MMO News |
- Aura Kingdom Dev Preview + Giveaways!
- D&D: Arena of War
- Early Access: Aura Kingdom – Eidolons and Achievements
- Pantheon Legend
- Smite God Reveal – Nu Wa, Guardian of Heaven
- FINAL FANTASY XIV Patch 2.1 – A Realm Awoken
- Shotgun News 12/6: Granado Espada EU, Warhammer 40k, and Lost Chaos
- Early Access: Aura Kingdom – The Three Cs
- Imagine Nations
- Imagine Nations – Kickstarter Preview
| Aura Kingdom Dev Preview + Giveaways! Posted: 06 Dec 2013 03:47 PM PST Aura Kingdom Dev Preview + Giveaways! DizzyPW took a flight to Aeria's US Headquarters this week to get four hours of game time on the western localized beta client with Aura Kingdom's Producer to learn just what makes this game tick and how it intends to push itself to the new top dog in the Anime MMORPG market. Learn more about Aura Kingdom in our Triple Friday Feature and enter to win official Aura Kingdom playing cards and even a Platinum Founder Pack! Part 1 (Customization and Classes): http://tinyurl.com/lxuw3ty Part 2 (Eidolons and Achievements): http://tinyurl.com/m5penxr Part 3 (Gameplay Critique and Mechanics): Work in Progress Get caught up on all things Aura Kingdom: http://mmohuts.com/preview/aura-kingdom
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| Posted: 06 Dec 2013 02:33 PM PST Can you restore the balance of the world before the Sundering is complete in this free-to-play Dungeons and Dragons adventure?  Publisher: Mobage Pros: +Hundreds of skills to learn. +Easy to learn action. +Monthly content update. Cons: -Limited multi-player.
Overview D&D: Arena of War OverviewD&D: Arena of War is a free-to-play action RPG set in Forgotten Realms. As a champion, you must rally against evil, customizing your warrior and fighting with touch-based skills through dangerous missions. Call friends to your side, or go alone, and battle new enemies every month. D&D: Arena of War Screenshots     D&D: Arena of War Featured Video Full Review D&D: Arena of War ReviewComing Soon… Screenshots D&D: Arena of War ScreenshotsComing Soon… Videos D&D: Arena of War VideosD&D: Arena of War Trailer System Requirements D&D: Arena of War System RequirementsComing Soon… |
| Early Access: Aura Kingdom – Eidolons and Achievements Posted: 06 Dec 2013 02:20 PM PST By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), General Manager
Now that we have the basics of customization out of the way, it's time to look into the core concept of Aura Kingdom: The Eidolons!
A Pet, a Companion, a Narrator, and a Grab Bag Eidolons don't necessarily reinvent the wheel in terms of MMO pets. Rather they seem to encompass a half dozen great ideas from various other MMO pet systems, improve them, and offer them up in one complete package with enough customization options, variety, and visual appeal to send the typical gamer into ADD overdrive. But at the start you'll face the equivalent of the Professor Oak selection process to decide your starting Eidolon from four options. And don't worry, the names can be changed to make you and your pet feel like unique snowflakes. Eternal Youth: Don't be fooled by his spritely appearance – Serif is a warrior spirit with the courage to take on any foe. Darting through the air, he strikes with powerful punches and lightning attacks that leave enemies reeling. Cheery Sylph: Merrilee's bubbly personality and can-do attitude make her a perfect partner. She does her best to keep you safe with defensive spells and healing magics, but she can also turn the tables on foes with vicious ice attacks. I also kid you not, one of her abilities is called "Cheerleader." Daring Digimon… er Dragon: A recently hatched dragon, Grimm doesn't let his size prevent him from displaying the confidence and tenacity of a full-grown drake. He enjoys bobbing around enemies, body-slamming them in between blasts of torching flame. And to keep that one guy in everyone's guild happy. Yes you know the one I'm talking about. Regal Unicorn: A svelte scion of unicorn nobility, Alessa possesses sacred powers that can purify ailments and heal injuries. The regal horn protruding from her forehead isn't just for show either – she wields it with the deftness of a fencer's blade.
