Massively tours Fiesta's new Expedition to Adealia
Who doesn't love checking out a game's new content? I love it, for sure. So I was more than happy to sit down and ride along with the developers of Fiesta as they showed off their new expansion, Expedition to Adealia. The tour wasn't all rainbows and kittens, that's for sure. I found myself surrounded by towering monsters, crazy children brandishing giant knives, and massive, fire-breathing boss-monsters. It was fun, but I had no idea this cute Anime title could be so hardcore!
Luckily for me, my hosts had the ability to heal or resurrect me when needed. I didn't do too shabbily, though, and I shot arrows like bullets, bringing down every mighty beast I came across. It was fun, yes, but a real slaughter. Well, for the monsters at least.
And for those of you who'd like to host your own dance party in the game, Outspark was kind enough to provide Massively with plenty of goodie bag codes to give away. To get this free item, head to the redemption page and enter the item code MassivelyFiesta. You have until the 31st of January to redeem it.
Journey on to see just what I found during my tour of the Adealia expansion!
The first thing I did was pay a visit to Adealia village to pick up a quest. The citizens were a bit different than others you might find throughout the rest of the world. The music was more serious to match the attitudes of the NPCs, but the sights were epic. Massive, curling trees cast their shade on bright houses and busy citizens. I talked to an NPC and got the quest to visit Adealia fields and went on from there. It all moved pretty fast, but I was impressed at how massive everything felt and how smoothly it flowed. Over the last several times I'd played the game, I had never seen such grandeur!
The fields were filled to the brim with scary-looking monsters, from massive gorillas to evil moose. Or elk... I'm no expert. I started to pull each group of them, but it was quickly obvious that my group and I were too much for them. I was loaned a high-level archer character, whose abilities ranged from standard straight shots to massive volleys that rained explosives down onto the target. Critical hits would appear as massive numbers across the screen, making the scene feel like a comic book. Combat would seem like standard practice to anyone who's fought in chaotic high-level groups before, but there were nice little differences and animations that made Fiesta's combat fun. The mix of violence and cartoony graphics made it unique.
After I got tired of destroying lots and lots of mobs that were obviously no match for me, I made my way to the Psiken gardens, one of the new popular instances. It resembles a giant haunted house complete with spooky music and filled to the brim with ghosts, hollow knights and high, high ceilings. The effect was nice; the place seemed to be the home of some former giant. Or at least, the former home of one very rich person. Again I was surprised at how nice the whole thing flowed and how epic it all was. Normally Fiesta feels sort of standard. I guess it pays to make your way to the highest levels!
Unfortunately for me, one of the main bosses, a wicked little girl who literally stabs a pair of knives at whomever she comes in contact with, had already been nuked and put away for the next hour or so. My hosts were able to spawn her at a moment's notice, but she was at only a fraction of her normal health. Luckily, I snapped some screenshots of her before she disappeared. I was also welcomed by her pet, a massive demon dog that lasted about as long as she did. Despite both of their premature deaths, my group was still impressed by them both.
Finally, the main boss appeared: a massive Chimera that hit so hard I felt as though someone had socked me in the jaw. In spite of my host's GM powers, the boss seemed to be able to kill anything it wanted to. While I lay there, it flew into the air, spewed fire and generally caused mayhem. This was a boss as formidable as any other I had seen, and it hit probably twice as hard. Eventually he was dispatched, and my adorable little shoulder pet ninja'd most of the loot before I realized what was going on. The rest of the group didn't mind, of course, especially since the characters we were playing were not permanent.
After the massive battle (and by battle, I mean I saw the floor a lot), the group moved on to the Kahal Plains, a pleasant area that resembled a great, bright, African swatch of land, where majestic beasts... OH NO! What the heck was that? OK, so it is an area as dangerous as the others, filled with strange, bent-legged cheetahs and massive creatures that wanted nothing more than to kill me. The team finally found a safe place to stop and rest.
Later on, I decided to take a look at the housing system, especially since I've heard such wonderful things about it. At first, I thought the rumors referred to the mini-houses that appear whenever a player goes into rest mode or goes AFK to sell items. They're adorable little things, and players can even buy unique mini-houses that are animated and fun. My favorite was a tiny house in which a pair of penguins continuously slid down a red slide, climbed back up, and did it again. I can only guess at how much cash-shop money is being made off of that one.
It turns out that the housing players were so excited about includes real houses, complete with placeable and usable furniture and adornments. The house I finally aquired after doing a short series of basic fetch quests was lovely, bright, and easy to edit. I grabbed some furniture from the cash shop and started to have some real fun decorating the place. Different housing items even had different animations that went with them, like drinking tea while on the sofa or reading a book while standing next to a shelf. These were some very cool housing ideas!
After my tour of Fiesta, it became obvious to me that I'd never seen the real meat of the game before now. Of course, it takes a lot of killing and leveling to get to the point I began the tour at, but once you're there, it seems worth it. The entire game opens up at higher levels, and the housing and social systems are just icing on the cake.
Thanks to the Fiesta team for taking the time to show me around the new content!
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