Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

100 or More Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Disastrous"

Pros:
- Gameplay succeeds at being slightly addictive and plain fun. - Character clones are few after lvl 25+. - Great exp rate and game pace. - Nice blend of arcade of RPG elements.

Cons:
- Playerbase is full of whining children. Considering dungeons are much better run with 4 people being around them can get extremely irritating. - No restrictions cast upon GM's leading to frequent needless banning; yellow cards are seldom given if given at all and the GM's tend to act like raging teenagers. - Cash shops items can potentially be money burning and bring frequent imbalance in PvP. - Horrible customer support. - PvP is marred horrendously with flaws and is the undoubtedly worst aspect of the game as it is a combination of the first 3 cons.



I've previously given the game a 10. At the time, I was still fairly new to the game and was addicted for quite a while. Reality, however, has struck me square in the face. I'll come back to this a minute.

The story revolves around a group of 10 teens (number subject to change) whom call themselves the Grand Chasers. They are your average heroes on a quest to save the world*, nothing too special here.

Gameplay is simple. You are presented with a world comprised of 6 continents, each with a multitude of dungeons. You start off in Beremesiah and work your way through the dungeons to unlock the others. Within each dungeon are rooms which can hold a maximum of 4 people, including the host. Each dungeon also has difficulty settings presented by stars, 3 stars to be exact (1- easiest, 3- hardest). When the game starts you bash your way through the dungeon sections (number of sections vary with dungeon) with an arcade control scheme and play-style. Move with the arrow keys, attack with the z-key (can execute combos), x-key function varies with the character.

You also have a shop where you can spend your GP (non-cash), and Cash points. GP gear looks average for an mmo like this, same with the Cash gear. It is possible to get to the endgame without spending a dime.

The sounds in the game gradually get better as you advance. The BGM that is, not to confuse. Combat sounds are nothing special, but they aren't bad either. Character voices are fine as well.

The PVP in the game uses the same mechanic as the dungeons, players will click on the PVP tab above and enter a room which can hold a maximum of 6 people. The 2 modes available are Team Matches and Survival Matches.

Now that I've covered most of the game, it's time to get down to what really holds the game down. The community. I've never seen a community full of people with egos the size of elephant bollocks, the losing-tolerance of a 5 year old and just being plain condescending to the teeth. The pricks chatting in the "main" chatbox love to show off their psuedosuperiority, bringing up random topics of disinterest in an attempt to make their mark. They are later verbally pummeled by the real professionals on the topic and being the pricks they are (unable to take a loss), they resort to insults, fueled by intense rage. Most of the playerbase are unable to tell the difference between Celsius and Fahrenheit, with one member claiming that 100 degrees Celsius is the average temperature in his country, which must clearly be Stovetopistan. The GM's are absolutely ridiculous. Because of the relatively low hacking rate, they are prone to going on banning sprees, banning members for minor offenses. The head admin is of no help, sending you off to different places to solve your problems.

With a community like this, whom you're pretty much around for though the whole game, it's hard to give the game any higher than a 7.


*Join the Chase, Save the World!
(headline)