Don't like any of the options? The world of Azuria is filled with countless Eidolons ranging from Iron Man look a-likes to famous historical mythological creatures. And methods of unlocking them are various including quests and drops to obtain a series of keys, guild hall summoning rituals, cash shop packs, and story rewards. Each Eidolon brings its own unique stats, growth, skills (typically four including an ultimate combo skill with a cool-down ranging in the 2 minute mark), and personality to the mix, and a player can have 3 hotkeyed for fast summoning to swap between skill sets at any time depending on the changing nature of a battle. But beyond splitting skulls in the most adorable of ways and offering awkward upskirt screenshots, what sets these creatures apart from standard MMO pets?
A Companion: So you've found an Eidolon you have a connection to and want to see its power grow? Well for starters you're going to have to spend time to get to know your Eidolon to make that happen in any timely manner. This involves running quests to obtain Eidolon food, participating in epic battles together to create memories, and just generally chatting with your partner about random nonsense to let them know their opinion matters to you. It's certainly an odd system that's not for everyone, but I can imagine roleplayers and pet enthusiasts getting really into this. But even if that's not your interest, you'll still need to learn the ropes of caring for an Eidolon as these creatures will offer a hefty boost to your damage, survivability, soloing speed, and in some cases can even act as a combat mount on top of it. I'll be holding my breath though as PvP is still in the early stages of development so there isn't a Eidolon battle arena yet to test your pet against other pets. Don't keep us waiting XLegend!
A Narrator: Your Eidolon team are watching you all the time. Judging you. Criticizing you. Occasionally complimenting you (or so I've heard. My Eidolons gave me no respect beyond being an awesome leader of "ExampleGuild2"). Eidolons you have set in your active slots will pop up during key boss battles to be sure to let the Fairy Queen know she they're no match for you and your iron men of death. Which, based on not knowing the backstory, often had me wondering if I was a hero or villain. Finally some recognition! These events will not only build your relation but be brought up by your Eidolon during conversation later. Or they'll just point out that the grey slime toad somehow managed to kill you for the next three weeks, much like an overbearing girlfriend that takes joy in reminding you of your greatest failures.
A Grab Bag: Outside of combat and fluff features, the most physically rewarding part of building a strong relation with your Eidolon is when you expend relation MP points on reward quests. This typically involves your Eidolon doing some sort superstitious ritualistic dance not unlike the one your crazy uncle does to ensure his football team makes it to the playoffs. Just with more fireballs and flashy effects thrown in. After ten minutes of summoning a Spirit Bomb, your Eidolon will return to you with a decent prize. This can range from experience orbs to boost your Eidolon's level to specialty foods that up your Eidolon's stats. Once in a while they may even surprise you with items found only in the cash shop so don't miss out on playing the Eidolon lottery every chance you get. Just note that you can't have your Eidolon carry you through the game EZ-mode style by spending all your time focus leveling it as your Eidolon can never exceed your character's level. Evolution: The last note worth mentioning about Eidolons is the evolution system. This exists only for those that have put in the time to actually level an Eidolon all the way to level 40. At this time you can make the choice to spend precious items to reset your Eidolon back to level 1, but with a higher rate of leveling strength this time around. It's a tedious process to be sure but worth it in the long run if you want to acquire the most powerful companion possible. The ostrich driver heard I liked carts. So he gave me a cart to put the Moon Bunny in for carting while carting in his cart. Cartception Achievement Unlocked.
