Comments are now OPEN!

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I was discussing my little project with my wife last night, and mentioned that I never seem to get any comments. She, having kept a blog on Blogger.com for far longer than I have (as well as being smarter and way out of my league in cuteness) asked me, "Well, did you change the settings to allow anyone to comment, or is it on the default setting of only members can comment?" Buh Wha? Yup, sure enough, I had never even looked at the settings, and have kept many of you from saying what you thought because I am a dumbass. I have taken a knee, punched myself in the face, and changed the settings so that anyone can comment. For right now, I'm leaving off the moderation function. If I get a lot of spammers, I'll readjust that, but for now, you can leave me all the opinions, comments, questions, fart jokes, and smart-ass remarks you want!

So, let's start this off with a prompt: What game are you currently addicted to? What electronic entertainment motivates you to get up in the morning, work all day, put up with the annoying and frustrating grind of a day, just so you can afford your digital escape? Free or not, online or not, what is the game that you can't get enough of? Lemme know!

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Fallen Earth Review #1

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Computer? Check. Network connection? Check. Caffeinated soda of choice within reach? Double check. Then we are ready and it is time! Welcome again to the one-man-show that is Flat Broke Gamer Review! The Blog that tries to help you in your low-cost attempt to find decent online games. I am your less-than-humble host, NoCashReq, and this week we shine our floodlights on:

Fallen Earth is a MMORPG originally developed by Icarus Studios and Fallen Earth, and now by Reloaded Productions, and was converted to its new FtP style as a part of its purchase by GamersFirst in Aug 2011.

BLUF: This game tries to be too many different things at once, and is frustrating because of it. By trying to be a First Person Shooter (FPS)/Role Playing Game (RPG) hybrid, it fails at both, and although it has a really deep crafting and skill system, most people will not find this game to be their cup of tea.

SCORES

Playability: 1/5 Having to constantly switch from walk/interact mode to combat mode, lousy camera control outside of combat, and so many Heads-Up Display (HUD) windows makes this game frustrating to outright overwhelming. Casual players will not enjoy this game, unless their OCD kicks in and forces them to play through the initial pain until they get what Ctrl+K does and how to rapid swap between weapons.

Atmospherics: 3/5 This game has a great, if rather monochrome, look. Most of the terrain and characters look like they are straight out of Mad Max, but there is no real background music, and the movement, especially during combat, is stiff and robotic.

Learning Curve: 3/5 The sheer volume of the crafting system and skill system had me hopeful, as well as the six sided faction wheel, but because of the limitations on FtP players, unless you spend some cash you will take a LONG time leveling up, and even longer if you try to play one of the non-combat oriented styles of characters.

Community: 4/5 I had a lot of trouble trying to figure the game out, and the community was great about trying to answer questions and help me out. FtP players do not have access to the global chat, so you are a little bit limited, but the players I interacted with were great.

Support: 4/5 No real issues, and a regular update patten that adds more content, albeit mostly to the cash shop makes this a stable game.

Cash Value: 3/5 Buying the in-store cash at a rate of 800 G1C for $10 is a little lower than most games, but the items available all seem fairly well priced. Added to that is the First Time Buyer's Bonus, a veritable bag o' swag you get for the first purchase you make. The memberships are available at three different levels, and offer bonuses to leveling, crafting, and at the highest level, an AOE buff for you and all players with you. The downside is that not spending cash actually penalizes you.

OVERALL: 18/25 This game is not a bad game, but could do better with a lot less. FPS players will probably find it enjoyable, RPG players will find it annoying but manageable, but casual players will not make it past the first few level-ups.

BACKSTORY

Fallen Earth Takes place in and around the Grand Canyon, and one of the nice details that the game designers took in is the the topography is actually based on real imaging data from the world's biggest pothole. The world has been devastated by both nuclear war and a deadly pandemic, known as the Shiva Virus. Shortly before the world fell apart, the company GlobalTech creates the first fully functional cloning system, interconnected with a neural mapping program. This tech virtually guarantees the cloned person immortality. But with the collapse of modern society, the company ends up controlling what appears to be the only bastion of humanity, the Grand Canyon Province. As with any power system, several factions rise to try and claim dominance, and the competition soon falls apart into outright combat. There is a fairly rich and diverse play of characters included into the history of this game, the only one that I had a real problem buying into is that one of the last presidents of the USA is supposedly a member of a recognized terrorist group. No really, they have that in there.

Your character is one of the lucky people to have been plugged into the LifeNet Cloning system, and so up until the end of the world, you would have potentially survived forever. But the best laid plans of mice and men...

TUTORIAL

The creation process for your character starts with a choice of skin tones, hair, tattoos, face-paint, piercings, etc, basically how you look. There isn't a huge amount of options, none of your choices affect gameplay, and most of what you're offered can be changed later, so I chose some random stuff and launched the game.

You start playing by waking in a cloning facility with a woman's voice talking you through the first bit of the game. She introduces herself as Elena Winters, explains that the Hoover Dam Facility where you're at has been harvesting clones for various unsavory reasons, and that you have to do whatever it takes to get out. The game then tries its best to guide you through using one of the clunkiest, overloaded, overly complicated interface systems I have ever seen in a game. Seriously, this game could streamline down the controls and eliminate a lot of the HUD windows, increase the size of the text, and they would have so much more success at attracting players. Just eliminating the need to swap between walk/interact mode and combat mode would be an improvement that would make most people happy. That fact that I can be walking around trying to click on something on the ground, not see an enemy in all the clutter of the overhead map, and get killed before I can get off an attack was frustrating enough I quit after an hour of playing to calm myself. The first mission briefly introduces you to several people from what you will later learn are the six major factions of the game, lets you try both melee and ranged combat, and has you fight a bunch of nuclear mutant monsters that overwhelmed me before I could switch to combat mode. You then save the day by driving an ATV out of the facility, saving everyone and blowing yourself up in the process.

