will be out for 6 months or so before its released in the US.

EDIT: I was unable to read full class descriptions.    4 starter classes and a choice between 2, making 8 total.

Originally posted by Cody1174

 Only concern I have is the classes are "Warrior, Mage, Priest, Scout" those classes seem very vague and only 4 to choose from. (Elyos side)

I hope the classes offer either alot of custimization or just an epic game to make up for the number classes and lack of class uniqueness.

 

its exactly the same as Lineage2.  each class brances out (though apparently not as many times)  the best becomes either the healer or the buffer, mage becomes nuker or summoner, warrior becomes either tank or... DPS.  and scout becomes either ranged DPS or melee DPS.

Lineage 2 had tons more classes, because each race has their own.  this was good and bad, many classes were just mirrors.  nukers using just a different element, and having a few differences but playing almost exactly the same.  AION seems to just want to fill each role with 1 branch.  so only 1 buffer instead of 5-6 different buffers in L2.

in the end we are looking at 8 classes right now, filling all the major roles (I don't see a debuffer, which is sad, unless the summoner fills that role)  should keep it simple to balance, and i've always preferred class brancing, even if you do have to play 1 lowbie class a couple times to get different higher classes (then again.  level 1-10 in WoW is pretty much the same for any priest/mage/lock anyway)

yeah i had a ton of fun when i played on the korean retail server, let the accoutn laps so i didn't get too far into it and have to start all over when we eventually get it.

yeah can't fly around everywhere but you can glide, did it all the time on mine would run up on something high then double jump.

 I failed to read the full class description. 4 starter classes which branch into 2 others. 8 total.

This just made this game awhole lot better for me.

My comments are simple, you really think Aion is polished right now? Imagine the North American release. Imagine how polished that game will be? At least we won't have another Age of Conan with this game. I was pissed off at Age of Conan because of all that hype for nothing. at least with this game I can play the Chinese Retail and see what this game is really made of.

Also, Aion is playing extremely smoothly etc, something that Age of Conan still couldn't accomplish. Warhammer did well but still had crappy end game.

Also, people always state that they love a game in the beginning then after a month of playing the say the game is crappy etc. IMO, if a game has competitve end game, it's not crappy at all.

I will give my impressions of Aion since i heard about it, up to the part where i seen this GDC piece that really changed my mind about the game!

At first like any game I thought, ok another Perfect World done better deal. Nothing really stood out for me except the graphics. As with really super shweet grfx usually comes very simple treadmill gameplay. So I never looked back and forged forward watching other titles.

1 year later after going through my usual shpeel of checking into mmorpg.com (shameless plug) I came across a unique clip that was form GDC about Aion. I watched, and was quite surprised and now sitting up and paying a bit more attention to this title.

The OP made a nice first hand review but missed a lot of key points, or details that Aion has that a lot of other games dont (or to my knowledge dont). And that is the combat system. If you pay close attention to what the lady is saying about the combat system you will be surprised just how much thought went into it. This can also be said for the questing which the OP never mentions there is a lot of unique types of questing, even quests where the quest giver changes your appearance to complete a mission, which is also in the clip.

Though the OP did a great job, theres more to this game than he/she might have really experienced and no details about the game can leave some people reading reviews less than interested. I cant say Im good at writing reviews because I tend to just shoot from the hip with my own thoughts that seem to be a even greater puzzle to figure out than the games themselves!

So for those who havent seen this GDC clip I ask you pay close attention to what the young lady is talking about and hopefully itll give you more insight and detail to this title that will be out soon. Enjoy!

g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/694423/Aion-Tower-of-Eternity-Walkthrough-Earn-Your-MMO-Wings.html

Originally posted by Majinash

Originally posted by Cody1174

 Only concern I have is the classes are "Warrior, Mage, Priest, Scout" those classes seem very vague and only 4 to choose from. (Elyos side)

I hope the classes offer either alot of custimization or just an epic game to make up for the number classes and lack of class uniqueness.

