Game Weekend: Pokemon Shuffle

If you ever wanted a Candy Crush x Pokemon, look no further! Pokemon Shuffle is for you!

Pokemon Shuffle or ポケとる in Japan, is a Nintendo 3DS free to download game. It is a simple match 3 puzzle game and have 165 main stages, 20 expert stages and various special event stages added weekly (as of the writing of this post). Pokemons can be collected/captured and added to your selection against other new Pokemons. Mega-evolve Pokemons are also available in the game and have powerful attacks that clear the board. You get 1 heart every 30 minutes and the levels get progressively harder when you hit the higher ones.

Although the game is free to download and play, the downside is that the game is only available to the Nintendo 3DS console family, which could cost you anywhere from RM500-RM800 for one. But if you already have one, you should definitely check this game out!

Gamer Weekend: Aura Kingdom

If you had read the previous post about Dragon Nest: Warrior's Dawn, you might have seen me mentioning Aura Kingdom. If you haven't you can check out the post here.

Aura Kingdom (幻想神域 or Fantasy Frontier）, like Dragon Nest is an anime based MMORPG (Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Game) developed by X-Legend and published by Aeria Games. Open beta started on 6th January 2014 and I started playing then. The game started with a level cap of 75 and content up to level 50 with 8 different classes. The game is free-to-play with an in game cash shop/item mall. The game main feature is the eidolon system where players are accompanied by summoned pets in the form of beautifully crafted deities and spirits. There are now a total of 12 playable classes, level 75 contents and a level cap of 80.

As with any other MMORPGs I played, I chose the Bard class (support/healer) as my main character and quickly started my adventure in the vast world of Aura Kingdom. The early levels of the game was fairly easy, you can easily reach level 50 within a few hours of game play, but after that leveling will start to slow down (as with any other games). The story that drives the players out from the small little port town Port Skandia and into a big war between the forces of good and evil is beautifully written (I cried when my character finish his level 60 quest to greet his hometown families and friends before the big battle T_T). The interface and controls are easy to understand and learn and stats distribution are easy.

Major downside of the game though are server issues, DDoS attacks, farming bots, and slow content updates. New content updates may take 2-3 months before implementing and that leave a lot of players nothing to do while waiting for new contents. Hence a trend of player surge during the first few weeks of a new content being released (I'm one of those guys now). But it is an enjoyable game and was one of the games that I truly enjoyed since Flyff. Do give this a try if you ever have the time and you might find yourself hooked. Cheers!

That's all.

Let’s watch Dragon Nest: Warrior’s Dawn

So this movie came out recently in SEA(Philippines to be precise), and I thought “let’s give this a try!”.

Dragon Nest is a MMORPG release back in 2010, I played the game for some time between my shift from Eden Eternal to Aura Kingdom back in 2014. It was instanced-base grinding, meaning there’s literally no mobs on the open field. Quest were quite easy and have a good story to run though with memorable NPCs. We also get some CG storytelling after completion of major quest. But like all MMORPG, it gets bored after reaching a certain level and grinding seems to take forever (Yes I quit the game).

Production of the film is by a Chinese-American film company, with most of the crew being Chinese. Animation is in its own league, pleasing to the eyes and voice acting was okay I guess. The main character Lambert has a quirky and childish style to it that brings out the charm of his character.

The story takes place during the Black Dragon Raid (50 years ago – pre-game), and is a story of Lambert and his master Barnac, joining with notable characters such as the Geriant, Argenta and other members of the Six Heroes. The premise and execution of the film has an uncanny resemblance to Lord of the Rings, just think of the black dragon as Sauron minus the ring part. We also get a bunch races allying with each other forming a party to slay Sauron black dragon. Yeah, get what I mean? Don’t expect too much and you will be fine I guess. But we do respect their guts of making 3(planned) films based on a MMORPG.

If you want ever want to watch Lord of the Rings: The Animation, do give this a try and maybe you will find yourself downloading the game client while you’re watching the movie. Hehe

That’s all.

*side note, the dragons looks more like griffins than dragons that is more popularly depicted.