Aion of today - Assault on Balaurea

  I remember being amongst the hype when Aion first launched 2009, it was supposed to rock the foundations of the MMO world. I mean, what new hyped released in the genre isn’t these days?  But Aion like so many others before it fell short to it's advertised potential in the West not because it wasn’t a polished and well-made game, but because it’s pacing and mechanics were aimed towards the Eastern market, despite of voices defending as being otherwise for the Europeans.

  Over the course of the twelve-plus months since it launched NCsoft struggled, with the western and eastern studios trying to make the game what it needs to be to draw more North American and European gamers.

  I resubbed the title upon the new expansion and have been at it for awhile, and feel it’s safe to suggest that Aion is much closer now to the game NCsoft needs it to be than it was at launch.  It’s polished, pretty, and content complete with a much smoother progression that will please most Western gamers looking for an Eastern-influenced fantasy MMO that comes without the mindless mob-grind that it was in the beginning.

  It stills rely a little heavily on repeatable quests to fill in gaps, but new solo dungeons help to get out of the boredom of just grinding.  As it is now, Aion of today is a much better game than it was at launch, but it still won’t be a title to attract the masses.