It's really good when a developer tries to do something new, aspecially now that WOW has it's grasp around the market, for that Atlantica needs alot of credits..

Atlantica is a rather fun game, gameplay wise..atleast for a while..

There is alot of options and for a player that likes micro managing this game is fun...

but..

The strategic combat/turnbased is a bit over advertized,once combat starts, you do not have that many options to choose from and you really do not have that much time to think about things either because a timer is running and if that ends turn goes to your enemy..

The options you have in combat is rather limited in a very small area, and the combat always "looks" the same part from diffrent merc settings and enemies...It's always a small empty battle area where your merc's and enemies stand on each side in formations...later in your advenures the complexety builds up ofcourse..

If you had the options to hide behind obstacles and walk around more, I know this would be hard to accomplish but...Ohh well

The camera in combat is dreadful, needs alot of work..

The world and NPC's and their dialogs is very poor, everything in these aspects are poor or simply awful..It's really feels cheap..How about getting some real story artist and not let the programmers run this part aswell..Atlantica and the whole background around it is bad IMHO..I never felt that I was part of any story , I just did what I had to do(mostly auto running to my quest locations)...

furthermore the outdoor graphics and the mobs that are scattered everywhere really looks totally out of place, both in dungeons and outdoor areas..This is ofcourse a problem in almost all MMORPG's but in Atlantica it's even worse than every other MMO i played..How about a whole field with almost floating ugly foxes..

The Graphics in whole looks really dated, since it's a turnbased game it should not be a problem to get really good graphics..

In the "cities" everyone is just standing next to the "zone in" just because no one need's to go further in the city, because there is a fast UI system to reach all buildings needed...This is very ugly, why create city zones when no one is using them...

In whole Atlantice is not an all bad game, but It really could have been that much better..

6/10

thanks for this review, it was very well-detailed and concise.

i agree that there could have been much more interaction with the environment involved and all the other points raised in your review. also, there could've been more options for character customization.

but then. what i keep in mind is that this game is free2play so it's kind of understandable that a few features are lacking. who knows? maybe they're still continuously developing it for these other features to be available.

The review was nice!!! way to go!!!!

thanks for the review. this will be of great help for those who haven't tried out the game just yet.

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Originally posted by nywlanas
thanks for this review, it was very well-detailed and concise.
i agree that there could have been much more interaction with the environment involved and all the other points raised in your review. also, there could've been more options for character customization.
but then. what i keep in mind is that this game is free2play so it's kind of understandable that a few features are lacking. who knows? maybe they're still continuously developing it for these other features to be available.

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Eventually it will update, If it goes well and they sell alot of things in the item store..

They have a strong base for something unique here´..

Ohh..And I failed to mention the PvP tournaments in my review, that could easily become one of Atlantica's best features..When I played I got sent upon much tougher players and could not stand a chance.However if they get the match making somewhat better they could have a real cool feature in the PvP tournaments..

/junker

i gota hand it to u the preview is pretty nice. but u gota admit, if there wasnt auto run, every one would be lost by now. the merc is pretty nice and the graphics i like, but hate the compact system.

it has the best community ever from games, espicialy from wows community. the game was  fun, but as soon as u find another mmo tht attracts u, u will lose interest. i would give the game 7/10 (1 extra point for its fun).

I agree that the PvP tournaments is one of the good features of the game. The match up system is not that accurate,  you have to prepare and build up your characters on its optimum so you will have a chance to win when the time comes that you will be matched to a higher level. Tactics is also important, I have witnessed before a match between a level 58 and a level 70, the lower level won due to his tactics.

Your Quote -
choose from and you really do not have that much time to think about things either because a timer is running and if that ends turn goes to your enemy..

Well m8 that happens in every turn based game, such as Dofus which is huge or without a timer Final Fantecy series. And i have to say, your quote about the camera is unaccurate becasue you can rotate expect when there doing a Finshing move or monster attacks at player. And lastly your rating which was 6/10 was pretty low for an good game that has retro style of gameplay, if i was doing a review i would give it 8.8/10.
And just asking what kidan config system do you play under ?
And do you play it on high or really low ?
 

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Originally posted by Zeusus75
Your Quote -
choose from and you really do not have that much time to think about things either because a timer is running and if that ends turn goes to your enemy..

Well m8 that happens in every turn based game, such as Dofus which is huge or without a timer Final Fantecy series. And i have to say, your quote about the camera is unaccurate becasue you can rotate expect when there doing a Finshing move or monster attacks at player. And lastly your rating which was 6/10 was pretty low for an good game that has retro style of gameplay, if i was doing a review i would give it 8.8/10.
And just asking what kidan config system do you play under ?
And do you play it on high or really low ?
 

