The first closed Korean beta of NCSoft’s great MMO hope Lineage Eternal is over, and testers are giving their opinions on the title. The result: Lineage Eternal is a typical, grindy Lineage game that offers a few fun deviations.
Lineage Eternal is NCSoft’s big hope and aims to combine the gameplay of action role-playing games like Diablo 3 with the mechanics of online RPGs like Guild Wars 2 or World of Warcraft. Additionally, the game is supposed to be part of the Lineage series, the first of which is still a tremendous success in Korea. But what can Lineage Eternal actually do?
Quest Hotline
According to the site 2P, Lineage Eternal is a typical Lineage game focused on monster killing and loot collecting. Grinding is therefore a significant part. However, according to 2P, the game is not per se boring. For example, you do not have to level each of your four heroes separately, as they share a common pool of experience points and thus always remain on the same level.
Furthermore, there are many quests that are declared as “urgent.” Such urgent tasks provide massive experience points. This way, you can level up and progress quickly without endlessly pounding creatures. Also useful: Completed quests can often be finished from a distance, and you do not have to trudge back to the quest giver each time.
Inspired by WildStar and Guild Wars 2
The system mentioned above somewhat resembles WildStar. In the MMORPG also distributed by NCSoft, you can complete your quests via radio from a distance and thus keep playing without being interrupted. The other major inspiration comes from Guild Wars 2, also from NCSoft.
In that game, instead of quests, you can experience massive dynamic events, for example, when a horde of enemies attacks a outpost or a festival takes place in a village. If you happen to be nearby, you can simply participate in the event and also earn rewards. Such events are also supposed to exist in Lineage Eternal, making the rather dull grinding more fun.
Lineage Eternal is also supposed to showcase fewer spectacular effects compared to its genre competitor Lost Ark. However, this is presumably due to the later siege battles. These battles would be overly cluttered with tons of “flashy” animations. Overall, Lineage Eternal is expected to be a fairly solid action MMO, where players beat monsters, collect loot, and finally participate in sieges.
Not like Lineage 1
Besides the review on 2P, numerous beta testers have also gathered on Reddit to share their experiences. Many have noted that Lineage Eternal is more accessible and less complex than the immensely popular Lineage 1 in Korea. Especially PvP fans complained that players can always see what level another player is.
In Lineage 1, it is different; there, players have to consider carefully whether to attack other players or not. In Lineage Eternal, however, gankers can plan their mischief more strategically. Moreover, many Lineage fans find it silly that items now follow a color code that defines the power level of weapons and armor. In the old Lineage, players had to figure out the worth of an item themselves.
Such simplifications are rather met with disdain among the Lineage fandom, just like the new system with the four heroes. However, other players believe that one must first get used to it. This system, in fact, offers unexpected possibilities, such as character combos. Some players also criticized that Lineage Eternal does not play very quickly. Other testers stated that the game picks up significantly after level 40. It remains exciting to see how Lineage Eternal develops in the further betas.
Jürgen says: The conclusion of the first Korea beta sounds rather unexciting and somewhat like a considerable grind. On the other hand, precisely such grinding and the eternal item treadmill is anyway a feature of action RPGs like Diablo. However, it remains to be seen if the slaughter and collection will motivate in the long run.
Related topic: Killing and robbing players – PvP in Lineage Eternal