Completionist Paradise There's of course more to Aura Kingdom than a glorified Pokemon pet collecting game. While the character grind itself is quite short (a boon to those lacking as much time for MMOs though a bane to hardcore grinders I'm sure), the quest to obtain all achievements and titles is another story. If you thought Eden Eternal threw an endless barrage of unlockable titles at you, prepare to be overwhelmed by the sheer wall of question marks awaiting you on the second page of your character menu in Aura Kingdom. And rarer titles will open up stat bonuses that are cumulative, meaning once you have them unlocked, they will be unlocked and active at all times across all characters on your account whether you are wearing the title or not. This means altaholics are going to be a force to be reckoned with, as each of their new characters will be more powerful at level 1 than their newbie first character brethren. I'll say it makes alts more appealing as well since your added power will ensure a faster clear of content to level up quicker the second time around. And while not all achievements are accompanied by sweet titles, they will still reward you with Aeria's new loyalty point system, a nifty and free way to obtain cash shop goods without paying a dime. I felt this system of hiding achievements behind every corner from jumping up a strange cliff face to killing x number of y monsters to listening to NPCs in town rant about personal drama llamas helps alleviate that race to end-game feeling by giving you physical rewards for just enjoying the beautiful and colorful world around you. And the ever growing tally of achievement points is sure to stand as a competitive benchmark for various completionists to brag and challenge each other with. Even trophies are in the early stages of development for those that prefer a giant golden medal over a raw numeric value to drive their bragging rights home.
Story and Gameplay Impressions coming soon… We'll be following up this evening with a look into the actual combat feel of Aura Kingdom as well as the story itself coincided with my personal likes and dislikes of the title later this evening. But if you're here for a second chance at winning your own pack of Aura Kingdom playing cards, follow this link and answer our forum's next question. |
| Posted: 06 Dec 2013 12:59 PM PST Call the power of the gods to your side as legends come to life in this card-based social RPG.  Publisher: Gamebox Pros: +Nine classes. +Single and multiplayer play. +Expansive card content. Cons: -Slow progress. -Limited competitive play.
Overview Pantheon Legend OverviewPantheon Legend is a free to play collectible card RPG. Call the gods and demons to your side in an epic battle through over 160 stages, alone or with friends. Play as one of nine classes, and upgrade and evolve your cards through four unique stages to reach the ultimate level of power. Pantheon Legend Screenshots          Pantheon Legend Featured Video Full Review Pantheon Legend ReviewComing Soon… Screenshots Pantheon Legend ScreenshotsComing Soon… Videos Pantheon Legend VideosPantheon Legend Trailer System Requirements Pantheon Legend System RequirementsComing Soon… |
| Smite God Reveal – Nu Wa, Guardian of Heaven Posted: 06 Dec 2013 11:59 AM PST Smite God Reveal – Nu Wa, Guardian of Heaven Nu Wa – Guardian of Heaven
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| FINAL FANTASY XIV Patch 2.1 – A Realm Awoken Posted: 06 Dec 2013 10:34 AM PST
See what new adventures await in the ever-changing land of Eorzea! Coming December 17, 2013. |
| Shotgun News 12/6: Granado Espada EU, Warhammer 40k, and Lost Chaos Posted: 06 Dec 2013 10:05 AM PST Granado Espada Europe Announces Closed Beta Dates EuroGamez has announced that the closed beta for Granado Espada EU will begin on December 10th. Everyone who takes part in the closed beta will be able to take part in several events and giveaways.
Warhammer 40k Adds Eldar to Race List The 3rd person action MMORPG Warhammer 40,000 Eternal Crusade has added a new race to the roster. This makes them the final playable faction that will be available at launch along with Space Marines, Orks, and Chaos Space Marines. The Website however has one last thing under Phase 2 that has yet to be uncovered so more may be coming soon.
Gamigo Takes Over Lost Chaos in North America Aeria Games has handed over all North American licensing rights for MMORPG Lost Chaos over to Gamigo. Gaming operations were all transferred yesterday. The conditions of this licensing exchange have not been disclosed. |
| Early Access: Aura Kingdom – The Three Cs Posted: 06 Dec 2013 08:38 AM PST By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), General Manager Does your MMORPG lack epic Anime storylines filled with clichés, over exaggerated emotes, and explosions that leave you dazed? Do you have an uncontrollable urge to catch 'em all but lack friends with expensive 3D Gameboys? Perhaps you're a pervert that needs ample pantie shots after a hard day's work? Well if you're suffering from any of these problems, 2014 is looking bright as Aura Kingdom is positioned to reveal its western debut with Aeria Games in just a few weeks from now! And to celebrate, not only am here to bring you a more in-depth discussion of what the press was shown in Thursday's 4 hour demo, but I'll even be giving out two Aura Kingdom playing card decks to two winners that follow the giveaway instructions at the end of each article!
