Aura Kingdom 2 for mobile has been relaunched as Aura Kingdom 2 Evolution (not with NFTs) by X-Legend. I only played the original version a bit, but this version seems to be largely the same. That said, let's take a closer look.
Character Creation
There are four classes: * Shinobi (dual swords) * Dragoon (halberd) * Elementalist (staff and magic) * Nymph (bow and magic)
Only the Nymph is gender-locked as female; the others can be male or female. Customization options are limited, but not terrible.
Intro Area
As with many mobile titles, you start the game in battle as you're taught the controls. It's simple and effective, although not terribly memorable.
Gameplay
This game offers full autoplay, but you can take control and do it all manually. I personally like the auto-pathing, but prefer to do the combat myself. The full-auto is nice for daily tasks that quickly become chores. The combat itself is similar to other titles: there are a handful of skills and a basic attack. The cooldown for the basic attack makes it not terribly useful, as one of the skills will have reset by then. The fights are relatively trivial, at least up through level 26. Oh, yeah, the leveling is gratuitous; I played for maybe an hour and reached level 26.
Builds
I've only scratched the surface really, but there are some decisions to be made on which skills you level up. You can't level them all every time, so you want to pick the ones that you like. I would imagine they're all perfectly viable, but if the end game is competitive your choices might matter more.
Eidolons
These are the gacha companions. You have one with you during normal questing and some dungeons will involve a squad of them. They have their own skills and can be leveled up and evolved. You also have an 'affinity' score for each, which you can increase by interacting with them. The interactions so far involved being quizzed by the Eidolon on details about the game or the world and if answer correctly, the affinity score goes up.
NFTs
So, this game has NFTs. I guess. I haven't actually seen any and there aren't any in-game mentions of it, at least not so far. I'm not personally bothered by NFTs. I think they're silly, but they're also just another feature and one that I'm comfortable ignoring. Just playing a game with NFTs doesn't turn one into a crypto-bro.
The Story
This is a bit confusing as the localization isn't great. It's a standard chosen-one type thing and you have to collect pieces of something to restore balance or something. It's not impactful, which is a shame.
Final Thoughts
It's a run-of-the-mill mobile game by X-Legend. If you like other X-Legend titles, which I do, this game will provide some enjoyment. If you require in-depth stories and gameplay, this game is probably not for you. In comparison to Dragon Nest 2 Evolution, the combat in Aura Kingdom 2 Evolution is easier and the gameplay is less instanced. If you like games that are a bit goofy and irreverent, it's worth checking out. Look at my character riding a sheep:
