Coming soon to an open beta near you, Mabinogi will be opening its flood gates for the masses on March 5th.  If you haven't tried the game out and are interested but have no clue what you're going to get yourself into, maybe reading some of these points will give you a general idea of how this game pans out.  I've tried to accumulate 10 points/aspects of this game that players may want to know about and consider.  So, anyway, let's get started!

Customization
Mabinogi's character creation allows for more than just some color templates and class-based avatars.  If you've ever wanted a game that grants you more options to personalize your character, Mabinogi is a game you'll want to consider.  This is one of the sole reasons I'm interested in the game.  There is a variety of hairstyles, clothing, hats (everyone loves hats), armor, you name it.  It's always nice to see your character you put your heart into stand out in a crowd and actually be unique and not a clone.  Just be aware that you'll be forking over some real cash for the more popular styles as this is a game that runs on a cash shop.

Characters are also not restricted to classes.  Actually, there are no classes in this game.  Whether or not you're an archer, mage, healer or knight is based on what skills you specialize in.  Want to be an archer that dabbles in magic?  Sure, go ahead but you're not choosing a class; it's just a self-proclaimed title you give yourself for whatever skills you focus on.

Cute
This one is a matter of personal opinion, but Mabinogi's graphical presentation is cute.  Anime-inspired graphics have grown to be quite popular, and I'm one of those who enjoys the look.  I've grown accustomed to that "realistic" MMO approach after many years so I'm quite appeased with Mabinogi and its image that strays away from realistic graphics.  You just can't do comical and heartwarming with some dark, 3D fantasy world.



Battle System
Aren't you tired of point-and-click games where you turn off your brain and slaughter hordes of monsters?  Mabinogi's battle system is quite a bit more action oriented, requiring timing and a little thinking as well.  Many call it a "rock, paper, scissors" system and that may be true, but it works and works well.  Enemies in the game all have different mannerisms that one must notice in order to capitalize and survive in battle.  One false move and you may be seeing a swift, one-hit death blow.  Mabinogi's battle system can punish those who think this is just another clicking game, but it is also very rewarding and exhilarating--especially when you can gather a team that functions like a well-tuned killing machine.

It's also a system that detracts the use of botting programs.  Because no one has been able to make a sophisticated program to overcome Mabinogi's battle system, bots are limited to low-leveled areas where they're used only for raising weapon/armor proficiencies rather than farming items or experience.  Ah, and since we're on the topic of exp, Mabinogi is harsh against camping areas in the overworld for exp.  Whether or not this is a good thing is a matter of opinion, but it certainly stops botters from gaining ample supplies of exp within one area.

Music
Mabinogi incorporates a music composing system that pretty much IS composing music.  This requires basic music theory like knowledge of musical notation, but that's easy to figure out without going so deep into it.  I really can't say much about this one since whether or not a player takes advantage of this requires more knowledge than most of your typical gamers will carry, but the fact that this is in the game is a major plus.  Most of the time you'll hear anime theme songs being spammed all around town, and players stealing scripts from websites and selling those songs back to players, but being able to compose some of your favorite tunes is just all kinds of awesome.  Okay, I'm not really describing this well and doing it justice, but it really is an amazing feature to this game.  Does World of Warcraft have something like this?  Nope.  Call this a niche game feature but it's quite powerful and unique.

Randomly Generated Dungeons
Dungeons within the Mabinogi world are generated by standing on a platform and "sacrificing" an item to an altar.  Whether you drop 1 gold piece or a bundle of branches is up to you, and the more common the drop, the more likely you'll create a dungeon that someone else has made.  You can see this in a negative light, but in my opinion, this is an overall positive feature.  By placing an item others can drop, you offer your friends a chance to join you and help you out.  Let's say you're neck deep in trouble and your friend just logged on; you can plead for help and they'll be able to join by dropping the same item(s) you did. 

Part of the negatives of Mabinogi's dungeon system is that even though the floor layout is different each time you enter, the total atmosphere and end boss is the same.  This can be fixed via various "passes" that range in difficulty, but oh boy, does it get harder when you play a dungeon that isn't made by normal means.  But I digress--dungeons in Mabinogi play a vital role in the leveling of one's character and it becomes very repetitive after multiple run-throughs of the same area.  That's a given though; MMO's are all repetitive by nature so when you decide to immerse yourself in one, it's implied that you'll be doing something in a routine manner.



