Just know that I’m not good with my island names. Alright. Here we go. (You may view the trailer here if you want to watch and read along)
The trailer opens with a shot of a player with black hair lying on the ground on a small tropical island. This island is Dawn Island, where the game begins, and this snippet seems to be from the game’s opening cutscene. It appears that you will start wearing nothing but old, tattered clothes. Not much else to say about this, other than it happens to be raining.
The next part of the trailer pans over numerous in-game locations; first, a mysterious forest illuminated by lanterns with green fire, an overhead view of the sky island town at evening. Note that there’s a sail in the foreground, presumably belonging to a sky ship, and also an NPC next to a fountain with a name I can’t discern, but after opening the video in full screen and squinting my eyes, I think it’s Olive Valor? Feel free to correct me on this name.
The next shot is of the Bronze Sea’s Grand Navy base, with a few NPCs hanging around, a Marine guard and a shipwright, also including a player with the Boxing Fighting Style? I don’t know, can’t tell if it’s a player or an NPC.
The next shot is of a seemingly up-high wilderness area with a broken bridge, but you can’t really tell if it’s a sea or sky island because of the camera’s angle, but I’m going to assume it’s another sky island.
The shot after that is more interesting. It’s of a hallway looking into an opened up door of a throne room with several NPCs inside. Above the throne are banners of two symbols, one red symbol and a symbol of the sun. I’m pretty sure the red symbol is seen plastered around numerous areas in Redwake, so I think this is where you meet Redwake’s chieftain/leader in the story. The NPCs also have names above their heads, but the camera’s too far away to make them out.
The next shot is of the same black-haired character from the beginning part of the video in a rowboat, rowing away from Dawn Island. It’s clear that this character just received his rowboat and is eager to leave Dawn Island and find some proper clothes. It’s still raining, and you can also see lightning strike the sea near the end of the clip, but that’s not really important.
Then the video fades into part of the official AO riddle, it keeps fading into this riddle numerous times for the rest of the video. While the riddle is pretty nicely written and is a perfect hype booster, we have absolutely no clue what it means and probably won’t until the game’s story is finished, so I won’t be mentioning this again.
Next clip we have a black-haired character in red clothing and a black cape exploring caverns while holding a lit torch to help him see. He also appears to have a weapon strapped to his back, either a spear or a staff, but I can’t tell. Anyway, these caverns could be anywhere on the game’s map, so I won’t speculate on their location. The first shot sees him walking past an abandoned, rusted minecart and rails, implying this could be an abandoned mine, before he walks down a hallway with a body of water at the end. We don’t know what’s in this body of water however, as we switch to our next clip after that, but maybe it’s safe to presume there’s some treasure at the bottom?
The next clip follows the same character, seemingly exiting the mines to an open area with the sky visible and also with barrels strewn about. However, there is an oversight here that many of you might have missed! Right when this clip begins, he walks past a large green mushroom. The pick up UI appears just for a split moment, revealing that this mushroom is called a “Giant greencap”. Presumably, this mushroom is to be used for cooking. After that, he continues walking to reveal two banners hung on the rocky wall, but sadly it’s too dark to make any symbols out. Also if you look closely, there seems to be a bridge at the right side of the screen, implying this area may be bigger than what we’ve seen in the trailer.
The next shot is incredibly ominous; it’s in the same caverns area with the same character, looking into a creepy pit of darkness. There’s nothing else to say here, though.
The next shot finally breaks away from that cavern area to a shot of a Conjurer with Shadow Magic infusing their blade with their magic on what appears to be a random, desolate wilderness island. Said Conjurer is wearing a knight’s helmet and a cape, implying this player’s build is based on a fantasy dark knight.
The shot after that is of a ship with black and red sails sailing by a wilderness island comprised of rocky spires, possibly where you learn a fighting style? The camera pans to the eagle/hawk/phoenix/whatever bird it is mast on the ship before switching to the next shot.
The next shot is brief, it’s of Selectorch’s character on top of Redwake’s spires at the evening walking off to the sunset. Not much to say here.
Now we get to the good stuff. Next shot we have a Fire Magic Conjurer (Possibly Selectorch’s character again?) infusing their Rapier with their Fire Magic in an unknown rocky location. I have no idea where this is, it’s far too dark to tell.
The next shot is of a black-haired Warlock wearing gauntlets infusing their Metal Magic onto their foot, in another ambiguous dark rocky location. It then cuts to them using a downwards Crash technique(?) called Iron Meteor. Before we can see more of them, it cuts to the next shot, a montage of Magic charging effects.
