BEFORE I START THIS REVIEW:
I have a confession to make first. I have not yet played Guild Wars. But due to GW2  receiving major hype for the past 5 years in its development and my friend who introduced me to this gem of a game, I thought as an MMO enthusiast I should try out this game. In fact, my friends in tumblr had praised the Beta versions of this game TO THE CORE. And so here I am, thinking I can just hop into this hullabaloo and try it out myself. There were about no more copies of the first Guild Wars to sink in, and I have yet to learn the magic of internet downloading, so I promised on my birthday to get Guild Wars 2. I didn’t really get the game until around September because the stores and the site were running out of copies and codes. Then another few days for downloading the game. (It’s 14 GBs, man!) and another month to actually get the first Level 80 character. (woo)
And since this is  new year I’ll just instead start with a shorter three-criteria review summary instead of the Good and Bad Stuff like I usually do. We have:
- Aesthetic (looks, sounds, plot)
- Gameplay (combat, content, quests)
- Shenanigans! (community, replay value, how fun the game is)
AESTHETIC:
An interesting part of the Aesthetic is the graphics. The UI does not crowd the entire screen, first of all. The concept art style spots an interesting use of paint strokes and a more expressionist texture. The 3D rendering is great even when it’s in low quality settings (especially when in vista mode) and the Armor styles are very different from one another and are well-made.
The 5 races vary at best with their own backgrounds, quirks, personalities, and perspectives, and even Elite Skill system that creates a different game each time you start a character. After you make a character’s Physical and Racial Features, there is a little test that can affect your choices in your personal story mode:  Sampling this is if you choose an option that you missed joining the Circus, Your quest will involved investigating weird things happening in the Travelling Circus. Stuff like that. So yeah, you have some control of the choices in the game. Which is pretty interesting for an MMO, though pretty common in more Offline games. Most notably anything by Bioware.
[singlepic id=12467 w=480  h= float=center]
Me with the Harbingers of the Mursaat [RISE] Guild. Great people. 🙂
I’m sorry for me not being interested with the music, but from the sounds, at least it fits the tones of each and every place around Tyria (Personally, a good Nobunaga’s Ambition soundtrack fits that). Voice Acting pushes through the limit as every voice actor I like and dislike are in there to contribute to Tyria’s characters. None feels forced and I don’t feel kind of annoyed with them. If I were you guys, you should stick around certain places for a bit to hear some pretty good banter from the NPC’s. Especially with the Asurans and the Quaggan.
Plotwise, This is the only game I played that I didn’t go for the story. The story seemed fine in personal story mode at first and the player’s choices contribute so much to the game. But I didn’t like Destiny’s Edge and my represents one bit because all they did was bicker when there are zombies/enemies/giantassdragon to fight! Trahearne, that chick that could well be  TaliZ’orah as a Butterfly, the Pact, and the people in it are more likable to me.  Adding to this are special dungeons in which broadens the adventures of Destiny’s Edge (once again, only in it for the grand loot) that are difficult to defeat unless you have your party around and that’s just the Story Mode. Exploration Mode is quite the evil little scamp where exploring and completing certain paths will reward you with tokens to trade for incredibly better equipment.
The UI and the simplest descriptions of it.
GAMEPLAY:
The game plays off like an Action RPG. Nowadays, Fast-paced Action-styled MMO Games became the new hip thing:  Raiderz, Rusty heart and Dragon Nest to name a few. Hell, even the rise of the anime Sword Art Online contributed to the Action MMO’s rise quickly (Spoiler: I hate SAO. Why are you popular?). Yet if anyone in SEA opens up Vindictus, please tell me. Seriously. The First Guild Wars had to involve you (and some party members or AIs you can employ and join in various towns) versus a world full of monsters and danger. Alone. The sequel focuses on a more MMORPG-scale level where everyone can join in on the fun and each person gets their own rewards and items without kill-stealing and being branded as “sawsaw!”.
[singlepic id=12466 w=560  h=480 float=center]A ram in the middle of nowhere. Weird Server joke we had.
