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. jhippocratic42
    Oct 25, 2015
    10
    The overwhelmingly negative user reviews represent an entitled mass of gamers who think that destroying those who have worked so hard to put out this masterpiece (and trust me, it is nothing short of that) will somehow "force their hand" and make them change the game to give them whatever they want the instant they want it. Progression was noted and to be expected, and yet still playersThe overwhelmingly negative user reviews represent an entitled mass of gamers who think that destroying those who have worked so hard to put out this masterpiece (and trust me, it is nothing short of that) will somehow "force their hand" and make them change the game to give them whatever they want the instant they want it. Progression was noted and to be expected, and yet still players will resort to stooping so low as to give dishonest reviews of an otherwise fantastic game over their own pettiness. Trust and believe that if the bulk of those who played this were representative of these reviews, this game's ratings would look far better than they do now. Such a shame.… Expand
  2. bluesnacks
    Oct 26, 2015
    5
    5/10

    Positive: Story, New zones

    Negative: The stupidest grinding system ever, in a game where the makers have actually said "we don't like grinding."

    This is not worth a 10. Anyone trying to convince you that it's a perfect 10 is lying to you knowingly.
  3. phaedrux
    Oct 25, 2015
    10
    Gorgeous world design, enormous amounts of new content, engaging 'elite' extensions to each class. Narrative aspects improve immensely on what the core game offers- the story is great, well voiced, well written, interesting.

    The new mastery system will take time to, well, master. So far nothing has felt unfairly time consuming, from my perspective as a moderate/casual player. The new    Gorgeous world design, enormous amounts of new content, engaging 'elite' extensions to each class. Narrative aspects improve immensely on what the core game offers- the story is great, well voiced, well written, interesting.

    The new mastery system will take time to, well, master. So far nothing has felt unfairly time consuming, from my perspective as a moderate/casual player. The new zones are fun, the events and enemies can be difficult. Sometimes forcing players to rethink their approach and change the way they've been playing in order to progress.

    The expansion doesn't offer itself up politely on a silver platter, but instead rewards the curious, the intrepid, and the adventurous. The jungle is a dangerous place and it might kick your ass a few times- but wow is it fun.

    Highly recommended, most fun I've had in a game in years.    … Expand
  4. Nuri
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    The first expansion for the massive Guild Wars 2 world brings plenty of new things to the table. There is a bit of controversy about the new mechanics, specifically the need to train Elite specializations and Masteries, both of which take a bit of time. Now for a casual player like me, there is no problem in that - Guild Wars 2 is still the casual player's heaven, where it does not matterThe first expansion for the massive Guild Wars 2 world brings plenty of new things to the table. There is a bit of controversy about the new mechanics, specifically the need to train Elite specializations and Masteries, both of which take a bit of time. Now for a casual player like me, there is no problem in that - Guild Wars 2 is still the casual player's heaven, where it does not matter if you play 25 arenas or just 3, as you still have fun and get enough rewards for doing just that.

    Pros:
    Beautiful landscapes
    Immersive questline for HoT
    Interesting concept of daytime/night-time quests
    Elite professions
    Gliding (although it does get a bit infuriating when you miss that one ledge and fall to your death)
    New Guild Missions
    Guild Halls

    Cons:
    Slightly grindy (but you can prevent that by playing with friends/guildies)
    New Prof = everyone is revenant (Think of WotLK amounts of DKs)

    i am enjoying my time in Maguuma so far and I am very happy about how this expansion turned out.    … Expand
  5. plexon21
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    I am already loving this addon. Great story,ine and some very amazing maps with a huge variety and a lot of verticality. Totally worth checking out.
    ArenaNet did a great job with this expansion. The only problem I have with it are all the people whining about not being able to finish all of it in the first weekend.
  6. 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.
  7. Boabed
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Heart of Thorns is an excellent first expansion for Guild Wars 2. The gorgeous new maps, mastery system (giving long term rewarding progression), legendary precursor crafting and guild halls - to name a few of the features - make it a blast to play.
  8. purple_llama
    Oct 25, 2015
    10
    I've been a long time fan of the Guild Wars series, and Heart of Thorns is an excellent continuation of the series. It provides new things to do in both old and new maps, with the new maps being a crazy 3D experience that feels like you'll never actually run out of nooks and crannies to discover.

    There's some long term progression added in here as well, you can work towards masteries to    I've been a long time fan of the Guild Wars series, and Heart of Thorns is an excellent continuation of the series. It provides new things to do in both old and new maps, with the new maps being a crazy 3D experience that feels like you'll never actually run out of nooks and crannies to discover.

    There's some long term progression added in here as well, you can work towards masteries to improve your abilities - gliding, bouncing, even some in the old maps for working on creating legendary items and other things. All of that is account bound so you only have to earn it once. You also don't need it to get to the new content, I've walked all the way to the last map with only two of them just begun, and I think I didn't even need them - but gliding is just too much fun to not do it!

    There's also character progression - instead of a slew of new classes or an increased level & gear cap they've added a way to have your character specialize in a line that changes their role a bit. It does take a bit of working towards but I've been working on other stuff for the few days since launch and I've almost fully unlocked mine already anyways.