Yeah, you're dead...

Thanks for playing!




Only kidding, only kidding. Instead of being greeted by angels (or devils as the case may be) you go to a cut-scene that talks about the cloning process, how you are virtually immortal, and then flips to Elena hijacking the system. She tells you that you've been out for four years, and that the LifeNet core has been destroyed, and with it, all of the data for the clones. Your data was rerouted through a backup, but the data was damaged, so you'll eventually die now. Unless you find the alpha clones and integrate their DNA with your own.

And with that, you are given the choice of eight starter towns, and off you go! Each town has bonus skills,gear, and a horse for you, and they can all be visited, you aren't limited to only going to the one you choose. You're given quests by various NPCs you'll run into, and they are designed to help you try out most of the major functions in the game: combat, crafting, learning skills, maneuvering around the world, using your mutations, etc. Oh, didn't I mention that. Yeah, in addition to being a clone you are also a mutant. The Shiva Virus that nearly killed everyone also mutated the DNA of humans allowing us to have some special abilities. These are not enough to use solely for combat, no blades coming out of your hands or telekinesis, but they do provide a series of buffs and debuffs you can use. One of the first quests sends you off to get familiar with the Disrupt ability, which turns your next attack into a stunning blow (works best with melee). There are eleven different mutations, each with its own abilities. Using a mutation uses your Gamma energy, which replenishes over time or from consumables.

Playing through the first few quests, I found the questing process to be annoying. Every step of the way, two or three windows wanted to open, telling me my next goal, wanting me to click if I understood, detailing how to get the next part done, etc. Really, you could cut that down, get rid of some of the clutter, and it would function better. The rest of the HUD was the same. The chat window, while useful as most of the community was very helpful to me, can also be distracting and annoying. The upgrade button will minimize from covering the screen when you load up to a small reminder at the bottom of the screen, but it won't go away! Your ability bar at the bottom, the map on the right, everything is just too much clutter in your visual space, and everything is too crowded in it's own right. The map is USELESS, there is no way to tell one colored dot from any other dot of the same color, nothing is labeled, so you're almost better off without it.

Adding to the frustration were the controls. Not only do you have to switch from walk/interact mode to combat mode, but the number of key combinations to open windows, use skills, use abilities, and generally play the game almost calls for an extra hand or two. Shift+, Ctrl+, Alt+, and then just the regular keys, are you kidding me?

Next problem: The combat graphics looked more like old Goldeneye animations than what games come up with today. The characters barely bend as they move, their fighting is stiff and unresponsive, and it just didn't impress me at all. A simpler interface and controls, and more accurate physics in your animations would bring more people around to playing. But enough about what I didn't like. Let's get to the good stuff, that being the skill system and the crafting system.

LEARNING AND TRAINING

In addition to the quest and sales NPCs you're expecting in town, there are also trainers in all five of the major skill sets that allow you to refine your character as you progress. Skills are improved by spending Advancement Points (AP) which are earned from combat, leveling up, and other various activities. Combat is one of the easier ways to earn your AP, but if you are dead set on playing that pacifistic healer that keeps all your friends alive, there are ways to do it. Each skill set has a limit of how high it can go, based on percentages of your attribute scores. These are fairly straightforward stats that are also raised through spending AP but where skills are raised at a one to one rate, attributes go up at a five to one rate. As a base, three AP are earned every 1/10^th of a level you raise. The idea behind this system is to allow you more control over who your character becomes, so if you want a really customizable character design system, here it is. You can be either a specialist in a few skills or have some ability with all, and there is no defining class or role that funnels you into one path or another. It would be altogether possible to have completely opposite skills in one character, go for all of the skills at once, or a more traditional approach from another game. Personally, I like having a role in the group laid out for me, as it allows me to automatically know what people will expect me to do, but I can also see the freedom with this system.

All along the way towards the level cap, which is a healthy 55 I might add, you have the chance to refine or broaden your character, either through AP spending or aligning with factions and sub-factions (which will be covered very shortly), but the main idea is that just like a real human, you should have the option to explore whatever takes your fancy. I think it was an ambitious goal, and I think that they left it a little too open, but I do applaud their efforts to allow you to craft your own character, whoever you think that character should be.

IF YOU BUILD IT

The other wide open system that's in this game is the crafting system. Literally anything that can be used in the game can be crafted, from weapons to armor, food, ammunition, even vehicles. Various vendors sell the recipes you'll need to be able to craft, and each crafting job takes time, but the nice thing is that that time is real time and keeps going while you do other things, INCLUDING logging off and spending time with the family. That's right, you can start a crafting project, leave it running overnight, come back the next day, collect whatever you built, start something new, and while you roam around in the game, the item is being built. It is actually possible to reach the level cap by being a merchant! That is, if you have enough time. FtP players are limited to only eight hours of crafting every 24 hour period, so unless you shell out some cash at some point, your crafting will be slower. There are other limitations on playing strictly sans cash, but I’ll get to them later.

