Eden Eternal: A summary/review.

So this week (starting Monday) I have been rummaging around for a new MMO to keep myself and a couple of mates occupied, for me it needs to last at least until the 28^th (cough GW2 cough).

I trotted on down to onrpg.com (database of assorted MMOs etc) and filtered by free to play, looked around a bit on the list, read a bit about a few games, and instantly discarded ones that the reviewer said were a grindfest. Eventually I hit one called Eden Eternal, by Aeria Games (who have done some other titles I haven’t been too adverse too) so I went and had a look.

So far the game has proven to be enjoyable, with a refreshing look to the class system of an MMO, which I have yet to see in the genre, though I have seen this system used before, in Final Fantasy Tactics. Yes, it’s a kind of a job system, where you can unlock different classes by attaining a certain character/class level in other classes.

So we start up the game and it has a very cutesy anime/chibi look to it, and I immediately pick the frog-looking guy as my starting race, because let’s face it, frog-people are just full of badass potential. I start the game with the usual starter quest/tutorial and I’m away, starting on a Magician class (because… that really matters after the first like 12 seconds of the game -.-). Immediately you have access to change between the Magician and the Warrior (I’m sure you’re shocked that these are the staple classes). From there you do some quests, you level a bit, with two completely separate XP bars, one for your character level, and one for your class level.

Your character level will grant you access to general skills available to one of the five base class types (Warrior, Thief, Hunter, Cleric, Magician) of which all the later unlocked classes will still have those base skills to work with. Your class level however, will grant you access to one skill every 5 levels that can only be used by that specific class. Sounds confusing doesn’t it? XD

A class advancement chart for your perusal…

It isn’t too bad really, if you spend a bit of time with it then you will get it. So the basics of it are your class level can never exceed your character level, and if you’re in the mood for a bit of a grind, then more likely you will be able to have all of your classes levelled up to match your character level like I do at the moment, though if you spam quests, you will start to fall behind on everything but your main class. This is where Eden Eternal is different from most other MMO’s. You can change class on the fly. Any time you are outside of combat, you can change to one of the other classes you have unlocked and then continue playing from there, which means you can very easily swap to a cleric to heal yourself up between fights as a thief if that’s what floats your boat….. Or you can just be like me and want to watch the world burn, blowing up everything in sight with a magician. =D

So far the dungeons have been interesting enough, though I have only had access to one being that I’m only level 20 at present, I still haven’t unlocked a bunch of classes, giving me a lot to do for the future. I’d recommend if you are into MMO’s or if you played Final Fantasy Tactics and enjoyed the way the job system was laid out, that you give this free to play MMO a shot.