DotA 2 Review: The Perfect Version!

bunda (49)in #review • 7 years ago

hallo guys, Back again with me. @bunda...

A mod that successfully attracted the hearts of millions of gamers around the world, Defense of The Ancients (DOTA) is indeed a separate phenomenon. Changing the initial mechanics offered by Warcraft III, IceFrog injects a thicker RPG sensation by bringing the hero battle as the main focus. No longer have to mess around with unit building strategies, gamers are now brought in a fast, intense, and exact PvP mode - adrenaline rush. Focusing on building character with their respective roles and playing the best role in team battles, DOTA is even recognized as one of the most competitive games that are often competed internationally. It is not wrong if Valve is interested in acquiring this one.

Traveling the acquisition of Valve on behalf of DOTA is not an easy matter. Had a conflict with Blizzard as the owner of Warcraft III, this feud fortunately ended peacefully. Valve has the opportunity to continue this ambitious project, offering a variety of modifications on the visual side and of course a more balanced mechanical gameplay. Entering the beta process and successfully capturing hundreds of thousands of gamers during this process, Valve is finally ready to get out of this one phase. A year since its beta release, Valve finally officially released DOTA 2 freely to the public. While ensuring this transition process will not interfere with their experience that has entered into the beta period, DOTA 2 is finally open to every gamer through his F2P system.

Given the end of the beta and its existence as an open commercial game, it's the perfect moment for JagatPlay to throw in some of the impressions we've caught, of course - over the past year. What's changed? Being better or worse? Or is he still not able to subdue the popularity of the first DOTA?

Adapting to the New Visual Side

The trade rights on behalf of the name did force Valve to make some adjustments, since the first version of DOTA was built from the character models of some of Blizzard's iconic games - from Warcraft III to Starcraft. To ensure their latest MOBA game does not go through the legal process, Valve has finally changed some significant aspects, especially on the cosmetic side.

One of the most significant changes is the character model used. Although it comes with a much different model of subtle character, you can still find some of the main characteristics of the characters that are retained from the first series. This concept makes it easy for first DOTA gamers to adjust quickly, especially those who are not yet familiar with the new design of the hero. Not only from the character models, Valve also injects more "common" names to prevent further problems.

This visualization change is also applied to a variety of item designs and weapons offered in stores. It takes longer for newcomers or those who have tasted the first DOTA to master this aspect deeper. Not just learning the design of items and recipes that are fortunate, a little help from the explanations that remain included when you hover on each item, you also start having to memorize the location of the items that are now placed in different categorization. Each hero will also come with an item recommendation to maximize his or her best ability, helping newcomers to better master this game faster.

Changes in visualization means also directly affect the motion animation of every character that exists. No big effect for new DOTA players, but this animated change will force veteran players to adjust the gameplay rhythm again. While those who grew up along with other MOBA games, DotA 2 may be noticeably slower. Why is animation so significant? Because motion animation and attack will greatly determine how well you perform in DOTA 2. You make it the foundation for effective creeping and of course, performing a more qualified skill combination.

Valves may enhance the visual side for DOTA 2 to ensure the series is capable of performing with the latest technology and quality. But on the other hand, the presence of this feature of course forces gamers to make some important adjustments - especially those who had tasted the first DOTA. As for newcomers in the MOBA genre and making DOTA 2 the first choice and present without knowledge, these visual changes will not have a significant effect.

Community Staying "Unfriendly"

What makes a DOTA class MOBA game like this hard to find new players who have never tasted this genre before? The irony is, but the greatest responsibility lies precisely on the shoulders of its own community. Valve did not hesitate to claim that DotA 2 is currently the game with the largest community in Steam, but on the other hand, this fact becomes a double-edged sword. Its popularity is so massive it will probably attract the hearts of gamers who have never tried the MOBA before. But instead of welcoming them with open arms, the DOTA 2 community must be acknowledged, not a "good" community,

Anonymity in cyberspace combined with gameplay mechanics that is very dependent on team-play and individual performance of each member, DOTA 2 will be a very uncomfortable home for newcomers gamers. Valve itself has already injected tutorial and bot modes to help gamers get the right battle atmosphere, but unfortunately - not strong enough to represent battle conditions when dealing with other users. When newcomers often die or do not contribute significantly to the battle, various insults and condescending sentences will glide so easily on your screen. "Noob", "Stupid", to some more rough words into familiar scenes.

Some gamers may see aggressiveness and behavior like this as a spice competition that will make the adrenaline increasingly pumped fast. But this point of view was not in line with what Valve wanted himself. To ensure a healthier and friendlier community - they apply reward and punishment systems based on votes and reports from participating gamers in combat. You can praise and give a certain point when you feel that your team members are able to show certain gameplay qualities, or you can also give negative points in certain categories as a punishment for gamers who are rude, abusive, and deliberately perform poorly in the game. Consequences for them? Valve will provide a penalty within a certain time frame that will make the automatic search process much longer and longer than the normal condition of the meter.

Unfortunately, such mechanisms do not seem to be effective for mejaring and giving birth to healthier communities. Valve had time to claim that the number of reports from gamers increasingly decreased along with the progress of this beta. But Valve himself seems to have forgotten, that this decline does not necessarily mean that the DotA 2 community is getting healthier. There is a possibility that such a report will decline dramatically as the community itself begins to accept the unfriendly conditions of the DOTA 2 community or to see their report is not as effective as imagined.

