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Its individual gameplay elements shine, but overall it feels unpolished | CBT Review - Revelation M
3K View2023-11-27
✨Overview
Revelation M, also known as Revelation: Infinite Journey or Revelation: New World in other regions, is a MMORPG mobile game and an adaptation of the well-known global IP - Revelation Online - one of the most popular MMOs in Asia. After being released in areas such as SEA earlier this year, the global version, now titled Revelation M, is currently in closed beta testing, with a server open for the NA (North America) region.
📖Story and Premise
📖Story and Premise
Set in a breathtaking fantasy world with a focus on the skies and seas, Revelation M casts players as new adventurers embarking on a journey of exploration, discovery, and adventure. You are an upcoming applicant to the Adventurer’s Association aboard a ship headed to Sulan City. The game starts right before the ship docks as you prepare to enter Sulan Harbor and participate in the upcoming Recruitment Trials for the Association. Honestly, the premise is interesting and reminds me of countless anime coming-of-age-style stories where the character finds himself on his first steps towards reaching his lifelong dream.
🎨Graphics and Art Style
🎨Graphics and Art Style
Revelation M excels in the visual department, offering breathtaking graphics comparable to AAA console games. The open-world environment is simply impressive, with aesthetically pleasing and vibrant landscapes that enhance the immersive experience — complete with day/night cycle and weather effects. Looking at the landscape is entertaining in itself and they really sell the exploration of the skies and seas angle very well. The game's art design is gorgeous, capturing the essence of a dreamish-like fantasy world. From character designs to environmental details, a lot of it looks tantalizing and definitely pleasing to the eyes.
🎮Gameplay
🎮Gameplay
To start off, Revelation M boasts an extensive character customization system, allowing players to fine-tune every aspect of their avatar, including gender, appearance, and class. The available classes, such as Swordmage, Occultist, Paladin, Blademaster, and Spiritshaper, provide diverse gameplay experiences.
Revelation M follows the typical free-to-play Action MMORPG format on the mobile platform. A game where you can do a lot of things aside from the main story; from taking on endless dungeons and missions, joining guilds, 20 vs 20 arenas, or perhaps engaging in realistic jobs as a musician, cook, singer, or even fashion designer. Each profession offers unique activities and quests, honestly, this game packs a lot of things.
⚔️Combat and Controls
Revelation M follows the typical free-to-play Action MMORPG format on the mobile platform. A game where you can do a lot of things aside from the main story; from taking on endless dungeons and missions, joining guilds, 20 vs 20 arenas, or perhaps engaging in realistic jobs as a musician, cook, singer, or even fashion designer. Each profession offers unique activities and quests, honestly, this game packs a lot of things.
⚔️Combat and Controls
The combat system is highly kinetic; lots of skills to use, a dodge mechanic, and visual clutter that fills the screen with special effects which can make it hard to see all the action. Movement is also a bit clunky too. Nevertheless, the game features well-designed camera work that provides players with control flexibility. There different kinds of settings for camera and targeting caters to allows for varying degrees of controls; Personally, the auto-setting for both the camera controls and targeting system worked well for my playstyle, so I stuck with it. The controls are a little hit or miss and could use some more optimization regarding touch control accuracy, as I’ve had my fair share of ghost touches and misinputs.
The auto-battle system provides an option for more passive gameplay, allowing characters to automatically engage in combat without direct player input. While this feature facilitates grinding for experience and materials, it may raise concerns about the level of player involvement in key aspects of the game.
📺Presentation / Early Impressions
The auto-battle system provides an option for more passive gameplay, allowing characters to automatically engage in combat without direct player input. While this feature facilitates grinding for experience and materials, it may raise concerns about the level of player involvement in key aspects of the game.
📺Presentation / Early Impressions
The initial presentation is very charming, introducing me to a beautiful world that feels utopic in some sense; however, the action is very few and far between. I played for a couple of hours, and I only encountered a little combat for the first hour or two of play. Most of my early experiences were a series of cutscenes, plus running, interacting with, and following NPCs, and the pacing is really very slow. Although after that, it only gets better as you start to experience more combat and gameplay elements.
While the narrative is promising, the delivery is anything but. The English translation is still spotty which is reportedly a similar experience with the SEA version, and the voice acting sounds like placeholder computer-generated lines for now, with the lines being sped up too much or being cut too quickly. This doesn’t help, especially since this comprises the bulk of what you’ll see and experience in the early game. There's a need for something to hook players, and so far, this element is lacking. I wasn’t invested in the seemingly interesting story underneath all the clunkiness in presentation.
⏫Progression / Monetization
While the narrative is promising, the delivery is anything but. The English translation is still spotty which is reportedly a similar experience with the SEA version, and the voice acting sounds like placeholder computer-generated lines for now, with the lines being sped up too much or being cut too quickly. This doesn’t help, especially since this comprises the bulk of what you’ll see and experience in the early game. There's a need for something to hook players, and so far, this element is lacking. I wasn’t invested in the seemingly interesting story underneath all the clunkiness in presentation.
⏫Progression / Monetization
Game progression is initially tied to the main story, guiding players through quests and helping them understand the game mechanics. The auto-pathing system and auto-battle feature streamline the gameplay for those who’d rather avoid the running, and walking, but some players may find the early progression to be slow due to the narrative-centric focus; although they can also skip the cutscenes and dialogues if they wish so.
As players advance, the game introduces various skills, professions, and activities, adding depth to the overall experience. Gear is also looted, plus upgraded and augmented with gems. Leveling is kinda fast and the enemies die too easily for the first few hours. However, there's a noticeable shift in resource availability later in the game, potentially making it challenging for non-paying players to compete, especially in DPS classes. So if you’re planning to play this game long term, there is some pressure to spend money on these in-game purchases, as character progression can be directly affected, making it a P2W game.
📊Technical Performance
As players advance, the game introduces various skills, professions, and activities, adding depth to the overall experience. Gear is also looted, plus upgraded and augmented with gems. Leveling is kinda fast and the enemies die too easily for the first few hours. However, there's a noticeable shift in resource availability later in the game, potentially making it challenging for non-paying players to compete, especially in DPS classes. So if you’re planning to play this game long term, there is some pressure to spend money on these in-game purchases, as character progression can be directly affected, making it a P2W game.
📊Technical Performance
The game ran well on my Snapdragon 888 device at HD (medium) settings, without any noticeable slowdowns, and crashes. Although I’ve had my fair share of quests bugging out requiring a reconnect, plus occasional clunkiness with the touch controls and the unpolished audiovisual presentation. These technical hiccups, while not game-breaking, contribute to a less polished feel.
⚖️Conclusion
⚖️Conclusion
Many of the systems are great individually — the gameplay activities, graphics, atmosphere of the world, premise, and characters. There is charm and promise indeed. But I have to admit, the sum of all these parts just doesn’t vibe with me very well. There is no substance, and these systems feel disconnected from each other. I feel bad for its current players in the other regions where it’s already released, as overall, this game really feels incomplete for now. This seems early for a global release, especially when the western market is more critical of these types of games. I hope they focus on the presentation and glue all the systems together for a much more polished experience come the release date.
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