Last friday I was invited to attend the Forsaken World Philippines press launch. We were introduced to Cubinet’s latest fantasy 3D MMORPG. We were presented with game features and whatnot as a way to present to us what Forsaken World is all about. Among it’s most notable features is the presence of the Kindred race that can only become the exclusive Vampire class.

Aside from it;s game features, we were also presented with the cash shop system which focuses more on fashion and pots rather than player advantage to those who spent money playing the game.

Currently CBT has ended and there has been no announcement yet regarding the game’s OBT. Please do stay tuned on updates regarding the game!

If you want to know more about Forsaken World you can visit the Facebook page or the game’s site.

Week Three stands for Three Kingdoms, a very famous topic for Asian MMORPGs everywhere with the warfare, the strategy, and about years of turmoil and chaos in 3^rd Century AD China. Many writers have made stories about these brave heroes, many movies, television and comics have recreated scenes (exaggerated or not), and today, we will put in three Three Kingdoms-themed Online games! (And these are legit Three Kingdoms-based games, not exactly slapping in Chinese names in random NPC’s and calling it a Three Kingdoms game.)

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a very popular theme for many Asian-inspired video games (next to the Warring States of Japan in 16th Century AD.), is based on actual events which include honor, loyalty, ambition, and lots of backstabbing and bloodthirsty fighting. Aside from the hints of a huge bias to the Shu Kingdom, these mini-reviews and experiences feature my love for history and my impatience playing all of them in order to achieve true victory in the battlefield.

Except when crossing swords with every interpretation of this guy.

Chi Bi Online (aka Red Cliff, Heroes of the Three Kingdoms)

Country of Origin: China

Genre: Historical MMORPG

Company of Origin: Beijing Perfect World

Distributors: Perfect World (Global), Cubizone (Asia)

Current Gameplay Status: Dropped

Chi Bi Online, “Chi Bi” after the scenic location in China where a famous battle took place back during the Three Kingdoms Era, is Perfect World’s attempt to make a historically themed game using the old Perfect World engine.

I’ll tell you this. When this game was still Open Beta, I have to download an installer in order to play this without any interruptions (internet is bad here at the time) and then I got this weird message that Windows was shutting down unexpectedly. Every time I try to open the installer, it just shuts me down… then again, everytime I attempt to open anything it just shuts down. I did fix it, and decided to play the game. Took about more than 2 days just to find out what is wrong with the auto-shutdowns.

Like this, only the messge in the box was more annoying like “LOL YOU HAS VIRUS”

So in this game, you get to choose two “races”: the common Yan, the people of the Han, and the Miao, representing the Nanman barbarians in the south (If you know the characters of Meng Huo and his wife Zhu Rong, these Miaos serve under them), with “Miao” being the Hmong dialect term for “free people”. Weaponry is many in this game, raging from melee, ranged weaponry, and even magical weapons which are unlocked every update.

It will give you strange impulses to create ROTK Original Characters with these beauties.

Since this is a Perfect World-made game, I’ll just be reviewing with the campaigns and not the gameplay. You know what I feel about PW’s gameplay system. But I have a problem with their EXP System where you yourself have to manually level up yourself when the green EXP Bar flashes.

The only game I know where EXP is done manually. Seriously.

Campaign battles are played slightly different from other Perfect World-titled games, since they are stage-based to match certain Three Kingdoms Battles. In other words, you fight alongside various Three Kingdoms Generals that is fitting within the scenario (sampling this is the player fighting Zhao Yun in the Zhao Yun’s Rescue Quest, and failing it when Zhao Yun gets routed by Cao Cao) and complete various tasks until the scenario ends. Though these scenarios are unlocked at a later level, and it really depends on the Kingdom you are serving in by means of reputation points.

Kingdom Heroes

Country of Origin: Taiwan

Genre: Historical MMORPG

Company of Origin: Userjoy

Distributors: AeriaGames (Global)

Current Gameplay Status: Dropped

How can a Three Kingdoms-inspired MMORPG with both naval and land battles, a pet system that replaces animals with soldiers, fricking siege wars complete with siege engines and weapons, and a kingdom-wide battle system, end up being a bit boring and forgettable at the same time?

