Aion: The Tower of Eternity

There's not much to say about the strictly conventional classes, which break four standard archetypes (scout, warrior, mage and priest) into eight entirely predictable and sensible specialisations. The chance to hybridise your class comes with the Stigma system later in the game, but for now there seems little wrong with what's on offer, beyond perhaps the slightly lumpy delivery of new skills and one or two cases (the two Scouts, Ranger and Assassin, for example) where one specialisation seems better-developed than the other.

In most areas, Aion proves to be a game that's been fine-tuned for progression without undue angst - this is no Final Fantasy XI, or early-days Lineage II - but without undue ease either. Levelling is fast, but it's not necessarily easy. Quests are ample, but sometimes involve arduous, low-drop-rate grinds. Even crafting balances a generous work order system (which makes it possible to level up crafting skills without gathering or buying tons of materials) with exacting requirements for making items to keep or sell, and the risk of failure with every item you craft.

For an easy life, Aion is probably best played in a duo or small group, although on the beta servers there doesn't seem to be a culture of random grouping, with determined soloing the order of the day. There's a great sense of life though, helped in part by the fact you can plant your character down on a stool and leave it as an open, personal shop for others to buy from, with your choice of message displayed. The resulting crowds of hawking merchants around points of interest are a distant echo of Ultima Online's bustling heyday.

But most of this is a matter of tuning and taste, and there can be no doubt that NCsoft's Korean developers, in tandem with the NCsoft West's localisation teams, have left the barren and flavourless grinding of the Lineage games far, far behind them. With its colourful and atmospheric environments, captivating bestiary, and occasionally rough but chewy and nourishing questing, Aion recalls no more nor less than the early days of original, pre-expansion World of Warcraft, and there are many who won't see that as a bad thing. As an RPG, it has already proven its worth.

As an MMO? That remains to be seen. Aion's serious dungeons and player-on-player combat don't reveal themselves early in the game, and its unique selling point - the early and integral power of flight, and winged combat - is rather undersold to begin with, with questing zones in the teens mostly ruling it out after your first level-10 flirtation with the air. The same can be said of the Stigma system, arguably the most original facet of Aion's RPG system. If Aion seems a little conventional and characterless up to level 20, that's most likely because it hasn't really begun to show its true character yet.

But it has shown its foundations, and they are considered, solidly built, carefully designed, and sunk deep in hard-won experience. They're also dressed in some starkly beautiful artwork and a surprisingly well-realised world. Later phases of the beta will show us more, but for now it's clear that Aion has done enough to give itself the best possible chance of success.