This montage seems to take place in yet another random wilderness island. Note that the mage’s hair color changes in accordance to the magic they are charging, which is a really cool little detail. The order of the charging effects are as follows; Fire Magic, Magma Magic, Wood Magic, Plasma Magic, Lightning Magic, and Emerald Crystal Magic.
The next shot, we have a Sailor Style user wearing a sailor’s shirt and a bathysphere using an Ultimate Art technique to attack a pirate ship on the sea. Not much of note here.
The next shot, we have a bearded pirate-looking guy diving into the sea. Note that you can see a wilderness island and a wrecked ship poking out of the sea. Then he finds himself underwater, being attacked by a shark which zips by him for a bite that deals 197 damage. But if you look closely, you can see an abandoned ship with what appears to be mushrooms growing on it’s side. Sadly we don’t get to see this pirate’s fate before the trailer snaps to the next scene, leaving whether if he became shark food or not ambiguous.
The scene after that is very interesting. It’s of a ominous hallway with different magical cubes, each with a different particle effect. First I thought it was a showcase of particle effects in Roblox Studio, but users have pointed out that this could be a shot of a Curse Vault, mentioned in the game’s Trello description. We may not be able to use curses for ourselves in AO, but we’ll probably find ourselves fighting a curse user on our adventure, and this shot further reinforces that.
The next shot has already been seen before in a prior trailer. It seems to be of the player encountering a boss (Apparently named Lady Carina?) who greets herself by smashing the ground in an ambiguous grassy area. Not much to say here.
The next shot is awesome. It’s of a black-haired player in a tank top confronting the Fort Talos boss fight with their Metal Magic mode spell on, which appears as a suit of armor. They dash through the door to confront the boss, but an under looked detail here is visible, there are three banners on the wall depicting what appears to be a flaming sword, presumably the symbol of Fort Talos. The rest of the shot is them fighting the boss with not much to note, the clip ending after the boss violently knocks the Metal Magic user back with one of their skills.
The next series of shots are focused on the game’s many abilities. First we have a Magma Magic user using what appears to be a Pillar Explosion spell with a high amount taking place in yet another ambiguous dark location, second we have a hard-to-discern shot. It appears to be somebody using a fast Claw weapon skill called “Beast Instinct” against a bandit(?) This takes place on an island with trees and, to the right of the clip, what seems to be a camp with lit fires? Apologies, this specific shot is very hard to discern.
Third we have what appears to be an Iron Leg Style user kicking a Greenwish Cultist, killing them. However, for a split second, before they meet their demise, you can see the cultist ominously say “Our Savior will be pleased when I add your corpse to the cemetery.” However this line didn’t age very well for them, since it appears they are the one that’s going to end up in the cemetery. Who the “Savior” is is unknown, but it could possibly be a boss fight. You can also see some candles with purple flames in the background (Like that one Pokémon?) and if you can look closely you’ll see a banner on a rock that presumably has the Greenwish Cultists’ symbol on it, which is a leaf. At the end of the clip we can see another view of this area, with many things in the misty background, another Greenwish banner, another cultist, and what appears to be a well(?)
Fourth, we have a clip almost undiscernible. It’s of a Conjurer with a red magic (Possibly Plasma Magic’s variation?) Using a Sword weapon skill against another player, in YET ANOTHER ambiguous dark location. Nothing to say here.
Fifth, we have a Fire Magic conjurer using a fire-infused weapon skill atop a rocky spire covered in snow, with many more rocky spires visible in the background, meaning that this clip seems to take place in Frostmill. However, there is, you guessed it, another easily-missable detail. In the first few frames of the clip, the same Sun symbol from the Redwake throne is visible on a rock. Could Frostmill and Redwake be related?
Sixth, we have a Magma Magic user using an explosion ultimate art(?) involving a hammer of magma striking the ground against a small village. The Grand Navy won’t like that. But if you look closely, you can see some quest giver NPCs here. Not much else here.
Seventh, we have an Ash Magic conjurer using a Dual Swords technique infused with ash on what appears to be the PvP arena island. Eagle-eyed people may spot that this guy possesses a resemblance to the pirate swimming away from the shark several hundred words ago. This means he could have very well escaped that shark. At the end of a clip, a Grand Navy ship can be seen in the background, and that’s about it.