This game has faced a lot of problems containing dated graphics, incredibly horrible translations, a laggy server whenever fighting in said grand-scale siege battles, and a very slow, draggy beginning level-up that do take forever to at least get through the more interesting parts of the game. I think that’s the problem with some Three Kingdoms-based games: They want to stall you before they give you the really good parts that History has brought us!

On seconds thought… boats!

The GMS and friends system weren’t helping much either, and guilds are possibly the only way you can ensure victory to the kingdom you serve. Between you and me, I’m not a competitive person (I’m more completist, actually). If you guys do love Mass-scaled PVP games complete with naval battles and siege weapons, it’s a pretty decent game, but I warn you of the really terrible (and confusing) lags and translations.

And yes, I am aware of TS Online, but I didn’t play the Philippine server version nor understood TS Online 2 because I was too late.

Dynasty Warriors BB (aka Dynasty Warriors Online)

Country of Origin: Japan

Genre: Tactical-Action MMORPG

Company of Origin: Koei-Tecmo

Distributors: AeriaGames (Global)

Current Gameplay Status: Playing

Well, folks. Your Koei fanatic appears with Dynasty Warriors Online, a famous Koei MMO based on the “hack and slash” game of the same name.

I did wait for this since its Japanese release on 2005, and it started as a Pay-to-play game, but it did grew into the “free with item mall” format that still exist today. Yeah, every young Koei fanatic has its dream to get the hands on this Japanese-only game at the time. And I’ve been watching videos of those lucky enough to understand Japanese and posted their gameplay videos. But it was a simple time where the PS3 has yet to be released and their latest Warriors game was Dynasty Warriors 5.

5 years later, AeriaGames, a MMO Company that distributed a few pretty decent titles such as Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine, Twelve Sky 2, and Shaiya, has announced the release of Dynasty Warriors Online in English and accessible to players around the world.

Well, it’s wasn’t much, since Koei’s games were already past the PS2 Era that the game’s engine provided. No Renbus, no EX Modes, no weapon shifts in-game, those types.

The game is pretty simple: You make a character; choose which force among Wu, Wei, or Shu you like to join and maybe later which Dynasty Warriors character you want to serve. Then you participate in stage-based battles against other players from an opposing faction in order to gain Honor. The more Honor points you have, the more you are entitled to take a Promotion test. Pass it by killing a number of enemies, take a couple of bases by fulfilling whatever challenge the base gives you, and later on fight against your favorite Dynasty Warriors character and get promoted in rank in order to fight tougher, more difficult, and more rewarding battles. Yes, level numbers are replaced with soldier ranks!

But that does not stop the players to wait in the ever-dragging waiting room for allies and opponents.

Battles were also pretty different in this game, from a weekly Campaign mode which consists of 24 players battling against another faction in exchange for territory, to a more common melee mode where 4 players fight against four other players in a rival faction using the power of motives and objectives:

• Capture - Capture all the enemy bases, or all the bases on the battlefield
• Defeat - Defeat the certain number of troops in the time limit
• Confront - Defeat 10 enemy players
• Search - Bring 10 pieces of treasure back to one of your bases or supply base

Long story short, it is a Dynasty Warriors game (Most likely similar to Destiny Mode in the early Xtreme Legends expansion packs) only you can play it… ONLINE! Yeah I got nothing.

Tune in… after Toycon (since I’ll be busy with digital art school this week) when we will be doing some cute cartoony-based games (that are incredibly playable, mind you.)

… with more cute.

The axe she’s holding is the Heracle’s Axe which you can get in BOI. I liked how they delivered the joke because it was smooth– (it was almost slick but it felt rough- the editing that is). Still it made me chuckle a lot. Just imagine, you get a girl in skirt and heels shoving an axe in your face just because you were stealing her cab.

Now that sounded worse in my head–

Here’s a part of the official statement.

However, all good things must come to an end, and we regret to inform the Casvian community that after over a year of service, Casvian Philippines will be shutting down on March 18, 2011 (11:00AM) due to license agreement issues.

Cubizone Philippines

• 280 Cubits

Account migration seems to have ended last month so it’s too late for current Casvian players who have not migrated to get their cubits anymore. Those who have been able to migrate will get their cubits insertion this coming April.

