Tree of Savior - Review

Now that I've played for a couple of hours, I've got more things to say.

First of all, the community is foul. There were some things said in chat earlier that were pretty shocking, especially in a game that does have a chat filter. The fact that there is no report button is rather problematic as well. This brings me to gold sellers/spammers/bots. The game has a bunch, and you can't report them so they just kind of stick around, clogging up areas. You can block them so you can't see their chat anymore, but I'm certain that they're clogging the cities more than necessary due to no way to get them reported as far as I can tell.

You do get to job advance at level 15, which is nice. You choose your next class / circle for your current class, and then the game does not appear to let you know that you then need to locate your class trainer to actually change to that class. I was wondering why I couldn't equip a two-handed sword or add any Highlander skills after selecting that I would like to change to Highlander. Turns out I had to locate the trainer!

This brings me to another annoyance, which is learning Attributes (traits). These cost quite a large portion of silver for a new player, but I don't have a problem with that. The problem is that many of these Attributes take 30 minutes to learn, so basically you select that you'd like to learn the attribute and then you wait or run around and do something else while you learn it. It was quite disappointing to change to Highlander only to find out that I'd have to wait in order to equip my new weapon type. Attribute learning does not appear to stack either, so I already had an attribute in progress to learn to wear Plate armor, so it appears I have to wait 20 extra minutes for that to finish so I can begin learning Two-handed Swords. Kind of annoying.

Gameplay itself is decent. I'm getting a bit more used to the wonky controls. I wish that skills didn't take up quite so much SP though. I feel like I'm burning through SP extremely quickly just by trying to kill normal enemies. I got to the first dungeon, which appears to be soloable with some effort. I am mostly spamming my basic attack and going slow so as to preserve SP for boss fights.

Character customization makes me rather sad. Hair looks really nice, but I can't find any way to change the color. Also, armor that you pick up appears to have no appearance, and instead you have to get "costumes" to change your outfit. You get these upon job advancing, and there's some available for real money in the TP store (or whatever it's called). Always makes me sad to see systems like this; I like seeing my character change as I level.

The game is very in-depth and good for people that enjoy messing with systems and min-maxing stats on gear and such. Very reminiscent of older MMOs, so great for nostalgia. You have to assign your stats like many older MMOs, so you need to know your stat builds and such. You also need to level up skills with your very limited amount of skill points. On your basic class you have 15 points to spend between 5 skills, each maxing out at level 5. I opted to max three skills and ignore the other two, but I'm sure there are other ways of going about it. I'm also sure that, with time, optimal builds will form and making your character effective will get easier with guidance.

As I said in my last post, the controls are rather clunky and unfamiliar to someone who has played other MMOs. It is very similar to Maplestory if you select the "familiar with other MMOs" type of control setup instead of the "traditional Maplestory" setup.

Leveling seems relatively slow (undoubtedly to get you to buy some cash shop items which increase your exp gains), especially since I've heard the max level is 200. This game will surely be grindy at later levels. If it's not, then I will be very impressed. The game itself feels rather slow-paced, in an almost relaxing sort of way. Quest givers are not always obviously marked for you, so talking to random NPCs in questing hubs is rather important if you want the extra quests.

There is a gem-socketing system that I cannot figure out. When I hover over gems it says to right-click them to attach them to an item, and then it tells me to click an item...which does nothing. So I don't know how to do that.

The sheer amount of classes is wonderful, but I can already feel the "optimal" and "meta" builds coming already. The amount of classes will be worthless once an optimal setup is found, as anyone straying from it will likely be ostracized from dungeons.

SPEAKING of dungeons. The first dungeon in the game is rather obnoxious. You're brought into it at level 10-ish when everything in there is level 20-ish, and even if you level up to 15 to job advance, it's still difficult. And that's because it's meant to be group content. Problem is, I can't find any groups! There's not an LFG tool that I can find, and there's no groups for it up in the party finder tool. There's a bunch of groups, but all for levels that I'm not even remotely close to, and certainly not for this lowly little dungeon.

