So I have decided to write reviews of games which I played and enjoyed for a time period. I figure this is also another great usage of the blog =P
So the first post will be a mmorpg known as Silkroad Online, created by Joymax. I first started playing this game because Alex Sun, my good friend, invited me to play along with his other friends. I had a blast with this game for nearly a year, until I can no longer take the bots population in game. However, the beautiful scenary of SRO is undeniably one of the best among mmorpg.
The game is currently divided into two factions: European and Asian. According to rumor, there will soon be an Arabian faction, but I already quit the game so I can care less =P.
All characters will otain stat points when leveled. Players can choose to invest into either the int stat or the str stat. The higher the int stat, the higher the magical damage and defense. Similarly, the higher the str stat, the higher the physical damage and physical defense.
The Asian faction is a very versatile and flexible race. With no potion usage delay, the Asian faction has noticeable advantage over the European race in terms of solo capability. For players following the int route, players will choose to use sword, spear, and bow. Players following the str route, however, mainly uses blade, glaive, and bow. Bow is an unique weapon that can truly bring out the potential of both int and str players. Hence, many hybrids choose the path of Pacheon, or bow.
The European faction, on the other hand, is extremely systematic and very organized. Although the capability of soloing is clearly no match to the Asian race due to the huge potion usage delay, the European race can easily out damage the Asian faction. However, the true strength of the European race lies not within the individual damage, but within the strength of team play. As mentioned before, the European race is very systematic and organized. That is because each class has a very distinguish role in a party and is specifically designed to for party play. Warriors are made to be tanks of the party while dishing out moderate amount of damage; healers are there for buffs and healing spells; and mages/rogues are designed to dish out extreme damage. An European party that includes every European class is truly an efficient and unstoppable party.
Now, in order for a character to learn or upgrade a skill, it must have sufficient amount of skill points. The only way to earn skill points is to kill monsters in game. Thus, the grinding part of this game became involved. Not only will you grind for money and items, you will also grind for enough skill points in order to upgrade or learn a skill. In other words, this game requires INTENSE amount of grinding.
Now the unique part about this game is the job system. To obtain the occupation, one must join the job league of that occupation. You are allowed to join only ONE job league. If you want to join another job league, you must leave the current league in order to do so. In this game, there are three occupations: Traders, thieves, and hunters.
Traders obtain job experiences by, well, doing trade runs. Trade runs involve players buying goods from local merchant and travel to distance towns and sell those goods for net profit. The longer the distance, the better the profit. Needless to say, also higher the risk. Traders will encounter both npc and player thieves that will attempt to steal the goods. Hence, player thieves are usually high level players. However, the hunter job is here to save the traders from complete annihilation. Hunters are usually high level players that protect traders on a trade run. They gain job experiences by killing both player and npc thieves. Of course, most player hunters would refuse to accompany player traders unless high rewards are involved.
There is one additional feature of this game that has been recently implemented into the game. The castle war. I do not know the detail because I have never experienced it, but as far as I know, it's basically a massive guild vs guild battle for the control of a town. The winner will be able to set taxes and gain glory as well as obtain some awesome armory/weapon award.
Overall, the only thing that turned me away from this game is the high population of bots. Generally speaking, it would take YEARS to hand grind your way to level 100, currently the highest level possible in game. However, the beautiful scenary and great pvp combat makes this game one of the best mmorpg I have experienced.
Rating: 7.5/10
Grind: 9.5/10 - very grindy
Fun: 7/10
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1 comment:
Meh, I disagree with quite a bit. The scenery is mediocre, at best. Much of the world is barren and the terrain is largely sketchy. The little detail they did throw into the world serves only to lag the game.
However, you are right about the bots, although you understated it. The amount of bots on every server is RIDICULOUS. The GMs do not give a damn about that, either. Their laziness extends to the point where more than 60% of the server is EASILY bots.
Similarly, you understated the grind. Often times, I had to delevel myself to have my skills mildly capable of taking down mobs my level. And that was sub-30.
All in all, I would say this game had so much potential, but the GMs ruined it. They did not try filtering bots. The amount of server space that was dedicated to the game was ludicrous. Last but not least, they were too obsessed on trying to get money from the Cash Shop rather than trying to please their gamers, who could potentially have been Cash Shop users in the future.
From my personal experience, I would give the game an overall score of 5, PvP score of 9, PvE score of 8, and aesthetic score of 2. A very disappointing game.
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