We jumped into the VIP Beta Access for Continent of the Ninth to bring you this beta preview!

As for the classes themselves, they start in three fun-filled flavors; vanilla, chocolate, and… ok, not really. You get male, male, and female. Ha-ha… Oh, you thought I was kidding? No, one of my first complaints with C9 was its character creation. On the one hand, you have three main classes: fighter, hunter, and shaman. However, they are gender specific; no buxom wenches who hold shields and fight dragons here! Shaman is the ONLY female class. But on the other hand, there are sliding options for their face, “style” (hair and tattoos), and body. Your characters can be much more detailed than most F2P RPGs, but the classes are gender-specific.

Now, despite the gender restrictions, the classes are actually quite diverse. Each class has a promotion system, raising the base classes to “elite” versions at level 10 and specialized versions at level 20. That big split at level 20 really differentiates a class; it’s the difference between a Hunter who stays at range and snipes enemies (the Ranger) and one that sneaks in close to assassinate them (unsurprisingly, Assassin). There are no pure “healing” classes; even the Shaman, the most stereotypical “magic” class has the option of mostly “crowd control/ranged attack/melee attack” for their promotions. However, this carries over into group combat; to down bosses, players need to work together to use their class abilities. Fighters who are promoted to Guardians may form a wall of shields to keep a boss’s attention while ranged hunters and shamans pelt it from afar.

Combat itself is fast, furious, and diverse. As mentioned before, there is no auto-targeting… and often there is no lack of enemies! Players will cut down legions on their way to the bosses of each section. Attacks come in the form of actions from the hotbars, commands (right-clicks), and normal attacks (left-clicks). There are different combos that add damage when performed; one of the most basic ones is “left-click x4, right click x1.” Not only are combos great for extra damage or knocking down tougher opponents, but they reward you overall “score” in an area. Higher combos will give you more “keys” once you clear an area; at the end there are six unmarked chests, and players can open as many as they have keys for. Oftentimes they have junk (or NOTHING!), but usually one of the six has some gear that can be used or sold. It is a matter of both pride and reward to clear areas with a high combo and overall score!

PvP is definitely part of the game, but it remains separate as well. After level 10, players can sign up for “arena system.” There are various types of arena fights, including team fights, one-on-one coliseum-type fights, and relay matches. Every ability a player possesses has a separate section for its particulars in PvP. For example, an Ice Spear may cost 17 mp against an NPC… but in the arena, it would be twice as pricy. In the same vein, all players have ways to match and counter the moves of their enemies; if a Shaman can teleport away from an opponent, a fighter may be able to dash toward them. I did not get much experience with PvP, but I had enough to know that I’m just as bad at it as in every other MMORPG I’ve played… but the system doesn’t seem excessively flawed. SOME promoted classes seem better than others, but I can’t say definitively that Illusionist is the worst (note: it is my personal opinion that Illusionist is the worst. Totally not my fault. Not at all. Really).

One part of the game I wish I had more of a chance to devote time to was the crafting system (known as the Artisan system). Similar to other games, there are several occupations and players may choose only ONE. The metalworker, woodworker, and tailor create armor/weapons and guild house items; the chef and alchemist produce consumables. Metalworkers are NPC-only characters who repair, enchant, remodel, or alter items. In effect, they let you change your character’s appearance… but always for a price. What, you thought this was free?

Actually, the concept of price brings us to the key question: how does a Free-to-play game like C9 make money? If your bet was “Cash Shop!”… well, you guessed what I did! However, while I was playing, the Cash Shop seemed to be down, and nothing in the Help files or Game Guide pointed to it. Call me naïve or cynical; perhaps I’m used to games that push you toward online transactions at every corner… but C9 seems remarkably devoid of the pay-to-advance scheme so many games fall into. Now, that’s no guarantee that they’ll remain that way; but I can fully understand a mechanic of “pay to advance quicker.” What I’ve never cared for was the mechanic of “pay for a major advantage against other players” or “pay to beat the end boss we set up!” “Pay-to-go-faster” is a fine line, but “Pay-to-win” is VERY distasteful to western audiences.

So! Do I have criticisms? Oh come on, of course I do. They are mostly minor in that they don’t break gameplay… but major enough that they may not be easily changed.

Translations / Localizations: The beginning scene is great – visually. While the narrator speaks in perfectly understandable English, the words seemed garbled. This gets shown every time an NPC speaks; the chat bubbles don’t wrap correctly (or maybe just not in windowed mode), so players get fun conversations with un-hyphenated words cut off in odd places. Speaking of Windowed mode, a person peeve of mine is the inability to resize windows. In C9, players need to select the size of the window from several choices. Even worse, you need to hit the Windows key to get the cursor out of the confines of the Windowed game screen.

Music: Now, the music isn’t terrible, but it IS very forgettable. After its fast-paced combat and anime graphics, by far my favorite part of Rusty Hearts was the music. It can pump up your adrenaline and get your feet tapping! I can’t say the same for C9. Adequate? Sure. But absolutely nothing special. As a side note, the sound effect when opening or closing your inventory is identical to doing the same in World of Warcraft. I’m guessing that given more time and keen ear, I might discover similar cases of “borrowing.”

Cutscenes are nice, but frustrating. Yes, I like learning about the NPC characters and the story, and given time, I’m sure I’d find them compelling and maybe even enjoyable. Instead, the pacing is shoddy. As soon as the first two lines are spoken, I’m looking at the blinking words “ESC to skip” and debating doing just so. Usually I do. I tried all manner of keys to speed up the scenes, but nothing works. Worst of all, they are not that dramatic; whenever I get a close-up view, the emotes might be in full-swing, but the actual expressions do not change (see previously, when the sobbing girl was wide-eyed with nary a tear in her eye).

But let’s be honest. These aren’t game-breaking flaws. Truth be told, I’m a cynical guy and walked into Continent of the Ninth Seal thinking I would have to force myself to play through it. Instead I found myself actually liking the gameplay, the story, and the amazing graphics. If more Free-to-play games come out like this, games with subscriptions could be a thing of the past. Is the Western market ready for C9? Honestly, I think the only issue will be getting the word out about the new kid on the block. See you in the game!

Paul "LockeColeMA" Cleveland, Staff Writer.