Hello, gamers! How is the MMORPG drought so far? If you’re like me, a seasonal player who likes things new and shiny, you probably had it for a while. Maybe not if you patiently stayed in a dying game while waiting for a new one—a trait I don’t have; I’ll most likely throw my computer out the window for sheer frustration over game whatnot that doesn’t work anymore. For those who are new here, I only started playing a few years back so don’t expect a thorough, step by step or every nook and cranny game reviews from me. I am just a normal, female gamer who loves to rave and rant when necessary. Not really dedicated though I had my periods of over playing. I’m familiar with a few RPGs in console and online over the years but I barely played for the reason that life is far more important than facing my computer, leveling, grinding and whatever in a game 24/7. Not that I have anything against those who do that. A few hours a day on top of my 8 hour work shift is my limit. Weekend is a different discussion by the way. Enough said, let’s get down to what this is about.

Echo of Soul is an MMORPG developed by the Korean game developer Nvius in 2013 and is published by Aeria Games in North America and Europe ^[1]. I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of it, it’s the most anticipated MMORPG of the year. Promotion and teasers of EOS started roaming around late last year, building the hype and enticing bored players (definitely me) to a new game. They launched CBT last week so even if we knew they’d wipe out our characters after beta testing if we don’t purchase a Founder pack, a few friends and I decided to waste our time and see what it may offer to gamers. There is no exact date yet for OBT. Let’s all hope it won’t take more than 2 months.

It’s enough for a past time.
For a while or for a few months of endgame or until a new game comes out. I haven’t played a bunch of online games, I can still count the games I tried with my two hands and feet, yet I see that EOS is a traditional MMORPG that doesn’t really have very unique features that gamers haven’t seen yet in previous MMORPGs for the past 5 years. If you are playing with friends, you would probably enjoy the company more than what the game has to offer.

I’m not much into graphics (I’d rather play console games if I’m looking for good visuals without spending too much on hardware, just the console which basically would burn a hole on your pocket) because if I am I have to spend bucks on my rig which is not an option for now so I would leave the bashing to other players who likes top of the line visuals. It has good visuals not the best out there but not the least either. EOS has the usual MMORPG gameplay with 5 playable classes that has two specializations which you can choose from at level 10. The classes are gender locked, a turn off if you want to play a particular class but doesn’t want the predetermined gender. That would bother me so much, I want to play and dress up my character with my gender preference, thank you very much. I haven’t played a male character in any MMORPGs I tried. Luckily, the class I want is female.

There is no dedicated healer in this game. This almost—almost made me want to play Cabal 2 instead, however my gamer friends are here and Cabal 2’s OBT will be on the 23rd. It will make my life easier playing with those who are already familiar with how I play and how mean I am in game (Not really. I’m nice. Sometimes.) I still didn’t go with an all out DPS or tanker, so as expected I took the Bard path.

I was tempted to try the mage class but the semi-support marketing of Bard won me over. Thinking of it now I don’t know if it was a good decision or what. It’s a difficult class to play especially when you are starting. I’m 5 levels shy from 60 and I kind of like the class or maybe I’m a bit used to it by now. I’m someone who doesn’t have the patience of trying every class out there, trying to find my niche, because I already know what I want to play—a healer. Too bad they don’t have that here so I’ll settle with this. It’s not as OP as Duelist, Huntress or Earthguard but knowing how to play your class will make you a good player. Sure, you still might not win in a PVP with either of the three but you’ll fair well.

Thanks to the reset skills the team gave I’ve tried the PVE/PVP build and I like the latter more. Here’s my build which I followed from a beginners guide from Asian gamers. If you wish to see what’s for other classes, click here.

The Battlefield is addicting.
Yes, it is. Others may find it boring and repetitive. I’m usually partied with friends so I don’t find it that much of a burden. It’s fun and frustrating, especially when you are in a raid with players who aren’t familiar of how to play the maps of the Battlefield. Everyone starts as noobs here; we are still in CBT unless you played in the Thai version; players would eventually learn what to do inside BF because if you are not the type of player who would patiently go through the quest line, you’d probably be here until you reach level 60. It gives big exp which will make you level up in no time, two to three days max if you don’t sleep, no wonder we see a lot of level 60 hanging out in Ignea.

Solo dungeons are a pain. Not because they are uberly difficult, I just don’t like doing solo dungeons again and again and again to complete my gears. My patience would go out in a poof. Doing the party dungeons would have been different, however, only a few would want to go in party dungeons for level 35 and 50. You’ll find it easier looking for party members once you reach level 60 to hunt for your gears. They have this Smart Matching feature that makes the find party automatic, eliminating the public announcement of looking for party members. If I didn’t mention it yet, they don’t have a dedicated public chat where anyone can freely chat for everyone in the server can read. You have to purchase a speakerphone for 1 gold to make a public announcement. So if you find players who love to make useless public announcements, they’re most likely rich.

The downside of not having a dedicated healer when you are already doing level 60 stuff, as what a fellow gamer who’ve reached level cap the other day shared, is it makes the dungeon raids a lot longer and a pain in the ass to finish using pots and scrolls that cost so much you’d think twice using them in useless runs. If they will not have a healer in game, they should have at least lower the cost and cool down of the items because most probably you’d be dead before you can use another. That is if you have enough gold to purchase those. The challenge here is, even for seasoned players who are used to having healers, is to work as a team because once your tank is obliterated, it would only mean one thing—run. There’s no problem with trying again and again as long as you are making progress but if the cost of the supplies stays at that price, you’d certainly go bankrupt.

I don’t think I have to dig deeper. There are things I don’t like in the game like the repetitive maps and mobs for one, you can go try it and find faults in it if you want, you’d help the developer so much if you are going to do that. Writing this for me is enough. Overall, Echo of Soul is a generic game that players would easily like. They have this Soul System which makes them different from other MMORPGs. It’s something that I would play for a few months but it’s not a game that would make me want to stay for years. I don’t even know if I’ll stick till OBT or migrate to a new game. Honestly, I’m waiting for the OBT of Cabal 2 though I have to upgrade a few parts in my pc since they are using CryENGINE 3 but that’s another game to talk about for another time.

If you are playing feel free to whisper me, if I’m not in one of my spells I’d answer back. You’ll easily recognize me in game, as one player said I’m a junk food which I didn’t take negatively because I know when no one is looking you can’t stop eating junk food, you love them, even if though it’s bad for your health. Add me up—TwisterFries.

Sources:
F2P
mmosite
mmohuts
MMOs

[1] Brief introduction from Wikipedia.