CSOFT's Aion 2 will debut at G-Star 2025 ahead of its November 19 release. The previous installment, 'Aion,' released in 2008, held the top position in Internet cafe rankings for 160 consecutive weeks, naturally sparking curiosity over whether the first numbered sequel in 17 years can live up to that acclaim. Reflecting this importance, NCSOFT has conducted multiple live broadcasts, revealing key systems through multiple live broadcasts, and offering a hands-on preview before launch.

In this demonstration, only two features were unveiled: Character Customization and Party Dungeon Urugugu Canyon. Character Customization allows for detailed adjustments of facial shapes and body types, as shown in previous live broadcasts.

Especially for important areas like the facial contour or eyes, it’s not just sliders and numbers — players can sculpt features precisely using an X- and Y-axis graph. In addition to a variety of basic colors, options for two-tone colors and odd eyes provide points for individuality. As in the original Aion, players can create extremely small or unusual body types, allowing everything from elegant avatars to outlandish chimeras. It was impressive that it offered the freedom to make it as bizarre or as beautifully sculpted as desired.

After finishing with appearance customization and job selection, I immediately moved to Urugugu Canyon. There were eight jobs available: Gladiator, Templar, Sorcerer, Spiritmaster, Cleric, Chanter, Ranger, and Assassin. However, each dungeon run lasted roughly 10 to 15 minutes, allowing time to test only two classes. Therefore, in this demo, I played Gladiator and Chanter, but for Chanter, I couldn't complete the dungeon due to time and only played briefly in the early part.

The Gladiator is a class that showcased thrilling battles with its AoE skill attacks and HP absorption during Aion1. These traits have been seamlessly inherited in Aion 2. In particular, there is a passive skill that increases bloodsucking and grants a certain chance to enter a berserk state for 10 seconds when attacking, activating bloodsucking. Each dungeon run lasted roughly 10 to 15 minutes, allowing time to test only two classes. Of course, this is possible because the Dungeon shown in the demo was modified to a single-player Dungeon format for a smoother demonstration, but the exhilaration of the thrill of recovering health mid-battle by chaining potions, berserk attacks, and passives at low HP felt genuinely intense.

In Aion 2, Character Skill Slots are the same as in the original Aion, allowing the equipment of two types: Active Skills and Stigma Skills. During the demonstration, up to six Active Skills and four Stigma Skills can be equipped. In addition to the Active Skills equipped in the Skill Slots, some skills could be triggered with an additional input if certain special conditions occurred, similar to how it works in Blade & Soul. The skill icons would light up next to the character, similar to NCSOFT’s Blade & Soul, where players can CC enemies and chain airborne or knock-down combos. At that moment, if you pressed Q or E, the skill could be activated, continuing the combo.

The Gladiator could immediately add an additional input to connect to the airborne shackles after knocking down an enemy. Although it was used against Monsters, it could bind the enemy for nearly 4 seconds, making it likely to result in a decisive one hit if it landed on an opponent lacking emergency evasion in PVP. There was a reasonable expectation that the two skill trees of bloodsucking and knockdown, which binds and attacks enemies, revealed in advance during the Taiwanese FGT, would be strong in PvE.

Even in the demo phase, Aion 2 was systematic enough to make me consider Skills and combos after one playthrough. The combat tempo was fast. I had expected the Gladiator, wielding a Greatsword in the demo, to deliver heavy one hits, but it was surprisingly faster than the historical normal attacks in Blade & Soul and slower than the quick-paced normal attacks. Additionally, left-click allowed for moving attacks, which brought back memories of Blade & Soul's golden age where you could dodge while weaving in normal attacks between skills. However, unlike Blade & Soul, emergency evasion offers little invincibility, rewarding last-second rolls instead of guaranteed safety.

Although the topic of Blade & Soul came up, the Impact felt slightly lighter than that of Blade & Soul. To be more precise, it resembled the Impact from the very early stages of Blade & Soul, specifically when there were no amethysts or other gems embedded. However, I understood the decision not to focus solely on the Impact, as it followed the style of Aion, where you need to press multiple Skills at once, like playing the piano. While the Impact of hitting or being hit is somewhat mild, there are Skills that suddenly grab and pin down enemy Monsters, or conversely, Skills that instantly cause a Knock-back to enemies, creating noticeable moments of Impact throughout.

▲ After customization, enter the party dungeon Urugugu Canyon, and cross the Windstream to reach the middle area.

The boss patterns were manageable for veteran MMORPG players, as this demo used a relatively low-difficulty dungeon. In addition to its regular attacks, Boss Auldor has a pattern of launching a whirlwind as an AoE skill or striking with its wings. If you keep your eyes on the ground and are aware of the range, you can easily get through Phase 1. If you miss that attack and get hit, you will be immediately immobilized in mid-air. Without a timely dodge, the boss grabs the airborne target and delivers heavy damage. Therefore, even though it is a simple pattern, do not let your guard down and continue to avoid it consistently.

When your health is reduced to about half, you enter the second phase, during which Auldor suddenly soars into the air and unleashes a rain of attacks on a designated target after a certain amount of time. The strategy is for other party members to gather together to distribute the damage, but since the demonstration was conducted in a solo dungeon setting, you had to endure as much as possible using defensive skills or attempt to time your dodges effectively to avoid taking damage.

As Auldor soars into the air, a vortex is summoned around him. If you get hit by the vortex, you'll be immobilized in mid-air, making it difficult to dodge the boss's attack if the cooldown for emergency evasion is active. Additionally, touching the wind barrier formed at the outskirts will result in instant death. Therefore, the actual strategy seems to involve dodging both the vortex and the wind barrier while gathering party members before the boss's attack.

▲ Makbo Auldor drops beads intermittently, and collecting beads of each type increases damage.

▲ The moment you are hit by a flap or vortex, you will become airborne + restrained in the air, meaning if you don't escape, an additional hit is guaranteed.

▲ A pattern that rises while creating a wind barrier at the outskirts; you must dodge the attack while being careful of the wind on the floor and at the boundary.

The dungeon layout was largely the same apart from the boss, but the "Windstream" introduced in Aion 2 could also be experienced in this dungeon. The gliding function allows players to automatically fly at high speed along the Windstream to a designated location. It was slightly disappointing that the Windstream only covered a limited dungeon area instead of showing the wider world. Still, with the evident polish in visuals and world design, the full release should offer a striking world to explore.

In addition, some features designed for mobile can also be found on the PC. Although there is no auto-battle, the auto-use function for Potions and various Enchant Scrolls can be turned on and off. However, Potions that instantly restore a large amount of HP can only be used manually, and mounts were inaccessible during the demonstration, so I couldn't experience them.

Since this demonstration of Aion 2 only reveals a very small portion of the game, it is difficult to determine how it will be at this stage. The MMORPG genre is inherently large in scale, so it is only possible to grasp the extent of the game within a 30-minute time frame. Even from this brief demo, the combat pace of Aion 2 stood out clearly. The combat, which firmly established the classic MMORPG structure, felt a bit light, but by refining it to be faster and more dynamic, it reminded many of the golden age of NCSOFT. Whether that momentum carries through to launch remains to be seen, but the potential is clear. At the very least, Aion 2 looks ready to uphold the legacy of NCSOFT’s golden-age MMORPGs.

This article was translated from the original that appeared on INVEN.