Dynamic Interactions

One of the most exciting and wonderful features of DOTA 2 is the fact that the heroes you currently use have their own "awareness" of the fighting environments they encounter. Awareness? It is true that if you are careful enough to listen to conversational patterns that glide like monologues of every character - then you will find that they often throw interactive comments with other characters, whether in the form of a joke or just an insult.

It no longer feels like an individual fighting alone, a feature like this leaves the impression that you are indeed engaged in a fight in a world connected to each other. Example? If Ursa manages to kill the Drow Ranger in the forest for example, then he will automatically mock Drow and claim himself as the real forest ruler. This interaction also arises when certain heroes succeed in wearing special items. As an example? Tinker who will issue a "pewpewpew" comment when armed Dagon. It's these little things that make DOTA 2 look amazing compared to other MOBA games.

Some commands you write in the chat will also be translated in the form of voice of the characters you use. Writing "Ty" will make your character say thank you, or just "lol" or "hahaha" to make them laugh instantly.

Free to Play - Without Implication on Gameplay Side

What is the meaning of a competitive game that brings massive team battles, if it does not come with a qualified hero balancing system. If only Valve or IceFrog was off guard and made one or two heroes too over-powered, then DotA 2's reputation as a fun competitive game would just collapse. This challenge is increasingly heavy considering DOTA 2 will be distributed Valve as a free to play game. The investments that continue to be leveled during the development process and the increasing number of servers along with the ever-increasing popularity make Valve must find ways to benefit from such a concept. Fortunately, this option does not directly affect the existing gameplay side.

Video game development is not a charity work. The complex process that takes up this resource always culminates in a common need: to gain money and of course - the benefits of it. Valve seems to understand the consequences that must be faced from the concept of free to play that they injected in DOTA 2. As a game that relies heavily on the balance of heroes in battle - imposing a policy that looks like a "pay to win" would be a bad choice. Staying with what they promised from the beginning of the development process, they will also instantly ensure all the hero alternatives can be used from the beginning of the game, unlike some other MOBA games that require you to spend real money to unlock certain heroes. Therefore, the only way to make a profit now lies only in the variant of cosmetic items on offer.

With stores integrated into the game itself, you'll see a myriad of sets of fixtures offered within a comparable price range. For those who often tasted DotA 2, creating more personalized personal favorites on the design side is certainly a difficult offering to resist. Interestingly again, Valve breaks these sets of equipment into separate items, allowing users to combine various tools to create more personalized designs. Not just buying it in the store, you also have the opportunity to get each of these items randomly once you complete a battle.

Amazingly, Valve consistently "teases" you to buy these items with real money. Not only meet the team of friends or opponents who may wear it and look charming, you will also get a series of treasure chests that load these cool items at random. Unfortunately, all of these chests must be opened first with a key that can only be bought with real money - and will never fall randomly during the battle. The more intense you play DOTA 2, the stronger your passion to buy these interesting items. Strategies that have so far proven to be quite successful.

What is Expected in the Future?

Although Valve officially taken off the open beta DOTA 2 and began openly to the public release of any gamer who are interested, this does not mean that you will find a final version that will no longer be contested in the future. Valve and IceFrog will consistently refine it from various sides. Integration with Steam will make it easier. No longer have to search for the latest update files as in the first series, Steam will automatically update whenever Valve inject the latest patches in it. So what is worth to be anticipated from this series?

Although it has been off the open beta, Valve still has not injected all the hero's mainstays of the first DOTA series. There are still so many heroes that have not been adapted in this new series and new seem to be present in the next few months, including such iconic figures as well Terrorblade Teechies. The number of items that are more massive and of course more variants of the announcer also seem to be injected. One thing is certain, viewing habits are shown during a one-year beta period, IceFrog will consistently perform balancing process is more qualified to make sure every hero does not appear too dominant than others.

ConclusionOne year since his bet, Valve showed their consistency to keep DotA 2 better than the previous period. Regular updates, visual side changes and design for some characters, until commitment to not fall on the "Pay to Win" system has made this MOBA game grow so massive, to be able to capture millions of gamers around the world. Regardless of the pessimism that had been shown at the beginning of his birth, DOTA 2 continues to perfect itself, even to this day. Balancing continues through several patches and variants of items that now envelop more characters, DOTA 2 also managed to gain popularity through a series of international tournaments that became the pulse of this one game life.

Nevertheless there are some shortcomings that deserve to be recorded. The process of adaptation of some iconic hero that feels so slow makes the first DOTA veteran gamers to be faced with a more limited alternative choice. Not only that, Valve's reward and punishment system also proved less effective in creating a healthier and friendlier community with newcomers. Another thing that is quite unfortunate also lies in the key mechanism of treasure that can not be obtained only from the battle. Throw so many crates into your loot without the chance to get a key other than buy it directly in the shop? These crates are like a pile of rubbish that is of no value.

One year beta period with various adjustments does make DOTA 2 appear more perfect. Consistency to move forward and adapt to the wants and needs of gamers makes it one of the best MOBA to try out - especially considering the facts of Steam integration support and its large community. Need a competitive game for free? DotA 2 can be an alternative option that is too dear to miss.