Thoughts On: Zentia & Loong

The great thing about playing a MMO in this day and age is choice. There are so many wonderful games out there. Different art styles, different types of play, may it be casual or hardcore there is something for everyone. To wish a game would fail or bottom up is simply silly, why would we want to limit the choices out there? What you dislike might be right up another player's alley. I also think it is great to get excited about games, it is why I write about them. Even if I don't play all the games I get excited about I love that they are there when I want them. That is a really great thing.

Thinking back to early 2000, I didn't have the choices I do today. The big choice was what class do I want to play in Everquest, what type of guild do I want to go after. It is so nice, all these years later, to be able to sit down and ask myself what game do I want to play. Thus I love trying out new games, I love returning to games when I miss them, I love the choices and options available to players.

With that said this weekend I tried a couple of really neat (F2P) MMO games I wanted to share. In my last post I spoke briefly about Loong, which is really a nice MMO that has a great feel to it. You can jump in and start going along with the business of questing and feel like you're actually progressing. Tons of quests, autorouting, neat pets who loot for you, smooth controls and combat is decent as you level up it starts to get more involved, though a bit dull to start out.

While the race and appearance options are not the most optimal it does have some alternative things like the appearance slots and armor that changes certain aspects, such as hair. The characters are attractive but nothing really astounding. The armor is nice looking and gets better as you level, looks wise. Questing rewards you with sets, which is nice, instead of hunting around for gear you are given it as a reward. For a free to play game I think it is quite decent simply because of the content and quality over quantity of race/looks. There are so many out there that have tons of races and classes but send you out to grind levels instead of questing, which can get dull fast if you don't know what or why you're even grinding to get high end.

The world is really lovely, the water effects are gorgeous and even with shadows on the game runs smoothly. It is sort of funny how a F2P game like this, little known, preforms better than some bigger titles that are more so popular. I think it looks better than a lot of the more popular subscription based games. But looks are not everything. The game does seem to have some depth and lasting power, thus far, I still feel like logging in after playing it a few days.

I felt myself drawn back to try the different roles, I am thinking I'll be working on this a bit longer to see how it fleshes out at the mid levels. For something on the side it is a great alternative, as I already have so many games I'm working on. Leveling is pretty decently paced, at least until the teens, where I am now, which is nice. I really think this is a fun little game to relax to in the evenings. Definitely worth a look.

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Next up is Zentia. Recently I was watching Massively's Beau livestreaming Zentia. I played it before and really liked it a lot but for some reason the screen seemed jumpy to my eyes and it really bothered me. I think the motion of walking is just different in this type of MMO and since getting glasses it doesn't bother me when I wear them. So that could have been a problem with just me. I actually liked it a lot and decided to give it another chance, I'm glad I did.

Graphically this game might not impress a lot of people but it has it's own special charm. I actually think it is quite cute. What draws me to this game is that it is really casual and fun. Lots of quests, auotorouting (where your little pet leads you from place to place) and it has a light comical feel. You can tame pets, tame mounts and even tame multiple person and combat mounts, which is a novel idea I like.

There are neat appearance items which can change how your character looks, even combat gear does this too. While I haven't run into any great appearance stuff yet, I do have hopes I'll find some along the way. The character creation is a bit different, you can't alter the character's looks but you can with costumes. I do think the looks are very cute and quaint.

I made a friend while playing, who helped me find some mounts and explained a few things to me. It was nice that someone came up to me and tried to help. I was very grateful, he even showed me a few places to go, taking me for a ride on his bear mount.

Every weekend there is bonus xp, I like that, plus leveling seems a real decent pace, your not sitting through levels for that long. You do feel as if you are moving along through things advancing. Pet taming also requires skill points to level and train up. But it goes pretty fast with just a few tames, at least the first few ranks. This determines what level mounts and pets you can tame.

I love that you can tame things you want to and that the game is so casual feeling. Very relaxing to play for a bit and just have fun. Seems a great game to duo with a friend, ride around together on mounts and quest. This is one I definitely see myself popping in and out of for awhile, something great on a weekend or tired evening. I really find it enjoyable!

So, that's it for today, a bit sick, thought I was over the flu last week but I think I had a relapse, blah! Hope everyone has a great week and the flu keeps away from you all!