Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns

 PC
  • Publisher: NCSOFT
  • Release Date: Oct 23, 2015
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 981 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 670 out of 981
  2. Mixed: 72 out of 981
  3. Negative: 239 out of 981
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  1. dwms1188
    Oct 26, 2015
    3
    I had to make an account to express my disappointment for this game. There was so much hype for an expansion after 3 long years of little content or fixes and honestly I was very much looking forward to it.

    What we got however was typical Arena Net response. I can't find a single part of this expansion where they listened to any Living Story, WvW or Fractal feedback they received. Want    I had to make an account to express my disappointment for this game. There was so much hype for an expansion after 3 long years of little content or fixes and honestly I was very much looking forward to it.

    What we got however was typical Arena Net response. I can't find a single part of this expansion where they listened to any Living Story, WvW or Fractal feedback they received. Want to play with a small group? Better hope people come around for the champs your elite specialization (see: Their primary selling point) are gated behind. Want to get the Hero Points that can be solo'd? You guessed it, a Mastery gate. Some Hero Points requiring max masteries (16 million exp).

    There are 4 maps. The events on the maps are not fun. You run in a circle for 16 mil experience then do it another 4 times. I'm sure raids will require high level masteries because its their only content they brought into this game. You're paying $50 for 1/3 game play and the other 2/3 time gating.

    But its an expansion you say, go back to the regular game if you don't like it? Too bad they castrated that in the process. It wasn't enough to make their fruits of their labor annoying, they ruined their quite stable and still maintaining base game by making the only money attainable in the new zones. Upped Fractal rewards? Only if you get the mastery.

    New WvW maps do nothing but highlight the disconnect between whatever bastardized team if handling that now and what actual players want.

    Skip this heaping pile of **** for a month. If Anet pulls its head from their asses and makes some fixes maybe it will be worth it. I'm getting a refund.    … Expand
  2. Intox
    Oct 26, 2015
    1
    My experience with HoT can be summed up as frustrating.
    The story is gated behind various masteries to artificially extend it.
    As for the story it was average, ending feels underwhelming and leaves me thinking "is that it?" It gave the impression of do these things you may not enjoy to access the stuff you might enjoy. That is exactly how I felt about finally completing the story,    My experience with HoT can be summed up as frustrating.
    The story is gated behind various masteries to artificially extend it.

    As for the story it was average, ending feels underwhelming and leaves me thinking "is that it?"

    It gave the impression of do these things you may not enjoy to access the stuff you might enjoy.
    That is exactly how I felt about finally completing the story, I had to do a lot of not fun things to level a mastery required at each step of the story.

    Did not finish the unlock on my elite spec as it takes an extreme amount of hero points to unlock.
    Lost a lot of replay value for me since I have no desire to grind hero points for elite specs for every character, any alts I would like to play will face the same wall that my first character did.

    When I first bought GW2 I loved the play your way design they did and that has now changed.
    Definitely a big downgrade to me from the original game, I had more fun before this expansion released.    … Expand
  3. Elvariia
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    Awesome expansion. Beautiful maps, very fun new profession, a lot of goals set, challenging maps. Not even close to grindy - people just would like to finish everything in one day. I'm happy that I can finally work towards something that matters, not only skins. Loving it so far!
  4. Anakin1000
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    It's good and solid expansion, and it makes foundation for future expansion packs. I don't get all this hate towards HoT. New maps are huge, engaging and most of all fun. Masteries and Elite Spec are supposed to be END-GAME-PROGRESSION, so stop whining they take long to master... it's supposed to work that way. IF you could master everything in 3 days, they would be no-end-game complains.It's good and solid expansion, and it makes foundation for future expansion packs. I don't get all this hate towards HoT. New maps are huge, engaging and most of all fun. Masteries and Elite Spec are supposed to be END-GAME-PROGRESSION, so stop whining they take long to master... it's supposed to work that way. IF you could master everything in 3 days, they would be no-end-game complains. It's solid 8/10 Expac, worth of it's prize! (I raise note to 10 to counter 0/10 haters)… Expand
  5. MHCerberus
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    New specializations take time to acquire which gave me reason to play my alts again. Many small features like the action camera keep pooping up and giving new reasons to nerd out. The new maps are challenging and make you learn to move, dodge, and play smart. It really does not feel like a grind at all and has kept me on my toes. Beautiful areas, great music, and much more dialogueNew specializations take time to acquire which gave me reason to play my alts again. Many small features like the action camera keep pooping up and giving new reasons to nerd out. The new maps are challenging and make you learn to move, dodge, and play smart. It really does not feel like a grind at all and has kept me on my toes. Beautiful areas, great music, and much more dialogue performed quite well. Rating: Will take my damn time/10… Expand
  6. theironsavage
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    This review is an personal opinion from three years of playing the base game. If you are a player that's been around before year one you would of notice how the game has changed.
    Year one there was no wardrobe , LFG, or rewards for dungeons or pvp.
    DG rewards been nerf. so what? They been inflation factories for the longest time making gold worth less and less. too much grinding. so    This review is an personal opinion from three years of playing the base game. If you are a player that's been around before year one you would of notice how the game has changed.
    Year one there was no wardrobe , LFG, or rewards for dungeons or pvp.
    DG rewards been nerf. so what? They been inflation factories for the longest time making gold worth less and less.

    too much grinding. so what? stacking in a corner and stealthing pass mobs is your idea of rewarding? There is no grinding its just as easy has before but actually requires you too interact with people.

    only three maps. so what? they are gigantic and easy to get lost in them. everything does try to kill you at night but that made me blow off the dust on my soldiers gear and equip range weapons to get around.

    too hard!! REALLY THIS IS TOO HARD TO PLAY? PEOPLE WHO SAY ITS TOO HARD MUST OF NEVER LEARN HOW TO PLAY THE GAME, JUST CHANGE YOU GEAR AND BUILD.

    yes maps been locked off but I prefer quality over quantity.

    The maps are easy to move around, just have to remember the roads. If you have a guild or group of friends every thing would be easy for you.

    If you are a veteran and loyal fan of the series I HIGHLY RECOMMEND BUYING
    New to Guild wars 2- you must learn there is more then DPS    … Expand
  7. FlyingChicken
    Oct 26, 2015
    8
    The story so far is great, and the new levels are amazing. This game isn't meant to be completed in week or two and it is still a game that you can leave and come back to as you like. Very enjoyable and so far I have been able to do everything on my own without a party. There are some features where you will need a group, such as raids and clearing out the guild hall, but that is what itThe story so far is great, and the new levels are amazing. This game isn't meant to be completed in week or two and it is still a game that you can leave and come back to as you like. Very enjoyable and so far I have been able to do everything on my own without a party. There are some features where you will need a group, such as raids and clearing out the guild hall, but that is what it was made for. I love the mastery system and the fact that they did not unlock the whole mastery system for the Tyria line was a little disappointing at first but then I thought about it and realized that it gives us more to do. If we created new characters the mastery system wouldn't become unlocked until we hit level 80 and it is also account wide and not character bound.… Expand
  8. doodlefish
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Anet have done us proud with this update. The world really feels alive with so many different things going on and so many new mini stories to find I will be running around and discovering new things for a long time. I wasn't sure about the idea of introducing gliding and having so much verticality in the maps when I heard about it but actually it works incredibly well and is a lot of fun.Anet have done us proud with this update. The world really feels alive with so many different things going on and so many new mini stories to find I will be running around and discovering new things for a long time. I wasn't sure about the idea of introducing gliding and having so much verticality in the maps when I heard about it but actually it works incredibly well and is a lot of fun. I feel like I know my way around the first 2 new maps now but I'm still constantly finding new areas and bits that I have never seen before. I just wish they would add gliding into the old maps as well!!

    I have tried playing other mmos but ever since I first started guild wars 2 they feel so clunky in comparison. This expansion will definitely keep me entertained for a long time cos there is so much to do!!    … Expand
  9. renji1337
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    I would give this a 10. I like the game, i like how there is multiple things to do and that they wont be done in 1 day, (they take 2-4weeks for the average player) and that the game is fun. There are so many people playing that it feels like GW2 is the top MMO there is!
  10. tortietude
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    I am hotly engaged in full-blown addiction. These maps are gorgeous and fresh and the vertical space is cleverly designed. Elite specs are incredible and have made combat even more thoughtful and gratifying (and the synergy in a well-oiled group is amazing!). Personally I really enjoy the pacing and the difficulty of the new maps because you get a real sense of a job well done. Story hasI am hotly engaged in full-blown addiction. These maps are gorgeous and fresh and the vertical space is cleverly designed. Elite specs are incredible and have made combat even more thoughtful and gratifying (and the synergy in a well-oiled group is amazing!). Personally I really enjoy the pacing and the difficulty of the new maps because you get a real sense of a job well done. Story has been great so far and the meta events flow very well. I haven't been this enthralled with a game in a while! Thank you Anet!… Expand
  11. derekgrant3
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Flawless launch, great elements and overall a fantastic experience. Many players feel rushed to do the content or to acquire the new masteries and specializations, but the journey getting them has been enjoyable.
  12. LilyK
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    This was the smoothest launch EVER. There were some small bugging issues however the live build system kept the game up while those were worked out. The environments are amazing and please oh PLEASE play with your headphones on! There are places where you just do not want to missed the environmental sound. Sure it takes some time to build your new skills... and that just extends the gameThis was the smoothest launch EVER. There were some small bugging issues however the live build system kept the game up while those were worked out. The environments are amazing and please oh PLEASE play with your headphones on! There are places where you just do not want to missed the environmental sound. Sure it takes some time to build your new skills... and that just extends the game for most people. Anyone whining about time to build a character is doing just that... WHINING. If anything, I'd wish for a few more waypoints. I'm getting SO LOST because I wander off chasing something and can't find my way back to the story step! GOOD JOB Anet! LOVE IT.… Expand
  13. LovecraftianIde
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    HoT gives veteran players what they've been asking for for a long time. Challenging content, an interesting world to explore. Tons of bugs, but that's to be expected with any brand new game. It's fantastic, fun, and the only downside is the number of new armor skins they've released. I was hoping for more, but we'll see what the rest of the Living Story has to offer!
  14. Kheft
    Oct 26, 2015
    8
    Pros: -New Zones are beautiful and well designed.
    -Story is a vast improvement on the vanilla personal story.
    -Masteries add a nice measurable goal in place of increasing the level cap. -The elite specialization adds a needed variety to the classes(From what I've seen) -The new zones have more challenging content. Cons: -Masteries feel like they could become too grindy especially for    Pros: -New Zones are beautiful and well designed.
    -Story is a vast improvement on the vanilla personal story.
    -Masteries add a nice measurable goal in place of increasing the level cap.
    -The elite specialization adds a needed variety to the classes(From what I've seen)
    -The new zones have more challenging content.
    Cons: -Masteries feel like they could become too grindy especially for people who will get the expansion later and might find zones are less populated.
    -The new zones may have too much content that requires a bigger group, blocking out people who play alone or find their zone is empty.
    - The elite spec is a grind to max out. It forces you to map complete more, which is harder in the new zones.

