Bumblejinks' Reviews: Wizard101
An entertaining time capsule of frustration.
Wizard101. Who hasn't played KingsIsle's top-of-the-line mega-hit MMORPG? I know people who would destroy everything in their path to get a game as successful as this one. Even to this day, despite the fact that the game is in a "Dying" state, millions are still playing it, and are likely to continue playing it for years to come, assuming it lives that long. But is it really worth all the praise it's been getting in recent years? Does it really deserve all the backlash it's been getting since the second story arc began? Let's find out.
I believe I first started playing this game sometime in 2009, a year or so after I began playing Toontown Online. I had been enjoying Toontown to death, and was looking for something else to sink my teeth into while I waited for Disney to release their next updates to the game. Needless to say, the first game I laid eyes on was Wizard101.
At first I enjoyed it to death. Even if I couldn't see past the slower-paced combat system that felt similar to Toontown, but at the same time left a dry taste in my mouth for some reason. Making friends, adventuring together, raising pets and decorating castles... it was a blast, indeed!
...And then I stopped playing about halfway through the fourth world in the game, MooShu, and didn't pick up the game again until some time in 2015. What caused me to take a 5-6 year hiatus from the game, you may ask? I'm not really sure.
I know one reason is that I was bored of MMORPG's like Wizard101 and Toontown Online and wanted to play something else. This was around the time that Pirates of the Caribbean Online and Free Realms had come into the spotlight as well, which were both vastly different compared to Toontown or Wizard101, so that may have something to do with it as well.
Now it's halfway through 2017, and I've since completed FOUR FULL PLAYTHROUGHS of the first story arc of Wizard101, and seem more then enough videos of the second story arc to give this review.
That's the main reason why this review took so long; I wanted to gather as much information about it as I could before doing it. That, and I caught a cold after coming back from Equestria ( My Little Pony stuff, you know ) last month, and that was fun. But you guys have waited long enough. Let's dive into Wizard101.
I always was a bit of a fan of the tutorial sequence in this game, something you'll be forced to do as soon as you create a new account and create your first Wizard ( I always wondered why they don't call the female characters witches ). I like that you can see the main villain of the game right from the get-go, and the game wastes no time in establishing that this is the big bad guy your going to be working toward taking down. And it doesn't end there.
All throughout the game, you're battling it out with crazy monsters, devastating villains, and even deranged criminals, such as in the third world, Marleybone. One nice detail I like is that you have the option to take the fight solo or team up with other players as you see fit. There are plenty of times where it's better to stay in a group to overcome the challenges, such as in the final dungeon of the fifth world, Dragonspyre, but other times it's best to take the fight alone, mainly because the enemies just aren't tough enough to warrant waiting around for some friends to show up. And with the exception of the final world of the second story arc, at no point does it ever feel like you have to team up with others to beat the game.
If your getting bored of the main questline and the adventuring, there's plenty of side activities to keep you busy for a while, some good, some awesome, and some lackluster. While the fishing is interesting, considering the unique spin this game gives to it, it's nothing to lose sleep over if you miss out on it. The gardening is in much the same boat as fishing, due to the fact it's so easily exploited to gain an advantage over other players. Especially if you have a paid membership. In 2013, there was a pickup glitch with one of the in-game plants that was so severe, it led to at least %10 of the entire playerbase getting banned. Needless to say, KingsIsle had to do something about the situation, before there was a full-blown lawsuit against the company. That left a foul taste in many players mouths that can still be tasted today.
On top of that, both fishing and gardening are limited by your characters "Energy", which is so slow to regenerate, especially without a membership, it's almost universally better to just wait until the next day before trying anything serious or just shell out the 250 crowns ( the games premium currency ) to get it instantly topped off.
Another thing that tends to eat up energy like nobodies business is pet training. In the game, you can get many different kinds of pets, one of which can accompany you on your adventure throughout the Spiral. If you have both energy and some pet snacks, special items used to train your pet, you can go to the Pet Pavilion in the game and train them up, in the hopes that they'll gain special talents and abilities that can help you through the game. While this sounds nice in context, the execution always bugged me.
For starters, the talents your pet gets is completely randomized. You could get some amazing like a bonus to damage resistance or "Maycast Fairy" at one point, and then get something completely worthless, like a bonus to one of your pets stats the next, rendering the entire pet worthless. Secondly, the energy cost to train your pet increases as your pet advances through life, raising by 2 every stage. While this can be offset to some extent through the use of special equipment and by leveling up, this will understandably upset some players.
There are a couple of other things to look out for as well, such as jewel socketing, pet racing, and Monstrology. But all things considered, unless you want some nice jewels for PvP, an amazing pet for pet racing, or you enjoy collecting the souls ( Animus ) of your enemies and turning them into minions you can summon in battle, or decorations for your house, your not missing much by ignoring these features. It leads me to question why they're in the game in the first place.
While I wish I could end it there and call it a day, sadly, that's not the end of the issues I have with this game. While I have completed the first story arc of the game multiple times for various reasons, I can never seem to find the strength to get through the second story arc and do the rest of the game. After I get about halfway through Celestia, the sixth world, I just can't go any further then that. I think it has something to do with the entire story of the second story arc. I myself, along with many other people, fully agree that KingsIsle seriously missed a major opportunity here.
The entire first story arc was fun and enjoyable, and littered with hilarious and funny characters, on top of having a very interesting story that we haven't seen in many other MMO's up to this day. The second story arc? Not so much. It would have made a lot more sense to have the player hunting down former followers of the main villain, Malistaire Drake, instead of dealing with another monstrously powerful villain altogether. All things considered, the second story arc will likely lead something to be desired in comparison to the first story arc.
