YouTube screwed me over the past few days hence I did not really have the mood to post much as videos were not being uploaded. No idea why, since this is the 2nd time this year the company hates to process my videos. Back to topic, this will be a short final walkthrough before Closed beta 2 starts on 25th December. Read on!
1. Some readers were thinking that the crafting and cooking processes I posted in earlier parts of the walkthrough are in the form of playing that Bejeweled kind of mini-game. This is not true, as you will still need to gather materials, place them in a window and craft and cook. The mini-game sare just ways to build more relationship with the NPCs and get some points (I did not really keep notice).
2. Once again, combat. Combat was always meant to be “slow” at the start, no one will be a wulin master after playing 2 days of the game. Since there is no character level system in the game, you are always going to build your character through exploring the world and doing quests. Yeah, you can just farm some equipments in instances, but bear in mind players out exploring will be gaining more titles and learning more “hidden” skills.
3. I once said there wasn’t a transport feature which brings players across maps, and I am very wrong. There is the horse carriage, but it won’t be an instant teleportation, as you can see in the video below.
The other transportation available will be the river boat. Tired of manually controlling your horse to go to the other side of the same map? This will come in handy, although not across different maps. Players can opt to get down anywhere along the route for both the horse carriage and river boat.
4. Qinggong, or the skill to walk on water etc. Well, let me give you a spoiler. I mentioned some time back Qinggong will be a set of skills, and it really is. The very first Qinggong skill players get through questing will be a double jump, meaning to tab the spacebar twice. From what I saw players shouting in-game, there is a triple jump skill book as well, probably from boss mobs. All these will then lead to the higher level Qinggong skills as your character progresses. Work for them!
5. I am still missing some actual features report, including dungeons, PvP and offline features etc. which I will try to cover in Closed Beta 2. Something I will like to post a tiny bit, which I mentioned before, players might log out of the game, but their character might be active in the game acting as street performers in town, a tea seller or running some errands, becoming NPCs. Hence when players log back in sometimes, the characters will be at a different location.
So, my thoughts on the game? Yes, for the very last time, the combat may seem dull, but Age of Wulin is a game which will want players to work and grow their characters into martial arts master, with a pinch of realism added. You won’t get to see much mythical beasts, if any, like dragons, there ain’t now fancy spells like Ice Storm or Meteor and there certainly ain’t any over the top armors on show.
I am actually looking forward to this change of fresh air, but is the Western market accept this dramatic change of tempo in MMOs? I see it as a tough transition for most, but we shall see when the English beta hits somewhere in the summer next year.
