This is the second part of the Build New York event. I did the first one, Hunger Strike, and that was pretty interesting. Lots and lots of farming.

This one was a bit different, finding four bosses around the world. You get an event key, named the Liberty Key, and a dinosaur pet!

And a pet dinosaur.

One of the last places you can go is Paris. Unfortunately, it’s an empty city right now. No shops, and the people there aren’t very talkative. I imagine this will be one of the next cities to open, given the proximity to London, and relative ease of getting here. I won’t go on a tour here. Even though there are places to see and visit, I’ll ultimately have to come back here anyways, once the city really opens and the quests are added.

And unfortunately, for the most part, this concludes the tour, since there aren’t many other places yet. They (Sanrio) are apparently working on New York, since one of the in-game events was to help build New York. And I mentioned previously (or did I?) that one of the quests sends you to Bejing. You can almost get to Bejing, but the connection between maps is blocked.

But here is the zone map. You can see many famous sites: Versailles, the Louvre and the opera. Also visible is the Eiffle Tower.

There are a few other places to visit, but these are mostly quest and grinding areas. This is part of Secret Park, a high-level series of zones.  Really three connecting zones: Middle, South and North Secret Park. With all the scary monsters around here, I don’t really see anyone having picnics here!

A lamp-post. Reminds me of Narnia :)

Sit down a rest for a bit after trying to keep these wild animals at bay.

After you’ve rested a bit, I’m sure you must be thirsty.

And if you have a sweetie, maybe you can cuddle up a bit. Alas, as in the game, real life hasn’t been kind enough to grant me a sweetie.

Long before there was an England, long before the Norman Conquest of 1066, and even before the Viking conquest of several hundred years earlier, the Roman Empire conquered what we now know as England. London itself was founded by the Romans in the first century AD, and altho there may have been a pre-existing settlement in the area, the Romans established London. Several Roman roads are also still somewhat extant.

So, maybe I’m blowing sunshine here, but I fancy that Sanrio might have added some of this influnce in their interpetation of the areas surrounding London. Here is what I like to imagine is a Roman fort.

And a column with apparent Greco-Roman influence.

Not far outside of London is Stonehenge. There are many theories around Stonehenge, but I personally don’t think we’ll ever really know what it was built for. It was built as early as 3,000 BC, or as late as 2,200 BC. Elsewhere in the world, in Sumar, one of the first writing systems, Cuniform, was being invented around that time. That might give you some perspective on how old it is.

Here is a billboard with some information about Stonehenge. Too bad I don’t read Hello Kitty.

This is also the location where the leopard leader spawns, a boss-type mob which drops a rare pair of glasses. Here you can see a player spawn-camping the boss, unfortunately, a common occurance. The problem is that the boss is needed for a quest.

Adding to the mystery of the zone, are a number of crop circles. Who made them, and why? What is their purpose?

There are a few areas outside of London, generally quest areas. The only other city open is Paris, and while you can go there, there isn’t anything to do there. All the stores are closed, and the NPCs don’t talk very much.

On your way around the zones surrounding London, you might run into a signpost or two.

One of the last interesting sights in London is Buckingham Palace.

You can go inside, and there are some quests in here. It’s a pretty big building.

This is Burry football field, but I have no idea what it’s named after. The best I could find is someone named Harold Burry, who was a coach at Westminster.

This is the actual entrance, with a bit more detail.

But once you go inside, a nasty surprise awaits you. This looks innocent enough, but just wait until you start to work on the quest here.

The outside of O2, assuming that it is based around the entertainment complex of O2 in London.

Once inside, there’s not much, other than a quest-related NPC.

This appears to be Westminster Abbey, but like with Trafalgar Square, I’m not entirely sure. There’s no interior, but there are a few NPCs on the exterior.

Madame Tussauds is a famous wax museum with many international locations, but the first opened in London.

When you go inside, you’ll be greeted by Kitty herself, surrounded by statues of many of your favorite Sanrio characters.

I think this is Trafalgar Square, but I’m not 100% sure.

Another iconic image is Big Ben. With the isometric perspective of HKO, it’s a little hard to see in the main viewport, so here are a two shots. It’s a little easier to see in the small zone map:

This side is the actual entrance.

You need to do a few quests before you’re allowed inside, and ultimately, the quests are part of the main questline.

The Tower Bridge is often mistakenly called London Bridge but they are separate bridges. Of course, Tower Bridge is one of the most iconic bridges, immediately recognizable and associated with London, so the mistake is easy to understand.

Here is HKO’s version of the Tower Bridge. Of course, this being Tower Bridge, this must be the River Thames!

This is the London ferris wheel, formally known as The London Eye, also known as the Millenium Wheel. You really can’t see it too well in the main screen, but the area map shows it a bit better. And of course, London wouldn’t be complete without a Tardis around!