This past weekend marked the second closed beta for The Exiled Realm of Arborea, and my second full weekend of ignoring everything in the Area chat channel for the sake of my ignore button. My last preview was mostly done through Twitter, during which I managed to level up to 9 before admittedly logging out.
I know a lot of people say this, and I will happily join the bandwagon in praising how gorgeous TERA looks. TERA is heavily stylized in an eastern setting, and not just because there is a race dedicated to looking like fat, adorable dogs, cats, foxes, raccoon, gerbils, etc.
My character, as you can see in the images, is a Popori archer. One factor I’m having trouble getting passed is that the archer is not a sniper class, but rather carries a medium-short range that leaves me firing blankly wondering why my arrows aren’t hitting. Regardless, I enjoy the class despite the limitation knowing that (at least around level 10) the power balance at any longer of a range would make me almost invincible.
First off, I want to clarify on some other previews. When we say TERA plays more like an action game than an MMO, I don’t you to think Dungeons and Dragons Online and its instanced areas. I want you to think more along the lines of Vindictus, but without each area being instanced and on a field the size you would expect from an MMO. Not once did I have an issue of lag or rubber banding, although there was an instance of server instability/crashing that had to be fixed.
TERA is one of those games that hands you a shorter list of abilities (at least so far), but each is varied enough to be useful in most situations. With my archer, I carried a crowd control attack that fired arrows into the air at multiple targets, as well as a power-up attack that would shoot a charged arrow in a straight line capable of killing multiple targets close together. In addition, each of my attacks carried a chance at knocking back my target, leaving them immobile for a short period.
If you can dodge in TERA, you have a very successful life awaiting. Very far, killing bosses and enemies far above your level. It’s important to remember that TERA not only requires twitch combat from you, the mobs you encounter are subject to the same rules of engagement. Dodging is not and end-all beat-all, and monsters still have tricks up their sleeve to put the hurt on even the most seasoned warrior, so don’t assume you’ll be fighting the long fight against a top-level BAM (Big Ass Monster) right out the gate.
Where TERA excels in combat, however, it takes painfully lazy moves in the questing department. There were multiple instances where I took on a quest to be directed to deliver something to an NPC standing twenty feet away, who would direct me to the same NPC I had just talked to. The collection/killing quests I can tolerate, granted I lost interest in the story very early on.
Ultimately, I look forward to gaining some ground in the third closed beta test scheduled for March 9th. I did not have an opportunity to test out the crafting system, which appears to be a standard affair in MMOs. So far the game has been on easy mode, and I look forward to the difficulty blowing up around level 20 as I am told.
Until next time, this is Popori Omali signing out.
MMO Fallout 