X-Legend Goes Full Circle Many eons ago, I came before you guys to write about the previous X-Legend game published by Aeria, Eden Eternal. That was roughly two and a half years ago and the MMO industry has changed, gamers have been jaded from one too many false promises, and as someone who spent three years reading reviews from forty-six odd (figuratively and literally) free-lance writers, I can say I know this better than most. So when Aeria told me a few months back that X-Legend was launching a game combining elements of their past successes such as Eden Eternal's multi-classing, Kistu Saga's over the top focus on cuteness, and Grand Fantasia's elaborate (for its time) MMO pet system and social functions, I was skeptical. At least until I realized I had already played this game at last year's G-Star and found it quite enjoyable as a prototype. The game has come a long way since then so let's break down where it shines and where it still needs some work.
Classes, Creation, and Customization Aura Kingdom nails the all-important elements that make the Anime MMO fan-base get all warm and fuzzy for. If you want classes, it has more than a few while carefully avoiding stepping on each other's toes with the five-man party limitation. Guardian- First on the battlefield and last to leave, Guardians work tirelessly to ensure victory through superior tactics. Their sword and shield combo gives them a balanced offense and defense, enabling them to outlast enemies while waiting for the perfect opening – or create one with a well-timed block and counterattack. Ravager- Each swing of a Ravager's massive axe delivers a payload of pain, and often collateral damage to any unfortunate enough to be standing too close. With a frenzy in their eyes, they shrug off their own injuries in a race to kill their enemy first, destroying anything that stands in their way. Duelist- Speeding like a meteor across the sky, Duelists rush enemies with their razor-sharp dual blades before they have a chance to react. Consummate close-range specialists, these fleet-footed fighters combine acrobatics and a touch of magic to disorient and wear down even the strongest foes. Gunslinger- The quickest draw in the land, Gunslingers pack a punch by peppering foes with magic-laced bullets from their twin pistols. To these hotshots, there's no such thing as an underhanded move if it wins the fight, and to that end, they employ devious traps and even special bullets that debilitate enemies. Grenadier- Grenadiers are known far and wide for the massive cannons they heft into battle. These miraculous feats of engineering are capable of firing missiles, discharging powerful plasma bursts, or launching elementally-charged grenades. With such an arsenal, Grenadiers have a blast demolishing foes from afar. Bard- Consummate masters of support, Bards know just the tune to invigorate their allies. Always a hit in parties, they've got the sonic skills to take down foes alone as well. With harp in hand, they can unleash songs to harm, heal, or help, always sure to return for an encore performance. (Holy alliteration Batman!) Wizard- The ways of magic are mysterious to many, but Wizards see order amidst the chaos, looking to the forces of nature for their inspiration. Using staves to focus raw mana, they conjure elemental spells that can turn the tides of battle, making them respected and indispensable allies in combat. Sorcerer- Few dare to plumb the darker side of magic, but Sorcerers brave its depths with gusto. In the pages of old tomes and grimoires they find runes and sigils that, although forgotten by the world at large, have lost none of their potency. With a host of debilitating spells at their fingertips, none can deny a Sorcerer's way with words.
Mystery Class- What could it be? All that is present is a mysterious locked sign. Perhaps we'll know when open beta arrives? But based on the melee to ranged ratio, I'm thinking it's going to be something that gets up close and personal with the enemy.
Creation: Once you have your playstyle in mind, the next step is hammering out your looks. Not only did the version I played beat out most Anime MMOs in number of classes, it also offered the most customization options at creation I've seen out of any default slider model. Sure it's not modded Skyrim facial cheek slider level of detail, but for the F2P Anime genre it's pretty outstanding. No class is gender locked. There's nine face options per gender with ten hairstyles. Every hairstyle has twelve colors you can dye consisting of all the typical natural colors along with the full spectrum of the rainbow. Beyond that you have a whopping twenty eye colors. Skin tone offered four shades starting at peachy white to more Asian tones, though many of our preset characters were various darker shades leading me to believe that a decent number of options are in the process of being implemented here in preparation for the westernized launch. After twirling through all these options it becomes pretty clear how this game ended up being called Aura Kingdom. Once all the presets and colors are set, players can zoom in, rotate, and have their character do one of six emotes to confirm you're looking sharp before slapping on a name and jumping into the land of Azuria. Well… there is the little detail of selecting from one of four starter Eidolons but I'll save that discussion for part 2 of our coverage.
