Now that I’ve spent more time leveling and getting a feel for the combat and progression system, I thought I’d give my early thoughts about the game.
Typical of MMO’s, character customization is an intrinsic part of the creation process (I’m going to skip the whole classes portion since I decided to just concentrate on leveling a single class). Different faces, hairstyles, hair color, skin tone, can be selected as part of that process which makes sense (even though the game is presented in the overhead isometric view where the camera is zoomed out) because there are also other players in the various towns as well as open world areas (plus you can zoom all the way to see these details). Thus there is at least some level of visual variation even amongst the same classes.
Note that there is no hardcore mode available (and I’m not sure if something like that is on the table).
What may turn off some players is the gender lock for the 4 current classes (development efforts are currently going towards creating other classes) as well as the character designs themselves which have an asian (and more so Korean) influence in those designs. The male characters (Berserker and Shadowhunter) have a less brawny look and are more metro in styling. The female characters (Cannoneer and Evoker) and are at opposite end of the spectrum from each other though; the Evoker is tall and curvy while the Cannoneer is what would be known in the anime world, as the delicious flat-chested loli.
Some players would just cringe of the thought of having to play this petite girl toting this humongous shooter. Myself, I thought it was actually hilarious to the point that I decided to try it out. I originally started off with the Evoker since it’s a mage class (and it’s what I played the most of in Diablo III). But after hitting level 10, I decided to try going with the Cannoneer and just concentrate on one class since the closed beta periods are very limited (and this is only my 2nd weekend of play).
As mentioned, zoom level can go all the way in to what looks like a standard 3D first person/over the shoulder sort of view like in World of Warcraft with one huge caveat. The camera in the game client is currently fixed (there is no way via mouse or keyboard to manually rotate the camera like in most 3D style MMO’s) and is meant to be played zoomed out via the overhead isometric view. This is why those players familiar with WOW are having difficulty adjusting their playstyle in this game.
Some players are used to the 3D 1st person/over the shoulder view where you are able to rotate the camera while others are used to the overhead isometric view where the camera is fixed.
To further complicate things, the game client seems to have favored just having skills assigned to left/right mouse button while movement is performed using WASD. As mentioned, movement can be assigned to left/right mouse button which for those familiar with games like Diablo or Path of Exile, will be more comfortable moving around and performing combat this way. But it leads to the force stand still issue below. Using WASD, this isn’t an issue because you then just stop moving while casting spells (sort of like how it would work on a console as is the case with D3).
But WASD isn’t exactly the same as moving only with your mouse (where you can either drag your character along or click a spot, and the character will automatically move to that spot based on the best available pathing) or having a force move keybinding (where your character will move in the direction of where your mouse pointer is located). WASD works independently of where your mouse pointer in many sense, is a good thing in combat because you can move independently of your combat skills by providing more granular control. It does require some level of ambidexterity during combat IF one is used to the simple point and click movement/combat/force stand still game play (which is more casual friendly since it does require less actual player skill to master) in most isometric ARPG’s.
The way the client is designed right now, performing a skill assigned to a mouse button while also having movement bound to it, will also move the character towards the target when attacking. Force stand still in games like Diablo or Path of Exile (where you can cast skills assigned to the mouse buttons without moving) is normally done while holding Shift while pressing the left or right mouse button. That expected behavior does not currently existing in Devilian which is why those more familiar with Diablo or Path of Exile are requesting the ability to force stand still.
Only certain classes skills semi-root on cast when hold-Shift is performed though the character does stutter step once towards the target before it roots and casts (but only does so for the mouse button that movement is assigned to). Basically, the combat ends up being clunky and makes actual kiting/stutter stepping difficult if trying to play it that way for the time being (unless that ability is added).
True, keys that are bound twice (like how Ctrl is for things like Ctrl-K and Ctrl-X) can root your character in place and act as a force stand still (I know it works well for Cannoneer skills that I have assigned to my mouse buttons) but that is probably not intended behavior to begin with. Plus players memory muscle in this area is to hold the Shift key (in my case, it’s worse since in most of those other isometric games, I bind my force stand still to the space bar) so often times, I was automatically hitting space bar and dashing by accident in Devilian (so I’ve just unbound the space bar and reassigned the dash to my tab key).