I can also recall a few times where the game gets a little, how do I say this... "Grindy". There are multiple points all throughout the adventure where you have to take out a specific number of the same enemy until you get the thing you're supposed to get. Sometimes it can be really quick, while other times, it can take FOREVER! I hate when games do this kind of stuff, and this one is no exception. Megafail in this regard!
The main problem I have with this game, however, is the Player VS Player (PvP) system. My gosh, is it unbalanced as all get out, so much so that some classes of Wizard will see little to no screen time in this games PvP. The turn-based battle system works well enough for PvE, but in PvP it's going to drive some people crazy when they're on the side that's going second. And while KingsIsle is making some changes to make it a little more "fair" for everyone, it feels like closing the gate to the pasture years after the cows have run away.
And even at that, there's no guarantee that these changes will work. More then likely, they'll end up leaving everyone bitter and frustrated with the game all over again. The PvP system is miles ahead of Age of Conan: Unchained, mainly because there's actually people to fight this time, but it really needs a massive overhaul. I've never gotten into it myself, and I've seen and heard more then enough to know it's bad.
Another thing that really kills the experience for me is how limited you are as a free player. If you don't plan to buy a membership, or unlock areas with crowns, which are no less expensive, you really can't do much with the game. Your limited to two main streets where you can battle enemies and do quests, which by themselves don't offer up much, and all the other worlds of the Spiral and locked out of your grasp. Coming from somebody who's used to being able to go wherever he wants regardless of his level, this really left me shaking my head at the game itself. And seeing as the games nearly a decade old, it really makes me wonder how much longer this game has left to live with this system.
Also, who in their right mind came up with the idea for the dungeons? Sure, they're an interesting concept, but their execution can leave you glued to your computer screen for much longer then you would prefer. Some dungeons only go on for about an hour, while others can go on for almost 3 HOURS! And if you quit before you finish the whole thing, you only have 30 minutes to get back into the dungeon, or else you have to start all over again! Not only has this upset my friends a fair amount, it's upset their parents, to, because their children are unable to step away from the computer to help them with some mundane task because they're halfway through a particularly long or annoying dungeon. This is game design that you'd expect to see in a game like The Legend of Zelda, not an MMORPG!
Graphically, the game is beautiful, even to this day. While it's not Lord of the Rings Online beautiful, per say, it still looks better then Toontown Rewritten does. And unlike Age of Conan Unchained, every world looks and feels distinctly different from the one that came before it, so while you will be starring at the same "Renaissance fair" theme of Wizard City for the first portion of the game, luckily, the worlds don't take to long to complete, and the themes don't overstay their welcome.
If there's one thing I can praise this game for, it's the fantastic soundtrack. I will always enjoy the battle themes from the first story arc and Grizzleheim, one of the side worlds, and there are so many other songs in this game that I love to death. The Marleybone main theme and the final dungeon theme of Dragonspyre are some of the best themes in the entire game. Songs like those found in the Avalon soundtrack are great as well. Granted, it's not the best soundtrack in the world. Some of the MooShu themes may end up putting you to sleep, and some of the later worlds battle themes are pretty forgettable as well, but the few duds it has aren't enough to bring down the soundtrack altogether. Oh, and did I mention the Azteca battle theme? Beautiful!
At the end of the day, Wizard101 has some very strong points that certainly make it worth a play, even if you plan to stick to the free to play areas. However, it's flaws are to numerous to ignore, whether your a paid player or a free player. The entire second story arc is bleak and lifeless, half of the optional features and systems leave a lot to be desired, and coming from somebody who first started playing this game in 2009, and who still plays it to this day on 4 different accounts, it's pretty disappointing. I know I might be sounding like a broken record by bringing this up all the time, but this is one of the games that first introduced me to MMORPG's. It's the reason I got into games like Lord of the Rings Online in the first place. Now, all these years later, I can't express enough how disappointed I am with it.
I'll still play the game until the day it dies, but I probably won't play the main storyline any further past Celestia, and I probably never will. I just can't bring myself to do it. But that's just me. If you enjoy fantasy MMO's, magic, and adventuring in strange, mysterious worlds filled with dangerous creatures, or if your a completionist looking for something that'll keep you busy for a while, then you'll most likely enjoy this game. If you don't really care for any one of those things, then I don't think this will really change your mind. If you are going to play the game, it's worth playing through the first story arc just to see how this game got it's start. Casual gamers, just stay far away from the second story arc. It takes either a diehard fan of the game, a hardcore player, or a completionist to see this game through to the very end.
** WHAT'S THE SCORE? **
Plot: The first story arc has a very interesting and original plot, one that other games, including other MMORPG's, has yet to replicate, which is only further fueled by one of the best MMORPG villains we've seen in years. The second story arc, however, is lackluster in comparison. ( 6.0 )
Graphics: The game still looks great, even to this day, and unlike some other MMO's, every area looks different from one another and no one theme overstays it's welcome. The houses and dungeons all looks great, too! ( 10.0 )
Sound: The game sounds fantastic, from it's background music and themes to it's sound effects. Sure, there are a couple of forgettable tracks, but no soundtrack is perfect. ( 9.0 )
Gameplay: Half of the game is spent enjoying the main storyline. The other half could end up being filled with at least half a dozen different activities that are either meaningless, annoying, or just completely idiotic. The combat tends to get repetitive, to, especially later in the game. The PvP also needs some serious work. ( 5.0 )
Lasting Appeal: The first half of the game will be memorable for many, but the second half may end up leaving you unsatisfied. Approach the second story arc with caution. The customer support quality is also miles behind Lord of the Rings Online's. ( 6.5 )
FINAL SCORE: 36.5/50