Pre-View: RIFT

Hey all, Little Miss Squish here. Today, I wanted to do some different things. First, I wanted to give a shoutout to an awesome blog, Silly Geth Productions (Link Here) that comments on current game news and such. Please go check it out, the blog's really good! :D

Second, I'm doing a... pre-game review of RIFT. It sounds weird, and frankly I'm not sure what to call it, so I'll just stick to pre-view, since it's easier to swallow. I'm not going to be following my usual format of reviews, since some of the sections I usually cover are unavailable to me at this time. Expect a long post since there's a LOT of information to cover. But it's good info, so stay with me! :D So, here we go!



Basic Information
Title: RIFT
Publisher: Trion Worlds
Release Date: unannounced
Currently: will be in Open Beta Tuesday, February 15th. I'm eagerly awaiting.
http://www.riftgame.com/en/index.php
Judgements So Far: SIGN ME UP BITCH.

*Note*: Some of the info might not be correct. This is more speculation on my account than anything because I haven't played the game yet. That shall change February 15th!

Alright, where to start. I had first heard of RIFT when I had seen one of their advertisements with a video, so on and so forth. It was pretty, but didn't really draw me in too much. That was a few months ago. Maybe about a month or so ago, saw the advertisement again and saw something I didn't see before (or at least remember seeing): the game's tagline of "You're not in Azeroth anymore."
Stop the show.

SERIOUSLY?! That's probably THE most hilarious thing I'd heard of and it made me check out the game 'cause, frankly, if a game claims to not be part of the WoW universe (or, imply that it was beyond what WoW does) then I needed to check this shit out. Fast. I checked it out, thought it was an interesting-sounding game and put it on the backburner as I quickly returned to WoW. Two days ago I received an email invitation to try the OB client this Tuesday. I thought it was strange but checked out the website, 'cause it sounded familiar, and really started looking at everything. This game sounds really, really good and I'd probably drop WoW for it in a heartbeat. Let's start from the basics and work our way down, I guess.

RIFT is a faction-based, PvPvE game (I believe it's PvPvE, either on the entire server or just certain maps, but either way, it's got PvP elements). I was telling a friend about the game and he said it "Sounds like WoW but a little different." In some aspects yes, in some, no. Honestly, so many games now seem like WoW-copies 'cause WoW is so well-known and had created a good structure for systems like that. With RIFT, it's a little different. There is no clear-cut "good" or "evil" faction. There's the Guardians (akin to Alliance, for WoW-followers) who are the world's "light" that fight against the impending "darkness", sort of like Crusaders or Paladins. They're the holy, pure, blessed group. But some have turned away from the Guardians, who believe that the gods have abandoned them and have decided to make their own miralces and fate. They are the Defiant. They're a bit darker than the Allia-- I mean Guardians, especially using and developing forbidden technologies, but are ultimately working to fight off invading forces. In my opinion, they sound like two means to the same end, and neither is "wrong" or "right."

There are three races for either faction, with noted "advantages" and "disadvantages" to playing different races, according to the website. For the Guardians, there are (not surprisingly) Dwarves, High Elves, and Mathosian (aka Humans); for the Defiant, there are Bahmi (which look like spiritual shamanistic people), Eth (which are also Humans, who live in the desert), and Kelari (um, they're Elves, but not quite High Elves. They're more like evolved-to-be-different Elves). It's good to point out here that a lot of the races are really the same race just, er, mutated forms of the original, which makes faction dynamics interesting, in my opinion. I'm curious to see what these "dis/advantages" are the website mentions.

But I'm sure you're thinking, 'LMS! What is this impending, evil, invading force you keep talking about!' Well, the world of Telara is protected by a mystical, energetic veil that has, lately, been not completely successful in protecting Telara. Tears--and later, Rifts-- in the veil allow invaders to enter Telara and attempt to make the planet their own. These invaders are of different elemental planes (earth, water, fire, air, life, and death) and the creatures and environment that come out of these Rifts reflect the elemental plane that's invading.