 

 

Lineage 2 had tons more classes, because each race has their own.  this was good and bad, many classes were just mirrors.  nukers using just a different element, and having a few differences but playing almost exactly the same.  AION seems to just want to fill each role with 1 branch.  so only 1 buffer instead of 5-6 different buffers in L2.

 

hmmm, that's not exactly true, the mages had more things than that that were different.

Spellsingers did not do as much damage but had quicker casting times thus doing more damage over time.

Spellhowlers had incredible amounts of damage but very slow casting.

Sorcerors were sort of middle of the road and I think they had some decent AoE attacks.

Necromancers seemed more about debuffing and then applying their dark magic along with some pet use.

Otherwise, yes, they did branch out at lvl 20 and then again at lvl 40 with additional class focusing at lvl 75.

Originally posted by Sovrath

Originally posted by Majinash

Originally posted by Cody1174

 Only concern I have is the classes are "Warrior, Mage, Priest, Scout" those classes seem very vague and only 4 to choose from. (Elyos side)

I hope the classes offer either alot of custimization or just an epic game to make up for the number classes and lack of class uniqueness.

 

 

Lineage 2 had tons more classes, because each race has their own.  this was good and bad, many classes were just mirrors.  nukers using just a different element, and having a few differences but playing almost exactly the same.  AION seems to just want to fill each role with 1 branch.  so only 1 buffer instead of 5-6 different buffers in L2.

 

 

hmmm, that's not exactly true, the mages had more things than that that were different.

Spellsingers did not do as much damage but had quicker casting times thus doing more damage over time.

Spellhowlers had incredible amounts of damage but very slow casting.

Sorcerors were sort of middle of the road and I think they had some decent AoE attacks.

Necromancers seemed more about debuffing and then applying their dark magic along with some pet use.

 

Otherwise, yes, they did branch out at lvl 20 and then again at lvl 40 with additional class focusing at lvl 75.

Good point Sovrath, and I wanted to elaborate again that they dont just pigeon hole you into one mold and thats it. You have Decks in which you can customize for strategy. You can as a Warrior going solo have more healing type buffs that can sustain you, or if you have a healer for your party, you can then readjust your deck for more defense and dps as your covered now for healing. The decks system, and the overall way they do the skills is absolutely entertaining, fun and doesnt put you into a mold that you cant break out of somewhat!

Like I said paying close attention to the link I provided in the last post will show you the neat ways they have handled these systems for the better! My favorite is introducing the player skill part of combat where the type of movement you make can buff you for defense,dps,dodge,evade,and connecting those hits! Its a great blend fo casual skill and hardcore player skill that balances out just nicely, leaving no one out in the cold for play!

Originally posted by AmbushMartyr

I will give my impressions of Aion since i heard about it, up to the part where i seen this GDC piece that really changed my mind about the game!

At first like any game I thought, ok another Perfect World done better deal. Nothing really stood out for me except the graphics. As with really super shweet grfx usually comes very simple treadmill gameplay. So I never looked back and forged forward watching other titles.

 

1 year later after going through my usual shpeel of checking into mmorpg.com (shameless plug) I came across a unique clip that was form GDC about Aion. I watched, and was quite surprised and now sitting up and paying a bit more attention to this title.

 

The OP made a nice first hand review but missed a lot of key points, or details that Aion has that a lot of other games dont (or to my knowledge dont). And that is the combat system. If you pay close attention to what the lady is saying about the combat system you will be surprised just how much thought went into it. This can also be said for the questing which the OP never mentions there is a lot of unique types of questing, even quests where the quest giver changes your appearance to complete a mission, which is also in the clip.

 

Though the OP did a great job, theres more to this game than he/she might have really experienced and no details about the game can leave some people reading reviews less than interested. I cant say Im good at writing reviews because I tend to just shoot from the hip with my own thoughts that seem to be a even greater puzzle to figure out than the games themselves!

