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New World: Aeternum Review | MMORPG.com
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New World: Aeternum Review | MMORPG.com
It's been almost a month since Amazon relaunched New World on PC, and for the first time on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles. New World: Aeternum is the most accessible the MMO has ever been, but how does it hold over compared to its 2021 release, and is it worth your time?
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But someday I would go back again.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
But I am afraid their shift from MMORPG to ARPG means they consider this game "finished" and all we get is Destiny2/Diablo4 style seasons. At best we might get another paid DLC or 2, but that's probably the extent of it.
Weapon mastery is a bit faster now. I had both of my weapons maxed at 20 before I hit 60 (59 to be precise), and went ahead and swapped out for a 3rd weapon because why not? By the time I finished the main story I had the 3rd weapon up to level 18, so mastering new weapons especially in the higher level zones is pretty easy to do. The big change there is you get full weapon xp on which ever weapon is equipped when the mob dies regardless of how much damage you did with it. Your off weapon will get a small amount of xp, so you can still slowly level your off weapon without even bringing it out, but that method would take a very long time to max it. However you can get a mob down to 1% life and then switch to your off weapon to finish it and get max xp for the off weapon. This makes leveling the life staff (my 3rd weapon) very easy compared to before where it was super tedious to try and level a weapon meant for healing because you only get master xp for damage.
The build I chose this time around was much more enjoyable as a primarily solo player. I used a focus tank build with heavy armor, flail + shield, and void gauntlet. On paper the build should suck but it was actually very good due to its survivability. I got through almost every soul trial on the first try. The only ones I didn't were due to not knowing the fight and getting stuck standing in some bad stuff that I didn't know was going to spawn. I finished the last soul trial on my first try against Artemis which on my previous character, which was a dex dps build, I could never complete because it was too hard. I had many times in the open world where I thought for sure I'd die, due to crazy overwhelming odds, but that build pulled through. At 65, I did try buying a light set of armor and doing Life Staff + Void Gauntlet, which is what your typical healer runs, and ran screaming back to my tank build (kept the gear though) because it was so squishy. Some of that is play style, though, because if I did more run and gun and dodge instead of trying to face tank stuff it would be more effective, but that would be a complete opposite play style to what I was used to and enjoyed.
Anyhooo... The problem with the game is that there's just not much to end game. You can buy from the Trading Post gear up to 700 gear score. The max GS in the game is 725. There's dungeons and open world bosses to do. There's also PvP. Beyond that you can level up your riding, and your trade skills. Once you run through all that you've kinda won the game.
Still as a primarily solo player I feel like I got my money's worth. If you do nothing but go through the solo campaign, it's way more content than a lot of single player games which cost as much or more. You can't really impugn the monetization. I hope they put more end game in for solo players. This is when someone comes in and says "but it's an MMO", and that's when I point out they rebranded it as an action RPG, so I get your point, but also if AGS is going to call this an ARPG they need to refactor it away from big group MMO requirements to progress your character.
I agree with the review score.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
There are definitely pvp players who find it dull/boring and "what's the point." They sort of have a point with how current npc combatants work as they are really set to be defeated.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
What does it off that no other game does?
Does it do anything better than other games do it?
Is there something in the game artistically that I have never seen before?
Is there an exciting class I have never played before?
Is there some fantasy element that is out of this world?
Yep, the game gets a simple rating of why was it made from me.
Joined 2004 - I can't believe I've been a MMORPG.com member for 20 years! Get off my lawn!
That is an issue for me. I would rather roam a world endlessly instead of doing a loop to tedium.
So you would rather play a game with a shit gameplay loop. Got it. I mean you should be very satisfied. Lots of shitty MMO's out there.
NW:A is exactly as much MMORPG and ARPG as NW was so there is no reason for any of their plans to be disrupted by the small changes between them.
It offers an atypical setting for a fantasy MMORPG, with aspects from the Age of Sail including the addition of primitive firearms.
Exploration is better than I'm seen in many games, facilitated by the ability to climb up much of the terrain. Sometimes I find things tucked away in a small cave or the like when I'm traversing elevated areas.
I don't know what you've seen before so couldn't say. A lot of the gear is historical in style, suited to what one would expect from the time period the game is associating itself so that may qualify is something new, or at least novel.
The classes mean little. Most important is the differing buffs to non-combat skills they provide. They all have particular weapons and armour but that can all be swapped out early in play so has no lingering significance.
There are plenty of fantasy elements. The only thing that may be out of this world is the corruption theme that it has through much of the story depending how well the nuances of this repetition of that appeal to you.
Then do that. Just because a loop exists doesn't mean you have to endlessly walk that circle.
Might I suggest that has to do with difficulty, even one poorly scripted NPC can be a challenge, if it all seems a walk over then they really are "set up to be defeated".
I've played... a tiny bit since the (relaunch) but cannot get past the visuals. I mean, maybe it's because they were so good before. Either way, the game was barely worth playing, kill most of my impetus to play, I'm gone.......
I recall leveling my skills to max level but almost always wearing gear someone else made or found which I purchased from the store.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
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Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
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"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
For people who are new to the game and playing on a console, probably a fair score. But when one of the cons you mention is "not a lot for enfranchised PC players" that tells a very different story.
I gave it a whirl, leveled a new character to 60, and there really wasn't anything different than when I put 600+ hours into it before, and frankly I was fairly disappointed. That's not saying the game is "the same", but the changes that were made were, in my mind not a net positive. The new open PvP zone, just stupid, and there isn't much enthusiasm about it, in fact it started out taking people away from factional PvP across other zones while people were giving it a shot, and then on the server I was playing on, it died pretty quickly when most folks came to the conclusion that it was pretty dumb.
If you have already played it, already been thru the grind, already leveled up crafting skills, and experienced the game, I just don't see the hook to go back. I put in a little over 55 hours this time, and population felt a bit down, and of the 8 people I knew who came back, 5 had already bailed on the game.
There really just isn't a reason to stay and play. For someone who is coming back, I would have given the game about a 5 on the 1-10 scale. That's not knocking it, just a reality that it's fresh coat of paint, that offers almost nothing to PC players. The changes were really to bring the game to the console audience, and I understand that business decision, even if it leaves next to nothing for someone who did it already.
All that said, and baked into it, my score would have been the result of having spent that many hours in it before. For someone who is trying it for the first time, I'd think they have hundreds of hours of content, exploration, crafting, and combat to try and enjoy. For them I can totally see a higher grade, because there is much more to do. That said, definitely a cap (for me at least) on what the game's content brings, and how much it offers.
Game really should have a couple of scores to be fair, one for console (for the entirely new audience) and one for returning PC players who were "content complete" and hoped for something new or even worthwhile to experience. Nostalgia only goes so far.
It really wasn't that useful as I was leveling. Reason being was I would outpace the crafting skill needed for certain items even while just gathering materials and "playing". I was able to contribute some items to lower level players, and vice versa. At level 25 in the game, I wasn't really able to create level appropriate gear. If I had completely stopped doing anything other than gathering, then it would have been possible.
Endgame is where is always catches up, and seems to level out.
I don't get the complaints about graphics, running quality mode on Series X, I've been thoroughly impressed with the design and graphics of the world and early on I'm already seeing some enjoyable variety to the areas.
There Is Always Hope!