Yesterday afternoon we were invited to take part in the official press launch of Cubinet’s latest and first ever full blown MMORPG. The Philippine arm of game publisher Cubizone has presented to us Battle of Immortals (BOI, Battle of the Immortals for the international server) a beautiful 2.5D Isometric MMORPG.

I personally got the chance to play the game. I must say that BOI is the “cooler” version of Supreme Destiny (in the Philippines) and it’s international counterpart With Your Destiny (WYD). The game’s currently on Closed Beta Test (CBT) stage and I must say that the game does need to fix a lot of things however the core gameplay is there and it’s solid enough to be enjoyed by anyone.

Here’s more info about BOI:

Game Overview

• Battle of the Immortals is a 2.5D MMOG. Inspired by Norse, Greek, Egyptian and Chinese Mythology. This fantasy based game gives players a game world rich in content and depth. The game offers players an abundant choices in customization in terms of their character’s development, the game’s rich pet system as well as the diverse mount system.

  Other features include a player-dedicated market, the guild system, the quest system (which provides more opportunities for character growth) as well as game content available in both instances and open-world areas.

  Character enacted emoticons, the realm of Love and “multi-channel chat” are just some examples of the many social elements available within the game.

  BOI is a game that has something to offer to everyone.

To know more about the game you can go visit these sites:

• http://www.facebook.com/phboi
• http://www.phboi.ph
• http://www.cubiclub.ph/

Cubinet, the Philippine arm of international game distributor Cubizone has realized it’s first full-blown MMORPG, Battle of Immortals. The company is preparing for it’s Closed Beta Test(CBT). No date has been released yet but we’re keeping an eye on it so watch out for more news about the game here!

Game Overview:

Battle of Immortals [or BOI] is a 2.5D MMOG. Inspired by Norse, Greek, Egyptian and Chinese Mythology, this fantasy based game gives players a game world rich in content and depth. The game offers players an abundant choices in customization in terms of their character’s development, the game’s rich pet system as well as the diverse mount system.

Other features include a player-dictated market, the guild system, the quest system [which provides more opportunities for growth than simple grinding] as well as game content available in both instances and open-world areas.

The wedding system as well as the Realm of Love are just some examples of the many social elements available within the game.

Story:

The realm of Motenia is still covered in war and chaos even though Ragnarok ended more than three centuries before. Grasping for any signs of peace and safety, the Goddess of Fate looked into the future in an attempt to guide the mortals of Motenia. But her efforts were rewarded by visions of an even greater disaster. A man called the “Dragon Emperor” would rise from his prison and usher in a new era of mayhem.

In the past, the Dragon Emperor was infamous for his tyrannical and brutal regime. And for someone so loathed, there was no shortage of those who would see him deposed. The Dragon Emperor was busy quelling one rebellion after another. In time, one such group of elven rebels, known as the Witches of the Millennium, were successful in their attempt. Using ancient magic, they were able to seal the Dragon Emperor and his entire army in stone.

The Goddess of Fate believed that the Dragon Emperor would soon free himself and his army from the curse of stone. Soon after his liberation, the world would be laid to waste. And so begins the summoning of great heroes and the search for powerful artifacts. The formation of an army that would withstand the might of the Dragon Emperor.

Welcome to the Battle of Immortals!

Here’s the list of activities of Cubizone for October!

Greetings Cubizens we are glad to announce the “STEPS Evolution and Battle of Destiny Free Play and Mini Tournament” Schedule for October 2010.

TOURNAMENTS:

Battle of Destiny: First Blood, Newbie character PVP Tournament

STEPS Evolution: It’s SHOW Time 4K Show Mode (100-140BPM)

Experience a fun-filled gaming experience with Cubizone Philippines casual games just for free!

Attendees will receive a free ID lace and DVD Installers of both games while supplies last.

See you there!