CHOOSE YOUR SIDE

Upon reaching level 10, you have the option to join a faction. There are six, and they are arranged in a wheel pattern, with two allies, two enemies, and one arch rival. You start out as a Neutral, and can remain such for as long as you want, but while you will be able to go anywhere, and interact with any of the groups, you won't be able to do as much at any of the locations as if you join a faction. You also will get access to faction specific equipment and quests. There are even sub-factions with in the main six, some exclusive, some not, that allow you to further go down the rabbit hole of one ideal or another. The factions are:
Children Of The Apocalypse (CHOTA): Anarchists that blame society for the destruction of the world, they want nothing to do with restructuring technology or society. Their allies are the Vista and Travelers, enemies to the Techs and Lightbearers, and their arch rival are the Enforcers.

Travelers: Think gypsies, traders, and hippies rolled into one, this group specializes in crafting and trading. Their allies are CHOTA and Techs, the Vista and Enforcers are their enemies, and they hate with a fervent passion the ritualistic Lightbearers.

Techs: the last of the engineers and scientists, Techs want to reestablish the world through the advancement of science and learning. Techs ally themselves with the with the Enforcers and the Travelers, Butt heads with the Lightbearers and the CHOTA, and find no common ground with the Vista.

Enforcers: A military-style organization, the Enforcers believe in law and order, and want to build a world government to restore the earth. Their allies are the Techs and Lightbearers, their enemies are the Vista and the Travelers, and the CHOTA hold a special place in their cross-hairs.

Lightbearers: A blending of spiritualism and martial arts make the Lightbearers both the healers and sages of the new world. They practice various healing arts and the use of mutations. Lightbearers get along with Enforcers and Vistas, argue with Tech and CHOTA, and throw down against the Travelers.

Vista: Eco-centric beliefs lead the Vista to try to restore the natural world first. They believe that Man's role is as caretaker and protector of the Earth. They ally with CHOTA and Lightbearers, their enemies are the Enforcers and Travelers, and their main rival are the Techs.

Having this many sides to choose from, or none at all, means that you should find your spot in the world that you like, whether you hug trees, build robots, lead an army, or break it all down, there's a spot for it. Each of the factions bring their own specialized gear, skills, and various benefits to the table, as well as faction specific quests that will open up for you when you choose a side.

CASH SHOP

The cash shop is both a good thing and a bad thing for this game. If you spend any money, it is automatically a good thing, in that there is a “New Buyers Package” that gets tacked onto whatever you bought, with a hodge-podge mix of consumables and items from the store included. I also found that although the rate of exchange was a little lower than other games (800 G1C to $10), the prices were reasonable enough that it really was a wash. The membership levels are also reasonable and staggered so that however much of your paycheck you want to part with, you can probably find a plan that works for you.

The bad news is that if you spend no money at all, you face a penalty. We already mentioned the crafting limit of eight out of every 24 hours, well there is also a 25% loss in EXP, crafting is slower by 20% you only get one character slot, no global access for the chat system, and your customer support is limited to the online database. You can find the full list of limits and benefits of the memberships here:

http://www.gamersfirst.com/sites/www.gamersfirst.com.fallenearth/files/F2PMatrix.png

So unlike other games that just limit your access to certain content pieces, this game actually docks you for not paying. Not exactly what I would call a truly FtP experience.

THE FINAL SAY

So if you want a truly open ended design system, the ability to make your own ATV, and you like the feel of the world after the end of civilization, you might want to try this game. If you don't like complicated and frustrating interfaces and controls, no real direction laid out for you to start with, and you don't want to spend anything, then I would recommend that you keep looking. As for me, I do not see myself playing this one again on my own time.

That's all I wrote on this one, join us on Thursday for the month-long review of DC Universe Online, and be back next Monday for the MOBA Rise of Immortals. Until then, have a safe and enjoyable week of games, and I'll see you online!

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To Be Fair...

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There won't be a post this week. With myself and my wife both getting sick, and in trying to avoid giving it to my 1 month old son, I haven't had the proper time to play, let alone review anything. I will be posting for Fallen Earth next week, as well as the month-long review of DC Universe Online, so you get a two-for-one next week, but right now, my family has to come first. Thanks for understanding, and GLHF this week! May all your drops be epic!

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Dragon Nest Review #1

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Fueled up on caffeine, sugar, and the best in Free-to-Play gaming, it is that time again! Yes, it’s the return of Flat Broke Gamer Review, and this week we’re going full-tilt into the MMO

Dragon Nest is an instance based MMORPG developed by Eyedentity Games and published in North America By Nexon America. It was released in September 2011.

BLUF: A whimsical art style matched with true character variety and a very open ended design makes this a game to enjoy. The interface is occasionally irritating, but overall gameplay is fun, fast-paced, and designed to encourage team play.

SCORES

Playability: 4/5 The tutorial is simplistic, the basic gameplay easy to learn, and the direct control of targeting instead of the standard auto-target system makes this game easy enough to learn and enjoy, whether you’re a hardcore gamer or strictly casual.

Atmospherics: 5/5 The art for this game is truly unique. A light, often whimsical style to every character and monster gives the whole game a fresh approach. The music is good, but not overpowering, and the variety to the characters and settings make this an enjoyable game to watch.

Learning Curve: 4/5 Each character has REAL strengths and weaknesses that translate to a definite need for teams in the higher difficulty dungeons. Additionally, characters have several different options to advancement, allowing for different approaches to each character.

Community: 3/5 Not a lot of interaction outside of the dungeons, and unless you bring your own group, going solo is about the only option left. Getting assigned to a party is a bit of a crap shoot, as you may or may not get the chance to trade for the drops that your character would need.

Support: 4/5 The regular updates and rapid response to problems is a strong point of Nexon, not to mention the stability of their servers. No real problems ever cropped up.

