Dat GW2 entry
When I look back on September of 2012, it will be known simply as GW2 month. I ate, I slept, I worked, and I played Guild Wars 2. It is the best MMO I have ever played, and one of the best worlds I've ever had the pleasure of virtually-treking. I said prior to release that I wasn't sure if XIV 2.0 optimism could survive post-Tyria, and it hasn't. Which is a good thing, because although initial leaks looked somewhat un-terrible, latest footage is downright laughable. Don't worry, this isn't a XIV entry, and I'll likely still play through the worlds destruction event regardless.
From the moment I played this game in beta, I knew it was going to stick. The combat, simply put, is the best to ever grace the genre. It will never get old to me, in both PvE and PvP. Active dodging is everything I ever wanted in such a game, and every mechanic from combos to utilities just oozes depth. Even when I've finally reached that "done it all" moment from a PvE standpoint(which I think is going to take a long, long time), I can PvP until I'm blue in the face. It's just fun to play. Like Battlefield/UT2004, this will always have a place on my harddrive for years. No subscription fee makes it possible, and I'm thankful.
500-500? RED WINS (team point tiebreak)! Still counts.
The leveling experience is unrivaled in my eyes as well. This world breathes. I've always been an explorer/open world kind of guy; it's what allows me to play games like Skyrim and completely ignore how epically awful the combat is. If you have an explorable world, you've got me. And my god, does Tyria deliver. Dynamic events are a revolution, and I will never be able to go back to playing 'follow the exclamation points'. Every corner of the world has something tucked away. If it's not a well-hidden event triggered by your presence/interaction, it's a jumping puzzle. Or a random champion guarding his rich-resource node/chest. Or a little statue on a table to give you a completely meaningless piece of lore/flavor text/GW1 reference. There is always something to be found, and something to be explored. More than a month after release and I still feel like I haven't even scratched the surface. I don't even think I have half of the puzzle achievements yet, and I'm coming to realize that this isn't even the beginning.. which makes me giddy. I've avoided even LOOKING at that achievement tab to avoid spoilers, and quite frankly its existence bummed me out a little. But after finding puzzle after puzzle after puzzle that isn't even included as an 'achievement', I can only wonder what else is awaiting me. Until now, Vana'Diel was my 'explorable MMO world' champion.. and let's face it. That was basically a "is there a NM in this corner?" hunt.
A laser guarded hallway in the depths of an obscure mountain? I'm sure they're perfectly safe, and nothing of interest is on the other side.
Now for the actual game content itself. I won't talk too much about the personal story, and keep the rest spoiler-free. Story mode dungeons are pretty lax difficulty wise, but that should come as no surprise. I don't exactly play with mouth breathers either, so there's not much that is going to hang us up for very long. All dungeons combine to tell the story of Destiny's Edge, with explorable modes giving optional story stuff with the unique armor/weapon skins as rewards. I enjoyed the story being told in story mode (independent of your personal story, mind you), and found some nice challenges within the depths of most of the explorable encounters. A lot of the skins are pretty cool looking too, so obtaining what I want will be a definite goal alongside completing all of the explorable paths. I find the gameplay inside dungeons to be a refreshing change from the trinity of other MMOs. It's completely teamwork/skill based, and quite an adjustment for people stuck in "healer/tank/DPS" mode. I see a lot of people struggling to adapt, but once you do it's a very rewarding experience.
And then there's the meta events. Slightly different from of regular Dynamic events as they're much larger in scale, both in enemies and duration.
Come at me, bro.
Every zone has a few, whether it be the massive Centaur raids present early in the game to the Dragon Champions wreaking havoc later on. Lots of fun, though due to their nature its possible for you to miss them completely if you're not paying attention. Most have a status visible from large sections of the map, so that's nice. I've tried to complete as many as I can, as they really do a nice job of setting the mood for the entire zone.
How could they not set the mood?
The only problem with these is since they're scaled for so many people, it's rather difficult to have a personal influence on any of the encounters. Because of that they're more of an experience rather than a challenge, but I suppose thats unavoidable. I don't really have an answer for how to make the individual matter when 100 players are beating on a massive dragon. It's not like the fight mechanics aren't there, but when people die there are 99 others to take their place. Because of that, most meta events seem rather easy unless you're with a skeleton crew.. which seldom happens.
Skeleton crew? Yeah no problem, I'll just ignore the lightning infused wings visible from half a map away and kill these spiders.
