TERA Free to Play, Should you Jump In?

TERA is going Free to Play starting next month. It's actually a Freemium model since there is still the TERA Club option for those who still wants to pay but the limitation for the Free Players aren't really harsh and doesn't make them second class players, which is a very good thing. That's good and all but is the gameplay any good? Should you give this game a chance?


First thing you'll notice about TERA is that the world and character design looks gorgeous. If you like Asian style fantasy with sexy and cute characters then this game will definitely interest you. Of course there are also some cool choices too like the Aman which looks bad-ass. The design could be hit or miss for some people but for most people I think it's safe to say that they look great.

Questing is pretty standard, with the standard WoW style questing where you talk to NPCs to get a quest, finish the task which usually involves slaughtering a number of certain enemies, collecting certain items, interact with a certain object or finding another NPC. It gets pretty boring in the long run, but for those who are used to this kind of thing I guess it's not so bad.

If the questing gets boring, why should you bother? The answer would be the combat system. I love the combat system. It feels almost like Monster Hunter's combat system but a bit slower in pace. Enemies will telegraph when they will attack and you can jump back to evade or raise your weapon/shield to block their attack. You can even chain off skills to devastating effects. The combat system might not be as good as Guild Wars 2's more fast paced dodge-based combat but it still feels great and it looks great too.

My overall experience with TERA is quite enjoyable. I really like the combat and it kept me playing for hours. The questing system is pretty boring but there are some cutscenes which makes things a bit better although the overall questing experience is still generic. Is TERA a good game? I'd say yes. It's a pretty competent title and a good choice for a Freemium game. Is it worth paying the monthly fee? for me, the answer would be no. For you? you have to decide for yourself if the bonuses are worth it.

Check out their site:
EU Server: http://tera-europe.com/en/home.html
US Server: http://tera.enmasse.com/ (IP block on most region)