I
normally am not the sort of person who likes session-centric gaming.
More often than not, my favorite part of playing an MMO is the
persistence of the world, feeling like I am living in another time or on
another planet. Why is it, then that I'm having so much fun playing
Vindictus? I got the opportunity to play the game briefly
during the Closed Beta test that ended August 24th, and I hate to say
it, but I had a lot of fun. Could it be that my tastes have changed?
Or is it simply that Nexon has provided such a fun experience that
I forget that I can't scale the mountains and swim the seas? Here
are my impressions after playing the game during the Closed Beta test.
Keep in mind that much of the game is not yet available for test, and
they are still working out the bugs and the kinks. I was only able to
choose between a melee dps and a tank class, and the character
customization is not completely finished in the game.
Hitting the Ground Running Vindictus
starts out with a in-story tutorial, where you play a member of the
army tasked with bringing down a giant spider. The trouble is, the
Giant Spider used to be the town's guardian, and someone, or something,
has driven it mad. Life is tough, and despite the creature's shining
record of service, you're going to have to deal with it -- permanently.
You are sent up into a tower as an escort for an Oracle, a healer, who
wants to reason with the great eight-legged beast -- evidently they were
BFFs. The climb up the tower gives you the perfect opportunity
to learn how combat works in Vindictus, as the place is flooded with
monsters. Combat is simplified through the use of a set of core
commands: basic attack, strong attack, ranged throwing weapon (spear for
the tank I was playing), a grab and a kick. These standard attacks can
be combined to great effect, and I imagine the possibilities for
combining abilities with other classes is also coming in the future. The
movement schema is a little odd, because you are asked to choose
between keyboard movement and mouse movement, between using the arrow
keys to move your character, or working with the standard WASD setup. I
found the separation hard to deal with, since there didn't seem to be a
tab ability to move between mobs, and the combat was so directionally
important. As you continue the starting tutorial you learn how to
use your combo moves, how to throw your spears, and how to dodge out of
the way of an attack. All of these become incredibly useful when you
face the big furry spider at the top of the tower. It's an
incredibly satisfying starting area. You get a complete epic story, an
interactive cutscene that teaches you how to play the game. In
addition, the tutorial also sets up the main storyline for the quests
you will do at the beginning of the game.
Communal Town Life Once
you have vanquished the poor possessed giant spider, it's time to
settle into town life. Here is where you meet up with other players,
create your parties and set out for adventures. Here is also where you
encounter the quest system, and learn about the Tactics-like style of
the dialog system in Vindictus. Whenever you enter a building, instead
of seeing the actual NPCs standing about, you are treated to a very
beautiful interior shot of blacksmith's shop, the inn, etc. And then a
NPC portrait pops up for you to converse with. You see neither your
avatar or the NPCs. It's an interesting decision to have this sort of
departure from the usual way NPC conversations are handled. One the one
hand it gives the developers the freedom to create a high amount of
detail while minimizing loadtime problems. On the other hand though,
you do feel a loss of immersion whenever you zone into an area like
this. Current screenshots show your character standing inside the inn,
so perhaps this tactics-like dialog system is just a placeholder. When
you are in town, other player characters are all seen as wearing
cloaks. This is another way for Nexon to provide a high level of detail
with character armor, but to minimize server lag when you have a large
group of players in the same location. Once you party up with other
players, it's time to head down to the docks, where boats represent the
instances that your group step into when setting off to adventure. The
party leader calls the boat, and then you all board, practice your
fighting, strategize as needed, and when you're ready, the boat "sails"
off for the instance.
Instanced Combat So
far in the game I have only been able to play one instance map, but
it's a great one. The monsters you encounter are smart, with strong AI
featured, especially the bosses. As I mentioned before, I normally
don't like this kind of game. I prefer knowing other people are out in
the world I'm escaping to. That being said, the quick 30-minute
instance is a perfect way to get together with friends and enjoy a
quick run through something. If you have a lot of fun, you can run the
instance multiple times, trying for better loot with a harder setting.
Everything is focused around the get in, have fun, and get out
mentality. I think today's MMO gamers are looking for just such a
game. The first game I remember using this sort of system was City of
Heroes, but they also included a persistent world. With Vindictus there
is only the group instance and the towns. There is only jumping in and
fighting some monsters, and then moving on. As far as I
can tell from what I've seen of the closed beta, Vindictus does what
it's intended to do. It doesn't pretend it's a bigger game than it is,
and it doesn't lure you in with unrealistic expectations. From the
moment you load into the game, you can tell this is about intensely
concentrated PvE combat, and little else. The game is intensely
beautiful, with some of the best graphics in a video game to date, and
the developers have made some smart decisions as to how they handle
server load in response to such a high graphic quality. The
next beta phase should be beginning shortly, and no doubt there will be
the opportunity to explore the other classes, see what high level
content looks like, and see the other types of instance maps. So far,
though, I have to say, I'm incredibly impressed. I can't wait to see
more.
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