The graphics of the game are truly astounding. All of the videos (with the exception of the CG trailer) are nothing but in-game graphics and content, which is ridiculous. Here is a video of real in-game footage:

All of that is in-game graphics. It looks really detailed, pretty, and well-designed. Move over WoW and hello RIFT! By now, I'm sure you're wondering what sort of Priestly content there is, what draws healers have. Well, ladies and gentlemen, there are a LOT. To start, you choose from one of four basic archetypes (for the blog, we'll focus on the Cleric archetype, though there are sections within the others that allow for healing). From there, as you level up, you have the ability to collect and attune to various souls of warriors of Telara's past, giving you the ability to unlock spells, skills, and so on from different sub-classes (I'm not sure if they're different classes entirely or if they're really just sub-classes; they're listed on the site in a sub-class style). The archetype you choose will determine what souls and abilities you can attune to and by the end of the game (I believe level 50), you can attune to three different souls simultaneously. For the Cleric, there are seven different sub-classes to choose from (There is another "coming soon" one, but there's no info listed as of this post): Purifier "Purifiers dedicate themselves to mastering the healing properties of fire, and as such are potent support Clerics who can burn away disease and instantly cauterize the most horrific wounds." It looks like they specialize in fire-based healing and some offensive fire spells. The heals sound like they stop potential bleed effects and heal wounds. Against melee fighters, they don't fare as well. Inquisitor "An Inquisitor is a potent one-on-one combatant who specializes in mixing life and death magic, stealing their opponent's greatest strengths and making it their own." Uses life and death magic as well as melee combat, it seems. They aren't as effective at healing as other healing-specific specializations but offer a combination of offensive and defensive skills. Justicar "A Justicar’s healing comes from damage dealt in close combat. Thus he can survive and thrive in the thick of the fighting while ensuring his allies do the same." Someone who can attack AND heal? Sounds promising. My originality-doubting friend commented that the Justicar seems overpowered and I'll admit while it does sound that way on paper, I don't imagine the healing done by the Justicar to be THAT great, at least on par with other healing specializations. Still, it sounds like a great option for off-tanks and off-healers. Honestly, it sounds more like a Warrior specialization, but I appreciate that Clerics have the option for offense. Sentinel "Sentinels are defensive clerics who excel at group support. Their divine powers aid the weak and ensure that everyone in their group lives through the fray." The basic-of-basic healer for raids and dungeons, from the sounds of it. While they gain massive defense, they have troubles doing offense, which can be a problem in PvP situations. However, if you're strictly doing healing, offense-output shouldn't be your priority.  Shaman "A Shaman strikes hard and fast like the fury of a winter storm. He can quickly close into melee and unleash powerful blows fueled by muscle and magic." Similar to the WoW component, the Shaman is capable of more offense than defense/healing. They can't heal as well as other Cleric specializations and might have some problems with PvP if against a defense-oriented player. Warden "Echoing the soothing ebb and flow of the tides, Wardens specialize in slow healing that escalates over time, making them ideal for prolonged fights that would exhaust most healers. The Warden excels at slowly stacking powerful healing energies on their allies." I'm not quite sure WHAT to make of this class. It sounds like HoTs mostly and stacked-healing abilities. I don't know how useful it would be as main-heals in a raid, but they probably would be good for off-heals or long-lasting-fight healer. Druid "Druids are melee Clerics who forge bonds with Fae creatures, strengthening their bodies, minds, and spirits by drawing upon the magical energies of their companions."
I thought this class would be more Mage-oriented, given the usual casting capabilities associated with Druids, but I was pleasantly surprised to read that they're melee-oriented Clerics. They sound like a WoW Warlocks or Hunters in that they fight with a pet, but are more geared toward damaging others themselves. Do they fight with a literal pet or summon forces of a Fae to empower them? Not sure, but they sound really interesting.

There are a LOT of other things I can cover, but I will wait until OB on Tuesday to really see what RIFT has to offer. It sounds like a great game so far and I'm thoroughly impressed.