Customization: Once your adventure starts, you will find a plethora of options to set yourself apart from the crowd statistically, visually, and sometimes through options consisting of a combination of both. Statistically you have the D&D old school freedom to choose your own leveling stats. Except it's done smarter than the original Maplestory-esque take on the concept by offering you separate points for boosting your offensive and defensive capabilities. Will you spend your precious offensive points on boosting your base damage, upping crit chance, or upping attack speed/reducing cooldowns? Will you spend your defense points on bolstering hp/out of combat regen, offsetting damage you take by a percent, or increasing your gamble factor by raising evade to try to dodge attacks altogether? While certain class skills will make the weight of these decisions lean more towards one of the three options than the others, I feel in the end it comes down to personal philosophy and playstyle. Gamblers might lean heavier towards evade for the thrill of uncertain damage absorption while more reserved players might lean raw base damage over crit chance. And while that might be well and good for number pushes and min-maxers to debate over, most of you out there will be spending most of your time focused on the Envoy's Path decisions. Envoy's Path: The Envoy's Path is a branching and complicated series of seemingly arbitrary boxes laying out your skill and passive options. No box is worth more than the others but since you start in the middle and are limited by points gained from leveling, you will have to plan things out ahead of time to connect boxes from the middle to the eventual boosts you're trying to acquire. Aura Kingdom adds an additional layer of complexity to this by making some of the far border boxes have the requirement of a specific secondary weapon choice you'll need to unlock, meaning they are only available for characters at or past level 40 (sorry 40 is going to be the cap in beta testing for a bit). From my brief testing with the Envoy's Path, I feel like it's there and can have an impact of playstyle, but not to the point that a player could cripple their character from competing with others. Most every path seems to offer enough unique advantages to be viable while offering an additional layer of customization to set yourself apart. Dyeing: The final customization point I'm going to touch on is the purely cosmetic but ever important feature, armor and fashion dying. Aura Kingdom stays true to its psychedelic rainbow theme but featuring enough dye colors to make a Guild Wars 1 fan nostalgic. Beyond that various gear pieces have multiple color slots, allowing for deviant delights and horrific fashion statements through mixing and matching so many colors throughout your set. The only drawback is dye is rare and trying to acquire a specific color on top of it will be even more so. This is definitely going to be a cash shop draw to the game but thankfully is not a cash shop required feature to enjoy.
Well it's 1am and I don't want to slip up and share wrong information so I'm going to take a pause before continuing our coverage of Aura Kingdom later today. Remember to visit our forum thread to take part in guessing my favorite Eidolon to be entered into a drawing to win the first pack of Aura Kingdom playing cards! Ready to continue? Read our next article on the Eidolon & Achievement systems! |
| Posted: 05 Dec 2013 02:49 PM PST An expansive, infinite world awaits in Imagine Nations, a new voxel-based sandbox which pushes the boundaries of sandbox into simulation territory and beyond.  Publisher: Cat Banana Studios Pros: +Infinite world. +Pushes boundaries for sandbox games. Cons: -Limited information available.
