"The lost city of Atlantis is still lost - will you be the one to find it?"

Turn based battle – my favourite style of battle, has been on the decline for a few years now. In reality it hasn't really been the popular choice since the days of the SNES, but some games still employed the system and in most cases successfully. Take the juggernaught Final Fantasy Series, who until recently have always used an imaginative turn-based battle system, and thanks to it has retained a loyal fan base for over 20 years. This was up until FFXII (Final Fantasy 12); in FFXII they decided to change the fighting system from turn based to a new kind of action system. For some, this was a refreshing new look at a perhaps dated system, for others like myself this prevented them from playing the game for much more than a few days.

At the time I was devastated, I never expected the FF series to change from turn-based battles, in every addition to the series they changed characters, magic's, worlds, styles and systems, but they never changed the from turn based battles. Why now? Well, eventually I found that a proper turn-based system just wasn't good enough anymore and they wanted something new, and by 'pushing the boundaries' they had discovered this magnificent new system that well, for some turned out to be not all that magnificent.

The reason I dwell on this so is because until Atlantica I had honestly begun to think that good turn-based battle systems had possible been lost forever, and I hope that by chance, another reader that feels the same may come to read this, and finally receive the reward he or she deserves, as I have now. Atlantica is a new, fully 3D, open world persistent MMO, and it's completely turn based – and guess what, it's amazing.


Fellow MMOsite reviewer Aroych recently completed an amazing preview of Atlantica (read it here) that covered the characters, classes, and features of the game in more depth. I would urge anyone reading this to read the preview first, as I will be covering different aspects of the game in this review. Now that I've had a chance to have some hands on time with Atlantis, I'm going to be telling you a little more about exactly what to expect when you get in there. This may also be a good time to mention that Atlantis is currently in a Closed Beta Testing Phase, and will be available for free play from the 18th July until the 28th July. Beta Keys can be obtained through various sites with links available from the Atlantica Homepage.

Wake up…you're dreaming.
Aside from the awesome turn-base battle system in Atlantica, which I will discuss in more depth later in the review - lovers of the fantasy genre will notice almost immediately that Atlantica actually has a storyline! You are a descendant of the once great Atlantains, a race of proud people that through their hunger and lust for the substance Oriharukon – a rare and powerful material that once gone, sunk their great city Atlantis – lost everything, including their lives. You have been charged with finding and restoring Atlantis, and bringing peace and prosperity to the land. To do so, you must embark on a perilous journey through time and space, from the Pyramids to Beijing, searching for clues to the location of your lost city - I know, it's awesome. You begin the game in the dream world, and learn of your ancestry from the three sisters, who are counting on you to find Atlantis and save them. After a short and easily manageable tutorial you will be sent to the real world with a bunch of bodyguards, and begin your search.

Weapon specialization, character creation, and you.
As with the great majority of MMO's today beginning Atlantica will have you creating your character - it is however slightly different to the norm, Humans are the only race type available (yes, you can select gender) and instead of choosing a class you will be choosing a weapon to specialize in. Your choices are as follows:
Sword – Combination of medium damage and speed to a single target in the front row.
Spear – Medium Damage to 2 targets in a line. 
Axe – High damage to a single target, and enemies to either side.
Gun –  Medium damage to all targets in a line.
Bow – Medium damage to any target, regardless of position.
Cannon - Medium damage in a triangular cross pattern.
Staff - Healing and Hex spells, Medium Damage to single target in front row.

After selecting your class you are able to change your appearance slightly, and the colour of your clothes. Unfortunately everything here is hugely limited with only a few choices of face and hair, and two clothing colours. With only one race to choose from I think that it is imperative that they add more options here to the full version of the game, as walking around can give you a very eerie feeling…being surrounded by 50,000 other versions of me is almost intoxicating.

Assembling your Army.
Once again sticking to true old-school style RPG gaming, Atlantica will see you controlling not a single character, but an entire party. You will begin the game by choosing your main character just like any MMO, but soon after you will be asked to recruit yourself mercenaries – fighters for hire that will make up the bulk of your party. During the tutorial you will be asked to select three Mercenaries from a list that will be added to your party - ranging anywhere from Archers and Monks, to Witches, Exorcists, Inventors, Oracles, Vikings, Beast Trainers and a heap more, there really is no shortage of class types to experiment with. Throughout the course of the game you will be able to recruit these other mercenaries from towns, managers, drops from monsters and completing certain quests. Although in the beginning you will only be controlling a party, you will eventually be leading a small army of 9 troops handpicked, trained, and levelled by you. It just doesn't get any better than this!

Levelling your characters uses a very easy and familiar system - every time one of your characters attacks an enemy they receive exp based on the effectiveness of the attack. Upon reaching level 20 and after meeting certain requirements your characters can undergo a class change making them much stronger, and adding a new look and new skills to their arsenal. As each of your mercenaries are entire characters on there own, they all require attention separately. This includes equipping them with weapons and armour, upgrading their spells with various books found throughout the land, equipping items like healing potions to them specifically so they can use them in battle, and a great deal more down the track. Things like battle formation also play largely into unit management, putting your ranged ‘mercs’ in the back lines and your hardy warriors up front. Many characters also attack in specific patterns – Archers can attack units from any distance and in any row, Gunners can attack multiple enemies at once, Spearmen can attack all units in a straight line and so on. Careful placement of your units, and knowing their attack patterns will almost always be the difference between victory and death.