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I ment the camera during combat, that should mean the finishing moves...

I play with the highest possible setting..

Retro style yes, and this is also rewarded in my review, as a new take to to MMO scene...
We need more game developers that dare to take steps beyond WoW..Giving us something NEW(atleast in the MMO scene) is very brave and should be rewarded, and as such Atlantica is given a better score than it's really worth in it's current setting..
If but only if the rest of the game was not that poor it would recive a much higher score..It's like they had a couple of GREAT ideas but didn't put some thought around the rest of the game.

But my low score is mostly for the really bad lore and poor voice overs, they really should have thought out the story and the world more, you can't really say that someone is suppose to be exited by this story..That and combined with stiff overall animations(part from combat)..

Finally, you have your score and I have mine, you like tha game more than I do, wich is fine ofcourse :)

But so far I can't see no reason to give it a higher score than 6/10

But hopefully the score will raise, it is a fun game at it's core..

/junker

Man what kinda games do you play on your computer ?

And also would you actually play RuneScape than Atlantica Online ?

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Originally posted by Zeusus75
And also would you actually play RuneScape than Atlantica Online ?

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Hmm...Atlantica has no high computer req's to run it in full, if you have problems with that then you probably have a rather poor or old computer, I run it on my 1-2 year old comp with no problems at all..

And If you compare it to Runescape then I guess Atlantica is a pure beuty to behold ;) and also a much better game aswell If that is your experience with MMO's

There is alot of "Free to play games" other than Runescape on the market..
And as Runescape is a browser run game it hardly even need's a computer to run ;)

Right now there is Runes of Magic for example..This gane has a more Fairy tale look over it and not that high spec's, still it looks better than Atlantica..

I run LOTRO and Age Of Conan and also some D&D Online...
But as these are all pay to play games I would not compare them to Atlantica as the graphics in these game surpasses Atlantica by far, and even DDO that is atleast a couple of years old has better graphics..

Althou graphics is also a matter of taste as much as it is a hardware reqirement..There is a few places in Atlantica that was well made and had nice looks, but the overall feeling and looks didn't cut it I think..

Again, this is just me...But i'm rather sure that many gamers would agree with me on this, atleast those that has experience with modern MMO's and not compares it with Runescape, any game is better looking than that..:)

/junker

Side note on the specs required... I wonder if anyone else running a 1gb ram machine has trouble with disk thrashing? I have an older machine which plays games like Titan Quest and Oblivion, not to mention far prettier MMOs, with only the occasional hiccup, whereas after a quarter hour of Atlantica Online it'll start paging like crazy.

I know it's not a cpu/video problem because cpu usage is low while the hdd light is solid and i can actually hear the hard drive accessing continuously. Also, process manager shows PF usage at 1.8gb so yeah that pretty much confirms it's paging like mad to disk since this machine only has 1gb.

Other than that, I mostly agree with the OP's review. It's a nice game, but quite shallow. Please, turn based strategy games that play like this (your party's moves, then enemies' moves) are like so 1990s. We should be getting stuff like full on grid maps like in the FFT and Atlus games, with tile effects, not to mention weather, day/night cycle, etc instead of this face-to-face i-bash-then-cpu-bashes combat.

I like how most of the other things like learning skills and sharing info contribute towards more positive player interaction. I'm all for that, instead of the mindless "lololol i pee kay you (level 90 vs level 20)" in most other MMOs. There's barely enough strategy in here to keep my interest though. I suppose it'll appeal to more players if it's simple enough, but in the first place people looking for simplicity or mindless click grinding would probably be playing something else.

Originally posted by Trucidation

Side note on the specs required... I wonder if anyone else running a 1gb ram machine has trouble with disk thrashing? I have an older machine which plays games like Titan Quest and Oblivion, not to mention far prettier MMOs, with only the occasional hiccup, whereas after a quarter hour of Atlantica Online it'll start paging like crazy.

I know it's not a cpu/video problem because cpu usage is low while the hdd light is solid and i can actually hear the hard drive accessing continuously. Also, process manager shows PF usage at 1.8gb so yeah that pretty much confirms it's paging like mad to disk since this machine only has 1gb.

On some reviews computers they had the same problem as you, like the ram, cpu ect.
in my opoinion you should have your ram to 3+GB, 512 Video Card " Not Shared", More than 3.5gb of Page Ram" Hard Drive Memory", and atleast a 3.0GHZ P4+ so in todays cpu i suggest a 1.8ghz+ intelCoreDuo.
With those spec you will have no lag at all, that might depend on your internet conection as well so a Cable, DSL or TSL should do the trick.
 

