Jesse's MMO Romp Part 3: First Impressions

Hello! I'm back again to discuss a few more of the games I've been playing as a part of my MMORPG romp. Today we're taking a look at Path of Exile, Tera, and Neverwinter I enjoyed all of these games very much, and I'm happy to be here again to tell you about them.

Path of Exile:

I heard this game was micro transaction heavy so I went into it feeling skeptical. I was pleasantly surprised though. While you can pay real world cash to upgrade your stash they do give you a very large stash, and I pick up nearly everything when I play a Diablo clone. The barter based economy in the game seems weird at first but you get used to it.

I played my duelist all the way to level 21 because I got super caught up in the game play. The skill tree is very awesome. It's reminiscent of Final Fantasy X's sphere grid. As far as abilities go you socket gems with abilities into your armor and weapons.

There are also linked sockets so you can modify the abilities you equip. In that regard this game has virtually limitless customization. And then there are prophecies and leaguestones. These add a little more randomness to the game by adding things like environmental hazards and elite monsters to areas of the game.

As for the graphics I was able to run the game with every setting turned all the way up with my 970, but I would say you're ok even if you have a dinosaur like a 9500 or even lower. The game has excellent art in terms of both characters and environments. I am definitely going to keep playing this game. It reminds me a lot of Diablo 2, but it pushes the game play a bit further than the immortal classic.

Tera:

Next up we have a game that I knew literally nothing about going into it. I was perusing the free to play section of the Steam Store, and I came across this game. I jumped right in with an Aman Berserker. I really enjoy the fast paced hack and slash play style. The game's combat is targetless so it's more skill based.

The graphics are gorgeous. My big burly dragon-like Aman looks amazing as do the rest of the character choices. The combat is a decent challenge. There are health pickups that randomly spawn after you defeat enemies to keep you going.

If I had to pick one thing I didn't like it would be the lengthy animations. This might just be because of the berserker's big heavy two-handed weapon though. When I try to activate other skills and abilities besides just the standard attack I had to wait until every last frame of animation played out.

Overall though the combat is challenging. I came close to dying a few times, but it was not too hard to handle. I played long enough to get out of the noob area, and flew to a city. I'm going to continue playing this game but I don't really see myself wanting to play high level PvP or PvE.

Neverwinter:

Last up on my list to talk about today is Neverwinter. I've always loved games based on AD&D. I played a lot of the old school bioware D&D games like Baldur's Gate, and Icewind Dale. I was a little worried about how well a D&D game would translate to MMO playstyle. It was wonderfully fun though. I don't think I re-rolled my stats enough, but I did my best. Again I'm not really in this for the end game. I just want to have fun questing and leveling characters.

The graphics are very pretty. I was very happy with how my character looked. I played a half-orc great weapon fighter. I was able to make him look how I wanted. I only wish they had a better balding hair style.

The quest tracking is good. They give you a sparkly line to follow for all your quests. I never really felt lost the entire time I played. I still have no idea how professions work though. I know you have to have a certain profession to activate the various profession nodes. There are also profession kits that allow you to harvest nodes you otherwise wouldn't have access too.

The combat is a lot like Tera. However, I was felt more in controll than I did with Tera. I'm still a noob (only level 11) but they challenge is pretty good when fighting powerful mobs. You have to know when to get out of the way when you're fighting. Stand too long in the wrong place and you're going to take a lot of damage.

I definitely want to play this game more after getting to know it. I still can't see myself doing a lot of high level PvP or raiding, but it seems like a fun quest grinder. 

Well that's all for now. I'll be back in a few days to finish this series up at least for now. I want to blog about these games all the way up until I reach the level cap. I also urge you if you're reading this to download the games I talk about and see for yourself. Everything is a matter of taste. Anyhow I'll see ya around.