    From what I've played so far the expansion is great. If you aren't having problems getting into populated zones you won't have to much trouble playing most of the content. The masteries can get a bit grindy but I haven't been blocked much trying to progress in the story, and I feel they are supposed to be unlocked over time, it's only be 4 days since release I don't expect to have everything unlocked. I'll probably update this when I've played more of the expansion.    … Expand
  15. Rits
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    Story: 10/10 (This is what should have been in the core game! A reason to love characters and a can't wait to do the next chapter feeling)

    Music: 10/10 (Absolutely Phenomenal!) Environment: 10/10 (Soo much to explore, the maps are super non linear and just when you think you explored it all, you find a hidden mastery point to acquire) Replay: 10/10 (Mastery Points are account    Story: 10/10 (This is what should have been in the core game! A reason to love characters and a can't wait to do the next chapter feeling)

    Music: 10/10 (Absolutely Phenomenal!)

    Environment: 10/10 (Soo much to explore, the maps are super non linear and just when you think you explored it all, you find a hidden mastery point to acquire)

    Replay: 10/10 (Mastery Points are account bound but hero challenges that you need for Elite Spec are not, each hero challenge is unique in strategy that it does not feel boring like world completion in core)

    Other Content: 9/10 (Fractals mob rewards being removed and moved into RNG boxes which you have to pay for leaves a bad taste in my mouth...due to this, I'm avoiding them in the hopes that they will be tweaked. Raids not being ready even though they are listed as a reason to buy the expansion too leaves a bad taste. HOWEVER, there is PLENTY to do that it does not bother me as much as it did initially, there still is the fact its there and happened though.)

    To the players: You don't hop into a game expecting a max level off the bat, why should we expect the same for an ELITE spec. It should show that you took the time and challenge to get that spec completed. The name is ELITE for a reason.

    These aren’t just new builds to try out. They are completely different play styles added onto your class…practically a new class! There are new icons to represent this for Pete’s sake!
    I think if people would slow down and think about it this way they would realize how much it makes sense that you shouldn’t expect instant gratification for something coming out of an expansion designed purely for lvl 80s. It is going to be challenging and it is going to require time.

    TY Anet for giving me something to do other than logging on, doing my dailies and dungeon run or two with my guildies then signing off. This brought back tons of goals and challenges for me to aim for and it brought back a huge social experience for me and many of my guildies! The fact that a lot of the maps are aimed for group experiences has been enjoyable. Its so fun to see/meet others that are willing to lend a helping hand.    … Expand
  16. LandorGonlow
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    Tons of new content, spectacular meta events!! Graphics and Sound are amazing. There is a low to like about the new expansion. The new specializations still need a bit of balancing but I am sure that will be worked out over the next few weeks. Leveling mastery seems a bit slow but also not horrible as many people are saying. I am actually glad that some content is "gated behind masteries"Tons of new content, spectacular meta events!! Graphics and Sound are amazing. There is a low to like about the new expansion. The new specializations still need a bit of balancing but I am sure that will be worked out over the next few weeks. Leveling mastery seems a bit slow but also not horrible as many people are saying. I am actually glad that some content is "gated behind masteries" otherwise unlocking these new abilities wouldn't seem very rewarding. The story is awesome tons of guild wars 1 throw backs and lots of exciting progression on the newest elder dragon. I highly recommend this game for new players as well as for existing. A few tweaks that need to be worked out but overall , an awesome job!… Expand
  17. bugrock
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Tons of fun and lots of re-playability. There are so many new features and mechanics, I know that I'll be playing this for a very long time. Can't wait to start building my guildhall and challenging other guilds to duel in the arena.
  18. Rocinantus
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Many of these reviews completely astound me by saying things like how there's "no content" or that ArenaNet advertised falsely. ArenaNet was very transparent about what would be released with their expansion, and there's plenty of content to consider this a large expansion. I think what most of these reviews are complaining about is the time investment required to get to the new eliteMany of these reviews completely astound me by saying things like how there's "no content" or that ArenaNet advertised falsely. ArenaNet was very transparent about what would be released with their expansion, and there's plenty of content to consider this a large expansion. I think what most of these reviews are complaining about is the time investment required to get to the new elite specializations. This is confusing to me, because when playing an MMO I think it's understood that there will be a time investment.

    The new areas are massive (once you unlock enough masteries) and the content is challenging but not too much so. I sunk many hours into it over the weekend and I'm very pleased with it.    … Expand
  19. Kheadley
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    great expansion.
    Story is great, new maps are large and fun. plus lot to do.

    new PvP and WvW are spot on.

    The Elite professions are epic. And i'm ok with the cost to unlock them- but i playing ranger, necro, and revenant. So i will admit some people will be pissed at the cost if u on a thief who can't get his dodges or a engi who can't get his drones.
  20. Theron13
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    I am really surprised to see all this complain about grind. There is a lot of factually incorrect or misinterpreted information floating around.

    First, you do not need 400 challenges to get 400 hero points. They have increased the number of point granted by each challenge 10 folds in the expansion so you only need 40 challenges in worst case scenario. Veteran player will need only 19    I am really surprised to see all this complain about grind. There is a lot of factually incorrect or misinterpreted information floating around.

    First, you do not need 400 challenges to get 400 hero points. They have increased the number of point granted by each challenge 10 folds in the expansion so you only need 40 challenges in worst case scenario. Veteran player will need only 19 challenges to max out everything.

    Second, Hero Challenges by design cannot be grinded as you have to do a unique one. Hero challenges involve either pressing 'F', killing a mod, or doing an event chain.

    Third, most veteran player that are creating a new character are using account bound rewards to instantly get a level 80 character and get all skills for the base class. For most veteran player 5 minutes after character creation they will have a level 80 character with all base skills maxed out.

    Finally only a few hero points are locked behind high level masteries, for example, in first 2 zones there are 22 hero points from which only 2 require high level masteries.

    You can argue that Hero points are too challenging, but I don;t get the argument that they are too grindy.    … Expand
  21. Xzean
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Simply masterful. Every aspect of the game improved while keeping the importance of the rest of their content. Each class made to feel fresh and new with specializations, making them hard to get to feel like a true reward.
  22. chalks
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Really loving the story and the new maps are fantastic, guild halls are a really cool concept and the masteries system actually offers some useful skills which kinda surprised me.

    My biggest problem with the game was the mastery gating in the personal story, but Anet recently announced that they're removing this so you can complete the story with only a very basic set of mastery skills    Really loving the story and the new maps are fantastic, guild halls are a really cool concept and the masteries system actually offers some useful skills which kinda surprised me.

    My biggest problem with the game was the mastery gating in the personal story, but Anet recently announced that they're removing this so you can complete the story with only a very basic set of mastery skills so that settles it for me, it's a really great game.

    I'd recommend this to anyone who's enjoyed the original game and wants some more, or anyone who's looking for a fun MMO that they can dip in and out of without feeling they're being left behind. Really good fun.    … Expand
  23. steve13
    Oct 26, 2015
    0
    Arena Net pulled a complete switch. So much for the play your way with no grind. The game is now nothing but a grind with gated content. They are even adding raids. This was clearly done as a time sink as there is not enough content to merit fifty dollars. Count me out. I am done with this game.
  24. JulianSullivan
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    The new specializations removed a lot of the stealth meta from PvP, which made it a lot more fun. The story of the living world is a lot more dramatic and Game of Throne-y. The open world is a legitimate challenge instead of everything dying in a single hit. The missions are tuned a bit low right now, but that might change. Everything about this game is absolutely beautiful, even at theThe new specializations removed a lot of the stealth meta from PvP, which made it a lot more fun. The story of the living world is a lot more dramatic and Game of Throne-y. The open world is a legitimate challenge instead of everything dying in a single hit. The missions are tuned a bit low right now, but that might change. Everything about this game is absolutely beautiful, even at the lowest settings (which I have to use because I run it on a potato). There's a tiny bit of grind to get mastery points, but you really don't need that many and the "grind" is doing distinctive missions and quests in the open world. That's hardly a grind. It's slightly annoying that you have to move away from the story, but honestly it's making me take it in small chunks so the game is lasting a bit longer.… Expand
  25. tormentor19191
    Oct 26, 2015
    8
    Story 10/10 Amazing - Specially the final boss fight. Little buggy now but if those are fixed , amazing fight
    open world 9/10 - Challenging mobs, amazing beautiful map design , feels like a maze sometimes
    Content 9/10 - Amazing meta events - challenging and fun
    Elite spec - 7/10 Requires a lot of work to unlock the complete elite spec but the specs itself are amazing.
  26. Valkysas
    Oct 26, 2015
    0
    They took a awesome do what ever you want when you want to game and turned it into a Group only game
    with gating like you never seen be for 100% wast of money this expansion will be dead and soon the game if this is the direction they are going .. do you like to log in a game once or twice a week since that's the time all the other ppl log in and never be able to do any thing until then !    They took a awesome do what ever you want when you want to game and turned it into a Group only game
    with gating like you never seen be for 100% wast of money this expansion will be dead and soon the game if this is the direction they are going .. do you like to log in a game once or twice a week since that's the time all the other ppl log in and never be able to do any thing until then !
    ppl can't even find groups for the new HOT zone and it HAS to be done with one LOL    … Expand
  27. Kurfu
    Oct 26, 2015
    0
    What used to be a huge *open* world that was fun and exciting to explore, has devolved into a game that keeps the players "on rails" via obnoxious terrain obstacles. If you enjoy running through canyons and over bridges, this is the game for you.
  28. andchat
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Breath-taking work! Surely it has things that need to be tuned but the new zone design is amazing and the mob animations are mind blowing. Excellent class specializations and tons of new content to explore.
  29. ashikniaz
    Oct 26, 2015
    0
    Guild wars 2 heart of thrones was the long awaited expansion, that was supposed to expand the world and expand on a system that was honestly lacking. What we got instead was a minimal amount of maps, that have been filled with unnecessary grind.
  30. nice_aim
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Im a veteran of the game with over 11k ap and been playing since day one. The xpac definitely makes the game more enjoyable with lots of goals to work towards. It extends the game in a way where you don't lose any of the work you put in during the last few years. Endgame is here and it's not grindy, everything can be earned by just playing the game.

    For all the new players, take your    Im a veteran of the game with over 11k ap and been playing since day one. The xpac definitely makes the game more enjoyable with lots of goals to work towards. It extends the game in a way where you don't lose any of the work you put in during the last few years. Endgame is here and it's not grindy, everything can be earned by just playing the game.

    For all the new players, take your time and explore the game, it's a great looking game which the developers are proud of. If you ever get bored, try pvp or wvw which are always fun.

