Spotlight On - Aika Online

If you're at San Francisco's GDC 2010 event, you just might be able to sneak peeks at upcoming games like Aika Online, gPotato's free-to-play online fantasy role-playing game. gPotato's representatives point out that the game will offer a strong amount of player-versus-environment (PVE) content in the form of monsters to slay, dungeons to loot, and quests to perform, but the primary focus of the game seems to overwhelmingly be on player-versus-player (PVP) competition, so much so that there are three entirely separate ways to engage in PVP at any given time.

Like many other fantasy-themed online games, Aika will let you create a character from various archetype professions, such as a warrior or wizard, and seek advancement by fighting monsters and performing quests (gPotato has purposely tuned character level advancement to move quickly so that players will be ready for PVP soon.) Likewise, you'll be able to deck your character out with various accoutrements, such as fancy weapons and armor, and there will be animal mounts you can ride, though the game will have a somewhat playful side--for instance, one of the in-game mounts is a giant armored hamster (yes, a giant armored hamster). In addition, once any character reaches level seven, he or she may take on a pet called a "pran," which is essentially an extremely young girl who will grow and develop into a young lady with various combat proficiencies depending on how you approach your relationship with her. Prans can use elemental powers, such as fire, water, and wind, and can be groomed to be intelligent wizards or fierce fighters.

Aika takes place in a land divided into six different nations, and you can swear allegiance to any one of them. These nations will at best have uneasy armistices among themselves and will at worst constantly be at each other's throats. This is because Aika offers comprehensive PVP both across and within nations. The most basic form of PVP is the Battlegrounds mode, which takes place in an area removed from national borders and is basically a free-for-all mode that lets you earn "honor" points to purchase exceptionally good types of armor (not unlike a certain other world where war, and honorable armor, can be crafted from PVP battles). However, one of the primary focuses of Aika is Relic War, a PVP mode that focuses on rare and valuable relics that a nation can store in a temple structure to radiate out various global bonuses to any citizens of that nation (such as persistent attack, defense, and experience point bonuses). The controlling nation can actually invest money to upgrade the relic (which enhances its bonuses), but this action will also make that particular relic a much more attractive target to a jealous nation. However, unlike in Dark Age of Camelot, which featured a similar type of gameplay, relics are found randomly as loot in high-level dungeons and have a chance of being utterly destroyed in a raid.

The final type of PVP in Aika is the Fight for Power mode, which is essentially a civil war among the top guilds in your nation. This mode unfolds in a weekly capture-the-flag battle that lasts for an hour and determines which guild is the most powerful in that nation. The leader of the victorious guild becomes "lord marshal" of the nation and can make choices that affect all players from that faction, such as adjusting tax rates on all transactions and adding or withdrawing gold from the nation's coffers once a week. While it may seem like a good idea to just plunder the treasury, it's this same fund that is also used to upgrade relics (and the security around relic temples), so taking the money and running might not be the best choice in the long run.

Speaking of money, Aika will, like many free-to-play games, have a cash shop where you can exchange real money out-of-pocket for in-game items. The plan is to offer convenience items and various types of apparel, as well as actual powerful weapons and armor for sale. gPotato hopes that the ability to put these weapons and armors for sale in the game's in-game auction house will mitigate any potential advantage that wealthy players have, since undercapitalized players who have enough in-game currency can snag these items in the auction house. Interestingly, the cash shop will also have a full line of pran-related items, including gifts you can give to your pet to improve your relationship.

Aika Online seems like it will offer a PVE experience that isn't unlike other games on the market, but its strong focus on multiple flavors of PVP may set it apart from the pack. Though a final, official launch date hasn't been confirmed, the game is scheduled to go into open beta next week, and its cash shop will likely open for business then as well.