When new MMOs reach the market, many keep their eyes open for the next big success. Unfortunately, for many of us, the genre is full of homogenized games that rarely, if ever, diverge from something really spectacular. Enter Astellia Online, a Korean MMO from Barunson E&A. Does Astellia have what it takes to become a unique title in the ocean of mediocrity?
Astellia starts players with what most players expect: class selection and character creation. As soon as I jumped, I was disappointed to see that of the 5 classes you can choose, you can only create a male character for the warrior and the murderers. Although sex changes are discussed below, sexist classes have never convinced me, especially when there are no options for male characters to start playing.
Astellia uses DirectX 9 and shows that some of the options were obsolete. However, it was quite easy to create attractive characters without spending too much time on different options. After the mandatory appointment of your characters, you will find yourself in a great world of games, which is actually quite good given the obsolete engine. The colors are alive, there are many trees and NPCs that tingle the cities and adjacent meadows. A lot of work has been done to make your first experience in Astellia a great experience.
Unfortunately, small discomforts quickly infiltrate, which obscures my joy. An example of this is the user interface. There are 5 different user interface bars and Astellia assigns skills to your bar as you go. That sounds good, but I found a problem that made me reassign my skills based on their use. However, as soon as I entered the first dungeon, the entire skill bar was restored. Also, my level 10 wizard has 8 abilities. While this may seem interesting to players who like many options, the avalanche of so many skills so early and the need to use them even for heavier mobs become tedious, even at a low level.
In addition to the large number of capabilities available to players, Astellia seeks to differentiate itself from other MMOs through a "pet collection" system. In Astella, the player is considered the caller who can call Astels. Astels are pets that help you fight. Later, new Astels will be added to help you build a team that will facilitate your fight. Every new Astel you win must also find a place in your access bar, along with your consumables, media and a completely separate bar that controls your astels so that they do not become vicious and do not attack randomly when you go to AFK.
Personally, I think the incorporation of the Astels is solid, but my concerns are mainly about the aesthetics of the Astels you get. Yes, it is a Korean MMO; some tropics are expected, but it seems a bit strange that many of the shelters it receives are strange anthropomorphic girls or animals. However, looking through the Astel charts, it was clear that there are many more elegant and dangerous Astels that will surely attract other players like me who believe that it is not right to attract a group of girls in battle.