    Finally, don't trust all these overly negative reviews. While the game is not perfect, it is a masterpiece to me and easily deserves 10/10.    … Expand
  31. Bragollac
    Oct 26, 2015
    1
    It's just a simple patch, not a massive add-on like blizzard do.

    They nerfed dungeons and fractals, so PvE Content simply ruined.

    Heart Of Thrones absolutely not interesting. Boring gameplay.
  32. Shankz
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    Been waiting for this expansion for around a year now, and they deliver! Only day four of release, and 20 hours of game-play later, and I cannot wait to play some more.

    For the first time in the open world of this game they highly encourage grouping up with at least one other person as you will die...a lot. The new maps are massive with tons of interesting events, adventures,    Been waiting for this expansion for around a year now, and they deliver! Only day four of release, and 20 hours of game-play later, and I cannot wait to play some more.

    For the first time in the open world of this game they highly encourage grouping up with at least one other person as you will die...a lot. The new maps are massive with tons of interesting events, adventures, achievements, enemies, tons of fun gliding locations, and so much more.

    Guild halls are something that other MMOs should look to take inspiration from. From raiding with your guild to claim it yourself, to the upgrades that require everybody to contribute, to the visuals of seeing the place your guild worked hard to build visually becoming more appealing, this is definitely one of my favorite features

    Story wise I found it quite enjoyable. Living story 2 had it's moments, but really didn't scratch that itch I had. In Heart of Thorns the characters have development, there are very emotional times, the cutscenes are far better than one on one talks, and the final boss is very fun and rewarding. I love how characters banter back and forth by almost reading your mind in some situations. I found grouping with two friends a very enjoyable and memorable experience.

    Sound and visuals are absolutely incredible. The only other game I have been thinking "Wow..." on this scale was Witcher 3. The environments are very beautiful and diverse. The story takes you to some of the main locations to discover on the map, but simply wandering off in a any direction can keep you busy for hours. There were too many moments to count where my friends and I all stopped and just said "Wow...this looks awesome." The soundtrack is equally as stunning with the same personal response as the visuals. This was the first time since a month after launch where a lot of people I know turned their in-game music back up. Best experience is put a headset on, turn the sound up, gather a group of friends, and enjoy for hours.

    Can't really cover raids and pvp leagues yet, but guess I'll mention the cons. Being only the forth day after release means there are a few bugs and crashes. The developers have been doing plenty of patches to fix some, but some major ones are still present. Another community concern you might hear is "UGH. GRIND WARS 2" or "ALL GRIND BECAUSE NO CONTENT". The grind people see is leveling the masteries in the game. These include aspects like gliding perks (i.e. using updrafts to go vertically higher) or content gated. Content gated looks like "You need X skill to start the next story mission," or "If you want this one point on the map you need X skill to not insta poison die." Even after the launch weekend there has been fixes to problem gates like requiring too high of level mastery for story. Appears developers will be re-balancing in the near future. Sure, there is some content that needs specific masteries to get to, but don't go in with the mindset of rush to do everything as you will be frustrated. Another, and yet very vocal concern is leveling up elite specializations. These require a lot of time to get your Hero Points to max them out, but this is what they should be. You are not required to use elite specializations and should have to earn what you desire. That is my personal opinion, but it can be assumed that developers are looking into the situation and will tweak the system as they see fit.

    Overall, I have had an amazing time on the new maps and content. The game feels like GW2 2.0. You can glide, you can cave dive, you can tackle new crazy world boss events. They have executed everything they promised very well and with the future raid, pvp, and living story releases it gets better and better. This expansion has something for every kind of the MMO player: the raider, the wanderer, the achiever, the pvper, and much more. If you want to find an MMO with a very bright future its a Buy-to-Play game and give it a go!    … Expand
  33. eugenevelazquez
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    A fantastic expansion for Guild Wars 2, plenty to do and the additional elite specs and revenant class play great. Ignore all the one star reviews complaining about it being a grindfest as this is simply not true. Although it is true it will take time to unlock masteries it at no point ever felt like a grind all the new events and monster are well varied and numerous and I myself neverA fantastic expansion for Guild Wars 2, plenty to do and the additional elite specs and revenant class play great. Ignore all the one star reviews complaining about it being a grindfest as this is simply not true. Although it is true it will take time to unlock masteries it at no point ever felt like a grind all the new events and monster are well varied and numerous and I myself never felt like it was getting stale. There is plenty of new content and it is obvious it has been given a good amount of polish. There are very few bugs at the time of writing this review and those that were present were patched very quickly. I highly recommend picking it up if you are a fan of what the base game of Guild Wars 2 offers and enjoy challenging and engaging content. A solid 10/10.… Expand
  34. alycat79
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    The base Guild wars 2 game was the casual friendly experience we all were promised and many of us enjoyed. Other players complained about a lack of truly challenging high end content and meaningful progression. They promised to change that with Heart of Thorns, and delivered on that promise.

    Don't get me wrong. Right now unlocking masteries and consequently elite specialization is a    The base Guild wars 2 game was the casual friendly experience we all were promised and many of us enjoyed. Other players complained about a lack of truly challenging high end content and meaningful progression. They promised to change that with Heart of Thorns, and delivered on that promise.

    Don't get me wrong. Right now unlocking masteries and consequently elite specialization is a little more grindy than I prefer, but I can't imagine why anyone thought they'd have instant access to an elite specialization outside of PvP. As it is, most existing players had enough scrolls to level their new revenants straight to 80. This is still a pretty alt friendly game, especially since masteries are account wide. I do expect some fine tuning in the more frustrating aspects because Net has always been good about responding to constructive criticism. Key word: constructive.

    I really feel like the hero of my own story this time. The writing is exceptionally strong, with surprising twists and turns that leave you anxious to see what happens next. The animations are greatly improved as well. Not to give to much away, but there's an intense scene where the artist managed to capture so many subtle emotions in a character's expression that it gave me chills. The story challenges are new and different, and a departure from the usual go here and kill that missions of yore.

    If actually having to play a game to play a game doesn't sound like idea of fun, don't play, but if you enjoy the base game, the expansion is a great addition especially for those who decried the lack of meaningful end game or felt the story was lacking in delivery. It's not a perfect expansion, but it's really good.    … Expand
  35. bluefley
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    don't let these lazy fools get under your skin. They just want everything for free in the game. While I do agree that the elite spec could require less hero points the hero challenges themselves are awesome content which we would otherwise never even bother going to.

    Onto the expansion itself, great maps, great meta events, challenging enemies. Can't wait for the raid to come up and who    don't let these lazy fools get under your skin. They just want everything for free in the game. While I do agree that the elite spec could require less hero points the hero challenges themselves are awesome content which we would otherwise never even bother going to.

    Onto the expansion itself, great maps, great meta events, challenging enemies. Can't wait for the raid to come up and who knows what else Anet has in store for us!

    While it does have it's flaws that was the smoothest MMO expansion launch ever, pair that with the awesome content and the soon to be released raid and living stories, I would most certainly recommend it to every one !    … Expand
  36. Artarion
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    A fantastic expansion to Guild Wars 2. I've been playing it for hours and honestly cant find many faults, the story is engaging, the combat has been given a much needed bump (along with mob AI), and adding new ways to transverse the maps has added a new breath of fresh air to the game (screw mounts).

    I cant help but partly agree which some of the lower scoring reviews concerning the    A fantastic expansion to Guild Wars 2. I've been playing it for hours and honestly cant find many faults, the story is engaging, the combat has been given a much needed bump (along with mob AI), and adding new ways to transverse the maps has added a new breath of fresh air to the game (screw mounts).

    I cant help but partly agree which some of the lower scoring reviews concerning the gated access to the new Elite Spec and some parts of the expansion, as a casual player who has very little time to play the game I can see how this could be off-putting. However as the Mastery system is account bound which means it affects all your characters, also whats the problem with challenging group content?

    I don't think I've had this much fun with my friend (yes only two in a party and we're managing the content fine) during a release of an MMO to date.    … Expand
  37. bec
    Oct 26, 2015
    4
    The best part of the expansion is the new character specializations...they are an amazing way to fall in love with your character again. The new maps, well, they are difficult to navigate to say the least. Dead ends, enemies waiting to kill you (some in just 3 or 4 shots). Do the landscapes look beautiful? Absolutely. But we already knew that Anet could create a beautiful game. AThe best part of the expansion is the new character specializations...they are an amazing way to fall in love with your character again. The new maps, well, they are difficult to navigate to say the least. Dead ends, enemies waiting to kill you (some in just 3 or 4 shots). Do the landscapes look beautiful? Absolutely. But we already knew that Anet could create a beautiful game. A difficult to navigate map could just be skipped, I suppose, as could nearly impossible to complete group events which require mega zergs, it seems. The problem is the personal stories, many of which will require multiple deaths and retries from checkpoints...I don't understand how enemies you can't beat on your own are in personal stories...similar problem in original GW2 release, which Anet eventually nerfed (anyone remember Claw Island?). I have heard people raving about the expansion, I can see why. I have also heard people raging about it...and I get that too. For me, this expansion is interesting...it is everything, except fun. It's a lot of dodging, dying, retrying, grinding, etc. Also kind of divisive, older/more experienced players tend to rage at noobs for dying...but a lot of the enemies have new skills, even new AoE attacks, no one goes into the map the first time knowing what to do. For some, the gliders and mushrooms (once unlocked) are intuitive, for others less so...I am one of those people that has had to rely on a couple of helpful youtube videos already. Maybe one day this will be fun, but it's not now.… Expand
  38. azurrei
    Oct 26, 2015
    6
    A mixed bag if I have ever seen one
    Positives:
    Gorgeous new zones, lots of new armor/weapon skins to acquire, some super fun new specializations, pre cursor crafting Negatives: Heavy gating of content right out of the gate forcing XP grind within the first hour or so, empty new zones at launch (not sure what is going on here,) pre cursor crafting requires materials equal to the value    A mixed bag if I have ever seen one
    Positives:
    Gorgeous new zones, lots of new armor/weapon skins to acquire, some super fun new specializations, pre cursor crafting
    Negatives:
    Heavy gating of content right out of the gate forcing XP grind within the first hour or so, empty new zones at launch (not sure what is going on here,) pre cursor crafting requires materials equal to the value of just buying it with gold off the TP + a lot of time investment, elite specializations can not be fully experienced until you have practically exhausted the new content, new zones force grouping due to extreme difficulty which should be optional in the open world not a requirement (there are plenty of activities designed for groups, no need to make the entire game that way- blah blah MMO does not mean grouping 24/7 sorry people.    … Expand
  39. Eurydae
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    This expansion is an amazing, gorgeous, and intricate display of Arenanet's artistic team's talents. Like, holy crap the maps are beyond beautiful. The expansion is easily worth $50 with the massive amount of content you get (guild halls, basically entirely new versions of each class, raids, amazing and huge zones to explore, hours of story content, etc etc etc).

