Oyayu

With the Penny Arcade Expo 2008 (PAX) done and dusted, it’s time to trawl through the various blog posts and articles that have come out of it.

One in particular that caught my eye was the two Aion videos that have been doing the rounds. Now, Aion is an MMO that took my interest late last year when there was very limited information about regarding it, apart from some old gameplay videos on YouTube and a few tidbits of information. Having checked out the website again recently I can see that a lot more information is now available.

The thing that is especially striking about Aion is its visuals, there is no denying that Aion is a very, very beautiful game. I’ve included a few short clips from the videos that have been released below so you can get a rough idea what I’m talking about.

The game itself is set across 3 factions, two of which are playable, Asmodian and Elyos are the two playable factions, while Balaur is the common enemy. So you effectively end up with an RvRvR situation, at least this is my understanding.

You start off with 4 basic classes, which each spout 2 further advanced classes, much like a toned down version of what is available in another NCsoft title, Tabula Rasa. More on NCsoft later though. I don’t know if you’re forced to choose an advancement on your basic class, but I would assume so, giving you a total of 8 classes to choose from, which is enough.

I could make a few enemies by saying that NCsoft haven’t produced a title worth playing. Lineage and it’s followup were both mindless grind fests in my eyes, Tabula Rasa was a (frankly) terrible game which lacked in virtually all departments, City of Heroes / Villains and Guild Wars are the only two titles remotely worth experimenting with I believe, however I wouldn’t rate either of these games as serious MMO titles.

So, to me at least, NCsoft have a history of producing pretty games with lacking gameplay… Will Aion just be the next step in this? Or have they finally learnt their lesson and produced a game which is both welcoming to new players, but also including the depth and engagement which is required to hold players? I believe the term is “easy to pick up, difficult to master” - which to me is what MMOs are all about.

With varying sources on release dates for Aion, and Beta not yet underway - nor even a rough date for when Beta will be starting, it could be some time before we get to find out for ourselves.