The game has really, really nice foundations, but wonky systems are holding it back, I think. I'd rather give up nostalgia to have a better game with modernized systems.

Dragomon Hunter Review

I've been in a game-trying mood lately, so I decided to try Dragomon Hunter, since I noticed it was in open beta, and then I figured "Hey, why don't I write a review about it?" and so here we are.

Please be aware that this review is written during the Open Beta, and therefore some things are bound to change between this review being written and the full release of the game.

So first off, let me give a couple quite bullet points before going more in-depth:

Good

• The dialogue is well-written and comedic
• The sheer amount of references to other media (primarily anime) is great.
• The game itself looks quite nice from an aesthetic point of view. I thought the character models are nice (aside from the wonky hair, but I'll get to that later).
• The concept of capturing monsters to use as mounts and to raise on your Ranch is interesting.
• I really like the concept of Dragoncite inlaying.
• I like the concept of crafting.
• The Hoppalongs are adorable.

Bad

• Weird plot holes (talking to a character like you've already met them when in fact you never have).
• Lack of tutorials / explanation for the game's more complicated things such as crafting.
• Combat is kind of boring.
• The game overall feels a little too easy.
• No armor skins, just costumes.
• Holy gold spammers!
• Main town has a weird layout.

So first, let's talk about the good things about the game.

First up, the dialogue. The dialogue is magnificent. Usually I just skip over dialogues in these free imported MMOs because the dialogue is typically terribly localized and all around boring. This game, however, has quite enjoyable dialogue (most of the time at least). To top it all off, the dialogue and quest names frequently references to something or other (usually anime), which gives me an extra giggle when I get the reference.

The game looks nice. I really like games with vibrant colors, and this game certainly has that. The character models look quite nice in my opinion, although I know not everyone likes the chibi look. The game has a day/night cycle which is a nice change from other F2P MMOs too. The monsters in the game are well done and unique looking. I'm playing on Medium graphics settings and it plays decently. I do get some lag spikes, but they are mostly in town where there's tons of people, with the occasional spike in the instanced quest areas. But I also recognize that my computer is terrible, so there's that.

Character creation is a bit disappointing. There are a few hair and face options, plus eye colors and hair colors. The variety of the female hairstyles felt a bit disappointing though. I didn't feel like I really found one that I liked all that much. Faces were a bit better variety-wise though. The game also has voice options, but personally I turned off all voices in my settings because the game talks just a little bit too much. Also, the hairs have a bit of a physics issue sometimes. They go crazy in the character creator when you turn the character, and act wonky in-game sometimes when you turn quickly or enter a zone. They calm down significantly during normal play though (or maybe I just get too distracted to notice?).

Classes are pretty simple to grasp. You can select one of four base classes. You can use a different weapon with them at level 20, and at level 30 you can specialize into one of two specializations per class. The base classes are Mercenary, Mage, Scout, and Cleric. These are your typical Warrior, Mage, Rogue, and Healer classes. Mercs use Battleaxes or Greatswords, Mages use Staves or Magic Horns, Scouts use daggers (I think they have a different name though) or Rifles, and Clerics use Hammers or Cestuses (if you are familiar with FlyFF, they are the same things as Knuckles). Mercs can specialize as Barbarians or Vanguards, Mages can become Arcanists or Symphonists, Scouts can be War Dancers or Sharpshooters, and Clerics can be Crusaders or Monks. Personally, I've been really enjoying my Cleric, leaning towards Crusader.

