Eli R. Gonzalez
'Astellia Online' Impressions: Not Just Another Generic Korean Game
Astellia looks great on the surface like many Korean MMORPGs. There are some great visual effects, the struggle is eye-catching enough to draw your attention, and personality designs are attractive too, without being unwarranted. It is a pity that these impressions are not transferred to the video game at once.
The elevator area for Astellia is simple: this is a generally designed Korean MMORPG that focuses on both design and fancy designs, using a personality gathering mechanism that is somehow comparable to Pokemon or Gacha mobile games, for ghosts with the appropriate name Astels who will help you in the fight. It's a bit like a pet, except that they are usually far less demanding and are in no way restricted by the class. I'll talk more about this system later.
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to play Astellia a little bit during the closed beta phase. The video game is expected to be released in North America in September and is sure to be a buy-to-play MMO, similar to Guild Wars or Elder Scrolls Online. It uses a really traditional tab-based rotation capacity targeting system instead of the action-based fight of various other newer video games like Black Desert Online or Tera. You aim at an enemy, press a hotkey to trigger an ability, and let your vehicle do the dirty work while you wait for the skills to load. That's what I've seen so far.
If you've played a Korean MMO before, you know a little bit of what to expect: typically many of the outdated battles listed above, lots of crunchy, memorable stories, and usually gender-specific classes with hyper-sexualized female character layouts. From everything I can say so far, everything is true below.
Although the writing and sending of the story seemed ideally rather hampered, at least it actually has a story with legitimate cutscenes and also speech. Typically, you don't see an MMO that puts a lot of effort into its history alongside the menu message to make sure that it is a little bit rejuvenated, even if it's not exactly convincing.
The Astel collection system is really the only other element that helps it stand out in any way, and it is another, mostly overwhelming facet. It made me uncomfortable to start with. I am used to seeing flashy characters and highly symptomatic armor, but the dimension and the obvious young age of the Astels went a little too far for my taste.
It seemed like I was planning to pile up a harem of girls (as well as pets) to eliminate it for me, and they had little benefit throughout the fight.
The gender-restricted classes are reportedly being changed to allow for gender transformation upon release (e.g. playing a warrior or healer), but in the construct I was trying to do this was not possible. I usually play Paladin characters, so I chose Warriors - the good news is that the character developer is excellent. Without a doubt, it is one of the best, best outlined, and most visually stunning personality building systems of all types of MMOs (or games, periods) I've tried at Black Desert Online.
The company behind Astellia's Western release (Barunson Entertainment) has highlighted that the English version of the game will certainly not be a win. In particular, when it comes to Astellia's unfavorable track record of predatory cash business, which allows players to purchase high-performing products to directly improve their character, the designer has stated that these products are certain to remove them entirely from the Western version will. This is not the first time similar promises have been made, so keep your fingers crossed that they will follow.
Ultimately, I don't quite understand who Astellia's target group is. Followers of typical tab targeting battles are likely to be far better off simply doubling up and playing Final Fantasy XIV or World of Warcraft, and fans of more hectic battles may only need to play Guild Wars 2 or Elder Scrolls Online. And if you prefer something free, play Tera. In fact, Astellia takes an honest look at times as if they were made in Tera using large pieces of the same properties - but I could be wrong there. And, buy Astellia Asper online can be a good choice for empowering game experience.
by Eli R. Gonzalez on 2020-06-05 04:44:45
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