So, I think I've played enough in the CBT to develop a conclusion about this game. Absolutely Boring.
Now let's break this game down to it's core, let's see what it's really all about.
Features. How many features does this game have? Let's see.. 1. Grinding 2. Grinding 3. Grinding 4. Grinding!
Looks promising doesn't it? So many things to do! Where to begin? Shall I grind? Or shall I grind? I CAN'T EVEN MAKE UP MY MIND, THERE ARE SO MANY OPTIONS TO CHOOSE FROM!
Jokes aside, My lord is this game grind intensive. Now you're probably asking, well it's fun at least! Sure. If this game does something positive it's the combat, at the VERY least. You can have up to 4 different weapons with 3 different skills on each. Pretty solid. Except for one thing... Unless you have 4 different weapons all equally enhanced, you'll probably just stick to the one you invested in, the one you enhanced to + whatever. The other slots you will fill with either a staff for healing or self buff weapons meaning.. even combat is going to feel lackluster after a certain point just using one weapon type forever.
I'm not going to dabble too much into the EXP rates and grind topic but here is my take on it after reading other threads and from personal experience. It is NOT okay to have to grind for HOUR[S] just to level ONCE in the mid/late 20's. This game has a level cap of 105, or so I've heard. If It's taking me 2 hours to go from 27-28, oh boy does that get me excited for levels 50-51. I'd probably spend an entire week, 5 hours a day, repeating the same god forsaken dungeon, to gain a single level. But wait, 50 is only half way to the cap! Oh, okay. I guess I should spend 5 hours a day for an entire MONTH OR TWO to gain a SINGLE level. And guess what? I'd be doing the EXACT SAME DUNGEON OVER AND OVER AND OVE- kill me now, please. EVEN if the EXP rates go to .5 of what the JP server has currently, that doesn't change the fact that I'm still going to grind the same dungeon over and over, just instead of doing it for a week, I'd only do it for 4 days. Isn't that just a treat?
Besides the obvious shit EXP rates and repetitive dungeons, let's look at what else this game has to offer.
Quests. Quests are cool and interesting, right? Let's see here.. "Go kill 5 blobs because they are annoying." "Now kill 10 more blobs." "Can you hand this piece of paper to the NPC standing across from me? I'm unable to move so just take this to her and I'll give you a reward." Fuck. Me. These quests are so fucking boring I want to rip my eyes out. I'm so tired of this quest formula, it's so tedious and boring. It offers absolutely nothing fresh and interesting to the already pain stacking grindfest that this game is. I literally get zero enjoyment out of talking to an NPC, one hitting 10 creatures, coming back to them and receiving pocket change. Same goes for the "I bet you can't do this dungeon on hell difficulty" type quests. K ran a dungeon, turn in. It's like that dungeon was soooo much different than the others I've ran 1,000 times prior to this that the quest felt so refreshing. Wrong. Questing in this game isn't even enjoyable. Period.
Are there any skills for you to train in this game outside of combat? Like a profession? Let me think of a few.. weapon crafting? Potion brewing? Weapon skill enchanting? No. Because that's what the NPC's are for, obviously. Instead of implementing a new system for the PLAYER to train and level up themselves ( Go out, look for ores and other components to craft your OWN weapons ) you instead get NPC's who do it themselves. Wouldn't it at least be more interesting to go out and look for materials to make YOURSELF what YOU want?At least it would give us more to do than dungeon after dungeon after dungeon. There is literally NOTHING ELSE you can do in this game besides grind dungeons. PvP? No. Random fun events to pull you away from grinding every now and then? No. Personal skills to train so you can level up your blacksmithing or w/e? No. A farm you can take care of for herbs and things to make your own potions? No. There is NOTHING else to do besides grind.
Here are a few more questionable design decisions I've also seen. What the fuck is the jump button for? No aerial combat, nothing you ever need to jump to to reach for certain mechanics or anything in a dungeon or town. So why the hell implement it to begin with? So you can jump a fence in town? Best implemented feature ever.
Dodging? Ever have a boss or a regular enemy charging up some attack but you're in the middle of your combo? The first thing you naturally think to do is try to DODGE out of the way, hoping there is an I-frame of some sort to keep you from getting hit. Nope. So what is the point? To quickly gain distance from you and whatever you're fighting? Why can't perfectly timed dodges grand you invincibility for like 0.2 of a second. Dodging is almost as worthless as the jump key.
Miroku. He's the ONLY fucker in the ENTIRE GAME with a shop. You couldn't have another shop for say food, or clothing? Or a weapons shop? You just have one guy in the ENTIRE game. Cool. Brilliant design decision. Let's build HUGE cities, that take you several minutes to go from one end to the other. And let's load them with NOTHING!!!! YAAAAAY. Besides the other NPC's handing you boring trash quests, they literally serve no other purpose.
Unable to rebind keys? That's just pathetic now.
My conclusion? I have nothing keeping me here. Besides the AVERAGE combat there is nothing worth staying for. No out of combat activities such as PVP or skill professions. No interesting quests. Questionable design decisions like dodging or the jump key? Unfortunately I will not be waking up every morning and being like "I am so excited to play Onigiri today! I only need to run X dungeon 216 more times before I level once! I can't wait to get on!"
What are your impressions on the game? What's keeping you playing?