Dragocite Inlaying is quite neat. Basically, every time you kill a monster you get a chance to pick up its Dragocite (it's rare though, as far as I can tell). These are gems that can be inlayed into different equipment. When you pick them up, they have an effect that isn't all that great on its own. But then you can take it to a Master Craftsman along with some materials and Transform it to give it more effects (such as an attack boost), and then they become significantly more useful. You then inlay it into the equipment type that it specifies and there you go! You are also able to separate the equipment and Dragocite at no cost and at no risk to either piece, so the Dragocite are reusable! You have 10 tries to Transform your Dragocite before you can't do it anymore, but it seems like those tries are hardly necessary if you aren't too picky. As an example of what I'm talking about as far as stats, I have, right now, a Rhinosker's Dragocite inlayed on my Frigid Cone Hammer. The base effect of this is +15% damage to Shellomon, but because I transformed it, it now also gives me +49 Attack, +54 Penetration, +20 Crit, and +5% damage to Humanoids. And at any time, I could remove it from my hammer and apply it to my Quintus' Devestation cestus.

Crafting has a neat concept, I think. Every time you kill a monster you get a chance to get materials from it. These materials can then be used to craft more gear. As far as I can tell, gear can only be made from dungeon boss materials, but I could be wrong. You can also Refine and Evolve your gear to make it more powerful. I don't know too much about this process yet, because I figure I'll wait until a higher level when my equipment will be more permanent than it is during the leveling process.

Hoppalongs are adorable bunnies that are adorable. You customize your own personal Hoppalong during character creation complete with naming. You can also change their class later on, but I haven't figured out how yet. I know it has to do with some books you can win in the Hoppadrome, but I have a couple classes unlocked for mine and can't figure out how to change his class.

And a lot of this leads into one of the big negatives of the game. That being a lack of explanation and tutorials! Yay! The game introduces you to these concepts like crafting, Dragocite, the Hoppadrome, your Hoppalong, the Ranch, etc. but then doesn't really go into detail about them. The only reason why I figured out how to use Dragocite was because I looked it up. And I still do not understand the purpose of the Ranch or how to use it properly at all.

There's also the occasional plot-hole, although I might have messed something up, maybe. The big one that I can think of is when I got the automatic quest to visit my ranch and there I met Fate and the dialogue acted like I already knew her when in fact I had never even met her until a later quest.  Or how the main quest sends you to visit Marvin/Martin/whatever-that-con-artist's-name-is long before he introduces himself. On the topic of quest, I also did not appreciate the automatic pop-up quest that led me to a quest that required me to purchase something from the cash shop. I promptly dropped that quest as soon as I figured out what it wanted. I also do not like this quest I have in my quest list that is listed as a main quest and wants to require me to join a guild. I can't get rid of it either because it is an auto quest. I'm going to hold off on it for as long as possible.

Outside of crafting, the game feels a little bit too easy. I feel like I just use Sovereign Blessing to give myself a buff, start the fight with Hammer of Judgement, and then just spam all my buttons until something dies, occasionally moving out of easy-to-escape attack telegraphs. And if I take damage I just use Healing Prayer and I'm done. I don't know, I went into this game expecting a little more difficulty than that. Maybe it'll get harder later, but the only decent challenge I've gotten has been in the Hoppadrome, but the only way I can tell to get tickets for that is through the daily quests, so I can only do Hoppadrome so many times a day.

Finally, my biggest complaint is that the game has some of those wonky MMO systems that I despise. Things like auto-movement to automatically bring me to my quest objectives. Or how I can pick up new improved armor but that armor does not include a skin, instead I need to get a costume to change my outfit skin, and those are few and far between in-game. This game takes this a step farther by having costumes actually have stat-bonuses on them. Not cool. If you're going to make me use costumes instead of gear, do not put stats on them and most certainly do not then sell said statted-costumes in a cash shop. Not okay. The game is also currently plagued with gold spammers, and when I say plagued, I mean an absolutely insane amount of gold spammers. I also cannot seem to find a report button and I've heard that there's a limited amount of space on the block list, so that's no good.

All in all, the game has the potential to be really, really good. It has the concepts and the bones, but it suffers from issues that plague many F2P MMOs. I'll be keeping an eye on it, for sure.

Sims 4 Review

Hello, I got the Sims 4 yesterday! Hooray!

