First impressions of the New World closed beta.

in Hive Gaming3 years ago


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It would've been about 8 or so months ago... I wanted a new MMO to play. But I didn't just want any old MMO. Mostly, I wanted one like the one I kickstarted back in the day that failed miserably and never saw the light of day. (That was Chronicles of Elyria, if you're curious). That particular one was like "an entire world" in game form and it appealed to me, massively. So something similar to that would've been advantageous. And also, very importantly, I didn't want my future MMO to be an overwhelming mess like Black Desert Online. I'm a very simple person.

During my search I found a list of upcoming MMOs and quickly yay'd or nay'd them as I scrolled down and down the list. One of the ones I raised an eyebrow at and "yay'd" was New World.

Unfortunately, it's by Amazon. I want to hate it, simply because it's by Amazon and I don't want to give them any money, ever. Alas, I literally just gave them $56.95 because I really want to play their New World.

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As with any game, the character customisation is one of my favourite things.

The one in New World is slightly disappointing in that you can't really adjust your person's face at all. You choose a male or female body type, choose a face type and skin tone, chuck some hair on it and some facial hair if you so desire, add some freckles and a couple of scars, and done.

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As usual, I am spoiled by all the other character creators in this world that allow me to personally change the shape of my person's face, choose her eye shape, her lip shape, different eyebrows, etc.

It's alright though, I guess. I'm sure it'll meet normal people's expectations, haha.

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We begin the game shipwrecked, with nothing but rags on our bodies and somehow we've scrounged up swords and shields. (I'll admit, I didn't watch the cinematic. I'm saving that for launch.)

You don't select a class at the start of the game; instead, you start with a sword and shield and as you progress through the game you'll have the opportunity to get other weapons and start levelling them up.

It was a little bit jarring, for me anyway, because I am -never- a sword-and-board person, but I soon became accustomed to it, and in the skill tree for this particular playstyle is a more tanky one and also a more damage-oriented one. Being able to do damage, yet protect yourself? Sounds pretty spiffy!

I decided that I wanted to be a bow-and-arrow player, with sword-and-shield as my secondary weapon. But you don't get that option until you actually acquire your next weapon. Luckily! One of the very first quests awarded me with one, and there was much rejoicing.

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Early on in the game it's very evident that gathering and crafting will be a big thing in this game. Which makes me SUPER HAPPY! Being able to gather everything I can and craft weapons, foods, furniture for my future house, etc, that right there is the pinnacle of my personal gameplay style.

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And even better, from my first impressions it looks as though your character can become a master of everything if you so choose!

I really enjoyed that in the Elder Scrolls Online. Not just choosing a single profession ala World of Warcraft or SWTOR and instead being able to become a jack of all trades if you really wanted. I'm the type of person who really wants that!

I don't want fifty different characters in order to experience fifty different professions. Being able to do everything on the one character is perfect for me.

And I'm not quiiiiite sure, but it almost looks as though you can do that with the combat tree system too. Sick of using a bow? Pick up an ice gauntlet or fire staff or healing staff or a greataxe or whatever and start levelling that instead! I like it.

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The map seems pretty sizeable. And an interesting thing I noticed was that as you level and do quests in each region, you get experience for the region.

When you gain experience for the region, you get to choose a perk each time you level up your standing with that region.

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The perk you can select changes each time you level up as well! I just thought that was a unique addition and it's one I can totally get behind.

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The combat, so far, seems really enjoyable! You need to block and dodge and actually move around - I mean, you could just stand there and flail if you want, but you will get damaged.

I'm hoping it stays like this, because I remember very clearly being impressed with the combat and challenge and actually having to dodge and stuff in the ESO beta, only to be disappointed because apparently regular players didn't want to dodge and play the game properly so complained that it was too difficult and everything got nerfed.

May Amazon not cave in quite that easily.

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The graphics are beautiful and the game runs magnificently on my little laptop. Apparently there is a bug with the 3000 series graphics cards where you need to cap your framerate to 60fps or face the consequences, but luckily I have a 2000 series so am not experiencing this issue.

I'm able to run everything on high with 75fps and the game feels very smooth. I'm not experiencing any lag or glitchiness whatsoever, and they actually have Oceanic servers available!

That makes me even more happy. May the servers remain available and not disappear into the void like the old Oceanic SWTOR servers.

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My one real complaint with this game, from what I've experience so far, is the chat.

When you write a message, the message shows up with your name and what chat-zone it is beneath the message. It looks really weird and unintuitive and personally, I think I'm just going to end up closing the chat so I never have to look at it.

It'll be my partner, myself, and a few other friends anyway and we all talk on Discord, so, there's no need for the written word anyway.

Still, the chat looks appalling and I hope they fix it up a bit before release.

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All in all though, this game appeals to me greatly! I'm really enjoying it and I'm looking forward to when it's actually released.

I don't want to play too much at the moment because it's only a two-week beta where all progress will be wiped before release, and I'd rather experience most of the game when it's ready to be experienced. Don't want to be burnt out on it before it's proper playtime. But in it's current state, and despite the fact it's owned and created by... ugh... Amazon... I recommend it and I can't wait to play it once it's released in all of its glory. 😁

 

Until next time,


Thanks for stopping by!

 


 

All screenshots in this post are courtesy of me, @kaelci, and are from the game: New World, Beta.

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Love the game so far. I played the alpha and picked hatchet to be my main weapon, because it had self-healing. Sadly, no longer, so now I'm enjoying the spear and still trying some new weapons.

And also, very importantly, I didn't want my future MMO to be an overwhelming mess like Black Desert Online. I'm a very simple person.

Very much agree here! Same goes for WoW. I was a WoW addict for quite a while, but now, whenever I return, I'm overwhelmed! BDO is still nice for afk horse training though and the trick to that game is just ignore everything you're not interested in.

Anyways, I love New World's crafting and like you said, being able to do EVERYTHING :D

apparently regular players didn't want to dodge and play the game properly so complained that it was too difficult and everything got nerfed.

Ha! I'm not very good at dodging and blocking and stuff, so I usually ignore that part of any game's gameplay (although I am able to use it in GW2). I'm just not fast enough! But that's why hubby plays a healer for New World and I'll just go heavy armor. I'm always a caster in games, but I don't enjoy it much in New World, so sticking to close-combat for now.

 3 years ago  

Glad I'm not the only one enjoying it!! 😄 I've been reading through the Steam discussions every now and then and there are quite a few people disillusioned with it, complaining that the combat isn't good enough, that there's not enough to do, quests are boring, etc, but it's the very start of a brand new MMO, content and other elements will be added as time goes on!

I still love WoW every now and then! Can't keep me away xD plus, I've spent so much money on it over the years that the idea of quitting forever hurts my imaginary wallet. I have this issue though, where if I haven't played something in a while I completely forget how to play it and feel the need to start from the very start all over again. New World looks simple enough in that regard! Click to attack, 3 abilities, easy to remember. 😄

My partner tried most of the weapons and settled on really liking the musket, he's usually a tank in games so was an interesting choice! I really enjoyed the bow, but I'm disappointed that there's no dagger weapon, so will need to play around a bit to choose what my secondary will be. Some sort of melee for close combat I think.

I can't wait to get right into the gathering and crafting! 😅 New game comes out, everyone's all, "yeah, gameplay! yeah, combat! raiding all the forts! doing all this and that!" and I'm just... "Woo! I found some leather! I'm going to make me a new coat!" xD

I'm not too worried about the amount of content yet. Like you, I will probably be diving into the professions and there's plenty to do there!

I'm not the biggest fan of the combat, but that's just because I'm a crappy gamer with crappy reflexes 😅 Hubby, the better gamer, is much more excited about it!

waiting for this so badly !!! that might be my next favorite MMO...

this is a game that really should not rush. im pretty suire they are about to create something amazing... i hope so..

 3 years ago  

So far development seems really good! The gameplay feels very smooth, the game itself feels very well optimised, and in this early game it's something I can really enjoy. Hopefully the end content will be just as good!

I played it earlier yesterday and my partner played it last night, and there were some changes from when I played to when he played, so they're actively working on it during the beta and listening to player feedback, so that's promising too!

ill be there for the launch ! let's make MMO's great again, lol.

cheers !

The development of this has been such a roller coaster. I hope it turns out great though. I've been longing for a new MMO and I've just gotten into FFXIV which is really fun. I won't even be able to finish the FFXIV story before this comes out so won't be such a bummer if it's bad. I signed up for the beta but didn't get in and I refuse to give them money to play test their game. Your review here gives me hope!

 3 years ago  

I recently tried FFXIV also! It was fun, but once I reached about level 50 it was such a back-and-forth slog. I don't think I even reached the first expansion's content, I just got so burnt out on the end story of the classic content and couldn't continue anymore.

This Steam post explains it perfectly.

I think the Beta for New World is still open, that they were sending out invites over intervals of the closed beta period, so fingers crossed you get one and can give it a try!

From what I've experienced so far: I played earlier yesterday and my partner gave it a try last night. During that timeframe they fixed an issue with their AFK timer that wasn't working and making the queues very tedious, and they took into consideration feedback in regards to gathering and implemented it.

That quick response time for updating during the beta makes me feel pretty confident in their ability as listening developers also. I was impressed! :D

I think if you view FFXIV as more of a multiplayer RPG instead of an MMO it makes more sense. I'm just playing every now and then to chill for a bit. It's fun and pretty to look at. I do understand the problems though if you're expecting more of a free and open MMO.

Oh, that's sweet! I hope I get an invitation to at least try it then. I just need a couple of hours to get a feel for it. I see people raging about it online but I feel that those are just the people who have hyped themselves to much and have way to big expectations.

Just got on the game last night and WOW!!! I think I found my new addition (after this brief break between open beta and release, where I'll spend the next 3 weeks cleaning up my wow account before I never look at blizzard games again. LoL.

 3 years ago  

Haha! Good to hear you're enjoying it too 😄 It's totally going to be my new addiction too, I can't wait!!

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