New Alpha Footage - The Black Shroud Part 2

[madolyn]

i'm really digging the new music. These vids are great and all but every video showcasing characters just roaming around with no other actions is starting to get stale.

[IloveYouPumpkin]

My effing god the zones look amazing!

[Zezlar]

Ok. The last video I criticized slightly negatively because I felt the overall look of Gridania was starting to feel a little uninspired and "being fantasy-like for fantasy's sake" like in most Korean MMORPGs.

Now that I have seen more, I retract my previous statement and I can now say that I like this new stylized look. Honestly, the first thing that popped into my mind halfway through this video was one name:

Xenoblade

I took note of how the environment and structures are there not simply as just accompanying pieces just because "it's a forest, so make things look woodsy." Now I see that structures make sense in context.

Confused? Let me better explain....

Building a treehouse and some tents in the woods is something you'd come to expect to see, therefore it's basically just appealing to the obvious. However, this game takes it a step further by showing that the people who live in Gridania didn't merely build a town surrounded by trees. They made a town that seemed to be half-powered by these trees and the surrounding nature. Everything looks like it belongs and has an actual purpose. A logical purpose.

This is what I hated about most Korean-made MMOs. Nothing ever had a purpose. It all felt out of place. Almost like they went off a fantasy check-list and threw things in that fit with a "forest." But here? It all makes sense.

I still think the style isn't what I'd expect to see in a Final Fantasy game, but that's not a bad thing. Like I mentioned before, the feel of these areas reminded me of Xenoblade. The structures look the way they do because they look like they actually belong there rather than just tacked on.

This doesn't mean I'll become a gridanian anytime soon, however. But at least now i feel more at-ease knowing that Gridania is looking more lively overall in regards to the town and the camps. It's finally stylized.

Glad i'm not the only one who was reminded of Xenoblade.

[HyurHyur]

The music sounds so great! The area looks nice as well. One thing I'm curious about though is the sky. Does anyone else notice if the clouds are moving? May seem like a silly thing to worry about, but I do hope the sky is dynamic and not just a frozen feature like in a lot of games. Either way, I can't wait! Very impressed with Soken's work so far. And yes, the zones do look large! I hope there's a bit of exploration available for us to do.

[whoopeeragon]

The music sounds so great! The area looks nice as well. One thing I'm curious about though is the sky. Does anyone else notice if the clouds are moving? May seem like a silly thing to worry about, but I do hope the sky is dynamic and not just a frozen feature like in a lot of games. Either way, I can't wait! Very impressed with Soken's work so far. And yes, the zones do look large! I hope there's a bit of exploration available for us to do.

Given that the skies in 1.0 also moved, I will expect that ARR's sky to move as well. Since it's in Black Shroud at the moment, where skylight is obviously less than the other regions, I don't think we can accurately see for ourselves, but the chances are high.

[Koku]

Color me impressed.

[radhaz]

Looks and sounds good.
Whats with that 300000+ exp points at lv 50?

[3Jane]

The character swiveling on the spot as the camera view is rotated. I have seen this in other games and it looks just as ghastly here. I really hope this is a temporary thing at this stage of construction.

[Roukiz]

Is it necessary that we have two topics for whenever a video is released all the time?

[Cedri]

Yoshi-P said the graphics aren't finalized... YOU SLY DOG YOU!