 

So for those who havent seen this GDC clip I ask you pay close attention to what the young lady is talking about and hopefully itll give you more insight and detail to this title that will be out soon. Enjoy!

g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/694423/Aion-Tower-of-Eternity-Walkthrough-Earn-Your-MMO-Wings.html

This isn't meant to be a review of the game.  I've only played up to level 16 and for about 10 hours.  I don't believe anyone should post a review on a MMO until they've played it for at least 50 hours or have a max level character who experienced all aspects of the game.  There were several things I've yet to try including PvP (and the PvPvE or whatever they call it), grouping/dungeons, and crafting.  I only went over my initial impressions and experiences from my brief playtime.

I did praise the combat system, though it still uses the same hotkey + autoattack formula all the MMOs use, I did mention how combat choices were meaningful and not repetitious.  That alone is a big improvement over MMO combat systems.  Still I would have loved to see more action oriented skill based combat like FPS style play with ranged attacking or something unique.

As for the questing I did not find a single truely unique quest that stood out.  At early levels they were all kill type grind quests or collection quests.  The Daeva Ascension quest was okay, but I definitely expected more from it.  I would have liked to see more AoC single player type quests for the mission quests, but instead they were all pretty generic kill X type quests.  I don't know if this changes at later levels or not, but there certainly wasn't anything that stood out about the quests from my beta experience.

Also I was just writing things on the fly.  So if I glazed over aspects of the game or forgot some entirely I apoligize.

Originally posted by Cody1174

 I will have to agree that 1-10 is very polished. Smoothest framerates I have seen in a mmo. 

No bugs that I noticed. All mobs pathed well.

I have limited experienced with Aion but I played it for 4 hours and its not doubt  a solid game.

Like you said Conan was exceptional 1-20, lets hope Aion has endgame, and for the US market it probably will since the game will be out for 6 months or so before its released in the US.

EDIT: I was unable to read full class descriptions.    4 starter classes and a choice between 2, making 8 total.

Thats the reason I'll be trying Aion, polished and no game breaking bugs.

---

As for the questing I did not find a single truely unique quest that stood out. At early levels they were all kill type grind quests or collection quests. The Daeva Ascension quest was okay, but I definitely expected more from it. I would have liked to see more AoC single player type quests for the mission quests, but instead they were all pretty generic kill X type quests. I don't know if this changes at later levels or not, but there certainly wasn't anything that stood out about the quests from my beta experience.

---

While I agree that none of the quests were truly unique or stood out, I don't think that the AOC night-time quests are the solution. In the end, it's the same quest mechanics, just in a larger single-person instanced setting. Cutting out the interaction between players I don't think would be a good thing.

I've had quests I really enjoyed on Aion so far, the story behind it. And that's what makes the quest "memorable" or "unique" to me since really, the basic mechanics of the quest are pretty limited in the genre right now. Very rarely will a quest completely break the mold, and turning it into a single player experience doesn't really change the mechanic of the quest (kill this, do that), it just allows for a more personalized enviroment, which, I don't care for much as it is an MMO.

Do we really need yet another point and clicky shitty MMO with nice graphics and wait for it ... flying !? Lets have a quick check list to see if the usual shite is in it:

- Instancing- Tick yep loads of sinstancing in this game

- Point and click combat - Tick yep the same old hot key button mashing cool down stuff here

- Kill X, deliver X Quests - Tick yep this game is full of quests that are exciting as this

- Level based system - Tick yep this game uses the same old grind of leveling

So yes this has all the usual stuff that make MMOs so dull.

Good luck with this game guys you must like being fed the same old shit all the time. Don't you think it is time MMOs moved on from this tired old formula? 