Cash Shop: 3/5 I found that the cash shop was mostly important to those who wanted a particular look for their character, but it does provide several items that help you along the way without truly affecting gameplay. Prices are reasonable, but the variety of styles is limited.

OVERALL: 23/50 This is a fun, beautiful game, and with the projected expansions and new characters, I think it is definitely worth a try. It’s nice to see that you can have serious gameplay matched with such soft art, but this game pulls it off so well that you truly enjoy the experience.

BACKSTORY

The backstory for Dragon Nest is a little convoluted, a lot over the top, and sounds something like this:

In a bid to regain stolen power, Desmodeus, the ruler of the Gods ordered his two daughters to create worlds that would produce mortals capable of bringing back what was stolen. Althea created a world of light, Verathea, and Vestinel one of darkness. When their father preferred Althea's creation, Vestinel poisoned her sister and disappeared with the only cure. The poison changed Althea's world, and led one of it's races to try and wrest power from the Gods, only to see their world be nearly destroyed by their hubris. The damage not only affected Verathea, but the dark nameless world as well, and from the dark world came the Void Dragon. Althea's two defending dragons of her world battled with the Void Dragon, and eventually though both died, they defeated the Void Dragon, separating it's power into the dragon lustres which were scattered around the world. Men coveted them, died for them, but until now, they had no way to unlock them.

Until a key was found, in the form of a girl named Rose.

And from there, each of the character classes has their own view on the history of the world. There are four classes currently available: Cleric, Warrior, Archer, and Sorceress.

The Cleric is driven by a belief that evil must be vanquished, and that the ends justify the means. He is difficult to solo, but makes any party far more powerful as he spreads his protective and healing abilities around.

The Warrior is on a quest of self discovery, about his lineage, his birth, the death of his mother at the hands of monsters, and about his place in the world. Warriors are the easiest class to solo with, and focus on close combat.

And the Archer, an elf from far lands who travels on a quest to find her destiny. The archer excels at ranged damage, and has several tricks to keep from being pinned in by forces that get too close. Similar to the Sorceress, she is meant to hang back, but does more damage to single targets than the spellslinger.

Oh, troubles, the Sorceress has in spades. She left her training behind, got into a mountain of debt, and now returns to find her order neck deep in the problems of the world. Sorceress abilities give you major crowd control and damage, but you have to be careful about keeping your distance, as you are not built to take a beating.

STARTING OFF

I actually started playing for the review as an Archer, but had to take a few days break due to real life getting in the way. When I came back, I decided on a whim to try the Sorceress class. What I was pleasantly surprised to find was that each character has their own starting quests, character interactions, and that the development of the story has its own slant, depending on which path you choose. After so many games where the differences were minor, it was nice to see one that took the time to develop its character plots like this. The tutorial is available from the trainer you meet in the first town, and can be repeated if you want, but the real playing starts the first time you enter the dungeons.

The first thing I was struck by was that the style of this game's look is so completely different, it was amazing. Unlike some games that go for gritty realism, over the top fantasy styles, or cartoonishly bright schemes, the light, airy colors made it a delight to look at. Several effects added to this; distant objects are fuzzed out, every surface is decorated in its rendering, and the light seems diffused and softer. Also different was the lack of auto-targeting. Sometimes this was nice, especially for the Sorceress as it allowed you to take advantage of her Area-Of-Effect (AOE) abilities to cut off certain attack routes, but sometimes it was annoying to realize that you weren't shooting anything because your targeting crosshairs were a smidge off. Still, once you got used to it, it was really great to be in control of where you were facing at all times, and to be able to choose your target without having to hit something to switch between the minions.

The dungeons are accessed through gates found in the fields outside of town, and several branch off from each gate. Each also has a varying difficulty rating, similar to many of the games I’ve tried so far. Here's where I started to really like this game. While you do have to beat the normal difficulty to open the hard, and the hard to open the harder, you don't have to go back to the same dungeon over and over until you've beaten all the difficulty levels on it in order to open the next, nor do you have to try a certain level of difficulty for any of the quests I tried. Then it got even better: the difficulty ratings actually made sense! The harder settings were truly harder, to the point that I got my butt handed to me on some of the levels! Now I know you're asking yourself, “Why is he excited about being beaten?” Most of the games I’ve tried up to this point, the more difficult settings were not any harder to complete than the easy ones, so to finally have a game that “Hard” or “Very Hard” actually mean you'll be challenged to beat them is a nice change of pace. It also means that getting a party together is actually worth it! The game even reminds you as you leave the town that the dungeons are dangerous, and offers to find you a party to adventure with. So even if your friends don't want to have anything to do with this game, you can find a party to go out and play with.

Beating dungeons gains you the standard drops of gold, consumables, armor, weapons, and the ever important EXP. As you raise in levels, you get the opportunity to spend skill points to learn new skills or improve old ones. You can only do this while at a trainer for your class, one of which is in your starting town, and can be found in the later towns as well. All of these skills use up your mana, so be careful to know how to best apply them, you don't want to be caught without.

Side quests are fun and give you another reason to revisit some of your past exploits. Being able to complete them on any difficulty level is great as well. Now don't get me wrong, I didn't run through on the easy mode on every dungeon and quest. But if one dungeon was particularly troublesome, and I was going back, being able to do so at an easier setting was really nice. Increased difficulty also ups the EXP and drops, and the drops get better on harder settings, just make sure you're ready for them before you go all gangbusters on the hardest setting.

