E3 2009: Atlus

by: John - posted: 6/4/2009 1:23:00 AM

Atlus Online is a new division of Atlus where they launched a portal in February. Making an account on Atlus Online gives you access to all the content on Atlus but there are a few things that stand out. There’s full length anime features and something really cool is that say an episode of Naruto airs in Japan. The subtitled version will appear on Atlus Online in an hour for the US folks to view. Atlus Online also currently features a Java applet that lets you draw and share pictures with others. You can even open it up to others to edit your drawings as well. But Atlus Online wasn’t the only thing I was there to see.

Neo Steam is Atlus’ free online MMORPG that’s currently in open beta. It’s a fantasy steampunk MMORPG to be exact. The steampunk theme is an interesting one and one I am glad to see Atlus utilize in the game. You can see the influences of the genre in the races, items, and environments throughout the game.

Starting out, you can be a part of two warring nations in the world. You start out creating a character from one of six races and one of four base classes which have branching subclasses as well. Each race is more suitable for one class more than another but you don’t have to stick to the recommendation.

Each character also has a pet which can be grown and used to help you out. The one I saw had a pacifier signifying that it’s a very young pet. You have to keep your pet happy by feeding it and the one nice thing is you can feed it anything. Say there’s some loot that won’t fetch you much money or you can’t use; you can give it to the pet as food. It’s a living garbage disposal for your loot. The pet can do things such as heal, steal, or fight for you.

Neo Steam is the resource that drives everything and the resource that’s fought over. As a character in the game, you get an allowance of Neo Steam every hour and you use some of the gold you earn to refill your Neo Steam supply. You’ll need to keep your supply refreshed if you want to succeed in the world.

One of the things shown to me that use Neo Steam was the balloon. The balloon lets you travel to other areas easily and quickly. Mounts available in the game also use Neo Steam to work. Whether it’s a mechanical mount like a vehicle or an animal mount like this crazy rabbit type creature I was shown, they all Neo Steam to operate.

When traveling to other areas, you can see some of the different environments available. One of the areas I viewed was changed by the pollution produced from the industrialization in the area. You’ll be traveling and seeing various different environments throughout the world. Each area though has a story of why it is the way it is making the world a little more dynamic.

For those that like to fight against others, there are PvP areas to duke it out. One such example is an arena where two can go in and fight each other. What’s nice about the arena that was shown to me was that you can watch the fight as it happens. You might even see people congregate and cheer on their favorite character.

Prestige is an important concept in Neo Steam and it shows others how good of a player you are. As you garner prestige you can earn ranks in your class. There are up to 10 ranks and each rank level will open up new items for you to use. You can even have clothing that has a crown on it signifying those around you that you have achieved a high rank. There are other items that can only be used by high ranked characters and if you see someone with one you know they’ve worked hard to get it.

Since the game is free, there are a few ways Neo Steam generates revenue. Microtransactions is one route where you pay for little items here and there. Right now roughly 700lbs is $1 of real money. There are also some tiered subscriptions available with some differences being XP bonuses and the amount of XP you lose when you die.

Neo Steam is an interesting MMORPG that looks like it has a broad appeal. Since it’s free to play anyone can jump in and try it out. Should you decide to pay for some things you can expand your experience in Neo Steam with a few dollars or a monthly subscription. Neo Steam should get out of beta state soon and if you are an MMORPG fan you owe it to yourself to try it out as there’s no money involved to get into the game.