Originally posted by FreedomBlade

Do we really need yet another point and clicky shitty MMO with nice graphics and wait for it ... flying !? Lets have a quick check list to see if the usual shite is in it:

- Instancing- Tick yep loads of sinstancing in this game

- Point and click combat - Tick yep the same old hot key button mashing cool down stuff here

- Kill X, deliver X Quests - Tick yep this game is full of quests that are exciting as this

- Level based system - Tick yep this game uses the same old grind of leveling

So yes this has all the usual stuff that make MMOs so dull.

Good luck with this game guys you must like being fed the same old shit all the time. Don't you think it is time MMOs moved on from this tired old formula? 

Innovation is a great thing except no one can get it right.  So until someone can innovate and be fun I will be playing the old tried and true formula that works.  To me just sounds like you are angry that you can't get a copy of Darkfall so you feel the need to whine like a child without their pacifier.

Originally posted by FreedomBlade

Do we really need yet another point and clicky shitty MMO with nice graphics and wait for it ... flying !? Lets have a quick check list to see if the usual shite is in it:

- Instancing- Tick yep loads of sinstancing in this game

- Point and click combat - Tick yep the same old hot key button mashing cool down stuff here

- Kill X, deliver X Quests - Tick yep this game is full of quests that are exciting as this

- Level based system - Tick yep this game uses the same old grind of leveling

So yes this has all the usual stuff that make MMOs so dull.

Good luck with this game guys you must like being fed the same old shit all the time. Don't you think it is time MMOs moved on from this tired old formula? 

Maybe it's time they moved on, but the fact is, they haven't, and every MMO out to date is exactly the same, sandbox or not. They're all full of the same stuff for the most part, some packaged better than others, and this is for sure one of the ones packaged better.

The combat system has some tweaks in there, the directional arrows, the chain skills. Sure, same old combat system, some really nice touch ups, tho. And it's enjoyable and looks good, compared to most everything else on the market.

Level based systems, even sandboxes are level based, you just grind up the skill instead of an overall character level. It's still the same grind, it's just distributed different in terms of where your experience is going.

The quests? Every quest driven MMO to date consists of the same quests, please elaborate on a single game that breaks the mold, or please give me an idea you have for a quest mechanic that could be used more than every-so-often as a special type of quest, something like the Kill X quest, collect quest, what other kind of quests do you think there are?

So far I haven't seen much instancing, either. I imagine there is some, but I have yet to see anywhere close to a lot.

Originally posted by FreedomBlade

Do we really need yet another point and clicky shitty MMO with nice graphics and wait for it ... flying !? Lets have a quick check list to see if the usual shite is in it:

- Instancing- Tick yep loads of sinstancing in this game

- Point and click combat - Tick yep the same old hot key button mashing cool down stuff here

- Kill X, deliver X Quests - Tick yep this game is full of quests that are exciting as this

- Level based system - Tick yep this game uses the same old grind of leveling

So yes this has all the usual stuff that make MMOs so dull.

Good luck with this game guys you must like being fed the same old shit all the time. Don't you think it is time MMOs moved on from this tired old formula? 

I get the impression that you haven't actually played the game.  You just want to come in here and bash it without trying it first?

Originally posted by Sovrath

hmmm, that's not exactly true, the mages had more things than that that were different.

Spellsingers did not do as much damage but had quicker casting times thus doing more damage over time.

Spellhowlers had incredible amounts of damage but very slow casting.

Sorcerors were sort of middle of the road and I think they had some decent AoE attacks.

Necromancers seemed more about debuffing and then applying their dark magic along with some pet use.

 

Otherwise, yes, they did branch out at lvl 20 and then again at lvl 40 with additional class focusing at lvl 75.

that is somewhat true.  but look at the difference between a sorc and a spell singer.  they both had cancel, AoE sleep, their base nuke, aura flare ect.  the elf had a LITTLE more castspeed, but with buffs and all everyone geared for castspeed.