Overview Imagine Nations OverviewImagine Nations is a sandbox-style voxel universe simulator that seeks to push boundaries beyond anything seen in Minecraft. You begin as the mayor of a town to people like yourself, but as you craft, build, and expand, you will discover new worlds and cultures beyond your initial horizons. Complete missions or roam the wilderness – the choice is yours. Features include an infinite, procedurally-generated universe; a fully customizable character; extensive crafting; complex civilization simulations; player-missions; catastrophic events; and extensive modding. Imagine Nations Screenshots       Imagine Nations Featured Video Full Review Imagine Nations ReviewComing Soon… Screenshots Imagine Nations ScreenshotsComing Soon… Videos Imagine Nations VideosImagine Nations Kickstarter Trailer System Requirements Imagine Nations System RequirementsComing Soon… |
| Imagine Nations – Kickstarter Preview Posted: 05 Dec 2013 01:14 PM PST By Michael Sagoe (mikedot), OnRPG Journalist Ever since the global phenomenon called Minecraft, a rising trend of "Make it your own" sandbox titles was created soon after its rise to fame. While a few of them have brought some interesting new ideas to the table, many others were just trying to bite off a bit of Minecraft's success. Now, a new Kickstarter project called "Imagine Nations" by indie developer group "Cat Banana Studios" is looking to stand out from all the others with unique features derived from almost every genre out there. With their currently ongoing Kickstarter campaign, Imagine Nations promises a procedurally generated world where players can explore their environment, build a town, battle against hostile creatures and more, all made possible through the use of voxels-based cubes. While it might sound like just another Minecraft wannabe, Imagine Nations goes one step further by integrating a unique Mayor mechanic where players can take direct control of their town and direct NPCs to create various structures, research new technologies and help their society expand and grow. Think of it as a mix between Minecraft and Sid Meier's Civilization. In order to drum up some support for their Kickstarter project, they've release an alpha demo of the game for everyone to play. With the demo only being under 100mb, I decided to give it a quick whirl during a lazy afternoon session. The demo starts off by dropping the player into a large forest with scattered hills and crevices in plain sight. Right inside that forest is a large town house with various civilians pacing up and down the area. As the game mentions upon entry, you're the mayor of this small town and must begin your duty by helping the townspeople in various ways. So then the game directs the player into the house in order to access the mayor's console. Once activated by the player, they enter an RTS style mode where they can see the entire landscape of the town and forest from a top-down view. From here, the player can pick various houses to build for their citizens. Just pick a house, select an open spot on the ground and watch the townspeople go to work on it. At the moment, the demo doesn't seem to include any major resource gathering, as the townspeople were able to build these houses without any wood… or stone… or bricks… or anything else but their pickaxes, for that matter. After the house was built, it was time to build a barrier around the town to keep any hostile creatures in the forest from coming in. Just what hostile creatures were out there was a bit of a mystery, and I sure wasn't prepared to fight them off with an axe. But anyway, gathering wood to use for the barrier was as easy as taking a single whack at a tree. Once a tree was cut down, the wood is placed in my character's inventory and to be laid down across the floor… sort of. Yes, I'm sure these floating wood cubes will do a fine job of protecting the town… just as long as whatever creatures in the forest aren't too big to climb over or too small to crawl under it… After the town's awkward looking defenses were up, it was then time to go look for food. The game mentions that a caravan was lost far out into the forest, and that I would have to be the one to go get it. Well geez, I thought I was supposed to be the mayor of this town, not some lowly scavenger… But regardless, my curiosity over what was waiting out there got the best of me, and so I went off with only my pickaxe to protect me. After wandering the forest for about a minute, the caravan was spotted. I was ready to pull the cart back to town, but then all of a sudden… …A wild cat goat appears! Or at least, I THINK it's a cat goat… Well I know for sure that it's not a friendly cat goat, because the thing attacked me as soon as I touched the cart. With my measly axe, I hacked the cat goat to death, but soon after, even more cat goats arrived. Those feisty things wouldn't let up. Fortunately, I was able to defeat them all. With the caravan secure, houses built and defenses up, the day was saved, and the demo was completed… Time to screw around! Overall, the initial product they've choose to present to the public may be lacking, but a very good foundation for the game as a whole has been set. The amount of features planned by Cat Banana could easily make Imagine Nations stand out from all the other sandbox titles that attempted to ride the Minecraft trending train, such being able to fight much bigger creatures, engineer and pilot giant planes or even build a civilization in space. However, with a couple of weeks left into their Kickstarter campaign and only around 2% of their funding goal achieved, they still have a long climb ahead of them. For more information, check out the Kickstarter Page here. |
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