When we announced back in June of last year that Snail Games, the developer of Taichi Panda (Free) and Age of Wushu (Free), was working on a new MMO, there was very little detail in regard to what the game would play like or how it would look outside of cutscenes. We are talking about it today to let you know that that game has soft-launched in several European markets, and there has since been quite a flood of beta footage and information leaked to clue us into what Tales of Gaia is all about.
Originally titled Dark and Light: Tales of Gaia, this game now sports a slimmed-down moniker. A wave of nostalgia may wash over you looking at the left side character portrait, quest log, and d-pad or the right side notifications, mini-map, and skill buttons. Sub-menus are also very familiar with gem packs, daily log-ins and milestone achievement rewards. That nostalgia would probably stem from the fact that the interface of the game is now very much an industry standard among MMO staples. The setting is the classic fantasy world that seems to have just enough technology to see plate armor, brick and mortar buildings and gun powder. Since August it looks like the game has expanded from 3 races to 4. Lithe Elves, barbaric Titans and the standard Human were pre-existing and since then the short and cute Dwarf race has been added to the game.
It will be an interesting change for Snail to tackle a more Western-themed game. Some screens look so very familiar to the >World of Warcraft city Stormwind that it begs the question, is Snail inviting a comparison? Can we expect something more like a PC MMO than we have seen yet on mobile? As a developer they have captured app store success since 2015 and it is poised to continue delivering AAA title quality to mobile devices. We look forward to hearing more about Tales of Gaia and hope to see more features that help it stand out from the competition.