The monsters in the early dungeons are your average fantasy fare; goblins, trolls, bats, minotaurs, evil cults, etc. however, they each have their own style of play. Some are bold and will charge you, others ill only attack in large groups. Some will even try to run away! Learning the various groups you'll see will help you to survive, and even thrive, against the waves you'll see in each section of the dungeon. In order to move from one section to the next, you do have to kill all the monsters where you are, and each section only has one entry and exit. Bosses are unique in their attacks, much more hardy than their minions, and tend to act more intelligently than you'd expect. One of the early bosses in the Sorceress storyline raises dead monsters to fight you, so closing with him is the only way to ensure that the skeletons stop popping up.

I think this is one of the better designed AI games I’ve ever seen. I truly found myself wanting to go back to try the dungeons again and again to see whether certain tactics worked better or worse against each type of enemy.

ONWARD, EVER ONWARD

Each of the classes, at level 15 and again at level 45, can choose between two subclasses that focuses and refines your character, developing certain strengths and advancing skills beyond the basic level. This development also comes with a consumable that allows you to reset your skills chosen up to this point. This redefining is great, allowing you to get rid of skills you thought would help but weren't , and allowing you to truly refine your playstyle to your specifications. Whereas most games only force you to fill a specific role at the endgame levels, this one makes you find what works for you, and what doesn't from the get-go. I actually found I preferrred the Sorceress's AOE spells to the Archer's more selective shots, but the Archer's agility at getting away was far better than the Sorceress. Try them all, and see what style works for you.

COMMUNITY

The community was actually kind of non-existant. Not that there aren't players out there, just that I found that if I wanted to play with a group, even with the “find a party for you” option, the majority of players really didn't give a crap about you, or what you wanted of the drops. Playing solo is fun, but as I said, this game is truly set up to encourage you to go get a team. So if you can, bring your friends with you to try it out. They will likely find the game fun, and you'll have no problem.

There are also several maps of PVP arenas, with a variety of gameplay styles such as Free-For-All, Team, Domination (capture and hold), and two that I found to be interesting: Ladder and Ghoul. Ladder games are matches that move you up and down in ranking, and earn Ladder Points that are gained and lost as you win or lose. Ladder Points can also be spent for PVP gear, and so if you get on a win streak, you can get some sweet gear. Ghoul games change a few random players into ghouls of various types and powers, and all other players into humans with bows. The ghouls win by beating or converting all humans into ghouls, the humans win if even one of them stayed human for the full ten minutes. Because the PVP matches even out all stats, playing in them early on can be a whole lot of fun.

CASH SHOP

The cash shop carries a few items that help you out in gameplay, but not directly affecting stats. Heal potions, mana potions, resurrect scrolls, and inventory expansions are all available, and at fair prices. Pets can also be purchased, these will help in the basic dungeons, but can't help in PVP or in the high level dungeons, known as Nests. Cosmetic changes are also available, from costumes to eye and hair color changes as well. NX is the virtual currency available for money at the rate of $1 for 1000 NX. Dragon Scales are an alternative form of currency that can earned from certain events, but have a set expiration date. I really didn't see that I wanted to spend money, but if you want your character to look a certain way, or if you really need just a few more slots in your pack, the prices aren't too bad, and several package deals allow you to get a little bit of everything.

THE FINAL WORD

A unique entry to the gaming world, Dragon Nest leverages those differences for good, making for a fun, satisfying experience. With levels and gameplay styles to match whatever your preference is, this is a game that you should try.

Well, that's it for this week, be sure to come on back next week for the MMO Fallen Earth. And remember, if you agree, disagree, have a game to suggest, by all means let me know in the comments!

GG!

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Elsword Review #1

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Budget players back again, party up, party down, now let's begin! The start of a new set of reviews, kicking it off this week is

Elsword is a side-scrolling platform game developed and produced by South Korean company KOG Studios And Kill3rCombo. It was released in North America in February of 2011.

BLUF: This game is cheap all around, and not worth your time. I forced myself to play the minimum seven hours I require of myself before writing any review, and those are seven hours I will never get back.

SCORES:

Playability: 3/5 The gameplay is simple and straightforward, but is not responsive enough to keystrokes. Additionally, you can't change your keysettings, only which power attack is on the available keys.

Atmospherics: 2/5 Boring, overused anime clichés abound in the art, and the soundtrack is so repetitive that you just want to turn it off.

Community: 2/5 Neither helpful nor harmful, the community of this game doesn't seem too interested in you, even when you're on their team.

Learning Curve: 2/5 What curve? Seriously, the power attacks are all similar, and only truly vary in the amount of energy used. Button mashing makes up most of your combat, and your energy is renewed with successful attacks.

Cash Shop: 2/5 Being able to buy gear that permanently improves your stats for cash tanks this game from the get-go. Their costs aren't too unreasonable, but long term gear should not be available for purchase. That changes it from a FtP to a Pay-to-Win.

Support: 4/5 I did not have any trouble with the game, and they have regular updates and additions to the game.

Overall: 15/30 Maybe several years ago this game would have been top shelf material, but come on. This is not worth your time.

BACKSTORY:

An ancient world of darkness and shadow was miraculously transformed by the powers of a blue diamond, known as the El Stone. After many generations, the miracle was forgotten, the people became complacent in their abundance, … and that's the entirety of the backstory. The rest of the story is the limited story interactions of the characters, and even those aren't explained very well. I think that some of the story may have been lost in translation, but can't be sure.

There are six characters:

Elsword: Elsword specializes in close combat with a big flat tipped sword. He is looking for his missing sister, the leader of the Red Knights, Elsa. As he is the namesake of the game, I chose him for my character.

