AO has been an extremely enjoyable series. I’ve repeated and made 5+ maxed out characters by now, but nothing will ever come close to the experience I had with the first file I’ve completed.
- Repeatedly dying to Elius atleast 6 times before some max level happened to stop by to help
- Explored and did treasure charts during sailors lodge
- Actually beat Argos on the second try (The most fair boss fight in game, feels satisfying to defeat)
- More exploring, everything was a new experience.
- Raging at calvus as I attempted to beat him over the course of 3 days (Finally got lucky with his move pattern where he just spammed huge pillar and the orb)
- Awakening quest was actually really special to me the first time since we got to revisit all the places I had in the journey
- Struggling to get an Elm Island chart for Explorer
- Then finally completing Bronze Sea Explorer
- Also lots of PVP with @ImaLettuce and others
For the other files, the tiny little details that came up each run made it bearable to run through the story again. But by the 3rd new save I was starting to feel that I was running through the story just to try a new build. Then each time I’d go and run face first into the level restrictions of each boss. If possible, it’d be nice to lower or remove those restrictions if you have a maxed file already, as that’s what I’ve noticed I spent the most time doing.
As for endgame content, gem crafting and potions are a nice touch. I found gem crafting quite hard to do during the story, only really having the time to grind for gems after completing the story. Potions were really useful during the start and mid game as I mainly used revealing potions for chests and loot. It was just a bit hard to consistently stock up on shore items during early game unless you went out of your way onto wilderness islands.
End note: AO is not a perfect game at the moment, But it certainly continues to get there with each update that Vetex adds. From Underwater, Potions, Gems, Balance changes, to the Dark seas, AO will continue to grow.