Originally posted by thark

 

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Originally posted by Zeusus75
Your Quote -
choose from and you really do not have that much time to think about things either because a timer is running and if that ends turn goes to your enemy..

 

Well m8 that happens in every turn based game, such as Dofus which is huge or without a timer Final Fantecy series. And i have to say, your quote about the camera is unaccurate becasue you can rotate expect when there doing a Finshing move or monster attacks at player. And lastly your rating which was 6/10 was pretty low for an good game that has retro style of gameplay, if i was doing a review i would give it 8.8/10.
And just asking what kidan config system do you play under ?
And do you play it on high or really low ?
 

---

 

I ment the camera during combat, that should mean the finishing moves...

I play with the highest possible setting..

Retro style yes, and this is also rewarded in my review, as a new take to to MMO scene...
We need more game developers that dare to take steps beyond WoW..Giving us something NEW(atleast in the MMO scene) is very brave and should be rewarded, and as such Atlantica is given a better score than it's really worth in it's current setting..
If but only if the rest of the game was not that poor it would recive a much higher score..It's like they had a couple of GREAT ideas but didn't put some thought around the rest of the game.

But my low score is mostly for the really bad lore and poor voice overs, they really should have thought out the story and the world more, you can't really say that someone is suppose to be exited by this story..That and combined with stiff overall animations(part from combat)..

Finally, you have your score and I have mine, you like tha game more than I do, wich is fine ofcourse :)

But so far I can't see no reason to give it a higher score than 6/10

But hopefully the score will raise, it is a fun game at it's core..

/junker

 

 

    Did you even turn the combat effects off?? There is a camera at the bottom right hand corner where you can turn off the combat effects and then you never have issues again.......You can maneuver the camera into any angle you want.......

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Originally posted by Theocritus

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Originally posted by thark

 

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Originally posted by Zeusus75
Your Quote -
choose from and you really do not have that much time to think about things either because a timer is running and if that ends turn goes to your enemy..
 
Well m8 that happens in every turn based game, such as Dofus which is huge or without a timer Final Fantecy series. And i have to say, your quote about the camera is unaccurate becasue you can rotate expect when there doing a Finshing move or monster attacks at player. And lastly your rating which was 6/10 was pretty low for an good game that has retro style of gameplay, if i was doing a review i would give it 8.8/10.
And just asking what kidan config system do you play under ?
And do you play it on high or really low ?
 

---

 
I ment the camera during combat, that should mean the finishing moves...

I play with the highest possible setting..
Retro style yes, and this is also rewarded in my review, as a new take to to MMO scene...
We need more game developers that dare to take steps beyond WoW..Giving us something NEW(atleast in the MMO scene) is very brave and should be rewarded, and as such Atlantica is given a better score than it's really worth in it's current setting..
If but only if the rest of the game was not that poor it would recive a much higher score..It's like they had a couple of GREAT ideas but didn't put some thought around the rest of the game.
But my low score is mostly for the really bad lore and poor voice overs, they really should have thought out the story and the world more, you can't really say that someone is suppose to be exited by this story..That and combined with stiff overall animations(part from combat)..
Finally, you have your score and I have mine, you like tha game more than I do, wich is fine ofcourse :)
But so far I can't see no reason to give it a higher score than 6/10
But hopefully the score will raise, it is a fun game at it's core..
/junker
 

 

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    Did you even turn the combat effects off?? There is a camera at the bottom right hand corner where you can turn off the combat effects and then you never have issues again.......You can maneuver the camera into any angle you want.......

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Ofcourse I turned it off, but you should not have to turn things off, hence the complains in my review.

If things work as they should you do not have to turn them off :)

/junker

     Thats a small adjustment though...its not like Vanguard and EQ2 where you have to tweak for days and still it doesnt come out right.....They put it there cause some people want the effects and some dont.....I really dont see how it can be any easier than just clicking on one button.

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Originally posted by Theocritus
     Thats a small adjustment though...its not like Vanguard and EQ2 where you have to tweak for days and still it doesnt come out right.....They put it there cause some people want the effects and some dont.....I really dont see how it can be any easier than just clicking on one button.

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Hmm...I'm NOT discussing if or if not it's hard to disable "one feature" in Atlantica..It's disabled..

I mentioned a feature that isn't working properly, that MOST players(if not all) has deactivated..

This is but one of the things mentioned in my review, and hardly one feature that has lowered any score in my review at all, it's just a feature that could have been somewhat cool that doesn't work..

some newbie questions

1. Is there PvP? If so how does it work

there's pvp, you can ask another player to compete with you and wait for their approval.. there's also pvp in the free league, set of players battle it out, the ones in the same division.. if your nation has king's judgement, set by the nation king, you can pk the one's your nation is at war with..

