Aion Review

NA Publisher: NCsoft
EU Publisher: NCsoft Europe
Developer: NCsoft

Aion, the new MMO that has surpassed most people’s expectations.
Right from the start Aion is an epic game; the scale of the customisation is huge, such as being able to adjust the height, weight and the size of various body parts. There is even further customisation such as different hair styles, skin colours, facial textures and voices. In Aion you play as a Daeva, as a Daeva you can choose to be one of two classes, Elyos or Asmodian. There are four classes which further into Warrior, Mage, Scout, or Priest, at level 10 these change to a specialised class. (Shown below)

Features
Also, at level 9, after you have received and completed the ascension quest you will become a Daeva and gain the ability to fly. Flying at the beginning is limited to only 1 minute but as you progress further in the game you will be able to extend that. Also with the time limited wings be-careful no to fly to high as when the time runs out you will ultimately fall to your death. Another new feature is monster rating, these ratings are displayed through the various frames they have surrounding their health bar, this can help a person choose whether they should solo that monster or join a party to kill it. These ratings go from Normal, which is a monster you could solo, through to Legendary where an alliance would have to be created. That brings me onto another, parties and alliances: where a party can hold 6 people, if more are needed then an alliance can form. An alliance is 4 parties joined together, so the 24 characters involved can defeat legendary monsters, or stay together in abyss and sieges. There is also item crafting: when customizing your character you’ll also be given the chance to choose your character’s craft and weapons. Aion gives you the ability to actually make your own weapons and you can customize them however you want through color dyes and physical appearance. Another great feature which helps new players grasp the game, are the tutorial videos. Instead of introducing the controls and other things to new MMO players via only text, Aion will show everything in motion, with short clips.

Abyss
Aion is a PvPvE game where gameplay revolves around battles within the Abyss a PvP zone. Players must reach level 25 before they can gain access. Within the Abyss are castles which can be controlled by individual Legions basically a guild. Scattered throughout the Abyss are fortresses that give factions useful benefits when owned and unique artifacts that impart great power upon the player. The combat is between the different races along with NPCs as well, these can appear at any time during a siege and can attack both sides. Because the risks of entering the Abyss are so high, the rewards are great. The monsters drop high level items, fortresses and castles give monetary and NPC benefits, and guarded artifact’s found around the Abyss can influence the outcome of a fortress battle. However, what may interest PvP players the most is the concept of Abyss Points. These points, which can be won by defeating enemy players and NPCs in the Abyss or can be lost by being killed by another player or a lower level NPC, allow you to gain access to special Abyss weapons and armor, increase your rank within your Legion, and receive various Abyss Ranks, which act as titles of honor that alerts nearby players to your skill in combat.

Professions
There are 6 Production professions and 2 Extracting (gathering) professions. Players automatically learn the two Extracting professions, and have the option to learn any and all of the Production professions if they choose, although it would be expensive to do all.
Collection professions gather raw materials and ingredients from resources found while exploring the world.
Crafting professions create useful items from materials. The crafting professions are:
- Extracting
- Weapon smithing
- Armor smithing
- Aether Extracting
- Handiwork
- Alchemy
- Cooking
Items from crafting skills can help in combat and some are essential for capturing castles in the Abyss.

Quests
Aion is different from other MMOs where there are three types of quests: ordinary quests, campaign quests and Work Orders.
- Ordinary quests are only given in a certain area while adventuring throughout Aion and they complement the main story line. These give little exp but alot of money.*
- Campaign quests are the main method of furthering the storyline. They usually contain ed scenes and events. Campaign quests must be completed to advance the storyline, these give large amounts of exp but little money.*
- Work Orders are used to increase skill in a chosen profession.

Overall
This is a must have game, with amazing graphics and an excellent sound system, the overall feel of the game overwhelmed me, although as a Korean game, there is a large amount of grinding involved in the game and this may deter some people from playing. Right from the start, the game is easy to get into with starter videos that show newbie players the main concepts. Even the size of the whole world amazes me as it would take around a day just to walk from one side of the map to the other. Even though there are many new features give the impression of it being complicated it is actually very much the opposite of it.

Review written by Emver