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GDC 2010 PvP Preview

Garrett Fuller Posted:
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Previews 0

Aika is a game coming to the North American audience through Gala-Net. The game offers a PvE experience we have come to know in any MMO. The real story in this game is the five nation PvP system that works similar to Dark Age of Camelot. With fast paced combat and huge fights players can jump into this world and enjoy an MMO that takes its faction PvP seriously.

In Aika the Creation Goddess has created humans to populate the world. The humans got out of control so she created powerful creatures to watch over them. The creatures eventually turned on the humans. The goddess decided to protect the humans by raising their continent into the sky away from the creatures sent to watch over them. The human continent has formed into five nations that which continue to fight their overlords who send demons and monsters to their continent in the sky. However, the nations also have started warring with each other. This is the world you step into with Aika.

So in fighting demons and monsters to level up your skills, players have the choice of several classes. There are the Scout classes like the Rifleman or Dual Gunner.  The Warlock and Cleric are available for Mage players. The Paladin and Warrior fill out the classes with roles for tanking and melee. Each class gets a mount to ride on and have a full skill set to choose from. Players also get a Fairy Familiar who follows them around. Players can choose to interact with her or ignore her. The interactions are great because she will give you powerful buffs and abilities the more to talk to her. If you choose to ignore her she will eventually get upset. The classes work similar to other MMO classes with the familiar or boost.

Again, the aforementioned five nation PvP system is what really sets Aika apart. Players get the chance to join battle grounds which is your standard lobby system for small PvP skirmishes. Two teams are formed and the battle is more for personal glory. There is one team Dusk and one team Dawn in each instance and players fight to win honor points which can be spent to by gear. The battle grounds offer players a chance to perfect their skills before entering the larger Fight for Pride between the five nations.

If the grand scale PvP was not enough, once a week players take part in a massive capture the flag game to see who can become the Lord Marshal. Players battle out the scenario and one of them stands victorious who then leads his nation. They can control taxes, the defenses of the temples. Their groups get massive buffs and when they enter battle they do so with a large boost to damage, hit points, and defenses. The Lord Marshal only holds the title for one week and then the battle is held again to determine the next. In that time you are responsible for your nation and giving the players the best experience just like any sovereign.

Overall, Aika has a lot of fun elements to the game. The PvP is the part that many old school MMO players will want to check out. It has some great potential and good ideas already in the ground work of the game giving many people the chance to battle it out. Aika’s open beta starts next week. We’ll have an announcement for you when it does.


garrett

Garrett Fuller

Garrett Fuller / Garrett Fuller has been playing MMOs since 1997 and writing about them since 2005. He joined MMORPG.com has a volunteer writer and now handles Industry Relations for the website. He has been gaming since 1979 when his cousin showed him a copy of Dungeons and Dragons. When not spending time with his family, Garrett also Larps and plays Airsoft in his spare time.