The mobile MMO Aion: Legions of War aims to connect to the MMORPG classic Aion. But what can one expect from the mobile game and what not? And why, despite some differences to the original Aion, is it more MMO than one might think at first glance?
What is Aion: Legions of War? This is a stylish mobile MMO from NCSoft, the developers of Lineage, Blade and Soul, and of course the original Aion game.
In Legions of War, you return to the world of the MMORPG and dive back into the conflict between the winged inhabitants of the world of Atreia.
Aion runs on iOS and Android. However, the game is not the same as Aion. Its gameplay takes a different path but still has some MMORPG features that fans of the genre will likely appreciate.
What’s in the game
This is how the gameplay works: Aion: Legions of War is not an MMORPG like World of Warcraft or the old Aion. You do not have an open world to roam around in. There is actually no world to explore. Instead, you start from your fortress into pure combat encounters, which you then progress through in multiple levels.
You fight in real-time battles against predetermined enemies and bosses.
Your group largely fights automatically. However, there are special effects with cooldowns that you must skillfully use to create tactical effects and combos. Because the powerful bosses can quickly wipe the floor with you if you’re not careful and do not interrupt their heavy moves with well-timed counters.
This creates a complex exchange of blows that you only win if you are fully alert and skillfully use the effects and skills of your heroes.
This is what happens between missions: As a reward, there is plenty of loot, such as items and upgrade items. Between rounds, you optimize your fighters or acquire new heroes from a pool of over 100 characters.
You draw them like in a collectible card game from crystals you earn in the game or buy in the shop. Excess heroes can be recycled for upgrades.
What speaks for Aion: Legions of War
How much MMORPG is in Legions of War: At first glance, the new Aion may not seem like an MMORPG. The exploreable map is missing, you do not have a created hero, and the entire game actually consists only of arena battles.
But those who take a closer look at the battles and play a few rounds will quickly realize how complex the game and the gameplay are. The combats can go south quickly even at early stages if you do not handle it skillfully and utilize all tactical and strategic options.
This starts even before you enter the battle. Some bosses use skills and properties that can be particularly well countered with certain heroes. Therefore, it is sometimes necessary to reshape the party beforehand.
It quickly becomes apparent that Aion strongly relies on the “Holy Trinity” known from MMORPGs: tank, damage dealer, and healer.
- Your tank must always have his taunts and defensive skills ready when bosses begin to deal heavy hits.
- DPS classes, in turn, are especially effective when they can interrupt the boss or trigger combos as soon as the boss leaves an opening.
- However, even with the best tank, it can quickly happen during battles that hard hits get through and you need healing. Then support characters step in to quickly revive your party. But cooldowns are long, and a too early activated healing could ruin the whole battle.
Anyone who enjoys tinkering with their heroes and optimizing their stats can have a blast after the battles. Aion offers tons of options to upgrade your heroes, level up, equip, and learn new abilities.
This is how beautiful Aion is: Legions of War impresses with extremely slick graphics. The days when mobile games were characterized by pixelated graphics and poor effects are surely over.
Each of the heroes is lovingly and detailed designed, and in battles, it gets intense when your heroes and enemies beat the hell out of each other with cool effects and animations.
Exciting story for Aion fans: The story of Aion is not just an accessory and revolves around your hero Ren and his companions. Between missions, the story is continued in small episodes, some of which are even fully voiced.
During this, you also get to know the different heroes of your team better, especially the banter between your naive priestess and a cynical battle mage is a lot of fun.
There are also many well-known races, regions, references, and Easter eggs that Aion fans will immediately recognize. So there are again Asmodians, winged heroes, weasel-like Shugo, and the dark Balaur.
What bothers players about Aion: Legions of War
That’s why some fans think that Legions of War is not Aion: Some players complain that the game is not a “real” Aion. They expected a game like the original, but here there is only an endless succession of short battles.
Certainly, Aion: Legions of War is not a remake of the original game, and those who want a game with a world to explore in which they can roam around with their winged hero will likely be disappointed with Legions of War.
But that is not what Legions of War aims to be. Instead, the game revolves around battles and group optimization, simply eliminating the downtime between fights.
This is the background behind the Pay2Win allegations: Many online games are accused by players of using Pay2Win mechanisms. That is, the possibility of buying significant in-game advantages with real money. Is this the case with Aion: Legions of War as well?
The game definitely offers the possibility to buy progression in the shop instead of grinding in battles. There is also a controversial energy system that limits your daily progress.
Everything you do in the game costs energy. If you run out, you have to pause until it is full again. Or you spend money to “refuel” immediately.
For casual players, who play for half an hour here and there throughout the day, the energy limit is not too tragic. But for those who seriously dive into Aion, you may hit limits more often and be tempted to spend money.
Additionally, using real money increases your Legion rating, which in turn unlocks additional bonuses.
So those who spend money have clear advantages in the game and progress faster. There is indeed a clear Pay2Progress observable, and those who pay a lot also get a lot. NCSoft could have handled this better.
Conclusion by Jürgen
I actually had no great expectations for Aion: Legions of War and was never a fan of the original Aion. So I approached the game without preconceptions and had no ideas that could turn out to be incorrect.
Because if you do not expect a remake of the original, you get a surprisingly complex tactical combat RPG here where you must optimally use the classes and roles known from MMOs to win.
And then Aion: Legions of War just looks fantastic. I am repeatedly amazed at how beautiful and splendid mobile games have become these days.
If you want an exciting game with gripping battles and if you enjoy optimizing your characters down to the last detail, you should take a look at Aion: Legions of War. As a free-to-play game, it is free anyway.
However, the shop offers leave a bitter aftertaste. Those who want to seriously engage in the game without spending real money should better be prepared to be patient.
For me, however, that is not a problem as I only play mobile games casually when I am on the go or have to wait for someone.
However, I ultimately prefer mobile games with action gameplay, such as Arena of Valor, Vainglory or Royal Blood. Aion will definitely stay on my phone.
A different approach is taken by Lineage 2 Revolution, the “MMO manager”:
