After his experience playing the revised Amazon Games version of Throne and Liberty, MEINMMO editor Alexander Leitsch wrote a follow up article, giving more details about the test. We already know the overall feel from the previous article, let’s dive into a more detailed explanation of the latest Throne and Liberty gameplay.
A More Dynamic Combat
During the tutorial you are given a box with all available weapons, that way you can see really quickly the changes on the combat system. The Staff skill will make you stand in place for about 2 seconds, but that’s not so crazy for a magical skill. With the crossbow you can dodge, giving you a much more dynamic sensation.
Alexander compares his experience with a Steparu video, and he assures that at every moment was more dynamic.
In general, the animations and transitions between skills also felt smoother.
Alexander Leitsch, mein-mmo editor.
The auto attack feature was present, if the targeted enemy is in range, the character automatically attack. If your character is melee, you have to move towards the enemy until you are in attack range for the auto-attack to kick in, if you are in range it attacks without your intervention.
Alexander doesn’t sees this as a big issue, since the attacks do not restrict the use of other abilities.
Autoplay
There’s not much to say about the autoplay, this feature was already deactivated.
It’s just bad game design when the MMORPG itself can complete tasks that are too boring and too easy for me.
Alexander Leitsch, mein-mmo editor.
Graphics
The general sensation of Throne and Liberty graphics is great. In Alexander’s opinion, is not at the same level of Red Dead Redemption 2 but it’s well above what most MMORPGs have to offer (sic). The surroundings look amazing, but he feels that the grass and trees could use some more details.
Transformations
Right from the start you can transform yourself into a wolf (w+shift). While in wolf form you can run faster and attacks won’t stop you. However, if you stand still even for a short time, you will go back to your original form.
The Eagle transformation will let you fly, but is more of a glide, you cannot go up. You are constantly descending and you can control relatively your speed, direction and descent.
Even after the (first?) adjustments to the combat system, Throne and Liberty is not an action MMORPG. You select targets with the tab key and your character actually performs the normal attack completely automatically, you don’t even have to press a key initially. However, the animations are smoother and a lot can now be used in motion.
Overall, my interest has increased massively due to the changes to the combat system and autoplay. The game previously sounded more like fan service for the Lineage 2 community, but now it could appeal to a broader audience. And that’s exactly what NCSoft and Amazon want, especially considering the console release. The rigid combat system from the beta would certainly not have been well received there.
Whether the changes are enough overall, I can’t say after the short time. A lot can change before the 2024 release.
Alexander Leitsch, mein-mmo editor.
Source: MeinMMO
