Ni no Kuni Spreads Two Hours of Charm Over Forty Hours

EverQuest II kind of reminds me of a town I lived in for a few months and then never expected to come back to. Returning after this much time it's disorienting to see both how much and how little has changed. Most notably, EQII recently joined the ever-growing club of semi-free MMOs, and now relies on sales of expansion content and non-essential perks to make rent. It's even got one of those nifty streaming clients that allow you to start playing before the full download is finished, so if you've ever harbored even the slightest hint of curiosity about the game, there's really no excuse not to at least pop your head in there for a few minutes.

Next week, December 6 specifically, EQII will be getting its 11th expansion: Age of Discovery. Among other things, this one adds a Beastlord class from the first EverQuest that players have been begging for pretty much since EQ2's release. As one might expect from a "Beast Master" type class, they can tame cats, wolves, birds, and other critters found all over the world. One animal (or "warder") at a time joins its master in combat, where in addition to making standard attacks they can notice enemy weaknesses and open up opportunities for more debilitating strikes. It's a class that offers more complexity than most along with providing an imaginary friend for solo players to talk to. Speaking of, NPC mercenaries are being added in this update. For a regular salary, hirelings can fill a tank, healer, support, melee DPS, or caster DPS role just like a regular member of a party. They take up a group spot and even insist on a share of the loot. On the plus side, they're less annoying to play with than the average pick up group, and can be given silly names if you don't like the one they have by default.