Red's Box

There isn’t much time remaining in what is the final beta event for Aion: Tower of Eternity and I wanted to take a few minutes to share my thoughts on select topics of my choosing from the brief time I’ve spent in Atreia.

Race
First and foremost I want to cover the races. I particularly love the back story between the two different races and how they came to become exactly that. I spent some time with both the Asmodians and Elyos and oddly enough found myself feeling more in tune with the Asmodian’s plot, but I will likely play as the Elyos for one reason. My play through as an Asmodian Warrior left me wanting in a bad sort of way. I’m not sure if it was how and when the quests were dispersed, how the starting area was laid out, or something else entirely but just playing the Asmodians proved to feel more grindy and tedious. I suspect at higher levels (I only got to 10) this will not be an issue, or maybe it is just me, either way I don’t really care to subject myself to that. That being said, I enjoy the Elyos even if they don’t have black wings.

Class
Almost with certainty when I start a new character in any RPG or MMO I roll a warrior. I tend to prefer the straight up brutality of the melee fighter and rarely stray from that tried and true favorite. However I will most likely roll a Scout with the intent of playing an Assassin in Aion. Why have I veered in this regard? I can’t really say. Maybe I just didn’t “feel it” with the Warrior classes, or maybe I am just looking for something a little different. What I do know, however, is that the Assassin is a stupid fun class to play in Aion and I can’t wait to get back into it come September.

Combat and Quests
The quests tend to be the general affair and pretty much what I’ve come to expect from the MMO genre. That isn’t to say they are boring or without merit, but they do tend to follow the standard routine. The combat on the other hand I find to be oddly exhilarating. Perhaps it is the crisp, swift animations and the brutal sound, but whatever the cause I find myself mesmerized by the “feel” of combat. It never seems to get to the point where I feel like I’m just hitting auto attack and letting the computer do the work. And then they throw in flight, seriously, it just keeps getting better from level 1.

Final Thoughts
My general feel of Aion is that it is going to be a fantastic game. Perhaps it comes from having already been released in Asia, but it has an excellent polish to it which really helps it shine. There are few genre redefining elements to the game, but it takes everything that the MMORGP does and does them just that much better. With the few tricks it does throw out, like the afore mentioned flight, it definitely filters to the top of the A+ MMO list.

Verdict
Grab it in September and get a breath of something fresh.