Recent reviews by Magical

Play it. It's free. It's fantastic.

More detail? Read on below.

Background:
I've put over 15,000 hours into Runescape, and probably a collective 10,000 hours across other MMOs. That means two things: I'm old, and I've played an MMO or two for a bit. Is that relevant? Probably not, but for some it might be. So what about the game?

Story:
Truly a Gower-style story. See Runescape for that flavor. Comedic, enough background to keep it interesting, but straightforward enough to not get lost. There's a main quest to introduce you to new areas, and side-quests that delve down a story happening in the world. Don't expect WoW fetch quests, these will have you doing more than just killing 5 boar at a pop.

Skills:
Addictive. The game's broken up into "Episodes", call them "Areas" or "Zones" if you like. Each has a set of professions/skills in them. Training a profession is limited to it's "Episode", but they're interlinked all over the place. Expect to be training one skill to feed into another. It keeps you coming back for more. Training is laid-back and not overly click intensive. You can easily keep this game up alongside another and not be too overwhelmed, or kick back and just relax with only Brighter Shores up and have a good time.

Combat:
Click-and-watch. Special abilities and more to come in the future. I dig it, you can pop a few potions to keep yourself alive as needed, but don't expect ability-bar-busting combat. It's simple, steady pace, and it's all about gear over abilities. Bosses will have you dodging to new tiles to avoid attacks, and there's enough nuance even in the early state of the game to find enjoyment in the combat. Don't come in expecting WoW or FF14-style combat systems, though.

World-design/Community:
Hands-down the most well designed world I've encountered in an MMO. Fen Research's core design philosophy is to make sure that you can enjoy the game whether you're putting in 10 minutes or 10 hours a day and it absolutely shows. There's no massive world to spread players out sparsely across, instead there's a detailed and beautiful set of connected "rooms" each with their own purpose.

See a cooking kitchen? That's where everyone cooks. Whether you're level 5, 50, or 500. No empty and lifeless places. Every single spot feels alive and active, without needing millions of people online. Eel fishing spot? You'll see people that have been playing for 10 minutes, and those with 100 hours in there. It's absolutely fantastic and it means that there won't be a pile of abandoned "early-game" spots years into the game. That means there's always going to be folks to chat with and enjoy the game with.

I could gush about this for hours. I'm probably a fanboy, but that's my lot in life. This game respects your time. The devoted and passionate team behind this game does, too. It's free, give it a try.

Overall:
Play it. It's free. It's fantastic. Said it above, I'll say it again. The Gower brothers started a game decades ago that filled my childhood with hundreds of fantastic memories and hours of escape from the mundane every-day. I'm overwhelmingly happy that they've created something new that undoubtedly will be bringing joy to countless players, hopefully for decades to come.

Game is fun. Sony actually listened and reverted their fraudulent changing of the TOS after everyone complained.

Good move.