I’ve been playing about in WoW now and again lately, but recently I’ve been caught up in another game, it started Open Beta a week back. A little something called Mabinogi. Even took a few snaps, it’s pretty easy to get into as well…though it’s really something you can’t rush either, it would seem. There’s a lot to take in, too, even at the start. It has the potential, though, to be something special if the work’s put into it. Even the battle system is different to what I’ve encountered before, requiring a lot of real-time strategy in the combat element. Let me explain a little on that:
This is Magnum Shot, a bow skill used in the game. It’s a highly intense shot that can inflict even at a basic level twice the power of a standard shot. The catch? Maintaining that strength takes a toll on your Stamina – the energy that you have to do all the actions in the game. The longer you take to make the shot, the more your Stamina is drained and if it runs out, you’re a sitting duck. Best used as a first-strike attack more so than anything else, though can also be used as a finisher too if in a party.
Need to send the chills? Then Icebolt will be handy for interested mages. Though expensive to learn, you can train in magical attacks as well in the game which expends (obviously) Mana, which is restored continually on a nightly basis. You can store up to 5 shots of a magical attack (with some, like the Healing spell, able to grant all 5 charges at the same time) and then unleash them upon your targets. Though using them is quick and easy (you can combo a series of Icebolts) you have to build the charges up first to use them, which takes time that might not be possible in a solo situation. Again, better at the start if soloing.
If you know it’s coming, why not reflect it? That’s the basis of Counter-attack. Though it continually sucks up Stamina, it reflects the attack of the opponent back at it – even adding your own smack to it – to deliver a fairly solid blow. Ineffective against any ranged attacks, this is best saved for those close encounters in melee combat – but in this situation you then obviously have to watch your Health too. There are other combat and magic abilities too, obviously, but these could possibly be the more useful ones you’ll come across in your early stages of the game. But if you don’t like fighting…
There’s always fishing. Or tailoring. Or even collecting. There might even be a few who prefer to craft things with the Handicraft kit, perhaps even more who’d be curious to mine and smith their own equipment. Though it takes a while to get into them, the game does boast a number of non-combat activities that people can get into, one of the more interesting and unique abilities being the chance to craft songs and make music.
Though the WoW world is slowly getting back into my world, this new place has somewhat suddenly piqued my curiosity. Though it’s still in open beta, there’s a lot to appreciate even now in the game considering that there’s likely a lot more to be developed as well. In America they’ve developed the game much further than they have here, Nexon being based over there, but from what I’ve played of this game so far, it has the capacity to rival a lot of the social MMORPG’s out there. One of the closest competitors I can think of from the top of my head would be RuneScape, which does boast a lot of similar features to Mabinogi, even though RS is very much a versatile game in itself.
Though it obviously couldn’t compare to the more established names like WoW when it comes to 3D MMORPG’s it does have a lot to offer and, considering this is all still in the open beta stage, it has some potential to be developed into something special. Where it goes from here is up to Nexon, but I wonder what they have in store for this fresh wind into the genre. If you want to take a look at this for yourself, feel free to use this link. I’ll be on Macha 5 if you take a look at it.