Unlike the First Guild Wars that focus on Professions, Guild Wars2 utilizes a weapon-centric system where a certain set of weapon you use gives off a certain set of skills.  The more you use your weapon to defeat enemies, the more skills you can unlock. Weapon skills depend entirely on what class you choose, with each class attempting to use their own skills and uses with common weapons. Also, there are underwater battles that make use of any or two out of the three weapons: The Trident, the Speargun, and the Spear. And yes, the skills from these weapons also differ among classes.
Class skills stick with you from your character creation until the end. These skills with the use for the “F(number)” buttons can create a different taste with the class you made. For example, Thieves have a “Steal” button and an initiative bar where you can use skills as much as your bar allows you to. Elementalists have a variety of elements to choose with the use for the F1-F4 buttons. Warriors have something similar to the Musou Gauge where filling Adrenaline can unleash a special weapon skill that can make battles easier. Et cetera.
There are also additional skills outside of your standard weapon and class skills that can from setting up traps to conjuring magical weapons out of nowhere to even the use of sigils that can improve your stats passively whilst battling. Getting these skills cost Skill Points which are obtained through leveling up or completing skill challenges that are in abundance in Tyria. Getting enough skills will eventually lead you to Elite Skills where you perform deadly attacks, transform into avatars, or summon people to help you fight.
When you fall, there’s a period before your “defeat” called  “Fight to Survive!” (The Incapacitated System from L4d being most similar to that) where you have to defeat the nearest enemy using a certain skill set or wait until someone heals you out of it in order to rally and get back on your feet. Though this will add a ‘Downed penalty” where the more often you fall, the less chance to start “FtS!” with a full HP bar, being closer to defeat instead.
And since this is an Action RPG, there is not much in the way of using speed when your reaction is more than enough to dodge. It does take to get used to the energy bar needed to successful implicate dodges (or simply just running away from red circles in battle.)
SHENANIGANS!:
Lots of things to do in this game that you will cry wondering where to go. You will CRY wondering where your heart and playstyle belongs to.
- Wanderlust in you? There is the Map-hopping quota that involves going to Vistas, Points of Interest andWaypoints, and completing Skill Challenges and Area Goals, where certain tasks can fill up that area’s goal.  Complete all those in a certain map will give you special items, EXP and Money. What makes it more challenging is that the “required level” system equalizes players in the map, adding more challenge and fun into the game. Though watch out for the bugged NPCs and Missing Skill Challenges. Bugs are a plenty. SERIOUSLY. There is also the Exploration Mode of special Dungeon after completing Story-Mode that can be the hardest task known to players, but perfect for farming a special currency only obtainable in those dungeons that you can use to purchase exotic armors and weaponry. Just bring a party along. It will end up messy.
- Man of Competition? Join World vs. World where you represent your server as you fight against other servers for territorial disputes and siege battles! (Summarizing the WvW Experience: Think of the ENTIRE Koei Warriors Series as a whole crammed into one big server fight.) Maybe challenge yourselves with PVP… level low? Don’t worry! We’ll cap you off there with Level 80! Everyone starts at level 80 there! We love you too, Game.
- Story nerd? Guild Wars 2 offers a story mode that drags alongside you until you reach level 80 (so far) with stories that involves Dragons, Zombies, and … Dragon Zombies right after you finish your own personal story mode. But updates and features are updated pretty often, so after the final battle with Zhaitan, you can just unwind with special Monthly events that will give you better, stronger loot.
- Craft Buff? Guild Wars 2 offers a system where you can specialize in 2 crafting areas that specialize in creating weapons, armor, accessories, and even food as drops from monsters and mining for materials are abundance in Tyria. Though leveling up craft skills will be a task if it wasn’t for the inevitable gold consumption and places you can find rich resources.
Also, we held the most Imbastic of Dance Parties.
And the fun part is? No Monthly Subscriptions (Just 2.5 k in your Data Blitz stores), the Item Mall is not necessary to advance yourselves to the game (in fact, all the items there can be obtained by means of Unlocked Black Lion Chests and Quest Rewards in Story Mode or just there to make you look pretty i.e. Quaggan backpacks.), A Community that is not evil at all, and it’s not a boring game because it’s big, it’s hard, and it will most likely be wonderful.
Seriously. Please play Guild Wars 2. We need more players in the Isle of janthir Server. I BEGGETH OF YOU. (I’m Aidola Fang of the RISE/PNOY Guild. Please Add Me.)
