Aion Ascension: A subscription based game turned F2P just in the nick of time for The Good, The Bad and The Nitpicky.
Initial Impressions: A shattered world, two races locked in mortal combat and wings, Aion: Ascension is a solid mass of cliches thrown together. This doesn't mean that Aion is all bad though. The world is expansive and beautiful. The character designs are inventive and attempt to add some imagination. But in the end you are just one of thousands of "the chosen one" running through dull, repetitive missions reading bland text and grinding, grinding, grinding. The ultimate goal of Aion: Ascension is to reach the void, a dark battlefield between the two worlds occupied by both player races and an NPC race, The Bauldur. Here is a not-so epic battle for the fate of the worlds you live, fight and die in. And trust me, you will die... a lot. Its a good thing you're immortal because that's the only thing keeping you going throughout this otherwise run of the mill MMORPG.
The Good: Sadly there isn't much to like about Aion: Ascension but what there is is actually quite good.
The Backdrop: The world is rich, full and very interesting. The writing is actually very well done in this regard and its easy to see how and why the two races of Aion hate each other. The third race is a bit of an enigma but no less interesting. I say they are an enigma because they really aren't necessary. The developers could have left them out and the game's backdrop would not have been hampered one bit. Nevertheless they are a fascinating addition and their role in the war is just as interesting as the two player races.
The environments: Although the colors are somewhat bland on my PC I have a feeling this is not the fault of the game. The environments in Aion are very attractive and you will easily find yourself stopping in place and spinning around to see all that Aion: Ascension has to offer for the eyes and it is a lot. Forests, frozen lakes, towering mountains and dark, cavernous caves sparkle and delight the senses as you freely explore this immense world. There is a lot to discover in the game, even in the smallish prologue level which you can return too unlike in most other games. This is a good thing because once you hit level 10 you will need all the experience points you can get your hands on in any way you can get them.
Character Creation: Three years ago when Aion first hit shelves as a subscription based MMORPG the character creation was top notch and truly unique. Now there are several other games that use the same options but Aion still stacks up. It is quite easy to create a unique character to call your own and better yet the character can be as sexualized as you like. Unlike other MMO's like Forsaken World where all the female characters have one cup size, GGG in Aion you can actually make your character have gigantic breasts or breasts that you can't even see under the armor. Males can be gargantuan, muscle bound behemoths or thin, spritly and a little nerdy. You can even make your character androgynous like I did. The sky is literally the limit.
Movement: Most MMORPGS let you move about on a two dimensional plane moving left, right forward or backward. Aion: Ascension, however, lets you spread your wings and fly... literally. Once you hit level 10 you become a "Daeva" which grants you the power of limited flight. At first your flight times are short but they do extend as you level up. Not that it really matters since most of the time you'll only be able to fly short distances anyway especially at first. But this added dimension actually spices up navigation more than it sounds and makes a large world even larger.
This earns Aion: Ascension a good score of 5.
The Bad: For all Aion: Ascension's potential its amazing how short the game falls, even if you consider its a three year old title.
Combat: Like 99% of all MMORPG's Aion: Ascension relies on the click and wait skill bar. This method was dated even three years ago when the game first came out but back then there was nothing else being used so it makes sense. That doesn't make it forgivable. The system being bad enough the actual spells and skills when animated are about as exciting as watching a fight between rock em, sock em robots. Enemies do little more than lean back or turn their heads when struck and deaths are unsatisfying at best. Magic spells are slightly more interesting but for all the flash the spells do little to increase the excitement of the combat. The worst part about combat is how slow it is. The pace moves along achingly slowly and cool down times for your skills are hideously long. All of this makes for a boring experience that is best left in the past.
Audio: Music volume is low to start and that's how it should be. The same few second music tracks play on endless loops and quickly become annoying. Sound effects are even worse and unlike the music you actually need those on. Otherwise there is really no way to know if an enemy has spotted you or if your spell or skill has worked or not. Some weird, sproinging sound activates when an enemy spots you and hits with swords sound like a wooden baseball bat striking a wooden desk. Critical hits are just louder versions of this same sound and what few voices are in the game are short, and all too quiet. This really is a big disappointment for a game with such stunning visuals.