It made for a lot more colors, different classes, but in the end they had 4 nukers (well.. 3, necro was a nuker with transfer pain so they were a class of their own).  it looks like AION will simply have 1 nuker.  less bells and whistles, but much better to balance.

Sure SK and TK were different (poor TKs) but they were both tanks with cubics, they filled the same role.

End result? ONE buffer per group.  vs Lineage2 where you needed a BD SwS prophet and SE, or  a WC and then half your group is buffers.  yes i may have overstated when i said the L2 classes were clones.  what i meant was, they had a lot of classes to fill a few roles, and it got a bit complicated, hopefully this will turn out better.

Originally posted by FreedomBlade

Do we really need yet another point and clicky shitty MMO with nice graphics and wait for it ... flying !? Lets have a quick check list to see if the usual shite is in it:

- Instancing- Tick yep loads of sinstancing in this game

- Point and click combat - Tick yep the same old hot key button mashing cool down stuff here

- Kill X, deliver X Quests - Tick yep this game is full of quests that are exciting as this

- Level based system - Tick yep this game uses the same old grind of leveling

So yes this has all the usual stuff that make MMOs so dull.

Good luck with this game guys you must like being fed the same old shit all the time. Don't you think it is time MMOs moved on from this tired old formula? 

WoW! Sounds like you are making a new groundbreaking MMO that no one has ever dreamed of! Man I cant wait to try it out! Now, when did you say itll be out and when can we all try it? Oh, no MMO? So whats with the comments if you dont know yourself what makes for a new innovative gameplay? Can you elaborate on exactly what can be done than whats being done now? Im not talking about masking a system up to look like its revolutionary, I mean something that is truly different or hasnt been done! Wait, you cant think of anything that would be revolutionary atm? Well thats ok, keep pretending you know what your talking about, Im sure someone will buy into your hype about whats revolutionary and what isnt.

Until then Im going to play this game and enjoy some really nice polished gameplay while you keep searching, and being frustrated by nothing thats revolutionary out there. So spend what little time you have looking and dont bother playing anything you have described, cause if you do, Ill post it here so all can see how much a hypocrit you really are! Have a nice day!

Originally posted by FreedomBlade

Do we really need yet another point and clicky shitty MMO with nice graphics and wait for it ... flying !? Lets have a quick check list to see if the usual shite is in it:

- Instancing- Tick yep loads of sinstancing in this game

- Point and click combat - Tick yep the same old hot key button mashing cool down stuff here

- Kill X, deliver X Quests - Tick yep this game is full of quests that are exciting as this

- Level based system - Tick yep this game uses the same old grind of leveling

So yes this has all the usual stuff that make MMOs so dull.

Good luck with this game guys you must like being fed the same old shit all the time. Don't you think it is time MMOs moved on from this tired old formula? 

WOW..the trolls are coming out of their caves i see.

I have to laugh at people like this because they have not bothered to read up on what this game brings to the mmo genre.

This game was never supposed to be innovative, just bring the best of what is out there into one mmo like WOW did when they came out.

Instancing - yeah same old as most others do, nothing new.

Point and click combat as well as w/a/s/d movement too.

Kill X, deliver X Quests - wow same as most other mmo's out there, duh.

Level based system - DUH again! same as other mmo's out there.

I see your missing out on a lot of other stuff that makes this game interesting enough to others besides the usual. Learn to bash a game on its content before post dumb things like that.

I wanted to apologize to the Op if I may have seem a bit harsh on their review.

I think you did a great job, but if you are going to write about a game I would suggest you add both the dark and light aspects instead of all grey areas. Once again you have nothing to apologize for it was just I felt you couldve put a little more details in your review. If anything its probably best to call it something else, like a first hand look report, instead of a review. I tend to be a stickler and a critic of reviewers myself as most just do not bother to bring anything neutral to their posts and is all based off opinions and little facts. But I do commend you for at least coming in here and giving us a first hand glimpse from a gamers POV on Aion, and for that I thank you!