Wonderland Online is one of the few MMORPGs available with turn
based battle encounters. This form of combat is widely used in
single player console RPGs and its refreshing to see it show up
in a MMO once in a while. Wonderland is not a game likely to
impress today’s gamers. With its obviously out dated 2D graphics
and distinctly retro sounding game music, Wonderland is a game
you’ll either love or hate.
For a game that looks so outdated, Wonderland has a surprising
amount of depth to it. There are 12 character types, each with
different skills and suggested roles. There are standard melee,
caster, healer and hybrid classes but Wonderland adds another
degree of specialization by allowing each character to pick one
of four elements; Fire, Wind, Water, or Earth. Of course some
elements make more sense for certain classes, but at least this
extra layer of customization adds some more character variation.
Each character has five stats, Strength (melee damage), Con (HP,
Def), Int (Magic damage), Wis (Magic Def), and AGI (Attack
Speed). Players have 5 points to allocate as they choose at
character creation and are given extra points to distribute each
level.
New characters level rapidly throughout the early game and
monsters are similar looking and pose little challenge. But even
before players get to the early hunting grounds, there are
several areas to pass through which serve little purpose. For
example, players start on a cruise ship, then they are on a small
island with an NPC on it which offers the character a raft to use
to get to the main island. Since the first 10 minutes are the
most important in a new MMORPG, having players start on the main
island would streamline things and make the game more accessible.
This is of course a minor complaint, Wonderland is full of great
features that more than make up for the minor faults. For
example, in Wonderland players can own their own house and
decorate the interior, and allow other players access to admire
the owner’s interior decorating style. Its a marvel that more
games have not utilized player housing, the fact that such a
primitive looking game can handle it rather simply is a further
insult to the major MMORPGs out there.
Besides housing, Wonderland has an interesting quest system.
Quest givers are marked on the mini map with a ” ? ” sign and
they usually trigger short events. As an example, outside the
beginner town there is a NPC that complains about being harassed
by wolves, agreeing to aid her prompts a battle with wolves,
other players near you can join the battle which then looks like
a boss battle from a console RPG, except each character is
controlled by a different player. Wonderland has a very low death
penalty, if you happen to fall in battle, you’ll be taken out of
combat and right back where you encountered the monster with 1 hp
remaining. There is a small experience loss as well but it is so
small its not an issue.
As you level up you’ll unlock new skills based on how you
allocate your stats. During the lower levels you’ll be able to
handle your self easily with any of the classes but as you gain
levels and become more specialized in a specific role (tank,
DPSer, healer, etc) you’ll find grouping with others to be far
more rewarding. Soloing will remain feasible, at least for most
classes, but grouping is the fastest way to level during the late
game. Overall Wonderland is a simple and accessible game with a
surprising amount of features. The major downside though is the
basic graphics and a combat style which some love and others
despise. If you grew up playing 2D console RPGs, Wonderland
Online is a great way to relive that game play with others
online.
http://wl.igg.com (Link for the game site)
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