So, I just got home and my plans to jump right into Aion: Tower of Eternity have been temporarily put on hold while I wait in a queue to get into my chosen server. Right now the wait time is sitting at 22 minutes, but it said something similar about 10 minutes ago, and when the number changes it's not always moving in the right direction. Anyhow, since I can't play just yet I figured I'd post an early impressions-style reviews blog entry about the game. And, since I'm having some trouble accessing the reviews blog right now, it's gonna end up here instead - at least for the moment.

In case you're unfamiliar with Aion, it's a new MMO from NCSoft that's been available in Korea for a while, but which officially goes live here in North America tomorrow. I preordered the game several weeks ago, so I was able to get in on the "headstart" launch that went live at noon yesterday. After seven or eight hours of play I'm still only level 12, but I'm starting to get a good feel for where the game is headed I think, and so far I'm liking it a lot. And here's why, in an easily-digestible bullet point format:

• Character Creation
  Aion's character creation tools are extremely powerful - like, EA Sports powerful. Sure, you can just pick a head, a body, and a hairstyle if you don't really care for this stuff, but if you want to recreate Pygar from the movie Barbarella, you have the option to tinker with just about every facial feature imaginable. The flipside of the character editor is that it gives you the freedom to make unrealistically proportioned characters with, for example, heads that are far too small for their bodies, or with tree-trunk arms and legs bolted onto a puny torso. Save for some presumably PVP-minded players opting for the tiniest character they can come up with, though, most people appear to be opting for something that at least resembles a human being.
• The Launch
  Perhaps it's not surprising given that the game is already out in Korea, but queues aside, Aion's launch has been an incredibly smooth one thus far. I was able to get into the game around 10 minutes after the announced midday start time, and although I was disconnected about 10 minutes later, I've experienced no problems since. With new players descending on the starter areas like a swarm of hungry locusts, content was getting devoured quicker than it could respawn, but getting quests completed was rarely a problem.
• Combat
  So far the assassin that I've spent most of my time playing as is a lot of fun - somewhat similar to a rogue in World of Warcraft, but with less emphasis on stealth. There doesn't appear to be a combo system as such, at least not in the WoW-rogue sense, but you can chain attacks together and, rather than having to map every move to a different button, every move in a chain is mapped to the same button. So, for example, after I perform my "Swift Edge" attack, I then use the same button to perform a "Soul Slash" and, when I reach level 22, I'll be able to press it a third time for a Rune Slash. It's been done before, but after sinking so much time into WoW and into organizing dozens of different buttons, it's a feature that I very much appreciate.
• The Visuals
  Even if I end up posting a dozen of these blogs before I'm ready to write a full review of Aion, I think I'll find it tricky to ever do so without mentioning how great it looks. The aesthetic is somewhat similar to that of Guild Wars, but with superior animation and the CryEngine under the hood. I posted some new screenshots, taken on my relatively modest home PC, to the gamespace today - definitely worth checking out.
• Flying
  Perhaps the most unique thing about Aion is that, from level 10 onwards, your character has angel-like wings that you can use to fly. Initially, you can only sustain flight for one minute, but my understanding is that increases as you level up. Also, you can only fly in certain zones, which seems a little odd, but is necessary so that you don't just bypass enemies and stuff completely.
• Gathering & Crafting
  Although I've trained as a weaponsmith, I've yet to spend much time crafting - there are a lot of materials that need to be purchased in order to work with metals it seems, and I came close to bankrupting myself long before I was able to craft a simple steel dagger. Gathering is interesting in that, rather than having to train in order to learn how to pick things up off the ground, everyone can do it. So, providing you take the time to pick flowers and fruit early on, you'll find that you're able to mine iron and gather other higher-level resources later on. Bag space is an ever-present concern, of course, but these things seemingly stack in massive numbers (I have 110 of one resource right now), you get big bags (known as "cubes" in-game), and there's a bank/warehouse system with both character-specific slots and account slots that can be accessed by all of your characters on the same server. I'm a pack-rat by nature, so bag space is always a "thing" for me, but right now it's not taking up nearly as much of my time in Aion as it always has in WoW.

And, with that it looks like I'm ready to get back into the game. Be sure to go and check out those screenshots, and expect more Aion coverage from me in the near future.

Cheers

Question: Randy, one question has weighed on the minds of WWE fans for years: Why are you so damn angry ?

Answer: Look at what's happened to me during my career. I've always been on the main-event scene, always been chasing the title, but people-whether it's a GM or Triple H - keep getting in my way and giving me the short end of the stick. I'm not as angry as i used to be, though; I'm very happy right now, actually. The IED was obviously a hoax. I needed something to blame my anger on. Now that i am WWE Champion again, everybody knows that we are in the Age of Orton. But if anyone gets in my way, my anger will flare up, and I'll lash out and do what i need to do.

Question: With all due respect, how does someone as high-strung as you unwind at the end of the day ?

Answer: When i come home, the first thing i do before anything else is kiss my wife and roll around on the floor with my baby girl. That relaxes the hell out of me.

Question: Wow, we thought you'd say that you pummel a Triple H effigy. Is The Game still Public Enemy No. 1 for you ? And do you think you've earned the same distinction fromhim ?

Answer: Yes and yes. After what i did to his wife, father-in-law, brother-in-law, and even his friend Shawn Michaels earlier in my career, he'll never be able to forgive me. Whather we're on the same show or not, we're always going to bump heads. There's going to be a fight when we run into each other.

Question: In past interviews, you've discussed your early training in Ohio Valley Wrestling. While there, you felt you were the least likely talent on the roaster to succeed. Were you told that by trainers, or was it just an extreme lack of confidence ?

Answer: When i first got down there, I hadn't receive a lot of training. I remember throwing my first dropkick and barely getting above my opponent's knees. Everyone was looking around thinking, "Are you kidding me?" Basically, i had the job because my dad my grandfather and my uncle were all wrestlers.I was a legacy. So i had a tough time starting out. I was around guys like Brock Lesner, John Cena, Shelton Benjamin. Everywhere i looked there were Al-Americans and Olympians, including strongmen like Mark Henry. I was 20 years old and out of shape. I couldn't do anything. Guess i turned out to be a natural.

The past few days have been great! A few weeks ago I managed to get three games for $10 each! The games were "The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning", "Spyro: A Hero's Tail", and "Drill Dozer".

Drill Dozer's been beaten for quite a while, but I'm still working on the Spyro games, though I think I'm almost done with A New Beginning which means I can go get The Eternal Night soon.

Screw what Gamespot says about the "The Legend of Spyro" series, they're freakin brilliant and fun!

I also went and picked up my pre-ordered copy of "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness" this Wednesday. It's really fun and just as addicting as Red Reescue Team was.

Thursday I also went and used a Gamestop coupon and got "Enchanted Arms". That RPG is awesome, though I really wish the battles weren't random*hates random battles*.

Lessens my Wish List at least and expands my collection, though with me every game I get adds three more to my Wish List, XD.