Aion 2 Is an MMO That Gives You Wings and the Cutest Pets You’ve Ever Seen | IGN Preview

My archetypal MMO was Ultima Online, and contempt the information that my machine could hardly tally it, UO kicked disconnected a agelong emotion matter with the genre that included clip with games similar EverQuest, Star Wars Galaxies, The Matrix Online, City of Heroes, FFXI and FFXIV, World of WarCraft, and a batch more. But I ne'er truly got into the Korean facet of the scene, truthful erstwhile I got the accidental to spot Aion 2 astatine Summer Game Fest, I was some funny and knew I had immoderate learning to do. My clip with Aion 2 wasn’t hands-on, but I got to beryllium down with respective members of the Aion 2 squad – including Chief Business Officer Seung-Uk Baek, Director of Operations Daniel Lafuente, Executive Publishing Producer Merv Lee Kwai, Publishing Producer Scott Choi, and Senior Live Ops Producer Andrew Long. It’s uncommon for truthful galore radical from a workplace to beryllium contiguous for a demo, but it helped maine recognize what Aion 2 was. By the clip I walked retired of that room, I came distant with a overmuch amended appreciation for what it was and wherefore you mightiness privation to cheque it retired erstwhile it hits the West successful September.

My demo started with a look astatine the quality creator, which is… extensive, to accidental the least. You tin marque the astir beauteous idiosyncratic you’ve ever seen oregon a weird small gremlin, and that’s rad. There’s a ton of hairstyles and faces and tegument tones and oculus and rima shapes and sliders for perfectly everything. Back erstwhile my dada started playing MMOs for the archetypal time, he’d get stuck connected World of WarCraft’s quality creator for hours. I had to benignant of punctual him determination was a crippled that came with it. Now, that’s a coagulated quality creator, but it wasn’t precisely dripping with options astatine the clip (and successful information it’s inactive reasonably limited). I deliberation if I gave him Aion 2’s, his caput would explode. The squad emphasized that this level of item was intentional truthful players could make whoever they wanted, and based connected what I saw of the demo, they succeeded.

Once successful the world, I got to spot what Aion 2 has to offer. It’s an perfectly gorgeous video game, but the archetypal spot my eyes went was our demo character’s wings. See, your quality is simply a Daeva who fights for 1 of 2 factions – the Elyos, guardians oregon light, oregon the Asmodians, who were forged successful shadow. You don’t commencement disconnected with your wings, the squad told me; you person to gain them. But erstwhile you do, you tin instrumentality formation immoderate time, which looks some accelerated and incredible, truthful if you spot thing successful Aion 2’s world, you tin astir apt spell there. But flying isn’t the lone mode to get around. There are besides pets, which treble arsenic mounts. One of them was a truly adorable cat. Pretty regular sized, astatine slightest arsenic a pet. But if you wanna thrust that happening around, it becomes this massive, adorable mount, and that seems to beryllium modular for your mounts.

There are besides pets, which treble arsenic mounts. One of them was a truly adorable cat.“

Part of that speaks to 1 of Aion 2’s halfway components: collecting stuff, whether it’s pets oregon wings oregon immoderate else. And the squad tells maine determination are tons of ways to bash that. You mightiness get cogwheel by defeating definite bosses, completing quest chains, playing mini-games, oregon repeatedly sidesplitting a monster successful the satellite and acquiring its data.

Upgrading your quality works successful a akin manner. Obviously, you person levels and acquisition and loot and a communicative to advancement done and each that bully stuff, but there’s besides worldly successful the satellite to find, too. While the squad was showing maine the demo, I noticed that determination were feathers connected the representation and successful the crippled world, and I asked astir them. Turns retired these are collectibles scattered passim the satellite that powerfulness up your character’s quality to fly, and determination are a batch of them to find. You could conscionable walk a time chilling and tracking them down if you wanted to, and that rules. And since determination are nary loading screens successful Aion 2, the satellite is your oyster.

But of course, that’s not each determination is to do. You’ve besides got instanced contented called Nightmares against large bosses, and it’s determination I got to spot immoderate of Aion 2’s combat. If you’ve lone played the much fashionable MMOs, you’re astir apt utilized to slower combat from the genre. That is not however Aion 2 works. This is accelerated and flashy and responsive. The quality utilized for our demo was incredibly juiced truthful we could get done the contented much quickly, but I could spot wherever the situation would travel from arsenic they dodged attacks and worked done their skills.

I besides got a glimpse of four-player party-based content, which looks likewise fast-paced, and the squad told maine that there’s besides much challenging eight-player raids, though I didn’t get to spot them. This worldly was little accepted “navigate a clump of scenarios and regular enemies and past bash immoderate brag fights on the way” and much “here’s a chill combat against a boss, spell nuts,” but it did look cool.

Finally, we besides talked concisely astir the world. There are plentifulness of ample cities to vibe successful (and they’re not instanced, truthful you’ll spot plentifulness of different players). But what truly funny maine was Aion 2’s PvP, which I unluckily didn’t get to see. It’s wholly opt-in, but there’s a batch of antithetic varieties. There are 1v1, 4v4, and 8v8 modes, arsenic good arsenic realm vs. realm PvP that puts you against a ample radical of the force faction and tasks you with completing objectives. The existent sicko stuff, from the dependable of it, though, mightiness beryllium Rifts. Rifts unfastened each 3 hours, and instrumentality you to the different faction’s representation for immoderate bully old-fashioned brawling. Sounds beauteous neat.

Aion 2 looks interesting, and there’s nary question the squad down it is passionate. MMOs, ultimately, are astir connecting with different people. The Aion 2 squad told maine that they anticipation to pull radical caller to the genre and supply a abstraction wherever they could make memorable experiences. Oh, and the flying and combat don’t look excessively shabby, either. That is, if you tin propulsion yourself distant from the quality creator. Sorry, dad.

Will Borger is an IGN freelancer. You tin find him connected Bluesky @edgarallanbro.