    A lot of the negative    This expansion is an amazing, gorgeous, and intricate display of Arenanet's artistic team's talents. Like, holy crap the maps are beyond beautiful. The expansion is easily worth $50 with the massive amount of content you get (guild halls, basically entirely new versions of each class, raids, amazing and huge zones to explore, hours of story content, etc etc etc).

    A lot of the negative reviews are people brigading due to disliking the fact that the elite specializations for each class are hard to get, which may have felt like a shock since it was so easy during beta. However, I personally like that it is challenging to fully unlock the new specialization, it has actually gotten me excited about the game again it's fun to run around exploring the new areas and working towards the specialization. The mastery system also feels the same. It isn't easy. Nor should it be, this is end game content, not beginner content. If you want the rewards you have to put in the work. I really appreciate the fact that I now have things to work towards for many hours and weeks to come, it has really invigorated the game for me, to the point where I was really shocked that so many people were upset over it.

    In short, buy the game yourself and try it out, that's the only way to actually see past people's knee-jerk anger to the awesome expansion that this really is. $50 for even just 10 hours of enjoyable content would be worthwhile, but you get way more than that when you buy Heart of Thorns.    … Expand
  40. trams
    Oct 26, 2015
    7
    It's *ok*, however, It's by no means worth a 1 or 10 score.

    If you rate it 1, suck it up kiddo and tell mommy it's too difficult for you. It's challenging content and requires grinding. Fine.

    If you rate it 10, get off your high horse and find some real life friends.

    Considering you get the whole game if you buy only expansion it's hard to not recommend it.
  41. Digital_Kitchen
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    ArenaNet delivered everything I could have hoped for with this expansion. REally loving every minute so far. The level design is amazing, the story just keeps getting better, and it just looks so beautiful!
  42. Mister_Loki
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    For me is it the absolute best designed MMO experience I ever had, in over 10 years of playing several Online Games. Arena Net has taken Guild Wars 2 to the next level and with HoT you have so much to do. You can explore the beautiful Maguuma-jungle in (for now) 4 new Maps with hundreds of events, you can go for the Elite Spec of your class, can start the legendary journey for yourFor me is it the absolute best designed MMO experience I ever had, in over 10 years of playing several Online Games. Arena Net has taken Guild Wars 2 to the next level and with HoT you have so much to do. You can explore the beautiful Maguuma-jungle in (for now) 4 new Maps with hundreds of events, you can go for the Elite Spec of your class, can start the legendary journey for your Precursor and so on, and so on.
    BUT you have to enjoy gaming and exploring - If you are a person who (why ever) want have all the content seen in one day, want have all new items on the first day, then you maybe should not play HoT (And not downvote it!)    … Expand
  43. procyonpaw
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    I personally think this is a well-done expansion with a few blips. While the environments are pretty, the story is nice, and the enemies quite challenging (in a fun way), the elite specializations and skills needed to progress through the jungle are a bit too grindy to get. That being said, I highly recommend this to anybody wishing for a genuine challenge in the traditional MMO genre.
  44. SpugNation
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    A brilliantly meaty expansion that sets the stage for Guild Wars 2 for years to come. Many of these "bad reviews" base things on the fact that there is a progression. People want rewards now without any gameplay, which would be poor design. Heart of Thorns has layers and layers of rewards and goals, and it can be played and enjoyed by everybody from solo casuals to hardcore achievement hunters.
  45. Ikoh
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    The expansion most people were waiting for : story most interesting and engaging, challenging content, feeling of progression, lots of things to do, new version of classes, gorgeous maps, awsome music,... I've doubted ANet in the past mais they managed to impress me far beyond my expectations. Congratulations and have fun everyone!
  46. rehpc
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Really amazing expansion to the open world content. The new events are fun and encourage map-wide cooperation. Wandering the world searching for mastery/hero points is really fun, especially in the maps with lots over overlap and verticality. The new elite specs are loads of fun, and the horizontal progression system (gliding, bouncing, etc) makes movement its own enjoyable piece of theReally amazing expansion to the open world content. The new events are fun and encourage map-wide cooperation. Wandering the world searching for mastery/hero points is really fun, especially in the maps with lots over overlap and verticality. The new elite specs are loads of fun, and the horizontal progression system (gliding, bouncing, etc) makes movement its own enjoyable piece of the content.… Expand
  47. PersonalRiot
    Oct 26, 2015
    5
    Heart of Thorns has a lot of good things going for it. The new maps are a joy to transverse, the switching from night to day (and back) is an interesting mechanic, and the music/voice dialogue is a pleasure to hear. It also has a lot of issues. New specialization is fantastic but even the first few abilities will take an excessive amount of time to unlock and even worst, some areHeart of Thorns has a lot of good things going for it. The new maps are a joy to transverse, the switching from night to day (and back) is an interesting mechanic, and the music/voice dialogue is a pleasure to hear. It also has a lot of issues. New specialization is fantastic but even the first few abilities will take an excessive amount of time to unlock and even worst, some are completely gimped until you have a grand master trait which unlock 300+ hero points into them. Many of the objectives on the new maps requires at least a handful of people to do which is a massive turnoff for any solo players which is weird in a game that is capable of scaling almost everything else. The time gating on Masteries isn't too bad but there is a huge lack of forewarning that certain story missions require some masteries to be unlock (almost for no reason at time). Last but not least, the item drops have been ramped up into a massive bag grind. Everything that is rewarded in Heart of Thorn comes in a bag which must be opened, and then it will usually dump out tons of useless green/blue items. This model sucks, and always has.

    Honestly my favorite part of the expansion is the action camera and the core content but it has become increasingly clear that Arenanet is moving more things into to the cash shop, locking things behind paywalls/zerging/time sinks, and is getting far away from the spirit of GW1.    … Expand
  48. RayHawk
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    I've been absolutely blown away by this expansion in a wonderful way! My wife and I have been playing it together as much as possible since launch a few days ago and it's been some of the most fun I've ever had. So many new things and ways to progress without invalidating any of your existing progression is just awesome. Tons of new achievements, collections, and story -- it's everything II've been absolutely blown away by this expansion in a wonderful way! My wife and I have been playing it together as much as possible since launch a few days ago and it's been some of the most fun I've ever had. So many new things and ways to progress without invalidating any of your existing progression is just awesome. Tons of new achievements, collections, and story -- it's everything I was hoping for and more! Absolutely loving this game!… Expand
  49. Zulke
    Oct 26, 2015
    2
    You ask for end-game?You got it ! Grindfest and time sink awaits you! Gated traits/waypoints,paywall fractals and more.Dont forget mass crashes. Arenanet way, nothing more,nothing less.
    P.S From reddit with love
  50. JellyFishcat
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    What can I say?.. This game is absolutely fantastic and it's first expansion just proved that again! Thank you Arena net for this great addition to Tyria. New maps really are something special, a work of art. Gliding through jungle is just .. something else, it feels so natural, they really nailed it here. I love the story and cut scenes are just out of this world - intricate, stunning,What can I say?.. This game is absolutely fantastic and it's first expansion just proved that again! Thank you Arena net for this great addition to Tyria. New maps really are something special, a work of art. Gliding through jungle is just .. something else, it feels so natural, they really nailed it here. I love the story and cut scenes are just out of this world - intricate, stunning, gorgeous!

    Love love love new dynamic events, a bit confusing at the start, but once you figured out what is what and what to do, then it is just exciting to do them, fills up my masteries pretty good, rarely even notice that i need to change to a new mastery :D

    Special thanks to Macleine Diemer and Lena Chappelle and everyone who worked on the sound team - music just adds that atmosphere of each zone fabulously!    … Expand
  51. TopBeef
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Great expansion, lots of content, pretty areas, smooth launch with very few bugs. A bunch of minor QoL fixes and a handful of features set up to prepare for future changes. New areas are pleasantly enough not a complete faceroll like previous open world areas. Story has much improved since they started on the Living World seasons. The grind is minuscule, thought noticeably there it's notGreat expansion, lots of content, pretty areas, smooth launch with very few bugs. A bunch of minor QoL fixes and a handful of features set up to prepare for future changes. New areas are pleasantly enough not a complete faceroll like previous open world areas. Story has much improved since they started on the Living World seasons. The grind is minuscule, thought noticeably there it's not all that bad compared to most MMOs. Guild Halls are amazing.… Expand
  52. Dreddi1
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    First of all let me say how amazingly stable this launch was. Hats off to Anet on that one.

    Just finished the story and I must say Anet really outdid themselves this time. The zones are much more alive, events require you to participate instead of just tag-and-run and each map has its own unique meta event (Haven't done the Dragon's Stand zone yet but I've heard it's amazing). each map    First of all let me say how amazingly stable this launch was. Hats off to Anet on that one.

    Just finished the story and I must say Anet really outdid themselves this time. The zones are much more alive, events require you to participate instead of just tag-and-run and each map has its own unique meta event (Haven't done the Dragon's Stand zone yet but I've heard it's amazing). each map is filled with secrets, jumping puzzles, adventures, challenges, masteries etc.

    The dialogue between the player character and the npcs in both story and in the zones have gotten vocal which is amazing
    The story is also a major improvement from the original PS.

    The new masteries are also a welcome sight and makes your leveling meaningful again. Plus there are a lot of new ways to earn XP now so you'll have no trouble leveling them in the new zones.
    Not to mention all the new collections, achievements, skins, minis, the amazing glider and much much more. I really can't believe how good of an expansion this has been so far and I'm far far from done!    … Expand
  53. mattmatch
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    For an expansion the amount of additional content extremely exceeds my expectations. Lots to do, and no way to accomplish it with even just a few days. This is what's great about MMOs, I'll be coming back for months.
  54. Amiron
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    This was probably the smoothest expansion launch I've ever been a part of. Little to no lag at all, very few bugs (none of them have been game breaking for me), and little to no downtime.

    I've really enjoyed the story, the voice acting is phenomenal. Masteries are a brilliant way of adding progression without invalidating your hard earned gear from before the expansion. The new elite    This was probably the smoothest expansion launch I've ever been a part of. Little to no lag at all, very few bugs (none of them have been game breaking for me), and little to no downtime.

    I've really enjoyed the story, the voice acting is phenomenal. Masteries are a brilliant way of adding progression without invalidating your hard earned gear from before the expansion. The new elite specializations take a while to earn, but I enjoy the journey, as it feels like I'm leveling my character again and learning new traits & abilities. The music and art is superb; I love how they managed to make the four jungle zones feel completely different from each other.