Mission Variety: Or rather the lack of. As you advance from one quest giver to the next all you really get are different monsters to kill with higher and higher numbers of them. Every now and then you have to play messenger but that's literally it. Run and kill or run and click. The worst part is if multiple players are all trying to collect the same item for the same mission. As per the norm only one player can collect the item at a time and there is always only one or two, however, respawn times are ridiculously long. If five players are standing around waiting for the item you could literally spend up to thirty minutes trying to be the first person to click on it when it respawns. There is nothing fun about this.
Enemy Density: The world of Aion is large but full of enemies that are more than happy to gang up on you. That wouldn't be so bad if you could actually beat more than one enemy at a time but unless you are five or six levels higher than the enemies forget it, you'll get smashed in short order. This takes the already monotonous combat and adds a level of cheapness that makes it infuriating. While certain skills like Hide can alleviate this somewhat you'll spend most of the time trying to find ways past the hordes of enemies without getting crushed.
As a result Aion: Ascension earns a Bad score of -10
The Nitpicky: Aion:Ascension is pretty straightforward so there isn't much to nitpick.
Shopping: There is actually a reason to shop around in Aion. Different venders actually carry different weapons and items that have different values. Also there are a myriad of items that provide all kinds of buffs to tailor combat to your preferences making your unique character even more unique. This can be a bit of a headache to learn though and the tutorial doesn't help with that regard at all. Still, for patient players who aren't afraid to experiment this can be a rewarding experience.
Leveling: Instead of the massive piles of menus that provide ways to spend experience points Aion has a pretty simple system that's easy to navigate. This makes it easy to focus your XP on the skills you want to use most. The real bummer is you don't earn any skills automatically, instead you have to use the now industry wide standard of finding a trainer and buying newly unlocked skills from them. This is annoying and greatly takes away from what has the potential to be a great system.
This leaves a Nitpicky score of 1.
In the end, Aion: Ascension earns a total score of -4. Sadly the game is just plain boring and plays with a slow grind rather than the fast pace and hard hitting action of other MMO's of its era like Guild Wars. Its really surprising that a company that made such a great game in its debut could actual backpedal rather than move forward. Aion has stunning visuals and great backdrop and would probably make a great comic book or anime but it doesn't make a good game.
Initial Impressions: A shattered world, two races locked in mortal combat and wings, Aion: Ascension is a solid mass of cliches thrown together. This doesn't mean that Aion is all bad though. The world is expansive and beautiful. The character designs are inventive and attempt to add some imagination. But in the end you are just one of thousands of "the chosen one" running through dull, repetitive missions reading bland text and grinding, grinding, grinding. The ultimate goal of Aion: Ascension is to reach the void, a dark battlefield between the two worlds occupied by both player races and an NPC race, The Bauldur. Here is a not-so epic battle for the fate of the worlds you live, fight and die in. And trust me, you will die... a lot. Its a good thing you're immortal because that's the only thing keeping you going throughout this otherwise run of the mill MMORPG.
The Good: Sadly there isn't much to like about Aion: Ascension but what there is is actually quite good.
The Backdrop: The world is rich, full and very interesting. The writing is actually very well done in this regard and its easy to see how and why the two races of Aion hate each other. The third race is a bit of an enigma but no less interesting. I say they are an enigma because they really aren't necessary. The developers could have left them out and the game's backdrop would not have been hampered one bit. Nevertheless they are a fascinating addition and their role in the war is just as interesting as the two player races.
The environments: Although the colors are somewhat bland on my PC I have a feeling this is not the fault of the game. The environments in Aion are very attractive and you will easily find yourself stopping in place and spinning around to see all that Aion: Ascension has to offer for the eyes and it is a lot. Forests, frozen lakes, towering mountains and dark, cavernous caves sparkle and delight the senses as you freely explore this immense world. There is a lot to discover in the game, even in the smallish prologue level which you can return too unlike in most other games. This is a good thing because once you hit level 10 you will need all the experience points you can get your hands on in any way you can get them.
Character Creation: Three years ago when Aion first hit shelves as a subscription based MMORPG the character creation was top notch and truly unique. Now there are several other games that use the same options but Aion still stacks up. It is quite easy to create a unique character to call your own and better yet the character can be as sexualized as you like. Unlike other MMO's like Forsaken World where all the female characters have one cup size, GGG in Aion you can actually make your character have gigantic breasts or breasts that you can't even see under the armor. Males can be gargantuan, muscle bound behemoths or thin, spritly and a little nerdy. You can even make your character androgynous like I did. The sky is literally the limit.