2. Is this game fast paced or like slow turn based(i know its turn based but it can still be fast paced..cant it? xP)

levelling up is fast during the earlier part or during low levels and gets slower at higher levels, depending on your strategy, if you want to do quests or grind or do other stuff..

3.How does the turn based system really work? I mean with like more than 1 person in the party do you just wait for everyone to choose their attack?

you have a team of up to 9 mercenaries.. its turn based so during your turn you can make your mercs attack once in a while, you can do combos, choose who to atack, or concentrate all their attack to a single mercenary... there's also a party system wherein you get to battle with other players with 9 mercs too.. there you can both or the three of you can attack at the same time..

you guys can also comment about this.. and post some more inquiries haha

Originally posted by thark

It's really good when a developer tries to do something new, aspecially now that WOW has it's grasp around the market, for that Atlantica needs alot of credits..

Atlantica is a rather fun game, gameplay wise..atleast for a while..

There is alot of options and for a player that likes micro managing this game is fun...

but..

The strategic combat/turnbased is a bit over advertized,once combat starts, you do not have that many options to choose from and you really do not have that much time to think about things either because a timer is running and if that ends turn goes to your enemy..

-- There are keyboard shortcuts that minimize the time to get your toons to attack.  I found that I am able to get all my characters attacking without any problem with the timer. (In the end there are 9 toons you are responsible for, if you have your strategy down, it shouldn't take more than 15 seconds to press the buttons)  I think that getting comfortable with your character set is crucial so that you can play out your turns quickly and effectively.  It's part of the challenge to the game, and makes you think about the strategy you want to use.

The options you have in combat is rather limited in a very small area, and the combat always "looks" the same part from diffrent merc settings and enemies...It's always a small empty battle area where your merc's and enemies stand on each side in formations...later in your advenures the complexety builds up ofcourse..

-- This is a strategy game.  It isn't about having a million spells to smash into your keyboard.  It's about knowing what skills to use and when.  All classes have different attack patterns and multiple special attacks.  The enemy vs. player formation is standard for turn based combat games. 

If you had the options to hide behind obstacles and walk around more, I know this would be hard to accomplish but...Ohh well

-- Again this idea is completely opposite of a turn based strategy game...

The camera in combat is dreadful, needs alot of work..

-- There is a feature to turn the camera off so that it will stay in the same place the entire time or you can move it around like a normal turn based strategy game.  How far did you get into the game without knowing this?

The world and NPC's and their dialogs is very poor, everything in these aspects are poor or simply awful..It's really feels cheap..How about getting some real story artist and not let the programmers run this part aswell..Atlantica and the whole background around it is bad IMHO..I never felt that I was part of any story , I just did what I had to do(mostly auto running to my quest locations)...

--- Keep in mind this is a F2P game.  Do not expect WoW like storyline from a free game.  Writers cost money... a lot of money.

furthermore the outdoor graphics and the mobs that are scattered everywhere really looks totally out of place, both in dungeons and outdoor areas..This is ofcourse a problem in almost all MMORPG's but in Atlantica it's even worse than every other MMO i played..How about a whole field with almost floating ugly foxes..

-- I dont understand this comment at all.  There are a ton of different enemies and they are in appropriate area.  Added bonus is that if you do the quest chain it actually explains why those NPCs occupy that space!

The Graphics in whole looks really dated, since it's a turnbased game it should not be a problem to get really good graphics..

-- F2P Game... moving right along.

In the "cities" everyone is just standing next to the "zone in" just because no one need's to go further in the city, because there is a fast UI system to reach all buildings needed...This is very ugly, why create city zones when no one is using them...

-- Check out the guild ownership of city system.  Why waste time running around instead of having everything in one menu?  Most people will hang out in one area of the city anyhow... why not just make it so you can get everything done there too?  This is a positive aspect.

In whole Atlantice is not an all bad game, but It really could have been that much better..

6/10

 

I couldn't disagree with this rating more.  I have played all the other games on the market and for a F2P game it is outstanding.  Is it a next gen game? No.  Is it fun and crazy addicitve... uh yeah!  I was unsure about this game before I played it because I figured it was just more of the same BS that gets made for a quick buck.  I could not have been more wrong.

What it comes down to is this.  If you enjoy turn based strategy games, you will enjoy this game.  If you want a more realistic game where the gameplay is similar to WoW, EQ2 and all the other clones out there, this may not be the game for you.  As for me it is a breath of fresh air, and I know I will be playing it for a long time.