    You're going to see a lot of people complain about Masteries being too hard to get or Elite Specializations being too hard to unlock, which is just plain wrong. I'm eight hours in with half of my elite specialization unlocked and over 16 masteries in. It's been a blast!    … Expand
  55. chaos7x
    Oct 26, 2015
    0
    I've been a diehard fan of the Guild Wars series for 9 years. Unfortunately this expansion made me just want to uninstall the game and never look back. ANet said they wanted to focus on fractals in the expansion as end game and they were abandoning dungeons. Okay, maybe the new fractals will be fun, I thought. And then it t urns out there aren't *any* new fractals... In a $50I've been a diehard fan of the Guild Wars series for 9 years. Unfortunately this expansion made me just want to uninstall the game and never look back. ANet said they wanted to focus on fractals in the expansion as end game and they were abandoning dungeons. Okay, maybe the new fractals will be fun, I thought. And then it t urns out there aren't *any* new fractals... In a $50 expansion? No actual new content for half of the endgame? You can't just throw a couple zeros on the enemies' hp bars and power stats and call it an expansion. ಠ_ಠ

    Maybe the raids will be able to redeem it, but they aren't even fully in the game yet? That seems like the sort of thing that should've been ready before launching. Furthermore, I have pretty grim hopes for them considering how badly combat in GW2 scales once your party has more than 5 people. It takes all the fun away. All in all, Heart of Thorns marks a huge disappointment and an embarrassment to the Guild Wars franchise. My friends wanted to be raiding and doing new fractals on day 1, instead they're sitting in the old dungeons repeating repeatable events to grind experience... this is exactly the kind of hogwash that the Guild Wars franchise sought to oppose 9 years ago, and it seems they've become the very thing they used to be the exception to. Good night, sweet prince.    … Expand
  56. Andrx
    Oct 26, 2015
    1
    Everything was gated and now consist on an infinite grinding. No kidding, if you have alts you are going to be busy for the next year grinding the same thing over and over just so you can use the new skills that you bought with HOT.
  57. Havanahbana
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Gorgeous. Really just gorgeous. So different from the 'pick up quest, hand in' linear style. And what a world. Such detail. I could take screenshots and hang them up all over my house. Just wow. And polished. Streamline, professional and without hick ups after launch. Amazing.
  58. Lunar101
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Fantastic game. I see the '1' there from Rotondoman and read the comments and it's just worth a giggle. These are the people that go to the Grand Canyon with plasters over their eyes and complain that there's nothing to see. One doesn't even need imagination as the world is so breathtakingly beautiful. Extracts like 'boring' and 'unimaginative' make me think this person was paid to putFantastic game. I see the '1' there from Rotondoman and read the comments and it's just worth a giggle. These are the people that go to the Grand Canyon with plasters over their eyes and complain that there's nothing to see. One doesn't even need imagination as the world is so breathtakingly beautiful. Extracts like 'boring' and 'unimaginative' make me think this person was paid to put a review, as not even autism or Aspergers can account for this type of cognitive dysfunction. Events and such are amazing fun. It's not the usual structure...so ask people or do some research. The play style and event system may not be your thing, but anyone with eyes in their head and of sound mind can see this game just really is stunning.… Expand
  59. Alagos
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Ok I must say: I am a huge fan of the core game, so I might not be able to give a 100% objective view, but: Even when I try to look objective at this: I still love it. The new maps are awesome. Some of the best they have ever made. Yes they are hard. Yes you die often. But: This is what many people in the community asked for.

    I really can't see really bad things with the addon. No huge    Ok I must say: I am a huge fan of the core game, so I might not be able to give a 100% objective view, but: Even when I try to look objective at this: I still love it. The new maps are awesome. Some of the best they have ever made. Yes they are hard. Yes you die often. But: This is what many people in the community asked for.

    I really can't see really bad things with the addon. No huge bugs, no unfinished stuff that was just pushed into the game. So yeah... it's 10/10 for me.    … Expand
  60. Lacus
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Great smooth launch, new content has lots of things to do. Huge maps and fun enemies. This is new level 80 content and the difficulty scales accordingly. There is finally some real sense of danger when exploring the jungle with contested waypoints and stronger mobs. There is a solid sense of character progression with the elite specialization and overall progression with Mastery levels.Great smooth launch, new content has lots of things to do. Huge maps and fun enemies. This is new level 80 content and the difficulty scales accordingly. There is finally some real sense of danger when exploring the jungle with contested waypoints and stronger mobs. There is a solid sense of character progression with the elite specialization and overall progression with Mastery levels. Leveling your mastery does not feel like a grind at all, instead you get immersed by all the events and story going on in the new areas.
    The gliding mechanic is a real joy.
    The maps feel much denser and look gorgeous. The new quality of life features should not have come any later. The new class introduced in this expansion, the Revenant, plays smoothly and nice animations, full elite spec unlocked after 2 days of launch.
    Music playing in the new maps is done amazingly.

    For the complainers who find it too hard, Queensdale is still accessible using waypoints (may cost up to a few silver to teleport though).    … Expand
  61. papryk
    Oct 26, 2015
    2
    Heart of Grind......also raids, squad system and new legendarys to be added "later".... like 2 years wasn't enough for that xD
    Anet is a joke. Greed all the way...
  62. keirion
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Absolutely amazing. Pretty much the most polished expansion I've ever seen for a game. Almost no bugs, very well put together, and lots to do! I highly recommend for anyone who enjoys GW2. The new maps are absolutely huge and after 10 hours I've barely scratched the surface of the new content. This will definitely keep me busy for weeks.
  63. rotondoman
    Oct 26, 2015
    1
    I honestly struggle to find anything positive to say about the new content. First of all I find it boring. Unimaginative. I find myself running through it hoping against hope that I can get finished with whatever mundane task I'm doing and move on to the next one and then the one after that just so I can be done with it. Which makes me think the replay value of HOT is near zero. I don'tI honestly struggle to find anything positive to say about the new content. First of all I find it boring. Unimaginative. I find myself running through it hoping against hope that I can get finished with whatever mundane task I'm doing and move on to the next one and then the one after that just so I can be done with it. Which makes me think the replay value of HOT is near zero. I don't see $50+ worth of new content. Maybe $25. For $50 I'd expect enough content to rival the original release.

    To be fair I'm in a couple of guilds and except for myself my pve centric guild loves it the new areas, the content, the masteries, and all the rest. Especially the hang gliding. My wvw guild hates everything about the new wvw map and changes to that aspect of the game.

    If I had to do it all over again I would not buy this expansion. At least not until it had been out for a while and I could see how things were going to play out.    … Expand
  64. Verthiss
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    This expansion feels amazing. I would never thought it will be that good, it dramatically changed my experience of the game. I didn't have much trust for ANet after the first season of living story, I had a little more after the second season, but expac exceeded all my expectations.
    Elite specs are great. New weapon, skills, traits and mechanic are more than enough to make me feel like    This expansion feels amazing. I would never thought it will be that good, it dramatically changed my experience of the game. I didn't have much trust for ANet after the first season of living story, I had a little more after the second season, but expac exceeded all my expectations.
    Elite specs are great. New weapon, skills, traits and mechanic are more than enough to make me feel like I'm playing something more than my regular profession. Earning new skill points is finally useful again, feels great too.

    Mastery system is freaking smart. It makes me feel like my characters become better and better, even if their level is still the same. I'm just a little bit afraid that Masteries are to easy to get, after 3 days of playing the game I earned most important Masteries already and I was just casually exploring maps and doing events, without trying to be efficent at all.

    New profession - Revenant is excellent. Since the day GW2 launched I wanted it to have Ritualist from GW1. Revenant is playing to the Rit idea, but better and even more ritualist-like than the original ritualist was :D

    New story is AMAZING. My largest disappoinment from the core game was personal story, which was boooooring, even for a lore junkie I am. On the other hand, story I've done in HoT so far was just brilliant - fast-paced, engaging, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, sometimes just epic. I absolutely love it.

    I could complain about the quantity of content because we have only 4 maps, 2 guild halls and 1 large raid map (still locked for us as of today), but I it would be just unfair for several reasons:
    a) New maps are huge. Maybe we don't have a lot of new maps, but those are just vast, with multiple layers and a lot of stuff going on.
    b) New maps are DENSE. In the core game, sometimes you could run for 20 minutes, looking for any activity without a succes. Here, you don't have to look even for a minute, because they are events going on non stop, anywhere, anytime.
    c) For me, this expac isn't even about the content, it's about features. It's not more of the same GW2, it's entirely new experience. ANet developed new systems that made the game more fun, more exciting and EASILY EXPANDABLE. They created Mastery System, Elite Specs System, Guild System and so on - systems that they can easily build new things on from now on, faster and better than ever before.    … Expand
  65. Leahkell
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    The expansion took risks by making changes to game play, and I am truly enjoying the challenge. The new zones, including the WvW borderlands, are gorgeous and an explorer's paradise. The story drew me in more than ever before and I am honestly looking forward to the journey.
  66. Firstblood2605
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    Really love this HoT and its content so far. I love exploring Round the Magumma jungle, which is seperated into many levels, you can do gliding, bouncing mushroom to travel around. The Elite Spec is fun too, although you must have 400 heroes points to unlock all of its skills ( kind of grinding, i believe ANET will fix it soon ), but you can play your Elite while you dont unlock allReally love this HoT and its content so far. I love exploring Round the Magumma jungle, which is seperated into many levels, you can do gliding, bouncing mushroom to travel around. The Elite Spec is fun too, although you must have 400 heroes points to unlock all of its skills ( kind of grinding, i believe ANET will fix it soon ), but you can play your Elite while you dont unlock all skills. The masteries is really interesting, you sont have to grind to get enough XP, just relax, do some events, and you will notice that your XP bar is full. The new Guld system, guild halls, new PvP mode : stronghold is toooo amazing too. But i cant refuse that there are some issues. For example : the new wvw was too large and complex, they should find a solution for that. And the player who always plays WvW will be hard to find HP to unlock their Elite skills. It's unfair.
    For those who rate low score for this game : you should reconsider about that, because its too soon to says this game is bad, the HoT has just been released 3 days, and the devs still find a way to make it be smoothier. Beside that, their still tons of content that ANET hasnt released yet, like : Raids, Legendary weapons, Legendary armor. We should keep calm and wait for thei Action.
    Overall, i love this Expac, and i dont find any reason to rate it lower than 9.    … Expand
  67. HyruleanHyroe
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    Very much enjoying the new content provided in this expansion. It's fun, it's immersive, there's loads to do, and it is gorgeous! High point is flying around on the new glider. It's truly a pleasure moving around so freely in such a breathtaking environment. New story and events are challenging and intriguing. Overall I'm more than happy with my purchase, and look forward to living storyVery much enjoying the new content provided in this expansion. It's fun, it's immersive, there's loads to do, and it is gorgeous! High point is flying around on the new glider. It's truly a pleasure moving around so freely in such a breathtaking environment. New story and events are challenging and intriguing. Overall I'm more than happy with my purchase, and look forward to living story content to come!… Expand
  68. CirdanValen
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Excellent content, great story, the art & environments in the new areas are TOP NOTCH. Lots of new content and things to work towards. If you are a GW2 fan, you will love this game.
  69. Mkkoll
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    A fantastically smooth launch for the games first meaty expansion! The game has launched with only the most minimal of bugs and stuff is being fixed and tweaked daily to tune all the new systems to perfection. Arenanet has the players backs and is kicking ass!

