It looks like we’ll be seeing faction-based gameplay in Cloud Nine. The game is divided into two factions, Ganav Libero and Primus Union. Players are asked to select their faction of choice before accessing the character page. Take note, Cloud Nine permanently locks your faction once selected. All created characters will stay in one faction alone. It’s one way to prevent “spies,” but there’s always the chance of creating a new account to gain access to the other faction. In any case, be sure to pick your faction wisely. Reselecting a faction can only be done if you’re willing to wipe out all your characters and re-do everything from scratch. I’m surprised though that the game didn’t add racial wars too. The game has three races, with the first two coming from the first Holic game: Seneka, Koshare and Matsuka. Other than a mere aesthetic, the three races have nothing special in them. No special abilities, racial penalties or bonuses, or even race-locked classes. Story-wise, it’s a shame that both Cloud Nine and Holic 2 did not play the typical racial-war plotline. It would’ve been more plausible-sounding than forming factions all of a sudden.

Classes are divided into six: Warrior, Hunter, Monk, Rogue, Mage and Cleric. Players of the first Holic game will be extremely familiar with these classes. We’ll also be seeing the return of the dual-class system. Taken from the first game, this system can let your character switch jobs at any place and time. However, this doubles the grind time, since you’re technically handling two different jobs in one character. There’s really nothing new to expect in character building. Everything from the first Holic game is still present in the sequel. It would’ve been nice to tweak the leveling system a bit, or added more quests to aid in leveling both jobs. Sadly, none of those happened. As a consolation to the long grinds, Cloud Nine nerfed the class switching system. In Holic, players were able to access almost all of the sub-classes. Cloud Nine, however, only allows one sub-class per character.

The map is very much disappointing as well. Most of the general starting areas were taken from the original game. I was hoping for some variety. But aside from a different starting point than the first game, I particularly saw little difference from when I left Holic. There were old and new monsters, for some sense of nostalgia. But as far as the setting is concerned, Cloud Nine is walking on crutches of the old Holic. It would’ve been better if the game had a different map; or major changes on the familiar map that signified a major story change as the sequel launched. Even the dungeons were a disappointment. Holic Online had this customizable dungeon system that gave players the freedom to define certain difficulty settings. Why doesn’t Cloud Nine have this amazing system? To be honest, dungeon customizing was the only feature that attracted me to Holic Online. If Cloud Nine was a direct sequel, this feature shouldn’t have been trashed. Instead, we get bland and straightforward dungeons. It will always be filled with regular mobs, and the boss monster will always be surrounded by four elite monsters. The boss and elite mobs will just be idly standing in some corner until such time a character attacks. The previous Holic had roaming boss monsters! Where was this? Has the monster AI been decreased to a standard lower than the previous game?

To compensate for the many mistakes this game has, Cloud Nine offers more of the typical MMORPG features. Tradeskills are now available, such as harvesting and mining. Crafting is now possible; which also means wider choices for weapons and armor. The game has also added an auction house, a means to ease the pain and long-AFK hours of traders posting up their shops. Monster transformation is a new feature for the game. Players can now use items that turn them into monsters. Naturally, the player is vulnerable to attacks from others, considering the monster state he’s in. Plus, there’s a monster card collection for compulsive collectors. Mounts have returned; some of which were also lifted from the previous game.

Like I said from a couple of paragraphs back, Cloud Nine is walking on the crutches of the old Holic game. The graphics haven’t changed at all from the first game. I admit that the colors are vibrant and the environment is huge and pleasing. But it’s in the ambience that the appeal wears off after spending some time in the game. The sounds are still the same old melodic or upbeat tunes that induce some degree of LSS in it (thank you, mute button!). With the nerfs, additions, and similarities from the first game, it’s best to think that Cloud Nine is just some major patch update to Holic Online… only with more mistakes than the usual. Give this one a pass, unless you’re feeling really nostalgic from that long lost Holic game.

Review Mister Black
October 27, 2009