Rena: An elven archer with mystical powers, she searches for the power of El in order to protect this world and hers from fading away. Her abilities allow her to attack from a distance or close in with her target.

Aisha: A magical phenom, Aisha put on a cursed ring that stole all her powers. She now seeks to relearn what she lost. Aisha's powers can do large amounts of damage, or can damage all enemies in range.

Raven: Commoner-turned-captain of the guard, betrayed by his own country, given a robot arm and aiming for revenge, Raven has a change of heart when he meets the other heroes of this game. Raven is a close combat character as well, using a sword for light attacks and his robot arm for the big blows.

Eve: The last of a robot race known as the Nasod, Eve was once their queen. After a long war with the humans, the rest of her race were twisted by hate until they were all destroyed. Eve uses other robots and tech to fight.

Chung: Using special armor and a cannon, Chung is the son of his clan's leader. He has both short and long range attacks, as well as the ability to transform his armor into a special “awakening” mode, giving him infinite ammo.

TUTORIAL

The game picks up at the attempted stealing of the El Stone by both monsters and bandits, which launches you into the tutorials from the town of Ruben as you try to retrieve the power of El. The tutorials start with basic attacks, of which you have two, and as you progress and unlock special attacks, pop up windows give you the rundown on each. The game calls them skills, but there is no skill in their use. I thought Rusty Hearts was a button masher, but this game beats it in spades. There are some techniques for each character that maximize your damage output, but really, the basic attacks occasionally sprinkled with special attacks will kill all the monsters there are, even the bosses.

You play through each level three times, supposedly at increasingly harder difficulties. After I unlocked some of the big hits, I waltzed through every level. By myself. I do not see how you could possibly need a team other than to try some of the quests that require you to clear the level in a time limit.

Once you have beaten the Bandit leader in the second tutorial level for the third time, you can progress to the town of Elder, where you'll find all the regular stuff you'd expect: stores, challenges, NPCs with a bunch of quests, and a battle arena, where you can go PvP on each other. I rarely found a reason to buy anything other than health and mana items, as the loot drops were always better. I also found that the stories given by each quest NPC were boring to the point that I just stopped reading them.

THE TOWN OF ELDER AND BEYOND

Ruben and Elder are the first two of seven towns, and each is the starting point for a set of dungeons, there really isn't much to them, and no reason to go back to a town once you have unlocked the next that I could see. They have the same collection of shop owners, quest givers, etc. and only serve as a point to drop gear, buy new health and energy potions, and pick up your next quest.

Each town has a set of dungeons attached to it, but just like the early levels, you have to beat each dungeon three times to open the next. There are no alternatives but to grind through every level, in order, and the minions you kill are as bland and uninteresting as the last set you demolished. Most of them don't even have specialized attacks or weaknesses to certain characters, they all just are pretty much your punching bags. Bosses have a few specialized attacks, but are not much more than beefy versions of the minions.

There is an available PvP option, arena matches, but when I found out about my major problem with the cash shop (just one sec and we'll get to it) I didn't even bother to try it.

CASH SHOP

Here's what tanked this game. You can buy, for cash, equipment that alters your stats for extended periods of time and/or permanently. I have no problem with temporary boosts, those that last a gaming session or less, because they don't alter the flow of the game for the non-paying customers. But if your boosts are even semi-permanent, say 30 days long, and you have a PvP element, then the game is not Free-to-Play, it is Pay-to-Win, and that sounds the death knell for this game. I will not play a game where some spoiled ten year old can shell out his mom and dad's hard earned cash to wipe the floor with me. And I refuse to shell out my own money for so weak a game. With boring combat, forgettable art, lousy music, no real skill needed to win, and a PtW, this game is just not worth your time.

SUMMARY

Forget it. Do not play Elsword, do not download it, do not waste your time. You will be bored out of your mind, and end up pulling it from your computer to make room for something else.

All right, that does it for this week, join me next week when I try out Dragon Nest! Until then, stay classy Freeloaders!

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And the winner is...

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...not what you may have expected. As stated in the first post, out of the four reviews each month, the one that gets the highest score will be reviewed again after a month's worth of playing. And by the scores on the right, that honor should go to League of Legends. However, I mentioned that I play this game regularly, and have done so for over a year. That means that the review I wrote is based on far longer than the week the other games got. So I have decided that this month, the winner will be DC Universe Online. If people want me to, I will also write up an extended review of LOL to be posted later. But for now, expect to see more about flying around in capes and chasing deranged clowns in about four weeks! And remember, if you know of a game that I should review, please leave me a comment! Thanks for playing!

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League of Legends Review #1

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FBGR is back again! Welcome, welcome! In case this is your first time here, I'm NoCashReq, the humble host of your weekly peek into the crazy mixed-up world of Free-To-Play (FTP) online multiplayer games. This week I’ll be taking a look at:

That's right, we're diving into the world of MOBAs with the League! MOBA stands for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, and for strategy enthusiasts, this is one of the many game styles that will appeal to you. Players are broken into teams that compete for specific goals that win you the match. League of Legends (LOL) was developed and published by Riot Games in 2009, and is currently played in several e-sports leagues competitively around the world.

WARNING: I feel I must admit that this review is not entirely without bias. Not that I work for, or in any way profit from, Riot Games. Rather, I have played LOL for close to a year, so I can't really approach it with absolute objectivity. I love it, and I play it more than any other game. And so, you must take everything I am about to say with a grain of salt.

There.

You were warned.

Now onto the review!

