PWI: Remembering Ye Goode Olde Days

Keepin' It Real

So after playing Forsaken World where the XP falls off trees, PWI or Perfect World International feels like you are caught drafting a snail.  The game has a much more old school approach to things, you have fewer health than most other MMORPGs I've seen at the start and do piddly damage out of the gate.  An hour or two of play time might get you a level or two, but not much more out of the gate.  Took me a couple of hours to get to level 5, which in a way is refreshing. It really helps you learn you two primary abilities and how to manage your resources a bit better.  Like Forsaken World, which I wrote about yesterday, PWI has several of the same benefits in that you have auto routing options, most of the mobs in the starter areas are neutral to you, and you do get some benefits to help you level up (somebody on the server hit 105 last night, it was a big deal).

Betarde, the Human Blademaster Starting Gear

Like it's sibling, it is graphically stunning, perhaps evena little more so than FW.  For those into character customization, you can go really nuts on the colors of skin, eyes, hair, lips, mascara, etc. 

Some of the things that take getting used to however are that the default key bindings for the toolbar are the Function Keys, not the numerical keys. Those are saved for the side bar.  Not sure why exactly, as yet, but it is an interesting concept.  I am certain I can swap stuff around to be more familiar when I get more familiar with the UI, given how customizable everything else in the game appears. 

The Quest system is again very similar to FW, in that you have quest text with the occasional response, though scripted, it at least gives the feeling of interaction with the Quest NPCs.   Unlike its sibling, after the starter zone, everyone does not get dumped into the same city. This gives the game a more realistic feel in a way. I don't necessarily feel that all the races of the world would melt into one melting pot flawlessly after being separated at the start.  In many ways, that is the primary difference I noticed between the two Perfect World games here, PWI has the more real feel where FW is more stylized high fantasy with that odd mix of steampunk and magic.  Both work, in their particular game, but there is something to be said for the rare game that tries to stay grounded in reality so far as a fantasy game with magic can. 

Upon arriving in the first city, you are given a quest to talk to an Elder who sends you around the city to meet up with the various vendors and skill people, not to learn their stuff but to find them.  This in turn gives you a set of gear to start your adventures with that is a complete set rather than the basic clothing you start with.

You even get a Genie Pet/Companion

Talk to the Watcher of the Earth behind me here, and you get your little Genie Companion. The Blademaster has a great weapon fighter sorta feel to it, though with a Far Eastern Flair.  I can't say I don't like the look. I think it's easily one of the nicest sets of starter gear I've seen in an MMO.

From here, I rolled my first love, an elven archer. Though Elves in PWI have little wings on the side of their heads, and can fly through full size wings that appear out of their back when they activate it, they are in most other ways typical fantasy elves. Big pointy ears, and very in tune with nature. 

Look, up in the sky it's a bird... It's a plane.... No, it's just a winged elf.

The auto-routing works better on the winged elf, since they can fly and when they take the direct route, are able to fly over obstacles that running can't get past. Though it does take some micromanaging in the Elven starter zone due to the big trees.  Once you get to the city and get your starter gear, you are much more potent than the Blademaster or at least that was the sense I got. Of course there is something appealing to me to stand back and let fly and let the mob die on it's way to me rather than having to get up in it's face and smell the stench of death first hand.  So this may be a slight bias of mine ;).

PWI does have a table top feel to it in many ways. When you level, you are given 5 attribute points to distribute between your 4 abilities.  This allows a degree of customization that you don't see in most of the other MMOs directly.  Given my table top background, I found this gratifying. 

Starter geared and ready to fly

However, the table top gaming aspect of the game may be a double edged sword in many ways. For those used to fast leveling and being able to tear through the older content to get to the "End Game" the experience of slow methodical leveling through 105 levels might just be too much.  Ironically, in a game of such massive customization options, the one thing it lacks is a talent tree system.  Not that its a bad thing since in most games everyone plays a cookie cutter one anyways, but I did find it surprising. 

If you are looking for a fast paced game where you can rip through it, this isn't for you. However, I rather enjoyed the slower pace and the gritty table top feel. And you can't beat the look of the game. More to come.