Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle

even result in leveling down! Sadly, it seems that camping in one area killing monster after monster is the key to success in Lineage II. Players who think they can go solo and do quests, etc. by themselves will sadly be mistaken, as partying is an essential key to the game. The odd thing is that even though partying is essential to complete certain tasks, it won’t take players long to realize that they won’t make much money staying in a party. This will force players to go solo and slowly kill monsters until they finally have enough money for what they need. This could take hours but again, it’s essential since it’s the only way to obtain the overpriced weapons and armor within the game.

The worst things about Lineage II are players who "farm" items to sell for money on eBay and the bots. Some high level players will intentionally die to level down. Why? It’s because the enemy’s names appear in different colors. For example: if the enemy’s name is in red he is beyond your character’s current level and should be avoided. If the name is in white however, then you have a good chance to win the fight. If you are too strong for an enemy though, their name appears in dark blue meaning they won’t drop money. What farmers do is intentionally die and level down so many times so that they can drop levels and still be able to use their equipment from when they were at higher levels. They will also steal your kills and if you get in their way, sometimes they won’t think twice about killing you too. How could this get any worse?  Well, some players input macros on their characters so they become bots. While some dedicated players are spending hours leveling up, other players are sleeping or watching the TV while their character automatically farms around one area killing everything in sight, hogging all the experience and money. There have been many people reporting these issues but so far NCsoft hasn’t done anything about it as of yet. Perhaps they should take this issue more seriously because this could be a major turnoff to many people (including myself).

 There’s nothing really impressive or outstanding with the battle system. It’s a hack and slash game, but not as satisfying. For example: run up to an enemy monster and double click to attack. You will find yourself watching your character and the monster striking each other back and forth for a while until one of you finally drops dead. This gets old really fast but at least you can use some special skill attacks to help maintain some interest within each battle. Being a Mystic is not so intriguing either. You stand at a distance, charge up a spell and wait. The thing that’s most irritating about battle is recovering HP/MP (hit points/magic points) between battles. When your hp/mp runs low you can use potions or sit on your ass to recover. Sitting takes up an awful lot of time and I found myself staring at the landscapes or watching other players battle it out with monsters (or each other) to pass the time.

You’ll battle in order to level up or to complete a quest. The majority of quests involve collecting things from slain monsters. You’ll find yourself battling an awful lot for not so great rewards (such as little experience points and money). The worst part about quests is that they don’t feel engaging and the instructions aren't straightforward. Quests also aren’t very different from just roaming around and killing things at random. Out of all the quests I’ve tried, the best one was a quest where the reward was a baby dragon that you can take care of (and over time it will grow). Sure, having your own dragon may seem really badass, but you can only mount them in Castle Sieges.

Castle Sieges was definitely the biggest commotion and selling point for Lineage II. A lot of people anticipated it to be the most outstanding feature of the game, but unfortunately Castle Sieges and other features were not yet completed at launch so NCsoft developed an updated patch that could be downloaded…a couple of months later. Perhaps if NCsoft delayed the release date a bit and added these features at launch, Lineage II might’ve gotten better reviews. Now that Castle Sieges are here, players will learn that they can have a great experience if they are in a clan or a guild. Nobody quite has the hang of it yet, but that could be due to the fact it’s still under its earlier stages. Rather than a siege, it feels more like a huge clan war. Players should note to stay away from castle sieges until they’ve at least reached level 40.

Another popular feature was Lineage II’s PVP (player vs. player) system. If a player kills another player, their name will appear red instead of the normal white. When a player’s name has turned red then they have become a convict. Being a bad guy might sound cool and all, but you’re in a lot of trouble if you go into a village. The villages are like the hangout places and let’s just say a red marked player won’t last very long without being killed. They also have a higher rate of dropping items. However, if a player hits somebody without killing him or her, then the player’s name will turn purple. Only if the purple player kills his opponent will his or her name turn red. If the player under attack retaliates, then both their names turn purple and no matter who wins, their names will turn back to normal white a little while after the battle.

Graphically, Lineage II is the most gorgeous MMORPG I’ve seen. The environments are richly detailed and beautiful. The atmosphere truly puts you into a fantasy realm. Character models are also very well detailed. I just didn’t like that I found my clone within my first two minutes playing the game though. NCsoft should’ve been more creative and added more features to character creation.

The sound effects in the game are pretty good. When you swing your sword and make contact it sounds realistic. I also like the sounds that come from enemies and the ambient, environmental sounds. When you charge up your magic and then execute it, it sounds pretty cool. The music isn’t bad but I hate how it loops and only plays every once in a while. 

I would not give a second thought to saying Lineage II isn’t a game for everyone. Sure it starts to build up interest when you reach level 40 but it takes forever just to get to level 20. Some dedicated player’s with a lot time on their hands might find something in the game worth paying the monthly fee ($$$), but I doubt the average player will find that something before they get bored of the tedious game play. Lineage II might be a very pretty game to look at, but it doesn’t play as good as its looks. Castle Sieges prove it has potential so maybe NCsoft will learn from their mistakes and fix things up with further updates.

- J’ Tonello

(September 8, 2004)