I’ve tried unbinding movement from the mouse buttons and using the hybrid approach with WASD assigned to the side directional button on my Razer Nostromo (so just moving around with that button) versus having movement and skils on mouse button (and holding Ctrl to force stand still during combat). The directional button actually makes it feel like I have direct character control (like how it is with console Diablo 3) which can actually spoil you when going back to the standard click-to-move method so I’m went back to not using WASD for movement just so that when I go back to PC Diablo 3, it doesn’t feel lacking in that area.
However, given the way game play is designed (especially with many dungeon boss mechanics and abilities, those fights were designed with WASD style movement and combat skills only on mouse button. Some of these fights can be challenging in solo play when your level and items haven’t outleveled the content by a wide margin. You have to manage game play due to the amount of skills you can utilize along with their individual cooldowns and resource usage.
But moving on, leveling from 1-10 happens very fast to the point that it feels uneventful. Then from around level 13, the pacing begins to slow down (I’m speaking from a totally solo playing point of view). The experience awarded hits this sort of flat spot even though you are performing a lot of quests, missions, and tasks. These are offered by town NPC’s as well as other NPC’s that exist out in the game world. While many of these quests and missions are a seemingly endless stream of content, it’s actually a fairly standard approach of offering variations of the same thing with different mob types. Given this is also zone based monster scaling when it comes to their levels, the more you progress, the more difficult monsters you encounter. And the scaling is also pretty standard pre-end game with increased health pools and damage. Dungeon bosses usually have extra mechanics that you will have to deal with in the small little arena that is standard for such fights.
This being a persistent world, it allows automatic re-instancing of monsters, destructible objects, etc. In Devilian, this re-spawning happens fairly quickly compared to other MMO’s. And that offers a huge advantage where the algorithm of providing quests, missions, tasks, etc to be varied enough to feel organic as opposed to feeling contrived as one progresses through the content towards level cap. Also, you can often times join in on taking down the same monster co-operatively to complete the objectives while still solo (not partied up with those other players and thus not exactly in-sync with the same quest missions). There are also the obligatory dailies which one can partake of. The game unsurprisingly rewards perfect attendance for logging in daily where those earned points can be redeemed for a reward.
Dungeons begin at around level 13ish and the implementation for performing it solo or in a party is built right into the user interface that is presented when clicking on the dungeon portal. A really brief overview of that dungeons objective is provided as well as the opportunity to send a call out to other players (up to 3 others) to join clearing the dungeon in a cooperative event. The dungeon itself is standard fare of progressing through various stages while clearing out monsters (as well as other objects), before the final one with the boss. Most boss attacks are telegraphed and conveyed for a short period via circular graphics on the ground or via horizontal rays (for things like charges, flame throwing, etc types of attacks) to give you time to react. Basically, many of these are like a Belial boss battle and very fair and requires managing game play due to cooldowns.
There are also challenges called Dimensional Rifts where a short little quest will yield a rift key. It’s a twist on dungeons but not in a dungeon (it’s in the open world without a transitional entry point) where there are several short stages before the boss spawns. This allows the event to be open world co-op where any player in that zone, can also actively join in. Basically, the game while an MMO, provides a very nice balance between being able to complete play solo (at least pre-level cap), and creating short term cooperative game play on the fly.
Another challenge (that first appears as a learning quest at around level 25) is the Abyssal Tower. The training quest is for completing the first 10 floors (the actual challenge is 100 floors) where it’s a competitive PvE leaderboard where its about progressing through as much floors as possible. The more you progress, the greater the rewards. Note that the floor is a small circular area where each “floor” is completing it one stage after the other (sort of like the Realm of Trials in D3 before it was removed).
