Nexon had a great booth at PAX East, two of them as a matter of fact. The company that is known for Maple Story really has been stepping up in terms of games lately. Dragon Nest may look a bit anime for some people, but the game play is fast paced and well organized. The company also showed off the new content for Vindictus with a new city and new zones for players to explore. Nexon remains a pioneer in the FTP space and continues to bring much stronger games to the market.
Dragon Nest
With an anime feel to the game I got to the computer to play Dragon Nest with some hesitations. Will this be another Anime Pop style game with little depth and a lot of grinding? Well I was very wrong. My impressions quickly changed as our group began the instance run and started fighting a number of foes while running through the dungeon.
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I was playing the archer class and had a blast targeting the enemies and dropping them like flies before the got to me. If I did get into melee it was nothing that a round house kick could not solve. The target was centered in the middle of the screen with my character just off to the left. It worked very well in terms of selecting targets and using my abilities without having to click all over the screen.
Running through the instance I was suprosed at well the game moved forward and allowed the group to work together. The dynamics of the combat allowed for team work among players and gave us some great battles along the way.
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We ended the demo with a boss fight against a big Orclike looking monster. In terms of game play Dragon Nest was great fun and moved very well in terms of pacing. The game surprised me with its pace and play style which was much better than I expected. As a FTP game Dragon Nest is a great game to join if you do not want or need a long term commitment. Getting in and running adventures are great and you do not need six hours of time to play. If this demo is any indicator, Nexon has a great game on their hands with action style combat and enough depth and character development to keep players coming back.
Vindictus
Vindictus is a game that impressed us greatly over the last year. With an open community area and instanced dungeons for players to run it is a great game when you do not have a lot of time. Vindictus really is the first game that Nexon has shown which captures the more adult MMO players.
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In this demo we got to see the new zones and new castle, as well as check out the new instance dungeon. Orcs and goblins alike came running out to attack us as soon as we started. The look of the game continues to improve and rivals many top MMOs in terms of graphics and game play.
As we fought our way through the goblins, it was great to be able to change my character into a shining knight with glowing blades. The new Transformation tool is awesome and when used in key areas of a fight it works great to boost that extra damage. The boss fight in Vinductus had us facing a giant in at the top of the hill. The same as when we first saw Vindictus, the game play and combat are really fun. We made quick work of the giant and got out rewards.
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Besides new zones and the transformation abilities, Vindictus is adding PVP with their content update. With a game that moves this quickly it will be great to try out the PvP areas to see how players compete. Overall, Vindictus new content looks great and continues to impress for a FTP game. There will be lots for players to do in the coming weeks when this patch goes live.