All in all, there is really nothing to dislike about this game. Quite frankly, I'd love to meet someone who didn't love it. The lack of real power progression at 80 or "raids" will likely be a deterrent for some, but I don't think that takes away from the experience in the slightest. To these people I'd say: play until 80, and you won't regret it. If you do, well, you're fucking weird.
From the moment I played this game in beta, I knew it was going to stick. The combat, simply put, is the best to ever grace the genre. It will never get old to me, in both PvE and PvP. Active dodging is everything I ever wanted in such a game, and every mechanic from combos to utilities just oozes depth. Even when I've finally reached that "done it all" moment from a PvE standpoint(which I think is going to take a long, long time), I can PvP until I'm blue in the face. It's just fun to play. Like Battlefield/UT2004, this will always have a place on my harddrive for years. No subscription fee makes it possible, and I'm thankful.
500-500? RED WINS (team point tiebreak)! Still counts.
The leveling experience is unrivaled in my eyes as well. This world breathes. I've always been an explorer/open world kind of guy; it's what allows me to play games like Skyrim and completely ignore how epically awful the combat is. If you have an explorable world, you've got me. And my god, does Tyria deliver. Dynamic events are a revolution, and I will never be able to go back to playing 'follow the exclamation points'. Every corner of the world has something tucked away. If it's not a well-hidden event triggered by your presence/interaction, it's a jumping puzzle. Or a random champion guarding his rich-resource node/chest. Or a little statue on a table to give you a completely meaningless piece of lore/flavor text/GW1 reference. There is always something to be found, and something to be explored. More than a month after release and I still feel like I haven't even scratched the surface. I don't even think I have half of the puzzle achievements yet, and I'm coming to realize that this isn't even the beginning.. which makes me giddy. I've avoided even LOOKING at that achievement tab to avoid spoilers, and quite frankly its existence bummed me out a little. But after finding puzzle after puzzle after puzzle that isn't even included as an 'achievement', I can only wonder what else is awaiting me. Until now, Vana'Diel was my 'explorable MMO world' champion.. and let's face it. That was basically a "is there a NM in this corner?" hunt.
A laser guarded hallway in the depths of an obscure mountain? I'm sure they're perfectly safe, and nothing of interest is on the other side.
Now for the actual game content itself. I won't talk too much about the personal story, and keep the rest spoiler-free. Story mode dungeons are pretty lax difficulty wise, but that should come as no surprise. I don't exactly play with mouth breathers either, so there's not much that is going to hang us up for very long. All dungeons combine to tell the story of Destiny's Edge, with explorable modes giving optional story stuff with the unique armor/weapon skins as rewards. I enjoyed the story being told in story mode (independent of your personal story, mind you), and found some nice challenges within the depths of most of the explorable encounters. A lot of the skins are pretty cool looking too, so obtaining what I want will be a definite goal alongside completing all of the explorable paths. I find the gameplay inside dungeons to be a refreshing change from the trinity of other MMOs. It's completely teamwork/skill based, and quite an adjustment for people stuck in "healer/tank/DPS" mode. I see a lot of people struggling to adapt, but once you do it's a very rewarding experience.
And then there's the meta events. Slightly different from of regular Dynamic events as they're much larger in scale, both in enemies and duration.
Come at me, bro.
Every zone has a few, whether it be the massive Centaur raids present early in the game to the Dragon Champions wreaking havoc later on. Lots of fun, though due to their nature its possible for you to miss them completely if you're not paying attention. Most have a status visible from large sections of the map, so that's nice. I've tried to complete as many as I can, as they really do a nice job of setting the mood for the entire zone.
How could they not set the mood?
The only problem with these is since they're scaled for so many people, it's rather difficult to have a personal influence on any of the encounters. Because of that they're more of an experience rather than a challenge, but I suppose thats unavoidable. I don't really have an answer for how to make the individual matter when 100 players are beating on a massive dragon. It's not like the fight mechanics aren't there, but when people die there are 99 others to take their place. Because of that, most meta events seem rather easy unless you're with a skeleton crew.. which seldom happens.
Skeleton crew? Yeah no problem, I'll just ignore the lightning infused wings visible from half a map away and kill these spiders.
All in all, there is really nothing to dislike about this game. Quite frankly, I'd love to meet someone who didn't love it. The lack of real power progression at 80 or "raids" will likely be a deterrent for some, but I don't think that takes away from the experience in the slightest. To these people I'd say: play until 80, and you won't regret it. If you do, well, you're fucking weird.