The entire low leveling process is meant to be a tutorial not only for each individual class, but also for the game systems and content. It attempts to do it organically where it doesn’t really feel contrived. You’ll occasionally come across learning quests that gives you simple rewards for objectives like adding friends, crafting, co-op missions, partying, arena PVP, and others that I haven’t yet experienced at higher levels. It’s a way to introduce you to what will be end game activities. You don’t have to do these (you can decline them or accept them, but then hide them in the quests UI).
And this being an MMO, all of these activities are optional. If you don’t enjoy PVP, you can ignore them. If you don’t want to be a part of a guild, you don’t have to. If you don’t want to do dungeons, you don’t have to. This of course does impact how powerful your character will be unless you choose to then use the in-game auction house. Basically, the game offers a variety of avenues for players.
The graphical aesthetics rival that of Blizzard’s games; especially Diablo III. The combat (besides what I mentioned earlier about how movement is currently handled) and physics are actually right up there and the artwork is as good, if not better in many areas. And that is saying a lot because I’ve always considered Blizzard the gold standard in this area. It’s what prevented me from actually enjoying a lot of other recent games in the hack-n-slash/rogue-like ARPG genre. Devilian is actually turning out to be THAT game which can pull me away from Diablo III in this area because it’s a combination of aesthetics and activities to do.
But getting back to the pacing, just in the level 20’s, that grindy Korean MMO flavor can be felt pre-end game (and it’s probably been toned down a lot from the original). Since I don’t want to invest too much time since all of this progress will be wiped before the game actually launches, I’m not sure how high a level I will get to by the time closed beta event 4 ends (and I’m not sure how much time I will put into the open beta). For players who do not like ARPG/dungeon crawler/hack-n-slash/rogue like grinding, Devilian is not going to be their cup of tea.
Rewards in the form of items are carefully dropped at these lower levels and can be either sold for silver, salvaged for material, or traded/sold on the auction housed if not account bound. As in most MMO’s, the main stats on most gear are fixed (on set items, there are some randomized bonus properties). Currency drops in the form of materials and silver (where every 1000 silver converts automatically into 1 gold). Certain zones also has its own form of currency coinage that can be used to purchase items from a vendor in that zone.
Basically (as of this writing, I haven’t even gotten to the mid-way point of the game (level 34 where I consider level 40+ mid level if the max level is 60 due to the amount of experience one needs to level from this point), and there is still much to discover and explore. Thus even though the objective is to get to level cap, this lower level journey isn’t exactly boring. Of course, I am playing through with one class where we’ll be going through those same quests again on a different character class (they don’t have to be completed in a particular order). Once one has run through the game with at least one character class, leveling a different class is more about learning their skills and mechanics.
On the surface, it may seem no different than Diablo III in this area but it is different because how the core systems work. D3 is more action arcade like when it comes to how combat scales relative to its base difficulty. Low level play through is virtually meaningless in that context due to how RNG is core to its base design when it comes to item rolls and general skill mechanics (and RNG is huge with end game systems like Greater Rifts). Greater Rifts themselves allows character power to outgrow the games base difficulty which thus pigeonholes end game play into this one end game system. Devilian is completely different in this regards because it does not rely on that extreme level of RNG, and also offers a huge variety of activities to do (it still remains to be seen if their class PVP and guild factions implementation will work well over the long term for those who enjoy these).
One game mechanic I really like is autorun. For any quest, mission, or task, you can click the autorun button, and it will automatically run your character to that destination. The game does have zone specific waypoints but given how large many of these zone areas are, even getting to the closest one may take awhile. Furthermore, waypoints cost silver (the price starts off at 50 and goes up in higher level zones) to use. So one way to save currency is to use a mount (a free one is earned early on once one reaches around level 12) which increases movement speed.
The games design has a way to keep you easily logged in playing which is the absolutely “scary” part of MMO’s that I’ve always disliked (since it can turn into an all consuming time sink). It requires having some level of discipline to not fall into the addictive of these sort of games. The game feeds you a constant stream of quests, missions, and tasks to do where it’s easy to just keep on doing. Your main return to town skill has a 30 minute cooldown and you don’t want to keep burning currency using the waypoints to teleport around. And autorun can take several minutes one way to get from a town hub to your actual location. The point is that its designed purposely this way to keep you constantly engaged in those quests and activities.
