I was always a fan of text MUDs in college, which predate today’s MMORPGs ((Just like text MOOs predate Second Life. The similarities are hilarious at times.)). I’ve never really wanted to get too much involved in those, since I’m particularly susceptible to addiction and, up until recently when I got a MacBook Pro, never bothered to have the graphics capable of running such games.

And then a couple friends of mine got me hooked onto the beta of Spiral Knights, and… man.

Finally. Spiral Knights is a game I can get hooked on in a casual manner, and get my share of leveling, crafting, listening to some of the best game background music ever, exploring a beautiful world full of cute things with sharp, sharp teeth and claws, and killing them in various ways. There are dungeons to run, but such a session can be as short or as long as one wants; I’ve run four levels in less than 20 minutes, once, mostly because they were going to shut down the server in 20 minutes and I wanted my adorable loot, dude. And the game is surprisingly social in a way that’s not too annoying to my generally shy nature; it makes getting a party together to delve into the more difficult depths easy.

It’s quite an interesting game. The grand public opening of Spiral Knights on April 4th will be a good time to check it out for free before you decide whether or not to start investing real money into crystal energy to spend. $4.95 results in 1500 crystal energy, and that actually goes a long way, allowing one to delve and craft to one’s content.

Sadly, because I’ve been part of the beta preview, all my characters (well, my sole character; you can have up to three) and information will be wiped tonight, although I’ll get a head start on creating a new character on the 1st. And because I’m going to be without Spiral Knights for OMG FIVE DAYS, I put together a little memory book for myself. I share it with you beneath the cut.

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My Character

My character before sob wipe.

The armor’s called a Wolver Coat (this one complete with Wolver Cap), and I like its cuteness so much that I’m going to try to get it again. Other armor sets aren’t quite as cute in my eyes, but fortunately one can use a particular armor set as a costume. You can have your Firebreak Helmet and look fashionable too!

Meet Iceburst Brandish.

It looks like a cute fishing rod. It moves quite well as a 3-hit combo sword, however, and I’d have to say it’s my most useful sword. There are a lot of useful swords and other weapons, all different, but there are so many that everyone’s going to end up with their own preferences.

Now meet Kamarin.

This are serious sword, if extremely slow to the point where my melee attack speed boost trinkets only bring it up to normal speed. It it has a two-hit combo, both very powerful, and I love to drive my sweet little critter enemies before my wrath.

Kamarin is actually the result of crafting an upgrade to a sword called Troika. Something wicked named Khorovod is the next step in the so-called alchemical path.

In contrast, one of my friends prefers a sword named Striker, which features a blazing fast 10-hit combo; another prefers an Arc Razor, which also functions as a ranged weapon without being as over-the-top as a Final Fantasy swordgun.

Here’s just one of my favorite things about Kamarin: its particular charged attack (all weapons have different ones).

My character’s back ruff and also Searing Edge.

A lot of charming details went into the design of every piece of armor and every weapon and even weapon effects.

All you need to know about Searing Edge is that it sets things on fire.

The Horned Owlite Shield, and there are also bombs in this game.

It looks a lot like one of those kiddie bento boxes. But with glowing eyes and protection from (some) shock.

Things I Will Miss

Until we meet again, Spiral Knights.