Eighth, we have a Mage in teal casting what appears to be a Sapphire Crystal Magic explosion spell on the very same wilderness island that the magic charging effects clip was previously shown. Not much to say here…
Ninth, we have a Lightning Magic conjurer armed with a Sunken Sword using the Rising Tide skill, on, you guessed it, another dark, ambiguous area! There’s nothing else here.
Finally we have that ability montage done, and the next clip is of the same ship with the bird mast from earlier sailing across the Bronze Sea. Numerous islands are visible in the background, Redwake, Frostmill, and a wilderness island, possibly Dawn Island? There’s also two other ships in the background, but they’re so far away it’s hard to see their details.
The next clip is of naval combat. It begins with a shot of one ship firing fire magic infused-cannonballs to another, and then the camera snaps to a view of the ship getting hit, in which we can see a lot. First we have a player who is in a clan manning a cannon, ready to fire it at the enemy ship, however their name is so blurry it’s impossible to make it out. Numerous islands can also be seen in this specific shot. An unknown island to the far left, a fortress island that could be the Grand Navy’s fortress seen earlier in the video in the middle-left, a tropical wilderness island to the middle-right, and an unknown rocky wilderness island to the far right. Many ships can also be seen in the background.
Anyway, the enemy ship’s fire magic cannons impact the ship the camera’s on, exploding with some truly awesome effects before cutting to the next scene. Naval combat will be a blast, for sure.
The next scene is of a hooded sharpshooter with a musket on a rainy wilderness island charging up a weapon skill called “Piercing Shot” to snipe an unknown figure in the background, but just as they cast it, it cuts to a different sharpshooter using the same skill to snipe someone else on what appears to be Redwake’s docks. If you look closely, you can see two NPCs, Grima and Roginvold, who are both titled “Redwake Warrior” their purpose is currently unknown.
The next part is very fun for me to write. It’s one of those cool scenes that shows a character walking that changes the area and character every few frames, and I must analyze every. Single. Area.
First we have a redhead armed with a warhammer exploring an abandoned village in Frostmill. What happened to the village? Did it get too cold? We may never know. Next we have someone walking in the same mysterious forest with lamps of green fire seen near the beginning of the video. If you look closely, you can see some sort of structure coated by the mist, possibly a pagoda?
The next shot is of a warrior with a horned helmet walking in an open field area with colorful trees and spires of rock. If you look closely to the left, you may notice what appears to be stadium seats? There also appears to be numerous weapons stuck in the ground for some reason, and there’s a shiny object to the right of the warrior that seems to be a herb for cooking? Additionally, you can spot a Grand Navy ship in the background.
Next we have the same Sailor Style guy with the bathysphere helmet from before walking on a tropical wilderness island, past a wrecked rowboat. As usual, numerous islands are visible in the background, Redwake, Frostmill, and possibly Dawn Island? If you go frame-by-frame, you can see an item appear in the pick up UI; if you look very very closely on the very last frame of this clip you can see that this is an ingredient bag. What happened to this rowboat? Was it once owned by a traveling gourmand that crashed into this island? Great environmental storytelling!
The next clip is of a woman with a bronze sword walking in a tropical town, the same one from the earlier clip of the Magma Magic user using the hammer spell. There’s a quest giver in the far background to the left, and you may notice that there’s also the same symbol of the flaming sword from Fort Talos. What could this mean? Does the kingdom that owns Fort Talos also own this small tropical town? There’s also a Builder NPC that is named Tangakwunu, which is a strange name. There’s also another NPC in the background named Cunningham.
Next we have somebody with strikingly blue hair walking in an area next to the sky island town seen from earlier before. Not much to say here.
After that we have the same teal guy that casted that Crystal Magic explosion spell from before walking in a raining arena area. However, according to an earlier clip this is actually a boss arena where you fight some dude with lightning.
The next is of the same pirate guy from before walking in Redwake. Many NPCs are visible, including a quest giver. The sun symbol appears again next to an unknown red symbol on two banners. Not much else here.
The next is a shot of the Grand Navy fortress. It seems to be of a Grand Navy recruit walking in the court halls. Numerous banners with the Grand Navy logo are strewn on the wall. Guess what else is here? NOTHING!
The next shot is of someone walking in an unknown misty town. Numerous NPCs are hanging around, and there is a great castle cloaked by the mist in the distance, with two unidentifiable banners hanging on the walls, but not much else of note here.
After that, the video finally ends. I hope I can play the game when it releases with the carpal tunnel I got from writing this…
)
) , I may pick up the second half tomorrow. Some of this is just me speculating further on what we’re seeing