Now, allow me to preface this by stating that I personally don't particularly care about the lack of toddlers and pools. I never really used pools, and toddlers are my least favorite life stage.
Okay, now that that's out of the way...

I...I don't know what to think about this game right now. I was enjoying it so much at first, but now...well, I'll get into that in a bit.

First off, character creation is quite fun. Being able to choose default walkstyles is a very nice touch. The whole click and drag body morphing feature is a bit wonky, and I find it generally better to click on the part I want to morph, and choose a preset before messing with the dragging. At least, for the face. Body morphing is pretty simple, although remember to turn you Sim around in order to make sure that you're getting everything.

At first, I was rather disappointed at the lack of color customization for clothing, hair, eyes, etc. I still am for hair, especially since some of the colors are not quite appealing (the brown-blonde one looks like poo, in my opinion). Eyes are fine, I very rarely used colors besides the ones available. I'm actually not to disappointed on the clothing options. Are there some outfits I wish I could have in a different color? Yes! For the most part, though, I'm pretty satisfied with the color options.
Also, for those who haven't figured it out yet, you can delete the filters for any clothing type, allowing you to pick from every outfit. This is great for things like sportswear and pajamas, where there otherwise aren't many options.

House building is pretty much the same as before, with the addition of the pre-made rooms, which aren't wonderful, considering that they get messed up when you stretch the room. The square blocks of walls that you can place down are no faster or easier than the old system, which, luckily, you can still use.

Now then, on to the actual game-play.

The new  UI is relatively simple, once you get the hang of it. It's different, yes, but not really in a bad way.

Emotional states can be a pain, especially when your character is angry and wants to kick trashcans and yell at people. That's no fun. Some emotional states, like Energetic, are more interesting. Energetic seems to generally allow you to do actions more quickly.

Relationships are a bit more complex. I found that it's easier to befriend a love interest before pursuing any romance with them. That said, I've only wooed one Sim so far. He wouldn't let me flirt with him until we were friends first, and after that it was smooth sailing.
I just want to note that romantic interests will often show up at your house for no particular reason, multiple times a day until you let them in. I didn't know until my characters got married, but apparently there was a lady interested in my husband. She shows up at the door every. single. day, about three times a day. And calls all the time. And she won't leave me alone.

Pregnancies are another big change. I personally found the pregnancy to be worse than in any other game. Reason being? Lack of maternity leave. My Sim's needs were going down too quickly to manage while working, especially since you can't see what their needs are doing when they're at work, meaning that when she gets home, she pees on the floor and passes out in it. She was running at zero energy, zero fun, zero hygiene, zero bladder, and dangerous levels of hunger by the time she gave birth. It got to the point where she couldn't even pee, because she'd pass out before then.

Then, she gave birth to twin boys, who when you hold them, their limbs are all stretched out, and when their in their cribs, they are invisible. She then proceeded to pee on the floor immediately after giving birth, and then she passed out again. I tried to have her sleep through the night, but, due to the fact that I can't see my babies' needs, I had to wake her up again due to a notification stating that if I did not feed them right now they would be taken away. I am quite honestly relieved at the fact that I don't have to deal with toddlers after this, and they'll become semi-self-sufficient children soon.

On top of that, I can't seem to find any way to hire a nanny or take time off of work for either of my Sims. The time off isn't even to take care of the baby, as my Sims' schedules work pretty well for that (she goes to work at 8AM and comes back at 4PM, he goes to work at 4PM and comes back at 1AM). It's so I can try and get my Sims' moods back up so they aren't dying of starvation/peeing/passing out.

Other than the pregnancy/baby issue, I'm actually having quite a bit of fun. My only other complaint is rather minor, and that is that time doesn't pass by very quickly. Things on normal-speed sometimes look like they're in slow-motion, and sped-up time doesn't go by as quickly as I'd like. But, like I said, that's minor compared to the pregnancy issues.

Oh, and I really hope that we get a fix for the babies' appearances. They're scaring me the way they are right now.

