In a world full of theme park MMOs, Elyon is more like an  Elyon Gold on-the-go carnival. It's not in the dirty, whimsical sense, but in the content Elyon provides and how it's consumed. Let me elaborate.

When a carnival comes to town the first thing people do is stroll through the middle of the fairgrounds. There's a certain level of relaxation as you enjoy those familiar sounds and sights of carnivals in the past. In Elyon, that's the same sensation I experienced as I worked through the tutorial and story quests. Harth is a vibrant and vibrant place, just like a fairground midway. Like the ageing equipment at a carnival, Harth's Unreal Engine is showing its age. Even on the highest settings, the visuals can't be competitive with MMOs created on newer platforms. But it's not a problem because it looks good enough, and you're really here for quality gameplay, not bright and shiny graphics, surely?

Return into the Carnival. After your first walk around the middle of the fairgrounds, you purchase tickets and then head out to experience all of the attractions. A quick ride around the Ferris-wheel, a trip on a dingy roller coaster or a visit to the House of Mirrors are all waiting for you. You've been to all of these rides and attractions a few times in the past There's really no reason for you to go back in line again. In Elyon it's the core of the game. You'll explore your four dungeons and spend an hour in the portals of the dimension, and participate in enough PvP in order to earn rewards throughout the day.

Let's finish up our carnival metaphor. Before you call it an afternoon at the carnival you're sure to spend every last dollar in your pocket playing many games in the hope of winning a giant toy animal. You're sure to know which direction I'm heading to - the gear progress. Just like carnival games, Elyon's loot progress is designed to ensure you don't lose. One win is nothing and stacking consecutive wins in a row to earn the big prize is almost impossible. Yes, there's always someone running around with a big pink panda bear to show that there's a chance, however, what's the chance of making it big? Not very high.

Just like a visit to the carnival, even though it wasn't the best experience I've ever had I've never ended with a full day of playing Elyon feeling like I had a bad time. The bigger question for me is how long this fun will last? It's only been a month since launch. If you're not online for the daily reset the search for a group to play dungeons with could be a struggle. It's the same about finding a match for the various types of PvP. The fewer players there are, the harder it will be to make into a profit, therefore it's likely that within a  buy Elyon Gold short time the financials start to dictate which items are included in the cash shop. And when that happens, the base of customers will shrink even further. So I guess I'll keep going along with this roller coaster until it stops. Aaaaand, it's gone!