Turn-Based Fighting…. back in action!
I forgot to mention this above, but the reason I love turn-based battles so damn much is because of the strategy involved. Every game has their own way of implementing strategy and with Atlantica they've chosen to go with the timed turn system. Each side has a certain amount of time to make their move, and once the time is out, or no other moves are available the opposing side will have their turn, and so on until the end. I've always preferred it without the timer personally, so that you can think carefully about your next move, but this style does add a certain sense of urgency, which is never a bad thing. During the battles you will find that things can get quite hectic, even with only 4 or 5 characters in your party you will sometimes be fighting battles with 9 enemies and required to think quickly and strategically.

Combat controls are very simple, you click to select your character then you click on the enemy you wish to attack. If you continue to click on an enemy, then next person in your party will attack too, and so on. All of your characters will also have skills available to them unique to their class. These skills can be used by selecting them from the panel, or by simply right-clicking the enemy. After an enemy has been defeated they will usually leave behind loot, this will need to be collected manually by once again selecting a character then selecting the shiny dead body of your foe. If you do not collect the loot fast enough it can sometimes disappear. To make this easier they have implanted an auto-loot system, simply press the X key when it is your turn and all of your characters will run in and grab the loot, this will use their turn for the round though, so be careful and play strategically!
 
The Quest for Atlantis.
If you've made it this far into this review, and you're anything like me then you are already getting pretty exited about Atlantis. Guess what – it's about to get a whole lot better. As you know your goal in life is to find the lost city of Atlantis, by following the various clues found all over the world. As such you'll be visiting places like Cairo, Rome, Europe, New York and hundreds of others to complete this mission, eventually (hopefully) finding Atlantis. This, like many MMO's before it begins with completing quests. Most of the beginning quests will help you discover the features in Atlantis, and start getting you familiar with various parts of the game. To help with the questing they have added an auto-find button to the game, that when pressed will automatically run you to the location of your next quest. Although I personally find this takes a lot from the game, I can see why others would find it helpful, and on occasion (rolling a cigarette…) find it pretty useful myself.

What else are you going to see when you're exploring the world in search of Atlantis? Well, you'll be seeing the world in a fantasy setting, with graphics that may infact change your life. Having said that, the system requirements are very high, and you will most likely require a high-end PC to get full enjoyment out of the game. Luckily, there are 5 different graphics settings to choose from with each of them taking away something else to ease the pain on your PC. The music is highly noticeable too, with soft melodies becoming fast battle themes and areas having their own fitting track. You'll be feeding your eyes, ears and mind a full course steak dinner with this game, and they may not be eating anything else for quite some time.

I'd also like to make special mention of the enchanting/enhancement system in Atlantis. Weapons and armour found throughout the land can also be upgraded incredibly easily, simply take two of the same weapon with the same grade value (+1, +2 etc…), and an enchanting crystal; then simply combine them together to make a more powerful version of the weapon. Do the same again, then add the upgraded versions together for an even more powerful weapon – simple and effective.

Form an alliance, take a town, control a nation.
Guilds, alliances of allies fighting side by side for similar causes. Over the past few years MMO's have all but destroyed Guilds, they have taken away the need. Some games benefit greatly from guild interaction…yet sadly others simply offer you a chat box and list of your members. Gladly, Atlantis has given guilds the power they deserve - the power to lead and control, and the rewards that come with it.
Once you have formed or joined a formidable guild you will be able to take control of a town, but by doing so you will be charged with the duties that follow such a feat. Town security, health, industry, commerce, culture…even construction of buildings will be on your list of duties, and after making such decision, you will watch them grow. Once you are in full control of a town, you can look at controlling a nation, and becoming King of that nation, giving you access to items and mercenaries otherwise impossible to obtain Other guilds towns can side with yours to strengthen that nation, and war can be waged against those who choose not too. See, when I said it got better I wasn't lying, Atlantis aims to please…and by god it's working.

Outside being a guild leader and running nations there is also the economy to watch as you search for the lost city. Most of the games items are player made, and the economy is constantly watched to keep it controlled. High prices in some places could mean lower in others, buying and selling, crafting and creating, do it all…and be as rich as a king! The options really do see limitless…

Anything else?
Yes, yes there is. Actually, there is probably enough stuff in this game for me to go on another few hundred thousand pages, but I don’t think either of us is looking for that right now. I do want to touch upon a few more titbits though, bare with me - I promise we’re almost done. Partying in Atlantica works almost exactly like any other MMO, join one with a couple of other people, take down huge baddies, and get some good levelling done. The only difference here is that you can only have 3 people to a party…that’s 27 characters! 27! I haven’t experienced this phenomenon as of yet, but expect to be hearing me talking about it for quite some time. PvP is actually rather standard, with simple 1v1 duels, and arena and tournament events held every so often. One thing I found particularly interesting though was that during tournaments, you can actually place bets on the contenders - I can see some players getting very famous, and very rich with this system.
Last but most certainly not least, dungeons. I know they exist, I’ve heard they’re cool, but as of yet I haven’t seen one…and the official website wont let me access their stockpile either. But rest assured, as soon as I know, you will too!


As much as I would like to go on, and trust me – I would, it is probably in my best interest to let you actually play now. With Aryoch's Preview and my Review combined you should be more than ready to take control of your destiny, find the lost city of Atlantis and save your people!

See? That right there, it's just plain inspiring! This game is getting me all kinds of exited, and I think it's time I got back to playing. Summary? If this game turns out to be free to play, I'm naming my first freakin child after it! And with that, I’m off to find Atlantis!