Rift is just so damned much fun. So much fun that I’ve neglected many of the things that I’d planned on doing during my “holiday”. The Rift team has actually extended this beta phase by one day, since both they and the beta players were having so much fun. I love this game. :)
We’re playing Guardian, since we plan to play Defiant upon launch. So far, even though you do have a lot of the standard MMO quest-stereotypes (go kill me 10 of xxx), it still has that indefinable sense of fun that has been so lucrative and successful for Warcraft. I don’t want to jinx things by saying that, since we’ve all seen much-anticipated MMOs come and go (and everyone eventually go back to Warcraft), but I have high hopes for this one.
We finally got all of our little group to a level where we could do the first instance, Realm of the Fae – and we all had a great time. What a wonderful instance! Not too much trash, reasonably simple bosses with a few “don’t stand in the fire” mechanisms. Over all, a wonderful first starter instance. It’s quite pretty, too – you travel through the seasons, from spring to summer to fall and into winter, and this is where we all had our “Oh my god, I love this!” moments. Winter is bleak, and you are in a blizzard. Blind in a blizzard, with silhouettes of mobs appearing in front of you. You can practically feel the bite of the icy wind as it blows ice into your face. Wonderfully done.
And a few screenshots – I still haven’t found an in-game way of taking screenshots, as I am resorting to Fraps.
I love this game. <3