Mabinogi

What caught my attention about Mabinogi was that the game has ties to Irish mythology. This is something that you do not see a whole lot of in video games, especially MMO’s that are developed in Korea!

Stay Classy Folks

One of the things that I like about Mabinogi is the way that it is not class based. The class actually has no bearing on what you can do in the game. Instead, you pick from one of three races, human, giant and elf. Once you pick your race you are free to have them any way you want. This is something I really like as it means you can play as a race you like and not have to be pigeonholed into a certain class. It does though mean that the character creation system (which uses cards) can be rather in depth. But it is easy enough to get a character up and running. The skill system is split into eight categories. These are combat, magic, life, fighter, alchemy, dual gunner, bard, and puppeteer. You practice the skills in order to make them better which is what you would expect.

More In Depth Combat Than You Would Think

One of the first things that I want to talk about is the combat. The combat in Mabinogi is far more skill based than I was expecting. You do not just click away at your mouse like a maniac. Instead, you will need to time your attacks, choose them wisely and be ready to counter what your enemy is going to try and do to you.

A Living World

One of the things that is pretty neat is the way that the game has a real day/night cycle. 36 minutes of game time is a full day and there will be a night, day and there will be varied weather effects too. Your character also ages and as the days, months and years progress there will be weather changes too. I love stuff like this as it does help get you more invested into the game. As your character ages, this does affect their stats, but you can on a weekly basis do this thing called, rebirth and this will reset your age. The age of your character goes between 10 and 17.

Dungeons, Dungeons Everywhere! I am a sucker for a good dungeon in a game and this is one area where Mabinogi does really well. The game has a random dungeon system where it will create new and exciting dungeons for you to explore, fight creatures and of course get some nice loot that you can use.

2nd Life

Part of playing an MMO is to escape from your real life and Mabinogi does that very well. In addition to going on quests, getting into fights and doing the standard stuff you would expect in a game like this. When you are in towns you can communicate with various NPC’s. Take on a job and you can even try and get married. You will probably spend most of your time doing mundane things rather than questing!

Is It Really Free To Play?

Hmm, this is where the game is either going to be a win or a loss for you. This does have a free to play option, but it only lets you get a little taste of what Mabinogi has to offer. If you want to make a more detailed character, do more cool stuff and play the game as much as you like then you are going to have to open up your wallet in order to do this. The problem is that the free to play stuff does not do a good enough job of letting you see how much fun the game can be.

Pros:

• Has a very nice and interesting art style
• Combat is pretty cool
• The character building is really neat
• Lots of things to do other than questing
• Random dungeons keep things fresh

Cons:

• Free to play does not showcase the best of the game

There is no shortage of MMO’s these days, but Mabinogi does have something that sets it apart from the rest and that is the setting. This may at first glance to you look like another fantasy based MMO, but it is actually based on Irish mythology which is really neat and something I am not sure has been done before.

No Class!

Mabinogi is a little different in the way that it goes about letting you decide what character you play as. Instead of giving you a range of different classes to play as you just pick your race. You can choose between being a human, elf or a giant. Then you are able to customize them so they look the way you want. It is actually pretty good as sometimes in other MMO games, you are limited to what kind of stuff you can do because of the class you are. That is not really the case here and while the character creation system does seem a little weird due to the use of cards. It is actually much easier to do than you would think.

Think Before You Strike

One thing that Mabinogi has tried to do is make combat more interactive than just clicking away at the mouse. The combat is more based around skill than just clicking. You have to think and time your attacks so that they connect and you also have to pay attention to what the enemy is up to as if you are skilled enough you can counter what they are trying to do.

Day To Night

Mabinogi does actually have a pretty neat day to night cycle. The idea is that a full day in this world lasts 36 minutes. In addition to having a day and night cycle, dynamic weather effects also come into play. One other thing that is quite interesting is the way that your character can actually age. The aging process in the game can have an effect on the stats of your character, but once a week the game does let you reset your age due to a process that the game calls rebirth. In all honesty, if they have gone to the trouble of having an actual living world I am not really sure what the point in making your character age is if you can just undo it all.

Enter The Dungeon

If you play MMO’s then you know that having plenty of good dungeons to explore is a must. Mabinogi does not let you down in this regard as it has a pretty awesome system of dungeons. What makes the dungeons great is that they are randomly created so you can never get too comfortable and entering each one is a new and sometimes unnerving experience. Each dungeon has plenty of creates for you to fight and plenty of loot to score!

So Much To Do!

If you get into Mabinogi it is one of those games that can really take over your life. I say this because there is always something to do in the game. Of course, you will be taking part in all kinds of fun quests, but you can also get a job and try to find someone to hook up with! I would say that Mabinogi is one of those games where most people will spend more time just screwing around than doing the quests.

Final Thoughts On Mabinogi

I had a fun time with Mabinogi, but one thing I must say is that this is not exactly a “free to play” game. Yes, you can play it a little for free, but what it lets you experience is not a good representation of how much fun the game can be. So if you like the sound of Mabinogi I would advise actually paying for it and skipping the free to play version.

7/10

Pros:

• Being based on Irish mythology is pretty interesting
• The presentation is quite interesting
• Not class based which is rather unique
• Combat requires some skill
• The dungeons are randomly generated

Cons:

• Side content is more fun than main quests
• The free to play version is a waste of time