Most players can’t help but imagine themselves when they hear the abbreviation MMO World of Warcraft or, at worst, Lineage 2. No wonder, because through these games many people began to get acquainted with such an amazing gameplay concept as “kill five wild boars and earn the highest rating on the battlefield.” It is important to note that the wave of Asian grindles, where there is no battlefield as such and the main source of leveling is the player’s wallet, has largely depleted the credibility of the genre itself. The pay-to-win principle is so deeply ingrained in most modern projects that it is unclear how they can even count on success with such an approach. And what’s most interesting, it almost doesn’t go away Tarisland.
Tarisland is a new MMO from the Chinese giant Tencent, in which everything seems very familiar: from spells to interface elements. But everyone can borrow, but making something out of it yourself is not always possible. We’ve played for about ten hours and now we’ll tell you in detail what awaits us upon release.
Pay-to-win without kinks
Calling Tarisland a regular World of Warcraft clone would be both right and wrong. The fact is that there were many such clones, but the clones that I would like to play for a long time did not happen at all. Before the Tencent project. The visual style, the editor for creating characters, story characters, spells and locations – all this seems very familiar, but is done so well that it does not cause rejection. On the contrary: it is quite difficult to get something very important and interesting from such a gigantic MMO, without going into what the WoW old-timers themselves consider boring and boring.
Although Tarisland is free, as the developers say, it is not pay-to-win at all. On the one hand, this is true, and in the game “Market” you can find exclusively cosmetic items or in-game vehicles for real money, but on the other hand, there is a “battle pass” that everyone hates, which after all, it gives you advantages over other players – and yes, it can be purchased with crystals, which can be purchased with real money.
Where it all starts
Unfortunately, the character editor was not surprised: it is hardly possible to create a unique hero here. Race and gender are tied to class, so there is no way to change anything. If you choose a magician, you will become a beautiful elf. Shadow swordsman (analogous to a robber) – until the end you will be a half-goth elf with a deadly look. Of course, there is still customization: for example, you can change the height, eye color, hairstyle, hair color and so on, but this is so little that during the main game you will not feel any individuality next to the characters of other players.
This similarity to everyone is especially reinforced by the fact that the hero’s armor does not change in any way when equipping a new item. You can only change the appearance of your clothes or weapons if there are sets available in a special window. To access it, you will have to pay or participate in in-game events, for example, to obtain the necessary achievement. It is difficult to say whether this is due to Chinese collectivism, but if there are a hundred almost identical elves in identical clothing running through the city, it does not contribute to the feeling of comfort.
There is a plot – and this is a plus for an MMO
The nice thing is that Tarisland doesn’t immediately throw you into an open world, where an inexperienced player runs the risk of getting lost and leaving the game for months. On the contrary: you move quite quickly through a quite interesting plot and by the end of the prologue you defeat the first boss. As you progress, the game smoothly talks about the features, spells, etc. – you can consider this a short and unobtrusive workout, after which there should be a minimum of questions.
The plot itself is quite interesting and, above all, is not filled with quests in the spirit of “give and get”, but with interactivity: you have to look for someone’s tracks, then sneak into someone else’s camp under cover, or shoot at enemies with a bow.
Of course there are also disadvantages: all the main characters are faded and almost unmemorable. Perhaps the difference in perception plays a role: what may seem mediocre to the European segment of gamers, for Asian gamers are symbols of true beauty. It is difficult to assess this point, so we attribute it to European and Western players being spoiled.
What do you think of MMOs?
Play comfortably
It’s always nice when developers make players feel comfortable playing. In this respect, Tarisland exceeded all expectations. For example, if you want to enter a dungeon in the same World of Warcraft, you must first install additional add-ons – to display damage dealt, boss stages, timers and much more. If you don’t do this, your group members probably won’t thank you.
In Tarisland you do not need to do this, the main add-ons important for such projects are already built directly into the game: here you have a damage and healing counter and built-in timers, which, although in Chinese, tell you how long it will take or another boss skill. This not only saves space on the hard drive, but also nerves when searching for the right version, installation and configuration.
Almost in Russian
You shouldn’t expect good Russian localization during the CBT, but it still exists. So far at the level of translated dialogues, quests and partly skills. The voice acting is currently only in Chinese, but we may be able to expect English.
The quality of the translation leaves much to be desired in places, but the work is largely well done – mainly poetic texts. Unfortunately, many skills do not yet have descriptions, and if there are, they are only in English. This causes some discomfort.
What bothers me most is the ping, which sometimes reaches 700 ms. Despite the nice animations, the constant server crashes and spell freezes are what will annoy you the most, especially if you’ve finally managed to find a party that can complete an epic dungeon.
Famed game composer Russell Brower worked on the music. And they haven’t done a good job, but they haven’t done a bad job either: there isn’t a single soundtrack I’d want to immediately turn off, but there aren’t any soundtracks I’d want to add to the playlist either.
Tarisland is a promising project that shows promise. So far it has many limitations and bugs, but the game manages to get the best out of its brothers in the genre, and therefore the hope for a good start remains. We hope that everything will be completed by the time it comes out, and that at the end we will get a clear, sometimes recognizable, but at the same time new and exciting project.
Would you play Tarisland?
Source: VG Times
Christina Moncayo is a contributing writer for “Social Bites”. Her focus is on the gaming industry and she provides in-depth coverage of the latest news and trends in the world of gaming.