Senior Staff Writer Chris "Pwyff" Tom flew to Taiwan to attend the Gamania Game Show. Today he's focusing on the Q&A session with CEO Albert Liu, Tiara Concerto and Core Blaze!

Core Blaze

One of the biggest problems that plague action MMORPGs in our current market is a shallowness of content, as players are forced to repeat one dungeon over and over in order to accumulate levels and gear. In Core Blaze, however, Gamania's subsidiary development team, RedGate Studios, is seeking to challenge those norms by creating a dynamic game that reacts to player actions, along with dungeons that change depending on the weather and time of day.

Player classes in Core Blaze have been abolished in favor of a weapon-based class system, similar to Final Fantasy XIV. Players can choose between one of four weapons: dual swords, sword and shield, great sword, and bow and arrow, with each set of weaponry determining the abilities you can use in the dungeon. The sword and shield class has access to the only heal of the game, in addition to some sturdy defensive abilities. Players using Dual Swords will be delighted at their quick, precise attacks, while Great Sword users can take satisfaction in the incredible weight of their blows. The development team stressed that they wanted players to really feel the power of their weaponry, and when I saw a fellow teammate lumbering across the ground, using the momentum of his sword to carry his body forward, I knew exactly what they meant.

I played through most of the hands-on experience with a bow and arrow, which proved to be invaluable against the dungeon's end boss, Liang Qu, a huge, monstrous tiger that jumps all over the dungeon floor, shooting deadly icicles and generally being a nuisance. I was also glad I chose the archer because it really forced me to rely on my teammates for protection. Core Blaze's other defining feature is its heavy reliance on cooperation in dungeons, and as a squishy archer with no real defences, I was relying heavily on my tanky swordsmen teammates to keep the zombies away. Currently under consideration is whether players can switch their weapons (and therefore their role) in the middle of a dungeon, but I'm hoping that gets cancelled, as it's a lot more fun learning to adapt than simply switching classes when the situation gets tough.

Another way teamwork will play a huge role in Core Blaze is in the simple acts outside of combat. In our level, for example, we ran through a few unlit patches of cavern, and we were forced to light a torch to see the way. Unfortunately, the player who carries the torch can't really fight with it, so it's up to his teammates to protect him while he's on the move. Consumable items will also play a huge role in Core Blaze, as characters will have access to a plethora of tools, like grenades, flash bombs, land mines, flammable oil, revival feathers, and other items to make their dungeon crawling experience that much livelier. A good strategy for the final boss was to have the melee teammates throwing grenades and flash bangs while the archers keep up a steady barrage of abilities.

Overall, Core Blaze is probably the most different MMORPG of its kind, and I'm very eager to see how much further development goes on it. The unfortunate part of getting an early hands-on with an MMORPG is that you're left to imagine other aspects of the game, and I suspect that much of Core Blaze's success in North America will depend very heavily on how well RedGate Studios fleshes out the rest of the game. For example, I still have no idea what the underlying story or premise of Core Blaze is, which is a shame considering the vibrant world they've created. Don't get me wrong, however, Core Blaze has an intricate and beautiful foundation in its combat and graphics; I just hope RedGate Studios spends the next year (they've pushed the Eastern release of Core Blaze to the second half of 2012) really building on that base.

And that concludes our coverage of the Gamania Game Show in Taiwan! Almost every press venue has a different vibe to it, depending on the company hosting it, but I can honestly say that this has been one of the best hosted events I've been to in my journalistic career, and I certainly hope that Gamania maintains its overwhelmingly positive energy as it aims to break into the North American markets.