BLUF:

This is a complex and surprisingly diverse game with a style to please virtually any gamer, especially those who love strategy. This is a somewhat difficult game to learn initially, but well worth the work to unlock the variety of available champions, runes, and masteries. Addictive, challenging, and guaranteed to never be the same match twice, LOL is only hampered by its occasional lags and glitches, which the company constantly works to correct.

SCORES:

1. Playability: 4/5 This is not the easiest game to pick up and play. Remember way back when I talked about how if my wife could learn it, it would get a 5? Well, she tried. Just for me, she tried to learn. And she couldn't get it. For someone who has played a lot of games, you’ll pick up the controls fairly quickly, but if you've only ever played Solitaire on your computer, you will have to work to understand all the controls. The game does allow for a complete overhaul of the keysettings, and also has an option to use “smartcasting” that works well with several champions and simplifies playing.
2. Atmospherics: 5/5 The look of this game is a unique blend of fantasy and steampunk, with a lot of variety. Each of the champions has at least three skins available, and the maps are great without being too distracting. The music is low key, and the announcer, text messages, and player interface are good without being too distracting. The only thing to complain about that I could find was that the skins are only available for cash, which is hardly worth complaining about because even the basic skins are good.
3. Community: 3/5 There are just as many great players on this game as there are players that you want to leap through your modem into their living room and strangle them with their own mouse cable. Riot's “Tribunal” does help to curb some people's foul language and insulting habits, but don't be surprised if you need to “mute” someone's text comments to make it through the game with your temper in check.
4. Learning Curve: 5/5 Part of the reason that the game is difficult to learn is that there is so much available to you strategy-wise that it's like drinking from a fire hose. There are (at the time of writing this) 92 champions to choose from, each with different abilities and play-styles, and more always on the way. You will not have trouble challenging yourself to continuously improve.
5. Cash Value: 6/5 All of the things sold by Riot in the game store that affect gameplay are available without any cash investment. All of them. In addition, the experience and Influence Points (IP) boosts available are well priced for their value. And all of the champions and their skins eventually hit the rotating discounts, though the base costs are pretty reasonable.
6. Support: 4/5 LOL regularly has issues with lag, glitches, abilities that don't interact right, and various other problems that will frustrate you at some point. The good thing is that Riot works to correct every problem brought to them, the glitches do get ironed out eventually, and constant tweaks to the game ensure that the playing field stays relatively even.

OVERALL: 27/30 Definitely worth trying out, the only gamers I can see that wouldn't like this game are the ones that only like to go it alone, as there is no real single player mode. This game will not let you get bored easily, and will likely continue to grow and develop. Try it. You'll like it.

BACKSTORY

The most amusing way to learn the backstory to this game is this 60 second video:

For those of you averse to videos, people talking really fast, or if your connection is acting up, here’s my stab at explaining the history behind the game.

The people of Runeterra have battled each other for ages, banding together in clans and countries and competing for land, resources, honor, and everything else imaginable. The primary form of combat was magical and the vast amounts of mystical energy being slung back and forth slowly began to tear the lands apart. Earthquakes and natural disasters became more and more prevalent until an alternative was suggested. Smaller battles in a controlled area, and limited to a handful of combatants, could be used to settle disputes, and limit the abuse to the the rest of the world. The Institute of War was created to house these battles, and thus the League of Legends was born. The countries of Demacia, Noxus, Ionia, separate city-states, and various other tribes and clans are regularly represented in the battles held there. Alliances between the factions are fluid, often changing from battle to battle. The only constant is that someone will win, and someone will lose.

TUTORIAL

The tutorial levels are designed to walk you through the basic concepts and controls used to play the game using one of the easier to understand champions, Ashe.

Ashe is an archer with cold based abilities, and is one of the recommended champs for new players. The standard keysettings place movement and basic attacks on the right button of your mouse, special abilities are triggered with Q, W, E, and R respectively, and if the ability is aimed, it is triggered with the left mouse button. Two “Summoner Spells” are also available, triggered on the D and F keys. These spells are available to all players, regardless of the champion you use, from a list of 14 spells (two of which are available only in standard matches, and one is only for the Capture-and-hold mode). The “announcer” for the regular matches instructs you during the tutorial and highlights the information it is trying to show you in a step-by-step method until it has covered the basic concepts, then it lets you find your own way to finish the levels. It introduces you to the minions (small bots that are periodically spawned, travel down the lanes on the map, and auto-attack the first enemy it runs into), turrets (stationary bots that have high health, a ranged attack, and will attack your champion if you are the only target in range or if you attack the enemy champion while in range), the inhibitors (strategic points in your enemy’s base that, if destroyed, cause your base to start spawning super minions), and the nexus (THE major strategic point, destroy this in a standard game and you win).

Once you’ve completed the tutorial, or if you want to skip it, there are two other modes that the game recommends for you to learn from before moving on to the PVP modes. Co-op vs AI will match you and four other players against an all bot team at either beginner or intermediate levels. Custom games also allow you to play against bots, however, you can use it to set up any number of variations, from 1v1 to a full 5v5, and with real players or bots filling any of the slots. For new players these two modes are fairly easy, allow for modest Experience and Influence Points (IP) earnings, and let you experiment with the free week champions against predictable enemies. The bots in Co-op are smarter than the custom games, with the intermediate bots being the most likely to act like a real player, but they generally stay to the lanes and will only chase you down past their minion wave to a certain point. One popular game style has developed in custom games, ARAM or All Random All Middle. All players are assigned one of their champions at random, and players adhere to an honor code of staying in only the center lane, and not retreating past their outermost functional turret.

