9Dragons
- Area: Global,USA
- Sito Ufficiale: 9Dragons
- Editore: Acclaim
- Sviluppatore: Indy21
- Piattaforma: Microsoft Windows
Like this game? Tell your friends!
- Area: Global,USA
- Sito Ufficiale: 9Dragons
- Editore: Acclaim
- Sviluppatore: Indy21
- Piattaforma: Microsoft Windows
Like this game? Tell your friends!
Review
Reviewed by Kenny Mallari
The game, 9Dragons, gives you the feel of being in an old Chinese Kung Fu flick. You start off as a
penniless vagabond in ancient mainland China during the Ming Dynasty. Knowing the news, you realize that you need to learn and master kung fu to survive in the war-torn land. In
some sheer stroke of luck, six major clans of the dynasty are looking for students in preparation for an all-out war. As you go through training under a clan, you seek answers
as towhy the nine legendary heroes of the War of the 9 Dragons mysteriouslyvanished years ago. You also learn more about your clan and its history,political elements that
shape the course of each clan's cause for war, andeven interference from foreigners of faraway lands. As with many Chinese legends, bits of ancient Chinese wisdom are
inculcated in your travels. 9Dragons premise is very intriguing and profound, with Steven-Elliot Altman (a respected bestselling author and Hollywood screenwriter) at the
helm of plot development. With a superb storyline, players will grasp the feeling ofhaving the character grow from a lowly peasant to renowned martial artsmaster. Clan politics
is also no small matter, as every decision you makeaffects your clan's status in the dynasty. Even in your search for the vanished legendary heroes, you'll find
there's more to the War of the 9Dragons than meets the eye. However, the storyline's effort to open up the gamers' eye to the world of ancient China is bogged
down by heavy grinding fantasy gameplay.
Quests are toned down to a minimal extent in this game. Early levels may offera handful of simple quests, but as you progress
further, the number ofavailable quests lessens in a stretch of a couple of levels or so. Most of the quests have the simple recipes of item gathering, mob killing, or NPC
talkingformula that sometimes reaps less than generous rewards. You will rely ongrinding continuously to reach the next level. Gaining exp at higher levelsbecomes
exasperatingly tough; it takes a great deal of patience to even get afraction of exp percentage to rise.
The features in 9Dragons are very intuitive, keeping you up to your toes. The thankful sight of various interplaying gameplay systems drives the player to grind and improve the character more, in a feel of attaining perfection andmastery. The game offers a unique level system, wherein there is a major leveling form of a title / name having 12 minor levels called "cheng." Adding adistinctive touch, players engage in a mini-game of "chi breathing" in orderto advance to the next level tier. In a way, this form of advancement providesperfectionists and skill-heavy characters the chance to master more skillsbefore proceeding to the next major level. In addition to this, a Karma and Epithet system also comes into play. You gain good or bad karma based on youractions towards your fellow clan members and the opposing factions. Dependingon the amount of karma or your rank inside the clan, you can gain differenttitles on your name or stat bonuses or modifiers. Another feature to focus onis the skill acquisition and mastery. Players can approach a "sifu" or master,buy skills and train them at the training grounds before putting them to gooduse and leveling them in actual combat. The game bestows players with around 500 skills distributed in the different jobs of every clan and also lists thepassive weapon masteries separately, allowing you to improve your desiredarsenal independent of your skill build. All these aspects give players thefeel of a labor-intensive character growth, posing as either a challenge or achore.
With the complexities of narcissistically perfecting your martial arts master,other common features have been toned down to a simpler context. Stat building for your character is straightforward depending on the type of job you assume,spending most of the points basically on one or two major attributes. The party system can be disregarded at higher levels when sharing exp merits analmost-negligible amount. But thankfully, this is evened out by the game‘scontribution of party quests. The friend / buddy system looks basic, providinga friend and ignore lists, an in-game messenger and a mailbox accessible fromthe UI. The refining system is a rudimentary, yet arduous, task of collectingthe material called "blood essence" and using it to upgrade weapons. Ascommonly seen in other games, the higher the level, the higher the risk ofbreaking the weapon, and the higher the amount of blood essences needed toprogress. Even trading and vending your wares is elementary for beginner andpro gamers alike. Sadly, bank storage needs to be rented for a high fee andthe inventory is so simple, there‘s little space to put items in.Supplementing 9Dragons already vast features are Collection quests and Elixiritems. Collections pose as a character's sidequest, where you are asked togather a certain set of items and exchange it for usable equipments or itemsto the designated NPC. Collection quests are either a one-time experience orrepeatable, either of which are thankful sighs of relief from the monotonousgrind. Elixirs, on the other hand, affect a player‘s stats and skillspositively or negatively, a welcome addition to those wish to maximizebenefits from a certain stat.
Talking about simplicity, controlling the character is through your typical point and click. Targeting or clicking can be troublesome at times due to camera angles positioned beneath graphical elements (doors or trees) ortargets clumped together. Keyboard movement through the typical WASD or arrowkeys is not available. The UI is clean, having every other intended windowarranged into tabs inside the character window instead of showing up asindividual icons outside. Shortcut keys are available from numbers 0-9, set inthree easily exchangeable groups. A unique feature is the use of the tabbutton to switch between combat and "peace" (non-combat) mode. Fortunately,the game‘s response to keyboard shortcuts and mouse clicks are smooth andtrouble-free. Plus, players can also opt to undergo an extensive tutorial viathe starting quest and numerous video presentations.The fruits of one's labor won't go to waste for players wanting PvP action.The game has a dedicated PK server where almost all maps are open PvP zones. PK mode will automatically activate once the character reaches a certainlevel. Even in the non-PK servers (or so-called "Pleasant" servers), there arestill a few PK-enabled zones. For massive scale action, the black versus whitewars satiates even the hungriest of the PvP gamers. With an astounding numberof skills at your disposal, there‘s no shortage of intense action andunparalleled strategy for everyone to take pleasure in."The grasshopper is now a dragon!"
Aesthetically, 9Dragons is not as intense as the other newer MMOs out there. Despite the lack of brilliance, environments in 9Dragons still manage tocapture a fictional Ming Dynasty with amazing depth. Every map is huge and is flooded with a milieu of calming or violent ambiance that defines ancient war-torn China. Kung Fu shines the brightest with a plethora of visual effectspresent in every skill. Day and weather effects are portrayed in dazzling detail; however, the night effects look bleak and lifeless. NPC and monster models are most often repeated, repainted or renamed. And it gets boring toattack the same model time and again despite differences in level and name.Even character customization is sadly limited to a few face and hair options.Music complements each map or area, mixing traditional Chinese melodies withmodern tones. Sometimes, the BGM falls disappointingly silent with ambientnature sounds taking over, only to pop out again a few minutes later. Soundeffects, just like the monsters, are recycled by the same model. Kung-fu and tea- drinking all in one!
To sum things up, 9Dragons is still a well-crafted adventure with its excellently woven epic storyline and incredibly addicting gameplay despite theheavy grind. The graphics might not be topnotch, but it delivers well enoughto revel in the sights with near-satisfactory sounds and effects. The heavydependence on cash shop items may cause the demise of international players.But for those who don‘t mind the long grind, fans of oriental-style action, orPvP lovers, you can consider 9Dragons part of your list. For the rest of us, it's a nice game to pass up time until another game comes out.
