Priest
This game out of Korea is poised to turn the Persistent World RPG community on its head. No, it’s not another swords and socery, it’s not a set in space, it’s not any of the things that you’ve come to expect from a genre that’s been getting pretty stale on new ideas. It’s demons versus cowboys in this truly unique Persistent World game. Yes, that’s right: Demons and cowboys. While the game is set up to be action-oriented, the game itself still follows the rules of classic RPGs. In other words, high levels will still have a massive advantage over lower levels, but basing combat on skill evens up the playing field a bit. The game features real incentives for PVP, beautiful and gory graphics, and almost
50 areas, each with its own distinct feel.
Final Fantasy XI Online
Finally the dreams of many console RPG players around the world have come true. Final Fantasy XI has been just out of reach of American players’ hands for almost a year now. The game is set in the world of Vana’diel where 3 warring factions split up the world. Players will be able to create a character from a small number of races and be able to customize their character from a number of traits. Possibly the most appealing trait of the game is the Job system. The Job system was most notably a part of Final Fantasy 1 and Final Fantasy tactics. Currently there are 60 levels to each job. When a player reaches level 60 with his character, he/she can continue to play that job, or restart with another job. So expect to see level 60 Knight/30
White Mage/10 Ninjas running around in Vana'diel. One large turn off for American gamers is the lack of PVP gameplay. While there is a competition system of sorts available within each zone, many competitive PVP players will not find that enough to quench their gaming thirsts. The official release date for FFXI is “soon”.
Final Fantasy XI Online - Square Enix
World of Warcraft
Fans of Blizzard have been eagerly awaiting this game for well over a year now. Blizzard had a playable demo available to E3 Attendees which boasted hundreds of miles of terrain. The most noticeable feature of the game is the graphics. The game shows off Blizzard's style of 3D characters and animation that Warcraft 3 set. The interface was also highly customizable and carried the same artistic cartoony style. Players will be able to create a custom character from a variety of traits based on their race. So far the races that will be playable are the Humans, Orcs, Night Elves, Tauren and Dwarves. Apparently more races are on their way as development continues. Players can look forward to using all their favorite modes of transportation, including
horse, wolves, gryphons, and air ships. Unlike most MMOGs displayed at E3, Blizzard was the first developer to release their game for both Windows PC and Mac OS X.