Movement: Most MMORPGS let you move about on a two dimensional plane moving left, right forward or backward. Aion: Ascension, however, lets you spread your wings and fly... literally. Once you hit level 10 you become a "Daeva" which grants you the power of limited flight. At first your flight times are short but they do extend as you level up. Not that it really matters since most of the time you'll only be able to fly short distances anyway especially at first. But this added dimension actually spices up navigation more than it sounds and makes a large world even larger.
This earns Aion: Ascension a good score of 5.
The Bad: For all Aion: Ascension's potential its amazing how short the game falls, even if you consider its a three year old title.
Combat: Like 99% of all MMORPG's Aion: Ascension relies on the click and wait skill bar. This method was dated even three years ago when the game first came out but back then there was nothing else being used so it makes sense. That doesn't make it forgivable. The system being bad enough the actual spells and skills when animated are about as exciting as watching a fight between rock em, sock em robots. Enemies do little more than lean back or turn their heads when struck and deaths are unsatisfying at best. Magic spells are slightly more interesting but for all the flash the spells do little to increase the excitement of the combat. The worst part about combat is how slow it is. The pace moves along achingly slowly and cool down times for your skills are hideously long. All of this makes for a boring experience that is best left in the past.
Audio: Music volume is low to start and that's how it should be. The same few second music tracks play on endless loops and quickly become annoying. Sound effects are even worse and unlike the music you actually need those on. Otherwise there is really no way to know if an enemy has spotted you or if your spell or skill has worked or not. Some weird, sproinging sound activates when an enemy spots you and hits with swords sound like a wooden baseball bat striking a wooden desk. Critical hits are just louder versions of this same sound and what few voices are in the game are short, and all too quiet. This really is a big disappointment for a game with such stunning visuals.
Mission Variety: Or rather the lack of. As you advance from one quest giver to the next all you really get are different monsters to kill with higher and higher numbers of them. Every now and then you have to play messenger but that's literally it. Run and kill or run and click. The worst part is if multiple players are all trying to collect the same item for the same mission. As per the norm only one player can collect the item at a time and there is always only one or two, however, respawn times are ridiculously long. If five players are standing around waiting for the item you could literally spend up to thirty minutes trying to be the first person to click on it when it respawns. There is nothing fun about this.
Enemy Density: The world of Aion is large but full of enemies that are more than happy to gang up on you. That wouldn't be so bad if you could actually beat more than one enemy at a time but unless you are five or six levels higher than the enemies forget it, you'll get smashed in short order. This takes the already monotonous combat and adds a level of cheapness that makes it infuriating. While certain skills like Hide can alleviate this somewhat you'll spend most of the time trying to find ways past the hordes of enemies without getting crushed.
As a result Aion: Ascension earns a Bad score of -10
The Nitpicky: Aion:Ascension is pretty straightforward so there isn't much to nitpick.
Shopping: There is actually a reason to shop around in Aion. Different venders actually carry different weapons and items that have different values. Also there are a myriad of items that provide all kinds of buffs to tailor combat to your preferences making your unique character even more unique. This can be a bit of a headache to learn though and the tutorial doesn't help with that regard at all. Still, for patient players who aren't afraid to experiment this can be a rewarding experience.
Leveling: Instead of the massive piles of menus that provide ways to spend experience points Aion has a pretty simple system that's easy to navigate. This makes it easy to focus your XP on the skills you want to use most. The real bummer is you don't earn any skills automatically, instead you have to use the now industry wide standard of finding a trainer and buying newly unlocked skills from them. This is annoying and greatly takes away from what has the potential to be a great system.
This leaves a Nitpicky score of 1.
In the end, Aion: Ascension earns a total score of -4. Sadly the game is just plain boring and plays with a slow grind rather than the fast pace and hard hitting action of other MMO's of its era like Guild Wars. Its really surprising that a company that made such a great game in its debut could actual backpedal rather than move forward. Aion has stunning visuals and great backdrop and would probably make a great comic book or anime but it doesn't make a good game.