As a preparation for the game’s newest and biggest patch, Steps Evolution, Cubizone will be having a live tournament for players next saturday, September 25. Here’s the schedule and the other information regarding the event:

Where: Purple Bucks Internet Cafe
Address: Ground Floor, Anonas Complex Quezon City
When: September 25, 2010 (11:00AM – 7:00PM)
Registration: (11:00AM – 3:00PM)
Tournament Time: 3:00 PM – Onwards

MECHANICS

1. The game will be individual.
2. The game mode will be on SHOW MODE “4K/8K SHOW”
   • The show mode introduces a SHOW TIME bar.
   • Every time you get a “COOL” and a “PERFECT” the bar will be filled little by little.
   • Each bar corresponds to a number that will multiply your score starting from X2 up to X4.
   • To use the SHOWTIME BAR all you need to do is to press SHIFT.
   • After you use the SHOWTIME BAR your succeeding scores will be multiplied. You will gain higher scores for the next set of STEPS. Afterward the bar will be reset.
   • You need to use your personal strategy and timing for when to use the SHOW TIME Bar.
   • You can fill it up again by doing “COOL” and a “PERFECT” moves.
   • Some dazzling visual effects will appear every time you use the SHOWTIME BAR [Don't let this distract you!]
   • The player with the highest score at the end of the game wins.









3. 1.The song that we are going to use is based on the GM’s discretion though the BPM will range from 100 – 140 BPM for 4 Key Competition while we will use 130 and Above BPM for 8Key Competition.
4. 1.Depending on the number of players. There will be eliminations per leg until there are three players left.

FINAL ROUND ELIMINATIONS

• Race to 3 Wins! – With 3 Players left the first participant who wins thrice [3x] during the round will be the winner. The person who wins twice [2x] will be the 2nd place winner while the other one will be the 3rd place winner.
• If the scenario above is not possible. There will be a sudden death battle for the 2nd place and 3rd place winner.

RULES:

• The players will be asked to put on their headphones 1 minute before the game starts.
• The song and BPM will be chosen by the STEPS GM.
• The decision of the Cubizone Team is indisputable and final.
• Prizes and Mechanics may be subject to change without prior notice.
• You cannot ask us to transfer you in-game item prize to any other characters.
• A Player can join both category however he/she needs to pay another registration fee is he/she to be able to join the other category.
• In case a player who participated and won both category. He or she can only receive the highest amount of prize. ( e.g You won as a 2nd place in the 8k and won as the 1st place in the 4key. Hence you will only receive the prizes for the 4key since it’s higher and will only be declared as the 4k Champion).
• The ranks will be moved and there will be a sudden death round or bonus round in order to fill in and adjust the rankings.

ON-SITE REGISTRATION:

4K and 8K Tournament:

• 50 Unused Cubicards

This includes:

• 1 STEPS or BOD ID Lace
• 1 DVD Installer
• 2 STEPS Posters
• 1 Raffle entry. A chance to win TSHIRTS and rare in-game STEPS in-game items.

PRIZES:

8 Key Competition

1st Place:

• 1000 Cubicards
• Cigarette x 1 30 Days
• Rare Clothes Pack content of your choice
• STEPS Tshirts and a Special Certificate

2nd Place:

• 500 Cubicards
• Pet of your choice (Except LE/Gold/Points pets)
• Limited Edition STEPS Tshirt and a Special Certificate

3rd Place:

• 350 Cubicards
• Wings/Back Costume of your choice (30 Days)
• Limited Edition STEPS Tshirt and a Special Certificate

4 Key Competition

1st Place:

• 1000 Cubicards
• Cigarette x 1 30 Days
• Top, Bottom, Hair and Shoes (30 Days)
• STEPS Tshirts and a Special Certificate

2nd Place:

• 500 Cubicards
• Pet of your choice (Except LE/Gold/Points pets)
• Limited Edition STEPS Tshirt from Cubizone Philippines and Special Certificate

3rd Place:

• 350 Cubicards
• Wings/Back costume of your choice 30days
• Limited Edition STEPS Tshirt from Cubizone Philippines and Special Certificate

HOW TO GET HERE?

Good luck and enjoy the event!

I just got word from the people at Cubizone that they’ll be releasing an update for their rhythm game Steps, this coming September 28 at 12:00 pm. The update, titled Steps Evolution, would provide game changes that’s been said to provide more eye-candy goodness for those loyal to the MMOG.

Steps Evolution features include:

Here are game screenshots: