Forsaken World: A More In-Depth Look

Dire and I, after an instance.

Over the weekend I had more of a chance to take a good look at Forsaken World. I've been interested in this MMO since hearing about it and I had hoped to be drawn into it. Unlike most F2P MMO games it seems to have much lasting power. I didn't play it and push it to the side as just some random crummy MMO that feels generic because it's free.

Dire and I have been looking for something fun and laid back to play together (still playing EQ2 but at times we need a refresher) and this game has really hit the sweet spot. We've been playing it together and really enjoying ourselves. If you're looking for something free and fun, it's worth a shot. So today I thought with more play time under my belt I could give some more thoughts and insight about the game.

Big mean boss fight!

I've gotten to level 23 thus far. I'd like to have gotten further but I've been working on my son's computer a lot this weekend, finally fixing the 'old hunk of junk' (it's not really but I sometimes despise that machine). It did give Dire a chance to catch up to me. My main character is a priest and he is playing a protector. Priests are the big healers of FW and protectors are the better of the tanks, while warriors can tank it's the protectors that have the easiest time due to many AOE attacks. Bards can heal but only group based healing at level 30. So we decided to do a tank healer combo and it's been quite fun.

The quests lead you to the next, you're constantly being lead off to other areas never staying in one place long enough to really get bored. many of the 'fex ex', or rather delivery quests, offer a lot of xp, so doing them nets nice rewards and leads you to where you need to be going anyhow. With autoroute it's cake doing them. We're both in different parts of the quest lines but we do group together often, in instances.

Mount up!

How are instances in this game? Well first off you have a looking for dungeon feature, hitting T pulls this up and you 'apply' for a group, which sticks you in the queue. You can queue as a party or alone. Sometimes groups are instant and other times there's a wait. During peak times it seems very easy to get in a group. When the group has been assembled a little conformation window pops up asking if you are ready and you hit ok, wait for everyone else to do so and you're whisked off to the instance. Yep, a very similar mechanic to WoW, and I actually love it in this game. It pulls the people from your server but the servers are divided into 10 realms which you can play on any of these with any of your characters, at any time.

'Hearthing' home.

Getting back to instances, they have been very enjoyable so far. I've done several and for the most part people are quite nice. It basically throws you into a group with a healer and a tank and dps. Sometimes you get two tanking classes, sometimes two healers, not as often are healers doubled up I noticed- as I level higher. The instances are short enough to be sweet and enjoyable but long enough to be fun. Basic tank and spank gets you through them. Most parties are nice, sometimes the dps will try to pull but after asking many to let the tank pull, in most cases they do listen. Generally people are nice. I've yet to have anyone be really rude to me in the game. Only one moron misread something I said in chat and I promptly put them on ignore.

The loot in the instances, if it is class specific only that class can roll on it. I suppose it makes it easier and helps against ninja looting. Nice blues have dropped but the one time I saw what I wanted... there was another priest in the group. Woe is me. I've enjoyed the priest though and it's nice having a tank with me I trust. It's really been quite fun queuing up for instances!

Adventuring under the full moon.

Other than grouping I've been slowly working on tradeskills which are pretty easy and enjoyable. There are quests for them and daily quests. I've been questing in general trying to do almost every quest, they net really good xp. Plus, I am trying to keep at making my own drinks for instances and soloing, you drink and eat to regen health and mana- Or you could use potions.

Travel isn't so daunting in this game, it's actually very cool. Some games are reverting to the old 'walk twenty miles uphill in the snow' deal to get where you need to. Not here in FW (thank heavens). We have portals to different areas such as quest hubs, different lands, different parts of the city. Even people who teleport to different locations, well NPCs. There are mounts also! At 20 you get a five day mount and at thirty you can obtain a permanent faction mount or buy one in the cash shop.

The game is just lovely, it runs so smoothly and it's not hard on computers while looking fantastic. The armor looks great and the characters are quite charming, I just love my human priest. Speaking of armor there are many ways to obtain armor. Quests, shards for armor vendors, vendors and instance drops- That's just a few. I've had no problem gaining new equipment. Every five levels you get to open your little gift box, you start the game with it, and it has things like shards for some gear and helpful quest items, potions and other really nice stuff. A very nice aspect of the game. I don't know how long the box keeps opening, mine still says 25 so I assume for a ways to go still.

Got HELP?!

The game also helps you if you become lost. There are lists on the map to help you find where you need to go. click and you'll run there. There is even a feature to help you find what you should be doing, say you were to just lose your way. Clicking on the ? under your character's portrait helps information and direction (pictured above). This window has a lot of helpful information in general such as alerting you of new abilities to be trained, quest areas, instances and so on. Is it a bit of hand holding? I think it is a plus and helps players not feel so lost where some would just throw up their hands- I've done it in the past with games where I just got too lost.

Another thing I really love is the pet system! It's really cool. Many Asian MMO games offer neat pets to help with combat or other things and it's something I wish more western MMO games would pick up on. I love having a cute little pet helping me in my adventures! At level 10 you gain access to three pets which basically attack and help you along your way (yes, you can have all three). At level thirty you can obtain more with the pet tradeskill or 'job'. I found a cool link here that offers a lot of information on the pet system.

My trusty tank, attempting a warrior <3

The game does has it's flaws but I think the positive points outweigh them. It is probably one of the smoothest feeling F2P mmo games I've ever played. It is the most engaging, by far. I think Perfect World Entertainment got a lot of things right with the game. We're having a blast!

-kaozz