Ragnarok Online 2 Review

Hi! Well, I've graduated from highschool now, and I'm still looking for a job, so, in the meantime, how about I get this blog back up and running?

So, today, I'm going to be reviewing Ragnarok Online 2!

I would like to start by pointing out that I never played the original Ragnarok, so this is an entirely new experience for me!

 

To begin with, in my opinion, this game is beautiful aesthetically. The character models are fantastic, the surroundings are nice, and the music is amazing (particularly that character selection screen music, that I'm currently listening to on repeat...).

The controls aren't too bad. There's some things that I haven't quite figured out, such as how to get to my skills in between level-ups, and what in the world the Khara window is. Your job (profession) skills are in a strange spot: J. But, your bags are indeed opened with B, which is great.

Speaking of the bags, one of my biggest issues with this game at the moment is that you get so much loot from monsters, but you don't have enough space to carry everything. For that matter, I haven't found many places to sell things yet either. And there's so many potions and event-item-things that I can't or don't want to drop on the ground in order to pick up a piece of necessary equipment or something.

Character customization was very nice. Like I said though, I adore these character models for some reason. There's a decent selection of basic classes. You can pick a Swordsman, Magician, Archer, Thief, or Acolyte. Swordsmen can become Warriors or Knights. Magicians can become Wizards or Sorcerers. Archers can become Rangers or Beastmasters. Thieves can become Rogues or Assassins. Acolytes can become Monks or Priests.

Questing is a tiny bit clumsy, and I can't really think of a way to explain it. Crafting is a bit slow sometimes too, but it's really not that bad.

I'm still in the starting area, so I'm afraid that that is all I can write for now. I'll add more once I know a bit more about the game.

GW2: Profession Reviews

I figure that I've become comfortable enough with the game to review the professions a bit. I couldn't find many in-depth ones when the game was released, so I figured I would write one for anyone just coming in. I know that this sort of thing is the first thing I look for when starting a new game.

So, in Guild Wars 2, we have a grand total of eight professions to choose from! Like many online games, these classes are split up into characters that wear Light, Medium, and Heavy armor. For Light characters, we have Elementalists, Necromancers, and Mesmers. For Medium characters, we have Engineers, Rangers, and Thieves. Finally, for Heavy characters, we have Guardians and Warriors.

Elementalists, fittingly enough, control the four elements of fire, water, earth, and air (although air is more like lightning, honestly). Unlike most character types, they cannot swap their weapons out mid-battle, but they make up for it by being able to swap their elements. This essentially gives them four different playstyles with one weapon. This certainly allows for them to be a bit less monotonous. If you get bored of Fire, you can switch to Air, or Earth, or Fire. They can also be excellent support. A staff-wielding Elementalist attuned to Water can deal out some of the best healing in the game. They're pretty easy to just get into and play, although you should remember to not just use one attunement, as you need to train the skills for all four in order to play the most effectively.

Necromancers can summon undead minions to fight with them. They also have a special Dark Shroud form that makes them invulnerable to damage, and dish out quite a bit as well. They are masters of negative conditions, and have two weapons that make them particularly skilled in kiting. They have a bit of a learning-curve, in my opinion, but once you're used to them, they are very interesting things to play as.

Mesmers are an interesting character-type. Their attacks are based primarily no their ability to summon clones and phantasms. In other words, at any one time, there can be quite a few of you fighting. These clones are very fragile, however, and need to be used with a bit of caution. They are also excellent for supporting a group. They have a very high learning curve, and are really not recommended to new players.

Engineers specialize in guns and explosives. They can summon turrets to assist them, and can also drop explosives on the ground. They, like Elementalists, cannot swap their weapons during battle, but to make up for it, they instead have many different Kits that they can equip to get a whole new playstyle (and you don't even have the level any skills for them!). These guys can also have a pretty tricky learning-curve, but it's not as bad as a Mesmer's.