PVP

The main part of the game is in the PVP matches. There are three maps available currently, and each has several options of set-up. Classic games can either be played 5v5 on the Summoner’s Rift map or 3v3 on the Twisted Treeline map. They can be played with normal champion selection, draft champion selection, or with ranked draft selection. 5v5 matches are used for several eSport tournaments around the world, and are usually what people consider a standard game.

The other available map is for Dominion games, called the Crystal Scar. Teams for Dominion are 5v5, and normal or draft selection are available. Unlike the other maps, Dominion is a capture-and-hold style, with five Nodes at the points of the pentagram shaped map. It’s a fast paced game, usually with lots of give and take, both in kills and node control. Holding more nodes erodes the points of the other team, and the more you have, the faster it goes.

Normal selection is probably the most common for all maps. Players on each team select at the same time, and don’t see the other team until the load screen. Both forms of draft are more competitive, as it allows each team to “ban” champions from use, and selection of both the bans and the champions to be used switches back and forth between teams. Also, only one of each champion is allowed in the game, so if the other team (or even one of your teammates) picks your favorite, you’d better have a backup. Teams are allowed to swap champions between two players who both have access to them, so early players picking for later teammates is possible.

Once past the set-up, there are a few major archetypes, but the overall progression is similar for all players. Champions start at level one (or three for Dominion) and with a small amount of gold. They gain experience and gold for killing minions, neutral monsters found in the jungle, turrets, inhibitors, and the enemy team. Each level they go up, they gain a skill point to activate or improve one of their four abilities. Gold is spent at the marketplace next to the spawn point to buy items that improve their stats and provide special abilities or effects. Many of the items are used to build better items, so early investments are converted to better gear as the game progresses. Winning in a Classic game is accomplished by destroying the enemy team’s nexus, and in Dominion it is accomplished by depleting the enemy team’s starting score of 500 to zero.

That’s the simple side of it. The really complex part comes from the team dynamics and from the overall strategy and coordination that a team puts together. In a standard game, do you split your team into two players top and bottom lanes and one middle, or do you have someone who will use the jungle as a “fourth lane.” In 3v3, are you two champs in the bottom lane and one top, or does someone want to try jungling here? Dominion games are so fluid it’s almost impossible to have a preset strategy, so you have to constantly have to readjust your thinking and your route of attack. Who will be your major “carry” characters, the ones who will deal the major amounts of damage and win the team fights for your team? What balance between Ability Power (AP) and Attack Damage (AD) characters will you have? The possibilities are endless.

WHO WILL YOU CHOOSE?

Individual choices are just as important. Summoners start at level one, and increase to level 30. This level carries over games, and unlocks additional mastery and rune options. Masteries are completely free points that are assigned before a match in the mastery trees (offense, defense, and support) to improve stats. Runes are purchased in the in-game store using IP, and again, boost stats. These are the first two pieces of what most players refer to as a champion’s “build.” The third part to that build is the items bought in game, and there are usually two or more builds that maximize your potential in a certain archetype for that champion. The most widely recognized archetypes are: AP Carry, focusing on building powerful abilities; AD Carry, which develops the speed and damage output of your auto-attacks and can be either ranged or melee depending on the champ; Tank, usually the initiator of major team fights, these characters can absorb massive amounts of damage and have some type of crowd control; Junglers, those champions that specialize in using the “fourth lane” to gain gold, experience and “gank”, or surprise attacks; Support Champions have healing and mana recouping powers and are usually matched with one of the carries; and lastly, Solo Lane Champions with high survivability, and can dish out enough damage to defend their lane by themselves. Some champions only really have one type that they fit, most have one or two strong archetypes. How you build defines your game strategy to some degree, and affects the team strategy. The variety of builds, combined with the fact that there are almost 100 champions means that it is very seldom for you to find any two games alike. Added to that is an option to set your abilities on a “smartcast” setting, where the computer will fire off the ability towards the cursor’s current location without left clicking, or self-cast if your cursor is over an invalid target. This allows you to snap off spells faster, but doesn’t work with all champion abilities. For those that it does work for, it can be extremely useful.

CASH VALUE

The market for League of Legends has the champions, variant skins, Summoner experience point boosters, IP Boosters, bundle deals, Runes, extra rune pages, etc. But here’s where this game earns extra credit: anything that directly affects gameplay can or, for runes, must be bought with Influence Points (IP), which are earned by playing the game. Match wins earn more points than losses, and the first win in a 24 hour period earns bonus IP on top of that. Each week there is a rotation of free champions that allows you to play with those you don’t have unlocked, and champions can be unlocked for permanent access with either IP or cash. That means that although you will see people who shell out money for every new champion or to get the cool looks of a special skin, you won’t run into anyone who has “paid to win,” nor will you ever need to pay to fill your runes or get all the champions you like. EVER. In addition, if you do shell out some greenbacks, Riot regularly has champions and skins on sale, and older champions have been reduced in price, so if you watch for it, you can get some champs for a steal.

The EXP and IP boosts are also reasonably priced, and have two different options of depletion. You can either get boosts that have a time limit (# of days) or boosts that only apply when you win (# of wins). And if you buy both the timed and win boosts they stack on each other, so no matter how often you play or how good you are, the boosts are a good investment.

CONCLUSION

Go download this game; it is definitely worth your time. Hours, days, and even months of fun and addictive gameplay are in store for you.

Later this week, I’ll sum up the four games this month, let you know which game will be the long review for next month, and tune in next week when I review the chibi heavy Elsword.

Till then!

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