    The new zones are beautiful, and showcase Anets fantastic Art team talents once more. The sound and music too perfectly    A fantastically smooth launch for the games first meaty expansion! The game has launched with only the most minimal of bugs and stuff is being fixed and tweaked daily to tune all the new systems to perfection. Arenanet has the players backs and is kicking ass!

    The new zones are beautiful, and showcase Anets fantastic Art team talents once more. The sound and music too perfectly complement the expansion. As good as Jeremey Soule's OST for GW2 was, Maclaine Deimer and his team have surpassed it in quality and i feel the new tracks are MORE Guildwars 2 in feel and sound than even the originals!

    The highlight so far for me has been the Auric Basin metaevent. A map-wide quest that involves every player on the map, each having to fulfil a certain mechanic to push a big 'burn phase' or damage spike on a 'structure' blocking a gate. These are similar to the Triple Trouble and Tequatl fights of the vanilla game, but incorporate all the feedback and learnings of those events to make the best iteration yet of this kind of content. The events are intuitive to learn for a fresh player to them, are easily taught and communicated and seed a huge amount of teamwork and camaraderie amongst large groups of players that esentially have never met before ingame. That feeling when you complete the event and every player on the map rushes into Tarir in Auric Basin is unparalleled.

    NOTE: On the complaints of progression, i haven't really had an issue with this. I was not particularly attached to getting my elite specialization as soon as i started the new content, but I have now fully unlocked 2 classes elite specs 3 days after release with maybe 6 hours average per day. It really isn't that demanding to unlock them and complaints of 'grind' are completely unfounded. Players are forcing themselves to 'grind' because they want their masteries and elite specs asap. Slowing down and allowing the game to unfold itself infront of you has been what the community has recommended to every new player starting the game since release, and the moment we get a meaty chunk of new content, we cant take our own advice.

    The expansion is everything i hoped it would be and more.    … Expand
  70. ambgri
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    This expansion so far is better then I imagined. Since it was released, I've been playing a lot and there is just so much to do that it felt overwhelming at first. I enjoy the new mastery system a lot, and specialization may take some time to unlock all of it, but i'm okay with that, it gives everyone something to do that isn't complete in a couple days. The only bad experience that IThis expansion so far is better then I imagined. Since it was released, I've been playing a lot and there is just so much to do that it felt overwhelming at first. I enjoy the new mastery system a lot, and specialization may take some time to unlock all of it, but i'm okay with that, it gives everyone something to do that isn't complete in a couple days. The only bad experience that I had so far, was having the game crash on me.… Expand
  71. lIttle_shroomy
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    I'm giving HoT a preliminary 10 based on what I've seen so far, and will update the review in a few weeks once I have actually experienced more of the things included in this expansion.

    As someone who has played a lot of gw2 but had more or less stopped playing barring the living story updates I was looking forward to check out what was new in the expansion. I think anyone who    I'm giving HoT a preliminary 10 based on what I've seen so far, and will update the review in a few weeks once I have actually experienced more of the things included in this expansion.

    As someone who has played a lot of gw2 but had more or less stopped playing barring the living story updates I was looking forward to check out what was new in the expansion. I think anyone who enjoyed/enjoys the original guild wars 2 should enjoy this expansion.

    The new maps and aesthetics are beautiful and the overall feel/design seems very well thought out. There have been complaints regarding the new mastery system being used to increase the grind/gate the content, but it doesn't feel that way to me, it seems more that the mastery and elite spec systems just finally give me as a player something to aim towards in the game that has been missing since reaching lvl 80.

    With previous updates I would generally just burn through the content in a few hours and then that was it. I would put the game back on the shelf and wait until the next update. With this expansion I can choose to work towards specific mastery skills that will enable me to further explore/unlock different areas of the pve maps, and I'm happy about not being able to experience everything all at once. The maps actually feel as if they require exploring and contain secrets to be discovered which I am looking forward to doing!

    Anyway aside from the pve maps/story missions (very nice story missions so far) I still need to check out the new wvw borderlands, guild halls (seems like fun + gives our guild more of a purpose), raids and at some point level up a new revenant character! + loads more stuff I'm sure.

    So to sum it up, it seems this expansion contains a ridiculous amount of content/hours of entertainment for your money, and for now that's clearly worth 10/10!    … Expand
  72. Fharfanin
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    This expansion blew my mind! It is gorgeous! Maps are so beautiful and very fun to traverse, especially when you learn gliding, mushroom jumping etc I haven't had that much fun to just explore in ages :) Story is amazing and absolutely shocking, filled with fun challenges. I love the new difficulty of mobs, while they don't have huge amount of HP, they do hit hard! and new mechanics isThis expansion blew my mind! It is gorgeous! Maps are so beautiful and very fun to traverse, especially when you learn gliding, mushroom jumping etc I haven't had that much fun to just explore in ages :) Story is amazing and absolutely shocking, filled with fun challenges. I love the new difficulty of mobs, while they don't have huge amount of HP, they do hit hard! and new mechanics is very nice! Camera action mode proved to be th one thing i wished they added from the start, can't play without it!

    New specializations are so much fun as well, great animations, great feel to them. Some people expected to get them straight at the start, but it is unreasonable to expect to unlock elite spec on day one, however that was still possible for some vets. If you just play the game, then unlocking masteries and getting Hero Points comes naturally without feeling any repetition as there are a lot of different ways to get those.    … Expand
  73. Sharkfarts
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Beautiful new content all around. Lots to do right off the bat and plenty to look forward to. Growing pains, yes, but those are inevitable with so much new and changed content.
  74. Bagie
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Even if ithink it need improving, not-so-smart ppl using score to get theyr way needs to stop. And this 10/10 is to help that at leats in a small way. Go ANET
  75. monzesandrea
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Story = 9 / 10 anet and blizzy are second to no one.
    Audio = 9 / 10 best audio and environment sound ever found in a mmo.
    Gameplay = 8 / 10 : quite hard to master but a great step forward from the core game. Replayability = 10 / 10 : there are so many things to do that i ' m quite scared. xD Farm = 6 / 10 cause ONLY for the first time you need to farm: REMEMBER that Mastery point are    Story = 9 / 10 anet and blizzy are second to no one.
    Audio = 9 / 10 best audio and environment sound ever found in a mmo.
    Gameplay = 8 / 10 : quite hard to master but a great step forward from the core game.
    Replayability = 10 / 10 : there are so many things to do that i ' m quite scared. xD
    Farm = 6 / 10 cause ONLY for the first time you need to farm: REMEMBER that Mastery point are UNLOCKED FOR EVERY PG YOU HAVE when you get them !

    Be honest : I wonder how is possible to give this awesome work 0 / 10.... lol    … Expand
  76. Taynore
    Oct 26, 2015
    0
    Heart of Thorns? More like Heart of Grind. Everything is gated by either xp or hero point grind. Don't feel like I've got my money's worth in the expansion. And all of this was followed up by cripling economical nerf to my favorite core game content - dungeons.
  77. videot76
    Oct 26, 2015
    0
    Complete disappointment. Anet's philosophy for GW2 was always "play the way you want" and "no grinding". This has been completely thrown out and stomped on as HoT offers NOTHING but grind, grind, and grind. 4 new maps you say? Even if they are bigger than the old ones, they feel extremely limited and you have to do the same handful of events over and over and over and over to be allowed toComplete disappointment. Anet's philosophy for GW2 was always "play the way you want" and "no grinding". This has been completely thrown out and stomped on as HoT offers NOTHING but grind, grind, and grind. 4 new maps you say? Even if they are bigger than the old ones, they feel extremely limited and you have to do the same handful of events over and over and over and over to be allowed to progress the story, which is astonishingly short and anticlimactic.
    The new specializations, one of the main selling points, requires you to grind everyting to the max to use.
    The new raids and legendaries, other selling points, aren't even included and will (maybe) be added at a later date.
    And what IS there is bugged beyond all reason. Remember the abortive pre-launch world invasion event and that it was so bugged that Anet didn't even ATTEMPT to fix it on account of being TOO broken? Well, that's the functionality you can expect from the entirety of Heart of Thorns. The final boss is a clusterf*** of broken, botched and outright missing mechanics, and that it passed testing proves that no actual person actually played it, but just checked "tested" on some form and went home for the day.
    I dare not even think of what the raids will be like - as late as a couple of weeks ago they were too broke to even be beta tested.

    Also, they not-so-sneakily force old players to buy the expansion by putting all rewards behind a mile-thick paywall. All Vanilla rewards have been nerfed through the floor to discourage people from playing old content, which will prove a mistake when the hype settles and people realize they are left with 4 minuscule new maps and a handful of endlessly repeating, slow, wearisome and plain unfunny events. Oh, and did I mention that one of those maps is the compulsory cliché gigantic insectoid hive? Because it totally is - but here's the twist: said insectoids play NO role in the story and seems to be shoehorned in simply to give some variety to the otherwise endless and monotonous jungle.

    I was going to give it a 1, but writing this I realize it doesn't merit even that. Without bugs it might even have been a solid 2, but releasing a full prize product with this many problems is simply not ok on any level. Even less okay is taking the core concept of the game and turning it completely in and out, transforming GW2 into a mindless grind for minuscule rewards and charging extra for the "privilege" of doing so.
    Thanks for freeing up more of my spare time, Anet - I definitely lost most of my interest in your products in one fell swoop!

    TL:DR Short, extremely buggy, grindy as hell and not much to show for it either. Comepletely and totally underwhelming in every single department - except the graphics, which are kinda nice. But they can be watched for free on Youtube.    … Expand
  78. rubble_rabble
    Oct 26, 2015
    2
    With the expansion, Arenanet have fully departed from their "Guild Wars 2" creed of no grind, play as you like, play with your friends.

    While the visuals and music are well done - hence the points, and the elite specialisations are good in theory, the rest of it is a complete shambles: - 100% korean grind style "content" - gated behind ludicrous grind-fests to stretch that content    With the expansion, Arenanet have fully departed from their "Guild Wars 2" creed of no grind, play as you like, play with your friends.

    While the visuals and music are well done - hence the points, and the elite specialisations are good in theory, the rest of it is a complete shambles:

    - 100% korean grind style "content"
    - gated behind ludicrous grind-fests to stretch that content out artificially
    - gating means you can't play with friends anymore
    - people with more than 1 character are actively being punished for it, because it takes ages to unlock the elite specs for all of them
    - players being shoehorned into fractals and away from dungeons
    - loot from these fractals locked behind masteries

    All in all, HOT is one big "get ready to prepare to giddy-up to start having fun".

