Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"All flash, no substance"

It's been ages since I've found a good MMO to play. Ever since I quit WoW (~5 years ago), I set out on finding an MMO that offers something beyond the norm. I saw a lot of Tera videos and thought this game may be the ticket. I had high hopes for this game. It's a shame it turned out to be a disappointment. I hope the prior comments don't mark this game as a trash game. The game actually did some of the things well.

Goods:
*The combat was engaging and challenging. There's minimal to no auto-targeting except for some range abilities, so performance in PvE and PvP is mainly based upon the player's skills with their aiming, timing, and knowledge of their characters.
*The classes were fun, even healing! I HATED playing healers in all my previous MMOs. I understood their importance and appreciated it, but I hated being the healer. However, in this game, due to the combat system, I didn't mind healing that much. I had to constantly be moving and position myself to maximize my heals and minimizing damage to myself. There was a real sense of teamwork and strategy.
*The graphic was gorgeous. The character models were eye candy, especially the female character models. They just had all the right curves. I guess for all you ladies, the men have assets to offer also, lol. Some areas of the world was beautiful. My favorite was a dungeon called The Sky Garden (the highest level one I've gotten to). It was floating islands in the sky connected by bridges and filled with cool looking buildings and lush plants.
*The leveling was decently paced. I wished it was a bit faster because I am all about the end game contents, but for what it offers, the pacing was relatively good. I didn't find myself stuck in between levels struggling to find quests to get myself to that next level. I actually ended up skipping quite a lot of quests.
*The game has a party matchmaking system which is nice. It is also cross server! However, given that this game is mostly skill-based, sometimes you get a really really bad match. Yes, I am talking to you, Mister Lancer That Never Taunts.
*BAMs (Big Ass Monsters) fights can be epic and challenging.

Bads:
*The game didn't offer that many abilities. I can understand that if you introduce too many abilities in an action style game like this, it could make it overwhelming. However, I felt there wasn't enough abilities. After level 30 or so, new abilities were scarce and far in between. You may get a new ability every 5-8 levels. Usually you only get upgrades to abilities you already know which occur like after 2 levels. I just wished that there was the possibility is all.
*This is kind of contradictory of what I said earlier about the graphics, but the game did not offer much varieties. While the graphics are great to look at, there wasn't that much to look at outside of the characters and some areas. A lot of the places seem to use the same textures or just feel really bland. They had the capabilities, but they didn't get imaginative enough.
*There was a lack of variety. It was interesting that they try to create a story which connects one area to the next and one dungeon to the next. However, the dungeons were relatively the same. Some boss encounters were unique and interesting, but most of them were just the same bosses from previous dungeons, just given 1 or 2 new abilities, damage values, and textures.
*The quests got tedious and mind numbing. The quests usually consists of "Kill X amount of monsters", "Collect X amounts of items", "Go to this location", and every now and then, a "Escort this person". I know it's hard to do much to make a quest interesting, but I wished they didn't stick so close to the standard templates that almost all the other MMOs used.
*I hated the equipment restrictions. What do I mean? For example a lancer can only use a lance/shield combo. They can not use anything else. I mean wouldn't make since if they can use a sword and shield also for some faster attacks? Maybe they can use like a halberd or a two-handed spear of sort for soloing? Nope, your class was restricted to one kind of weapon. As a warrior, I really wanted to use dual-axes for higher damage per hit. I wouldn't have minded if the side effects were slower attacks. It just would have been nice to be given more options in equipment choices. No the little skin textures they sell you to make the lance look like a sword does not count.

Honestly, I really really wanted this game to do well. It was appealing. It promised something new. The combat differs from a lot of other MMOs I've played. However, the game just didn't deliver all of that promises. It had the potential to be a great game, but it fell short due to poor executions. Would I recommend this game? I would say yes, but given that other MMOs are coming out I would suggest trying it (if possible) before buying it.