A wonderful game for just the right price
If you don’t know much about it, it is an MMORPG. While I haven’t played other MMORPG’s, and thus can’t compare it (Shaiya) to them, I can say that it does seem to be pretty much in line with the basic formula of the genre: NPC’s around the map giving out fetch quests and kill-that-monster quests, “grinding” for levels, partying, and PvP.
While this may sound unattractive to many, here’s something that may convince you to give it a closer look: Shaiya is free. Free to download, and free to play. There are no fees of any sort. “So how does Aeria Games make any money?” you’re surely asking. They make their money through an “item mall”, a completely optional source of items and equipment. Those that don’t want to grind for gold in-game have the option of spending real money on in-game items and equipment. However, if you don’t want to utilize the item mall (I don’t), you are never obligated to do so.
I’m sure you’re expecting a breakdown, so here goes:
STORY:
The story is simple enough. Goddess creates world and three species (Dragons, The Nordein, and the Elves), and casts down the Elven race who was not to her liking. The Elves, in turn, rose up against her, splitting her soul in two (two new goddesses are born). The Elves themselves eventually split into two factions, one siding with the light goddess (the Elves), and one siding with the dark goddess (the Vail). The Vail enlist the help of the hulking giants, the Nordein (known in-game as “Deatheaters”), and the light goddess opens up a dimensional gate, bringing humans to aid the outnumbered elves. The stage is set, and the two factions wage war…
It’s a bit messy, but the mythological feel is still a nice touch. More importantly, the story does what it needs to do, provide a setting and a motive for the war you (the player) will be engaging in. So it does its job.
7/10
GRAPHICS:
The graphics in Shaiya are decent. Considering the free game aspect, they’re spectacular. You don’t get this quality in free games. As run through the world, you’ll find yourself staring in awe at some of the gorgeous mountaintop and lakeside views.
Spell animations are surprisingly nice, and offer a great range of “elemental” effects. From a fire wall spell, meant to do large damage to those who charge the fragile mage, to earth-based vine spells meant to hold enemies in place, they all look good.
However, Shaiya does still suffer from some of the shortcomings of other MMO’s: blocky environments, draw distance limitations (which take away from the awesomeness of some viewpoints). All in all, though, Shaiya delivers in the graphics department. Here are a few screenshots, if you’d like to see for yourself:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c256/Soulidarity/shaiyascenery1.png
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c256/Soulidarity/shaiyascenery2.png
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c256/Soulidarity/shaiyabattle.png
8.5/10
MUSIC:
Now, if you’re even a little bit familiar with me, you know that I don’t pay much attention to soundtrack music, especially in games. However, Shaiya is a rare exception for me. The music is used sparingly (if you’re wandering around the countryside, you’ll often find that the music stops, letting you listen to the sounds of the environment), but when it does kick in (battling a monster, entering a town or moving to a different region), its done quite well. The music just fits in every situation, and is never annoying.
9/10
SERVERS:
An important aspect of any online game, Shaiya is no exception. The servers are admittedly a bit of a weakpoint for Shaiya. Currently it only has two servers running: Lailah and Teos. Lailah has been running longer, and is much busier as a result. Teos is newer, and is consistently less busy. However, both servers tend to get busy enough to cause players to disconnect mid-game from time to time. But again, it’s a free game, so it has to get some slack here.
6/10
CHARACTERS/RACES:
There are 4 playable races in the game, however, once you’ve chosen a side, you only have access to 2 of them. You cannot have characters on both sides, forcing you to delete all characters if you want to play the other side. Fortunately the two sides seem to be nearly identical:
Elf Mage/Vail Pagan – The offensive magic powerhouse. The spells available have the more damage potential (per hit) than any other character in the game
Elf Ranger/Vail Assassin – The Rogue character using stealth as a major weapon
Nordein Warrior/Human Fighter – The sword/axe wielding frontline warrior, meant to dish out damage up close and personal
Nordein Guardian/Human Defender – The dedicated tank. This character is built to pull/aggro enemies, keeping them distracted and soaking up damage while other characters do the killing.
Human Priest/Vail Oracle – The healer/buffer
Elf Archer/Nordein Hunter – The range fighter, using bows to stun and damage enemies from afar.
There is also a decent amount of customization, allowing you to choose the gender, face, height, and hair of your character, allowing for many different looks.
7/10
DIFFICULTY:
I’ll sum this up quickly, the game is not difficult at all. Questing is easy, and PvP is only reasonably hard. There are 4 difficulty levels to choose from: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Ultimate.
EASY: To be honest, there’s nothing “easier” about Easy mode, aside from simplifying the game in many aspects. Of course it only simplifies things in a way that hampers your potential. You can’t use lots of items, your level is capped at 30, and you gain skill points slower than the harder modes.
NORMAL: Level cap is 60 and you have access to more items. The skill points gained at level ups are the same as Easy mode. Around level 40 you can purchase mounts. At level 50 you unlock Hard mode.
HARD: Level cap is again 60, and now leveling takes longer (more grinding). However, you gain more skill points at each level up, making for a potentially stronger character overall. You also gain access to more equipment than normal mode, and can purchase advanced mounts around level 50.
ULTIMATE: This is basically a “hardcore” mode, in which a character is permanently killed if it dies (unless revived by a Priest within a minute or two). The tradeoff is that characters gain access to the highest level equipment and gain more skill and stat points per level than even hard mode. Potentially an Ultimate mode character can be stronger than any others.
The downside to these difficulty levels is that you have to start a new character to play a new mode, meaning you start from scratch (though you can transfer items between characters)
7/10
OVERALL:
In the end, Shaiya is an addictive game that will provide you with dozens, if not hundreds of hours of free, high quality gameplay. There is absolutely no reason to not at least give the game a try.
7.5