    The faint hopes I have for Arenanet removing the gating at some point is the only reason I'm not getting a refund - and that as a player who has sunk lots, and willingly, of money into gems (for cosmetic items, ..).    … Expand
  79. Slaneth
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    Honest review, wish i could give it a 10 to further balance all these blatant lies being told by people but i do not want to lie like they do.

    The zone art and design is amazing, the progression is new and never done before in MMOs. There are countless of new events added to the zones, and this is from someone who has not touched the 3rd of 4th zone. Everyone who is complaining about    Honest review, wish i could give it a 10 to further balance all these blatant lies being told by people but i do not want to lie like they do.

    The zone art and design is amazing, the progression is new and never done before in MMOs. There are countless of new events added to the zones, and this is from someone who has not touched the 3rd of 4th zone.

    Everyone who is complaining about grind would be the same people who would complain about lack of content if there was nothing to make them stick around and do the events, such as mastery points and hero points. Since when is grind playing the game, you are not repeating the same thing over and over, you have PLENTY of choice on how to spend your time and advance.

    Do different events, stop repeating the same ones over and over, hero points give good xp too(and you do not need masteries to unlock your elite spec, follow one of the newly released guides if you cant do it yourself, more than plenty of hero points to go around)
    Participate and compete in adventures, they are a LOT of fun and give you plenty of xp.

    To make matters even funnier is that all you need to unlock 90% of the hero points is gliding, updraft gliding and scroom jumping. Those take about an hour or two of playing, that is it.

    So how is this grindy? How is this expansion getting 1/10 for being grindy when it damn well is not?!

    The expansion also has an amazing storyline, new pvp content and new abilities for all classes(that contrary to the forum and this review site, is quite easy to unlock. Especially if you follow duflys guides now..)    … Expand
  80. BBahamut
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    É impossível agradar a todos. Mas a Heart of Thorns conseguiu agradar a muuuuuuuuitos. O conteúdo novo é eletrizante e muito lindo. Os mapas novos são espetacularmente diferentes de tudo que existe por aí. Explorá-los e conhecer a história de cada área é uma aventura belíssima. Aqueles que querem só grindar, farmar, bater em qlq coisa sem saber loucamente estão perdendo uma parteÉ impossível agradar a todos. Mas a Heart of Thorns conseguiu agradar a muuuuuuuuitos. O conteúdo novo é eletrizante e muito lindo. Os mapas novos são espetacularmente diferentes de tudo que existe por aí. Explorá-los e conhecer a história de cada área é uma aventura belíssima. Aqueles que querem só grindar, farmar, bater em qlq coisa sem saber loucamente estão perdendo uma parte importante do conteúdo. Mas nem só de mapa PvE é feita a nova expansão. Ao contrário, logo nos primeiros dias já dá pra perceber que várias novas mecânicas vieram pra prender os jogadores em objetivos de longo prazo.
    O trem tá bão de mais!    … Expand
  81. Guildwars1996
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Guild wars 2 heart of thorns brings things this community have wanted for a long time hardcore content with the new maps and raids in a few weeks. Things to work for the masteries and elite specs that aren't grindy at all. The story to be good its not just good its fantastic.
  82. Bunkhead
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Lots of stuff to explore. Don't expect to finish this in one weekend and move on. It adds content to almost every part of endgame (dungeons are the only exception, but fractals are suppose to take their place).

    The expansion is set up like a Metroid or Zelda game in that you will see stuff that you can't get to or a fight that needs a certain skill to make it easier to do. This makes    Lots of stuff to explore. Don't expect to finish this in one weekend and move on. It adds content to almost every part of endgame (dungeons are the only exception, but fractals are suppose to take their place).

    The expansion is set up like a Metroid or Zelda game in that you will see stuff that you can't get to or a fight that needs a certain skill to make it easier to do. This makes the content feel less linear, and you can't finish one map before you move to the other. The makes you look forward to unlocking levels in the game. It makes the progression feel more meaningful, and less like a game of arbitrary numbers. Unlocking gliding or the ability to use bouncing mushrooms feels a lot better than getting 19 more strength so that you can kill every mob just a little faster.

    I like the new class specializations. In most MMOs, you would get a new skill that either upgrades or replaces the one you have. In HoT, you get a whole group of skills and weapons that compliment your character. You can swap to these at will (out of combat), and the specialization does not negate the base classes skills.    … Expand
  83. karaliuss300
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Amazing expansion, the enemies mechanics are interesting, new zones are freaking amazing. I can't stand grinding, but doing it ONCE for all the characters evens it out. Most of the bad reviews come from people that think grinding is what's not doable in 1 day. But then again, if there was no gating, people would play through it in a week and cry there's not enough content. You can't pleaseAmazing expansion, the enemies mechanics are interesting, new zones are freaking amazing. I can't stand grinding, but doing it ONCE for all the characters evens it out. Most of the bad reviews come from people that think grinding is what's not doable in 1 day. But then again, if there was no gating, people would play through it in a week and cry there's not enough content. You can't please everyone as it seems, but going and begging on forums to put bad reviews here isn't what a normal person should. They are literally trying to sink the game because of tiny things when the fact it's live for only 4 days, yet. This is the smoothest expansion release I've seen so far.

    About elite specs, I'm not sure what's wrong people. They cry about hard content but then when they get hard hero challenges, they go and cry that it's not possible to do solo, um how about you go and FIND SOME FRIENDS in a MMO. Some of these reasons of bad review are plain stupid.    … Expand
  84. richardjcompton
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    Tons of new content, awesome story, MASSIVE MAPS AAAH, elite specs, and the mastery system. This is an expansion done compelly correctly. All of these people criticizing the "grind" are delusional, and extrmely entitled. They are expecting to complete a bit of horizontal character progression AND account progession in less than two days. That is unrealistic, and unfun. To gain theseTons of new content, awesome story, MASSIVE MAPS AAAH, elite specs, and the mastery system. This is an expansion done compelly correctly. All of these people criticizing the "grind" are delusional, and extrmely entitled. They are expecting to complete a bit of horizontal character progression AND account progession in less than two days. That is unrealistic, and unfun. To gain these masteries, all you must do is play the game; I have my elite specilization and level 17 mastery, and have not repeated a single event chain.

    It's amazing, ignore the entitled, negative reviews. Buy it, play it, you will have a blast.    … Expand
  85. Swoo
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    The hew zone design is amazing. If you are an explorer you will love it. It starts a bit slow for the first couple of hours as you unlock gliding and mushroom mastery, but then it is a blast.
  86. Teeth
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    A bunch of new content and features, loving the story.
    Obviously new features such as specializations aren't handed on a silver platter like many seem to want.
    Well worth the money.
  87. atatahir
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    This expansion is providing me the best gaming experience I have ever had, surpassing even my Vanilla WoW experience.
    First, the expansion is huge I mean really huge. There is so much to do that it is becoming difficult to focus on one thing a long.
    Like the base game of Guild Wars 2 this expansion also focuses on exploration and providing a journey in PvE. The Zones that you journey    This expansion is providing me the best gaming experience I have ever had, surpassing even my Vanilla WoW experience.
    First, the expansion is huge I mean really huge. There is so much to do that it is becoming difficult to focus on one thing a long.

    Like the base game of Guild Wars 2 this expansion also focuses on exploration and providing a journey in PvE. The Zones that you journey through are massive and unlike anything I have ever seen in an MMO. The story that you experience during your journey is the best story telling in Guild Wars 2 so far. The story delivery, and pacing is excellent too.

    Guild Wars 2 introduced a new Horizontal progression system in this expansion which I consider to be the best progression system in any MMO right now. Unlike other MMO's Guild Wars 2 did not raised the level cap or introduced a new tier of gear to grind. Instead, in this expansion we learn account wide abilities called Masteries that allow our characters to do more things, things like gliding and learning languages.

    All new zones are level 80 and you can travel and explore zone to zone right from the start. The progression through the masteries and zones feels very organic and enhances that adventuring feel has been missing in MMORPG's. You feel your character grows and learns as you adventure through the alien landscape of new zones.

    The enemies and mob/encounter design in the new zones is very diverse and very engaging. It looks like there have been a lot of AI improvements too. This makes the new zones the most challenging zones in Guild Wars 2. If you are venturing solo in the new zones there is real danger and you will have to think about what skills you are using, this make for very engaging exploration in the new zones.

    Legendary precursor crafting has also been added in this expansion. Currently, 23 legendary weapon scavenger hunts have been added so far. A new legendary armor set and 2 new legendary back pieces are also being added.
    The precursor crafting provides players with another epic journey that they can take. One example, In order to craft the staff one of the steps included the following:
    - Get a Raven egg
    - Take care of the egg, help incubate the it until it hatches
    - Take care of the baby Raven, feed it train it how to fight, how to fly etc.
    - Teach the Raven to transform into some kind of energy that can be attached to the staff.

    After these steps and much more you will have a legendary staff. On top on the staff your Raven, which you took care of since it was an egg, would be perched. When you go in combat, the raven will fly and then dive towards the staff turning into some form of energy that will imbue itself in the staff and you will be able to see that energy flowing through the staff. When you do a ranged attack the energy in shape of a Raven will shoot from your staff and when it hits the target you will see the energy turning into your Raven and attacking the target.

    I am not really sure why people are complaining about 'grind' for Hero point. Hero points is the currency needed to train new skills. I think most people probably do not realize that in the expansion the hero points awards have been increased 10 folds.
    You only need 19 to 40 challenges in the expansion. You cannot 'grind' hero points and can only get them by doing unique hero challenges. Hero challenges involve either going somewhere and pressing 'F' or fighting a Mob. In the first two zones for example, there are 22 hero points only 2 of which require high level mastery. Some Hero challenges are very challenging and I can understand people not wanting to do challenging content to get skills, but complains about 'grind' to get them is beyond my understanding, unless playing the game is now considered a grind.

