I had played the first Guild Wars and liked it a lot. I had been eyeing Guild Wars 2, but never got around to playing it as I had Final Fantasy XIV and Neverwinter keeping me busy. A friend of mine had been playing it and told me that it was a lot of fun so I was curious about it. Then it went on sale and I thought why not? This is a good time to check it out. One of the big things I really liked is that once the game is purchased you can play it as much as you want and there is no subscription fee. You can also play it for free to check it out and get a feel for the game. With a free account, you get two character slots. You also can't get one of the professions and you can't play any of the expansion content. You only get three bag slots and you can't do world transfers. With buying the game, you unlock everything. You get five character slots and 5 back slots. Once you decide, you can create a character and pick which server will be your home world.
There are five races to choose from for your adventures in the world of Tyria. The Asura are like little goblin creatures and are inventors who mix alchemy and magic. The Charr are feline creatures who are fierce warriors. The Humans were once the dominant race, but are now struggling. There are many different cultures and the Humans are striving to survive. The Norn are giants and exceptional hunters who live in Dwarven ruins. The Sylvari are a race of botanical humanoids (yes, plant people) who are not born, but awaken beneath the Pale Tree with knowledge learned from their dreams.
Then you have nine professions to choose from among the three job classes for your character which give you a nice variety. In the soldier class there is: Guardian, Revenant, and Warrior. In the Adventurer class: Engineer, Ranger, and Thief. In the Scholar class: Elementalist, Mesmer, and Necromancer. I personally decided to go with a female Sylvari ranger.
 |
| My Sylvari ranger, Pirotess Drakon. |
Once you finish the tutorial for your race, you'll be directed to a scout NPC who will give you information about quests in the surrounding area. Quests are marked by a heart shape known as renown hearts. The map comes in handy here and it's nice to see that it's easy to navigate. You can zoom out to get a bird's eye view of Tyria and you can move yourself via map marker to your quest location. Guild Wars 2 is really solo friendly, but it's also community friendly. There are what as known as Dynamic Events where you and fellow players can participate together to take down an enemy or help an NPC adventurer. It's a lot of fun and takes the tedium out of level grinding.
 |
| A group event with a plant dragon. |
Each race has their own personal story also, so at certain levels there are story driven quests you can do. These add another layer to Guild Wars 2 that is very cool. The combat is well done and you can help other players or they can help you and everyone gets experience points for it. There's no griefing, no grind, and everyone gets rewarded equally when participating in a quest, event, or dungeon. It takes out a lot of the annoyances with many MMORPGs and makes the game a lot of fun to play. There is Player vs Player and another mode to that called World vs World. A few of my friends have done those and said it can be fun with a guild and friends. I haven't checked it out yet because PVP isn't really thing, but I may tag along with some of my friends just to try it out at least once.
 |
| My Sylvari doing a personal story quest. |
There are dungeons you can do too with a party, but you can also do a lot of solo quests if you wish. If your character dies in battle, fellow players can help revive you if they're around or you can respawn at a waypoint. There's a lot to see and explore in the world of Tyria; all of it quite beautiful. No two areas look alike, whether it's out in a desert full of undead or in a plant filled grove beneath the stars. I feel that Guild Wars 2 was a solid purchase because the game is a lot of fun and I always enjoy myself while playing. If you choose a free account or decide to buy the game; it's worth checking out.
 |
| A beautiful view of the stars in a grove. |
*Guild Wars 2 is available to play on the following platforms: Microsoft Windows and OS X
No comments:
Post a Comment