Quests
This is actually nothing new at all and it should be in every game you come across, but I believe quests play a vital role in Mabinogi.  "Part-time" jobs in this game offer players experience, items and gold--all of which are rewarding for the efforts one exerts.  General quests offer players a variety of things, but once in a while you will be rewarded the ever-so-useful AP.  Honestly, there's nothing new or mind boggling about Mabinogi's quests, but the rewards make them worth the time you spend, and they're really not that painstaking.

Life Skills
Crafting actually plays an important part in Mabinogi.  Now, I'm not saying that it's required that you craft, but you will benefit greatly if you take on some form of crafting.  Mabinogi touts itself as a "fantasy life" and I believe it can hold to that since this game isn't restricted to just beating up monsters to gain huge amounts of experience and farm some items.  Potion crafting is an important skill where one can make healing salves and mana potions that are practically a requirement for traversing the dungeons and world of Mabinogi.  Tailoring and cooking also play crucial parts in the game world, though it's not as important.  Pick up a craft and take a break from the usual grind that one goes through in an MMO.

Aging
A character's age plays a pretty big role in the world of Mabinogi.  It plays a factor in stat growth and also in AP (skill point) growth and character image as well.  Each Saturday, your character will age by 1 year and will ultimately become a decrepit, old fart after a few months (just kidding).  Your character's image will freeze at what I'd consider the look of a young adult, but don't worry since you can rebirth to the youthful age of 10.

AP plays a crucial role in Mabinogi since a character's uniqueness is dependant on what skills one invests into.  By going through rebirth, a character that stops earning AP after the age of 25 can return to the age of 10 and start saving up in skill points again.  One's level isn't as important as leveled skills since stat gains are permanent from the skills you level up.

Pets
Don't you hate how pets in various MMO's don't do anything at all?  You feed them and they might help melee whatever you're fighting, but other than that, they're just a status symbol or another piece of data to lag up your screen in a highly populated town.  Mabinogi gives players the option to program their pets via scripts.  You know, programming?  If you're someone that enjoys programming, this is something you can pour your time into and achieve some lucrative results.  Pets range from your cute little furries to mountable horses to ease your travels across the expanse of the Mabinogi overworld.  This is another feature that you'll need to pony up the greens (pay real money) in order to take advantage of, but this is something that'll benefit you in the long run rather than just be an eye sore.

Day System
This is nothing revolutionary or awe-inspiring but Mabinogi's Day system is still somewhat unique compared to the many games in the saturated MMO market.  Each day of the week (real time) influences many aspects of the gaming elements.  These range from extra critical rates to increased drops.  With these benefits looming about, players will possibly change their playing habits according to the days of the week in order to take advantage of them.

Here's the general rundown of it*
Monday - Alban Eir

• Life skills are affected

Tuesday - Baltane

• Dungeon play is affected

Wednesday - Alban Heruin

• Gathering, Trading and Collecting are affected

Thursday - Lughnasadh

• Magic is affected

Friday - Alban Elved

• Knock out revival and part-time jobs are affected

Saturday - Samhain

• Growth and exploration are affected

Sunday - Imbolic

• Instrument performance is affected

*information taken from http://mabinogiworld.com/wiki/index.php?title=Daily_Effects



So there you have it.  Perhaps I've missed some major details, but I believe I've offered enough to wet your whistle.  I know this may be sudden and I don't mean to rain on the parade near the end of this piece of writing, but a major negative to Mabinogi is time.  You won't see results as fast as you'd like due to this game being so heavily reliant on skills.  Each level up only rewards you 1 skill point and advancing skills at higher levels costs more than just an arm and a leg, but in my opinion, this is a positive.  How many games have you played where you reach end game and have nothing left to do but hunt your equips and ultimately just sit around in town and chat?  I'd say a lot of games are like that.  Mabinogi is about you and your character constantly growing, and living that fantasy life.  Just take it easy, be immersed and enjoy the moment.