Rangers have many different pets that they can call out to help them in battle, and are specialists with the bow. They're excellent at long-range damage, while their pets close the distance. An issue I have with them is that they start with an axe instead of a bow, which really doesn't show off their true talents. If you're intending to play one, get yourself a bow A.S.A.P. A shortbow is fast and great for 1v1, while a longbow is slower but deals nice AoE.

Thieves are fast hitters from the shadows. Unlike most games, you can only stay stealthed for short bursts of time. This is honestly one of the professions I know the least about, so bear with me here. I believe they have traps and poisons to help them out. They also can strike extremely quickly, and enemies generally go down pretty fast. If you like flipping through the air, a dual-dagger Thief is probably for you. From what I've played with one, which isn't much, they don't have too steep of a learning-curve.

Guardians are bulky, damage-absorbing tanks. In addition, they are also pretty effective at supporting their allies. They deal lots of damage as well, so don't think that they're just meat-shields! They're a bit like more magically-inclined Warriors. A greatsword-wielding Guardian is a true might to behold. They're not very difficult to learn how to play, but they have a steep learning curve for WvWvW, as their only ranged weapon is the Staff, which certainly isn't the highest hitter.

Finally, we have Warriors. This is the other class I don't know much about, but they seem to be a Jack-of-all-trades sort (without magic though). They can use most, if not all, melee weapons, but they can also equip a longbow and attack with that. Like most Warriors in online games, they seem to be the simplest to just pick up and go. They can also place down banners, which support their allies. Unlike their Guardian allies, Warriors are a bit easier for WvWvW with the addition of longbows.

If you're brand-new, I highly recommend checking out the Elementalists, Thieves, and Warriors. These are probably the most new-player-friendly professions. If you're brand-new, I would have to advise avoiding Mesmers and Engineers until you're more used to the game. I do recommend trying them out at some point though! They're very fun, but do take some getting used to!

Divina Online Quick Review

*Please note that as of January 2013, Divina is no longer in operation. I repeat, Divina has shut down, so this review is no longer of any worth besides for entertainment purposes only.*

Okay, I've never reviewed anything before, so bear with me here!

I just started playing Divina Online today, and so far, I'm really, really liking it!
It's really nice and colorful, and the animation is great, in my opinion (if you don't like anime-styled graphics, then it may not be for you, though).
The controls are fluid, and, for the most part, simple to remember. The major exception there being that (J) opens your Quests, which is obnoxious.
There are five main types of classes to choose from: Knights, Assassins, Clerics, Machinists, and Sorcerers. The one picture is a Cleric. Later on, you choose a specialty.
Knights can become Guardians or Destroyers. Guardians are tanks, while Destroyers appear to be decent solo fighters. Assassins can specialize in Stealth or Ninjutsu. Both specializations appear to be pure DPS, although Ninjutsu seems to have some support abilities added in there. Clerics can specialize in Light Magic or Dark Magic. Light Magic Clerics are healers, while Dark Magic Clerics can be considered DPS, but can do some healing as well, it seems. Machinists can be Artillerists or Trap Experts. They're both DPS, but, from the descriptions on the site, Trap Experts seem more desirable for parties (teams?). Finally, Sorcerers can specialize in Destructive Magic or Mysterious Magic. Destructive Sorcerers are DPS, and Mysterious Sorcerers specialize in crowd control.

There's quite a few interesting features in Divina. For one, you get a sidekick. If you look next to my character in the picture up there, you'll see a little bunny. That's a sidekick. You get to choose between a Gloomy Bunny and a Sweet Mouse (I think that was what it was called) in an early quest. You have to level it up and train it, but it helps you in battle.
Another unique thing about Divina is your Divine Wheel. As far as I can tell, this is where you get your stats from, as clothes appear to just be for show. You get cores and keys as you level, but you also have a chance of picking up rare ones as monster drops in the form of unappraised items. Once you get it appraised, it has a possibility of turning into a core, key, or something else (I think I got a necklace from one, once?).

