Ah, here’s an interesting block. One of my favorites games, one of my least favorite games, and the game that got me into CA in the first place. Let’s do this.

Episode 7: Eden Eternal
I still think this game is nothing sort of amazing for what it is. I had time with XLegend titles before.. in the past, and I didn’t even know it was a thing to behold, but XLegend remains the only Chinese MMO company with any sense of imagination, and Eden Eternal is around the pinnacle of that concept. A painless, but still useful multi-class system. Challenging dungeons. Extremely bright and crisp graphics, it was WoW cloney enough to feel familiar, but was all the more intriguing on how it handled its mechanics. It did get grindy, especially when trying to work out a new class once earned, but the overall package was nothing short of amazing. It almost makes me wish I’d stopped this show and spent a lot more time with it.
Recommended?: YES.

Episode 8: Hellgate: London
NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.
Oh my GOD, was this a terrible thing to slog through. Muddy graphics, stilted combat and translation, gutted mechanics, boring progression. I couldn’t wait for this game to be over with. It was one of the few times where the community was NOT the main reason I couldn’t stand the game, and I tend to see the good in many things. (Though there was that raging “Wallahbee” fucktard, and his peanut gallery cronies.) I spent more times futzing around with my inventory than playing the game, and combat was ridiculously unimpactful and repetitive. I just couldn’t bring myself to continue, and the game thoughtfully did that for me. It’s sad knowing the potential the game had but it fell hard to it’s Korean F2P conversion.
Recommended?: NO.

Episode 9: Rusty Hearts
I miss this game. Out of all the beat-em-up MMOs, past and future, this was likely my favorite one (except the blissful trainwreck that is DarkBlood). A super cool style, aesthetic, and soundtrack. Fun, flashy combat and a plethora of things to do and see. I felt like I barely scratched the surface of the game, and yet, saw so much already. I kinda miss this game, and knew it was in trouble the minute “Reborn” reared its ugly head as a subtitle. It had a far share of crazies, like the min-maxer types who SWEAR that the alternate character skins made a HUGE difference due to slight timing differences in the animation cycles and oh my god who the hell cares?! Slick and beautiful to behold, it’s sad to see it go.
Recommended?: If it still existed, YES.