    There is so much more I could write, but I have to go back and play more Guild Wars 2.    … Expand
  88. Phoenix75
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Great story, Brilliant map design which requires work. Great new events system which lacks players at the moment. Anet have clearly put a lot of hard work into this expansion and it shows, from the mastery system, guild halls finally The game is however plagued by a lot of lazy people as shown in the game's forums who want everything handed to them on a plate with little effort. These areGreat story, Brilliant map design which requires work. Great new events system which lacks players at the moment. Anet have clearly put a lot of hard work into this expansion and it shows, from the mastery system, guild halls finally The game is however plagued by a lot of lazy people as shown in the game's forums who want everything handed to them on a plate with little effort. These are the trolls that are bombing Metacritic with bad reviews.These are the same people in a months time will be complaining that there's no content. I would ignore the trolls and let them throw there toys out of there prams as they usually do. The game isn't without it's problems have experienced a lot crashing to desktop, but I'm sure these will be ironed out. Great job on Heart of Thorns Anet.… Expand
  89. Kyten
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    The content is amazing and beautiful. People tend to complain about a so called grind but it's really sad to see how people are unwilling to do little effort to get anything out of the game there are people who already unlocked 3 full specs withing days of release. For someone that plays gw2 for more than 2 years I have to say well done ANET you outdid yourselves.
  90. bobrysh
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    its still good
    great Expansion the launch went smoothly for me and I have no major issue. Its everything I wanted in an expansion its harder and a lot of fun. The map design and music is just amazing! The new masteries are fun to level up and it's really nice to see myself become more powerful over time as I complete the masteries.
  91. Caleca
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Lots of new content, huge new maps, a really nice new profession and finally a sense of progress over time. Mmos are all about character progress and as long the work to make my character better and better is fun, I wouldn't call it grind. From what I've seen until now, it seems it will be a lot of fun. Kids nowadays just wan everything instantly. I guess they would be happy if they couldLots of new content, huge new maps, a really nice new profession and finally a sense of progress over time. Mmos are all about character progress and as long the work to make my character better and better is fun, I wouldn't call it grind. From what I've seen until now, it seems it will be a lot of fun. Kids nowadays just wan everything instantly. I guess they would be happy if they could max every character in their account in one week. Another week after that they would be complaining they are bored because there is nothing else for them to do. Whiners gonna whine.… Expand
  92. Cjcrew
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    This is fairly simple,They give us new content we pay for it.,Just because you could get the Elite specializations from start in the beta weekends doesn't mean you won't have to "work" for them now that the expansion is out people need to stop whining about that and also for the people that thought 4 maps where too little i can say that atleast verdant brink alone is the size of 2This is fairly simple,They give us new content we pay for it.,Just because you could get the Elite specializations from start in the beta weekends doesn't mean you won't have to "work" for them now that the expansion is out people need to stop whining about that and also for the people that thought 4 maps where too little i can say that atleast verdant brink alone is the size of 2 queensdale with 3x times of content to go through.Nothing else i have to say the expansion is great and of course it has some flaws but it's anet's first expansion ... please people get your **** together and help make it better don't conspire to make bad reviews to get anet's attention on something very specific you personally don't like jesus christ.. just go and play the game enjoy it.Forget the "i need to get everything unlocked asap" mentality and just go and have fun! cya in the Maguuma Jungle.… Expand
  93. MaesterBest
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Everything is exactly as good, or even better than i expected. People are complaining it is a grind, but that is becouse they don't know masteries are account bound. All the Hero Points locked behind masteries aren't locked for your alts.
  94. monzese
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    It's a fantastic expansion with tons of hard and large new areas to explore each with many interesting new event,quests, collectibles, puzzles, story... ecc
    Graphic and sound are simply awesome, so great that sometimes I forget it's an MMO.
    Adventuring through the jungle is a truly memorable endeavor. Almost all of the negative review are for Hero points . Yes they're quite hard to    It's a fantastic expansion with tons of hard and large new areas to explore each with many interesting new event,quests, collectibles, puzzles, story... ecc
    Graphic and sound are simply awesome, so great that sometimes I forget it's an MMO.
    Adventuring through the jungle is a truly memorable endeavor.
    Almost all of the negative review are for Hero points .
    Yes they're quite hard to get, but ask yourself : do you really like a game where you get all in 2-3 days ?
    No thanks.
    GW2 still remains the best mmo atm.    … Expand
  95. Eric_tries
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    Heart of Thorns is the first expansion for Guild Wars 2 and adds alot of new content in bulk with more to come over the next move.

    But is the new content any good? Yes , most certainly! The new maps, are beautifully crafted and engaging to run around in and to explore. And i am talking about jawdroppingly beautifull. The first time i entered "Auric Basin" at nightfall i was greeted by    Heart of Thorns is the first expansion for Guild Wars 2 and adds alot of new content in bulk with more to come over the next move.

    But is the new content any good? Yes , most certainly!
    The new maps, are beautifully crafted and engaging to run around in and to explore. And i am talking about jawdroppingly beautifull. The first time i entered "Auric Basin" at nightfall i was greeted by a swarm of fireflies floating between long vines and treebranches, which was truly enchanting and brought the need to explore up in me, just to find more of those locations.

    The new mastery system adds a new mentroidvania feel to it. Which give the player new goals and something to achieved after 80.

    The new Story Missions, while still having some issues at the point of this review, are enjoyable and deepen the bond to your character and his "posse". But roaming around in the jungle doesnt just make your fellow NPC posse more interesting, the jungle is full with new races and interesting creatures which makes the stay worthwhile and brings alot of enjoyment. Storywise i dont want to say too much, but the new overarching Story is intense and great, being rather grim at some places and showing you the despair of your troops makes you want to save this world from the new rising evil!

    And the new "Elite Specializations" and the new Class add alot to the Gameplay. New skillshots and buffs/debuffs combined with the new enemies in the jungle makes the combat so much more exciting and enjoying than it was before. If you are a fan of Guild Wars 2 or action MMOs in generell you will surly enjoy this.

    But whats bad?
    Some of the contet (such as skill challenges) is "hidden" behind masteries which take longer to acquire, while this wouldnt be to bad it is nowhere communicated when hovering over a skillpoint. So it sometimes happens that you embark on a journey to get to a skillpoint only to realise that there is nothing to earn. Which renders travelling there pretty much useless (werent it for the beautiful surroundings).

    Also the Elite Specializations require alot of Skillpoints to unlock (400). While i agree that its a little to much, i like the experience traveling through the jungle and slowly learning my new abilities and traits. Which makes finally earning your new Spec and Skin so much more of an achievement.

    So in conclusion, is it worth a try, is it a game for me? Yes it is, and well, i dont know. If you want to do everything as fast as possible and crawl through the content you might be wrong here, because getting the masteries and skill challenges might fell like a drag to you if you dont enjoy the surrounding world and gameplay. Guild Wars 2 is a game to sit down, relax and just to hop into a fantasy world and enjoy yourself while feeling that your journey is worth something. And that is truly wonderful.    … Expand
  96. Dasor
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    The perfect expansion for Guild Wars 2. I was afraid at star for the lack of maps, but when i saw them and i started playing them i was blown away, the maps are awesome, big and they don't lack content.
    Also, there's an enormous amount of new features and a very large number of quality of life changes.
    The story so far is awesome, and listening to the player voice again, answeing on the    The perfect expansion for Guild Wars 2. I was afraid at star for the lack of maps, but when i saw them and i started playing them i was blown away, the maps are awesome, big and they don't lack content.
    Also, there's an enormous amount of new features and a very large number of quality of life changes.
    The story so far is awesome, and listening to the player voice again, answeing on the field is a very nice addition.
    This expansion is a must buy.    … Expand
  97. Sodapoppin
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Amazing xpac.

    My friend bought it to me. I was kinda meh at firtst but damn i had the best fun in a while in a MMO.

    I xp'ed my first character to 80 and there is still so much to do. Combat is hella fun.
  98. SonicShadow
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Excellent expansion. ANet shows how it should be done. Free yourselves of the gear treadmill and round robin loot rolls! Horizontal progression takes a little adapting to for those used to a tradtional grindfest, but it works.
  99. zhyrn
    Oct 26, 2015
    0
    Anet nerfed every dungeon rewards (Core game) by 66% in order to force players to move in to the expansion content. You also won't receive the new Fractal Dailies rewards as the game will gently tell you that: "you need Heart of Thorns in order to unlock the full rewards".

    So basically they took content that was Vanilla and placed it under the expansion paywall. Before the expansion    Anet nerfed every dungeon rewards (Core game) by 66% in order to force players to move in to the expansion content. You also won't receive the new Fractal Dailies rewards as the game will gently tell you that: "you need Heart of Thorns in order to unlock the full rewards".

    So basically they took content that was Vanilla and placed it under the expansion paywall. Before the expansion was released I could play Fractals up until 50 and be fully rewarded doing so. Now, from Fractal Level 20+ my rewards are partially blocked and it feels like crap.

    Im not a F2Per, I paid for the core game ever since launch and I'm getting screwed over.

    This is not what a MMO expansion should be about. Company should encourage you to buy XPac by showing you new awesome things to get, not by nerfing the **** out of existing content or stright away locking.

    This is sounding more and more like those ****ty mobile games where people who pay get extra currency/bonus rewards over those who don't.

    I was waiting for a lower price to buy the expansion but now I'm genuinely pissed off and seeing all the grind and gate in the new expansion coupled with the former facts I've just mentioned, I wouldn't pay more than 10 bucks for this. Anet has lost a client here. A client who supported them for 10 years (back in GW1 LAUNCH!    … Expand
  100. JamEngulfer
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    I think Heart of Thorns is a brilliant expansion. The main thing I've noticed with it with respect to gameplay is that it is much harder than regular open world, with only 2 enemies being able to kill you outright. The jungle is meant to be hardcore endgame content and it really shows in the difficulty.

    The maps are beautiful and extremely varied from area to area. Although some areas    I think Heart of Thorns is a brilliant expansion. The main thing I've noticed with it with respect to gameplay is that it is much harder than regular open world, with only 2 enemies being able to kill you outright. The jungle is meant to be hardcore endgame content and it really shows in the difficulty.

    The maps are beautiful and extremely varied from area to area. Although some areas appear claustrophobic due to the fact that well, it's a jungle, when you reach a point where you can glide down or jump up to another level, you get a perspective of just how massive the maps are. However, there are some areas that are extremely large and give a massive sense of scale.

    I like the new mastery system that's been added. The progression feels nice and you only need level 1 or 2 in some of them to progress the story and these requirements make sense (e.g, needing gliding to actually traverse the map properly before you start the second story step). I've seen a lot of people that want all of the masteries immediately, acting like they are some sort of awful content gating system. These are the same people that would complain about no long term endgame progression if the masteries were easy. The masteries are extremely similar to levelling a normal character to level 80. If you think about it, we should be completely used to 'content locking' as the majority of the game is locked away when you are level 1. You have to level up to access higher level content. We are all used to this system and I don't see why people aren't equating the normal levelling progression to the masteries system. It took me 4 months of playing to reach level 80, so I don't see why it shouldn't take me the same amount of time to max out my masteries.

    Anet delivered on exactly what they promised. Long term hardcore endgame content. People asked for that and that is exactly what they got.

    I for one think it's great and that they produced a great expansion that lived up to the hype.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

51
#51 Best PC Game of 2015
10
#10 Most Discussed PC Game of 2015
15
#15 Most Shared PC Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22
  1. CD-Action
    Jan 12, 2016
    85
    Heart of Thorns is so good I forgot the flaws that made me lose interest in the original game after my initial delight with it. [13/2015, p.64]
  2. Games Master UK
    Jan 3, 2016
    85
    Not the biggest expansion, but it enhances the best parts of an already magnificent MMO. [Christmas 2015, p.75]
  3. Edge Magazine
    Jan 3, 2016
    80
    In spite of the odd stumble, it's a wonderful journey. [Jan 2016, p.120]
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