The controls themselves are pretty simple and familiar. You can assigns skills and food to keys 1 through =, and you have a second bar for Shift plus keys 1 through =. Personally, after playing WoW for so long, it takes a bit of practice to get back into the habit of pressing (I) to open my inventory rather than (B), but the rest of the controls are very similar to other online games. Well, except your Quest Window. You press (J) for that, which I think is silly~

Character customization, which is my favorite thing ever, is pretty nice in this game. At character creation, you have a quite a few different faces and a couple hairstyles to choose from. You can also change the color of your hair and even the color of your default outfit! That I liked, in case you can't tell. An interesting thing about this game is that you can select your character's voice, all of which are done by fairly well-known voice actors and actresses. I personally get a little giggle whenever I talk to an NPC who's speaking with Tamaki Suoh's voice from Ouran High School Host Club!

There are fairly frequent events to participate in. The only ones I've done so far are Knowledge Master games, which go on a couple times a day. The basic idea of them is to correctly answer as many questions as you can. These questions are often near-impossible if you don't know your anime, movies, history, etc. So far, I've gotten questions along the lines of "Sora no Otoshimono: Who created the first Angeloids?" "When did Harry Potter first meet Draco Malfoy?" and "What is the capital of Canada?". Luckily, these are multiple choice, which makes it a tiny bit easier on you, but not much. There are special achievements for people who can do the near impossible and get most of the questions right. I don't think anyone's ever actually done it though. I know a lot of people in the game complain about Knowledge Master. Personally, I love it!

Like a lot of free MMORPGs, you do have to assign your stats. In this game, you have to pick between STR, CON, DEX, PER, SPI, and INT. If I'm not mistaken, these are short for Strength, Constituion, Dextarity, Perception, Spirit, and Intelligence. Depending on your class, you'll need different stats. Upon doing some research, for example, I know that I need to mainly worry about Spirit, but I also need some Perception as part of my Dark Magic Cleric build.

You can learn new skills from the skill trainer every even-numbered level. By new skills, I mean new skills and more advanced levels of your old skills; and yes, it does cost in-game money to upgrade your current skills.

There is PvP. I know nothing about it. I do, however, know that there is a seperate server channel for it, but you don't have to create a new character for it, as far as I know. There appears to be two PvE channels and one PvP channel.

As for leveling, it's your typical grinding game, of course. The nice thing is that you're grinding quests rather than just straight grinding. Quests are significantly easier to do, if a bit monotonous.
Some other definite pluses to this game include a fairly large inventory space with a seperate area for quest items, very nice battle animations, cute enemies, a Norse mythology-themed plot, a class-specific chat channel, a fairly friendly community, an automatic-running system to NPCs, and a monster research system which allows you to transform into monsters after defeating enough of them. Oh, and you don't have to sit down to recover MP; just pop a Mineral Water, and you can still run as it recovers your MP, as long as you don't enter combat.

Some negatives that I've seen so far are the stat-less (?) clothing, unappraised items taking up a ton of bagspace, how when you click on a monster your sidekick will go attack it even if you didn't mean to click it, how the maps don't show entrance/exit portals, how the maps don't show you where monsters are, how your character's adoptive father is a giant frog god, and the pink mole that pops up whenever you click on the screen to move. I hate moles.

Also, and I'm sure it varies whether or not this is a negative or a positive...your character talks A LOT. Personally, I'm using voice "Michelle Ruff A," so my Cleric is constantly saying "I can't!" "Um, shouldn't we be going now?" "This will do it." "Hya!" etc. The "I can't!"s are occasionally obnoxious if I'm not paying close attention to my Burning Soul's cooldown, and if you stand still for too long, she says "Um, shouldn't we be going now?" It's sometimes neat, sometimes...not so much.

All in all, I really love this game, and I recommend that anyone looking for a new free MMO to check it out! If you want to find me in game, I go by Cardboard, and I'm only ever on the PvE servers.
Also, yes, for those of you wondering from the picture, my sidekick's name is Tsundere. Boyfriend named it.