I do realize that is a core design aspect with free 2 play games (keeping players engaged in-game and to also get them to login as often as possible) with the ulterior intent of getting players to eventually engage in official real money transactions. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that since the company needs to be able to monetize this in some way. As of this writing, I’ve yet to buy anything (not the basic starter pack or one of the founder ones with actual credits). The reason is to see if I come across anything that was designed to get players to actually spend money.
The only thing that comes marginally close is how they’ve limited the use of server wide chat, trade initiation, and use of the auction house for accounts that are free. Announcements made in the system wide chat are done using Megaphones (these are rewarding in game); one can still use zone chat to talk to other players in the same zone. For myself, this isn’t even a big thing because I’ve always preferred playing games like this solo and thus rarely utilize in-game chat. But I do realize that for many, the social experience (especially one that is an MMO) is core for them and thus a “deal breaker” for some.
Trionworld’s says this was done as one step to combat bots and gold sellers. One can get around this by having a verified account (and that can only be done by making any kind of purchase like credits or say a DLC in one of their other published games). The way I look at combatting bots and spammers is this. Bots need to be combat at the system and operational level (you need backend systems in place as well as actual humans to analyze that information, and to enforce the terms of use). The same goes for chat spammers trying to sell their services.
So long as there is profit, these folks will proliferate and find ways to circumvent the system. And when I say these folks, they are actual organized entities (often times related to criminal activity using stolen personal information) who have no problems with getting around any sort of paywall IF there is money to be made. Basically, if Devilian ends up having a sizable following over the long haul, there will be these folks who will spend $5 (of what is usually stolen funds anyway) for credits to become verified because they’ll be able to make it up in actual profits.
As for my free account not being able to use the auction house or for initiating in-game trading (trading can still be done BUT someone with a verified account needs to initiate first), both of these again aren’t a big deal for me (but I do know that unrestricted trading is a big deal for many players). My point is that at least for players like myself, I can play it without ever spending a dollar on it.
But that’s not what I plan to do given how I’ve found it entertaining so far. I do plan on getting at least one of the founder packs as a sign of support; I did it with Path of Exile even though at the time, I was trying to play the game via a wine wrapper (and not experiencing the game at full performance). And I ended up getting the Divine Supporter there since it had some physical goods associated with it (t-shirt and a cool keychain). That’s about my only beef with Trion’s pricing for these packs.
The Obsidian Founder pack at $150, has no physical merchandise perks (everything is purely digital). Early Access is the cheapest at $20 and is meant as a way to get some very basic perks + verified. Silver at $50 is where it really starts though since you get credits for use in the marketplace. So it puts this game in the same pricing as many AAA titles. The Gold pack at $100 really should have some type of physical bonus since we’re now talking more expensive than some AAA titles physical collectors edition (StarCraft II Legacy of the Void’s standalone CE comes to mind where it is $80). Yes, I do realize there are economies of scale at play as well as the fact that Trion is just the publisher/operational component of the business and has to also pay Bluehole Ginno for the development costs. But the collector side of me keeps saying the value isn’t there at the high end unless you intend on buying a lot of cosmetic items since you do get more bang for the buck for those credits.
Anyway, just like with Diablo III, how it plays at end game is something that I’ll need to personally experience first. The low level part is still a lot more fun and rich compared to what exists in D3 though since the biggest advantage is that its a persistent world. Path of Exile doesn’t really suffer this since the character leveling is a continual journey where it’s not about reaching that level cap where only the best items then drop, and you can begin doing endgame content. For folks like myself who enjoy hack-n-slash style games but not having to deal with an abundance of contrived design decisions that funnel players into playing the game the way the designers want it to be played, I’ve been personally enjoying my short play time in Devilian so far.
