So, it has been a couple of days since I started Iris, and I think I'm ready. Currently, I am a lv30 Guardian (just job changed). I am running under the name Phaze, since my first character was Pearz. I didn't like the class and there is a 24-hour deletion time. The cap is lv40, so I am reasonably close to it. If I buckle down and grind, then maybe it'll take another 2-3 days.
Pros:
Lots of Customization
This is what my skill tree looks like right now, for my first class' skills. (The second tree would be under the Guardian tab.)
Notice how there are four sections. Each class is like this; one tree for each weapon type of the class, and then one tree with passive stuff (the far right). Notice that even within the 2hand tree, I'm missing a lot of skills. It would take at least 2x the points to get the rest of the skills in that tree, not to mention saving a hell of a lot more points for my Class 2 skills. Basically, every class is like this. You're sporting three races with two classes for each race, making a total of six base classes. Each base class is split again, depending on your weapon choice, making fourteen classes (three melee weapons, two mage weapons, and two archer weapons).
On top of this huge customization, they have one feature that EVERY GAME should have. They have an NPC that lets you put your skill points into a template to pre-make your build. Rho, Aaro and I have all spent hours standing in front of this NPC, putting in points to see all the skills and our own various builds. Of course, at the moment, I've decided to wing it; it's CB, anyways.
Basically, the customization is huge for this game.
Graphics
This is more a personal preference, but I love the graphics. Here is my toon right now:
The Map
The map is like the Cloud 9's map. You can just click a quest you have and it will highlight where the mobs you need to kill are. You will never be lost for where to go to finish your quest. There's nothing like making life easier.
The PVP
I think this game has a nice blend of PVP. It's broken up into two types. One type I haven't tried yet is an Open PK map, which is 30+. The map isn't mandatory, but you could get your PVP action in there. The other option for PVP, which you can't miss, comes in two forms: Death Match and Flag Match (it's "capture the flag"). These matches happen once per hour (one of each), and you get a warning 5min before the match when it's approaching. When the time comes, a pop-up shows up on every player's screen and you can join it from anywhere; when the match is over, you're sent back to a safe zone for the map you were one.
These matches give you points towards your Element (there are four elements to pick, which is basically a faction for your PVP), wherein you can buy some new gear and other items.
I love how they meld the PVP in nicely so you won't get those PVE people QQing about forced PVP, but also integrate it enough so that people will want to do it. The PVP gear isn't game-breaking and only marginally better than drops outside.
I'm really liking the PVP system here.
Upgrading System
For now, I list this as a pro since the upgrading seems to be linear. This is a big deal, since it means that you can't cash shop your way to 10 times your damage. I do not know much more about this, other than how-to basics.
Teaming
For all of us people that hate talking to people directly to find a team (or don't have guild), there is a nifty button right on the side to find a team. You can search for level range, and even see what type of classes they want. On top of that, this game encourages teaming. The difference between one person (100% EXP) and two people is tiny. You still gain 85% of the EXP with two people, which makes it a lot faster to level by teaming. I haven't checked EXP values of more players yet.
Cons:
The Grind
In general, the grind isn't that slow; the problem is that it is more mindless. All the quests are pretty much kill X mob Y times, or loot X item from Y mob. Basically, you're just running around killing mobs for no reason and NPCs can magically bestow you experience for that. I personally don't mind this kind of grind, but many do. I just watch something on the side and that way you don't even notice the grind. There are instance dungeons that have a 9-hour reset time, but we have not tried any yet.
The Engine
The engine this game uses is very outdated. Compared to the later games we've been playing, like Vindictus, this thing looks like a dinosaur. For instance, you can jump, but you can't actually jump over anything. The pathing in this game isn't horrid, but it you do hit some invisible walls occasionally. This engine is pretty much like the ones for Grand Fantasia or Domo. It wasn't horrid when Domo came out but, by today's standpoint, it is bad. I mean, Flyff came out before Domo and you could already jump and fly (mind you, that was revolutionary at that time). A game without something simple like a real jump feels kind of wrong now.
Crafting Jobs
I have personally not tried this out yet, but there are three jobs: Alchemy, Card Crafting and Chef. Only one of us have tried this, as Rho picked up Card Crafting. She says it's brutal to level. There's nothing else I know about this, though. Rho could just be doing it wrong. XD
O GOD Bugs! Squish'em
It is the first CB, but there are bugs EVERYWHERE. For the first three days, the PVP match was bugged and would crash everyone. The localization translations are bad, with strange sentences everywhere. Hopefully, they will be able to fix most of these bugs. They were pretty speedy on fixing the bug for the PVP matches; if only they could fix the patcher. The patcher likes to randomly re-patch to an older version (that had more bugs), which is annoying.
There are also some other features I haven't mentioned, yet like monster transformation and mounts, but I don't think they have much impact.
Overall:
I think this game, for now, meets the two biggest criteria I have for games: PVP and customization. Rho won't stop complaining about the outdated engine. I personally think it is fine. I guess the biggest factor, like any F2P MMO, comes down to the cash shop. How game-breaking will it be? Hopefully, they will be decent, like Allods since that's hosted by Gpotato too.
~Pearz