    Looking forward to what comes next!    … Expand
  9. 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
  10. IEatCabbage
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    The good:
    -The maps are huge and you can clearly see right off the bat that Anet did put tons of effort in creating these new maps. My personal favourite is Auric Basin just because how calm and peaceful it is
    -the new mechanics such as gliding and other masteries that introduce new ways to play the map and new mechanics to fight some of the bosses on the new maps. These masteries at    The good:
    -The maps are huge and you can clearly see right off the bat that Anet did put tons of effort in creating these new maps. My personal favourite is Auric Basin just because how calm and peaceful it is
    -the new mechanics such as gliding and other masteries that introduce new ways to play the map and new mechanics to fight some of the bosses on the new maps. These masteries at first 2 levels are easy to unlock and are all that’s required to access most of the new maps. (personal story requires 2-1-1-1 in masteries). Once they are unlocked, they are unlocked for every character on your account.
    -The personal story is done to perfection compared to core personal stories and living world stories. The voice acting is at its best, the character development is great that you see what each character is like, and cutscenes are just amazing. The lore they give us in these personal stories are just more than what we could ask for.
    -The mobs have great new mechanics to them and this makes combat and boss fight actually exciting. I am sick and tired of core world boss fights, for most of these bosses you just stand there in one spot and auto attack it until its dead. Here you actually have to move around, knowing when to use cc, and see the boss’s attack animation. This makes the mobs actually challenging unlike when Orr was first released where the mobs would swarm you and follow you until you are dead with no actual mechanics.
    -The core world is still populated with tons of players, its almost like the expansion had no effect on core Tyria at all, while the new maps are actually filled with people from what I’ve seen so far (with exception of Auric Basin, this map is pretty much empty at all times). Why is this good? In other games, I’ve seen countless times where a new expansion comes out and the core world literally dies.
    The bad:
    -The elite specialization is locked behind 400 hero points to unlock and this is frustrating for many people. There is no reason for this specialization to be locked behind this much HP. They really need to address this issue. I would lower the HP from the new maps from 10 down to 5 and change the requirements from 400 down to 200.
    I would give this expansion an 9/10 so far and if they would lower the HP for elite specialization I would give this game a 10/10 and the rest I have to see when raid comes out    … Expand
  11. AnonyLol
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Its a great expansion. Very very fun to play, and the most important part, it fully integrates into the existing world (so not like wow where everyone moves on to a new area and the existing areas get completly empty). All the people who are giving bad reviews are just crying because of some problems which will be fixed by arenanet soon.
  12. 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.
  13. 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
  14. 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
  15. Blanc0
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Heart of thorns, the very first expansion for an amazing game that has been going strong for years now. Anet tried to do things differently then most mmo's and not raise the lvl cap or add better gear, cause who wants to grind for more gear cause their old max gear has become useless?

    Now Anet did add a way to further ''lvl'' your character, in the form of masteries and elite    Heart of thorns, the very first expansion for an amazing game that has been going strong for years now. Anet tried to do things differently then most mmo's and not raise the lvl cap or add better gear, cause who wants to grind for more gear cause their old max gear has become useless?

    Now Anet did add a way to further ''lvl'' your character, in the form of masteries and elite specialisations. Masteries are unique abilities like Gliding, Bouncing mushrooms or even learning new languages of new civilisations. These masteries are gained by gaining xp and are account wide, they add a new and exciting way to improve your account and are sure to keep you busy for a while. They require a fair amount of xp, but so did levelling a new character all the way to lvl 80 in the core, so its a far amount in my opinion. There are some masteries required to progress the story, but after Anet removed 1 mastery requirement they really don't slow you down a lot. (They even show you what masteries you will need for which story chapters, so you can prepare for that). Within masteries there are 2 major lines, the Heart of Thorns masteries and the Central Tyrian masteries. The lather being designed for older content, they add small bonusses.

    The other way to lvl your characters, are elite specialisations. Elite specialisations add new abilities to existing classes and they all get 1 new weapon. The initial unlocking cost of the trait line could be considered a bit steep, but compared to the old levelling in the core game it is pretty fast and rewarding. The new elite specs feel fresh and unique, have great visuals and really make a change.

    Next to the new ways to lvl your character there are 4 new maps, which are absolutely stunning. Lots of verticality makes gliding useful and fun, bouncing mushrooms also give a whole new way of exploring the jungle. The new foes have great movement, like a giant dinosaur rolling over its side or giant flying wyverns with major fire attacks. The maps are great to explore and as you progress your masteries you can reach new places and find even more hidden spaces. The maps house lots of event chains and there are large scale meta events that require the map to work together. Newly added are adventures, mini games that offer a great xp boost! The jungle maps, like Auric Basin, become even more gorgeous at night!

    There are many changes to the guilds as well, the major change being Guild Halls. A feature long requested by the community and now Anet delivered. With as few as 3 guild members you can claim one of 2 halls. These halls offer upgrades in the form of buildings and bonuses. The customisation of these halls is pretty endless once you have a scribe (new crafting profession) to build you all the decorations. The initial price to start building a tavern/mine/workshop is high at the moment for the smaller guilds, but this is mostly due to everyone wanting to unlock the building and larger guilds having a bigger budget, this will need some time for the market to settle. All in all as time goes by everyone will be able to build the upgrades and make the guild hall a personal home for their guild. The guild hall also adds a new treasury system where all members can donate the required materials for future upgrades.

    There are lots of changes in Heart of Thorns and the way it is set up it will require some time to unlock every new addition to the core game Guild Wars 2. Just like it took time to lvl from 1 to 80 in the core game, masteries and elite specs are just a new and fresh way of levelling without raising the lvl cap or adding a new gear tier. It will keep you busy and it will keep you exploring every nook and cranny of the new amazing jungle maps. Those who love Guild Wars 2, will love Heart of Thorns.    … Expand
  16. thedarkess
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    People asked for end game content and they got expansion that focuses primarily on end game. We've got challenging content and no-faceroll PvE, character progression beyond max level, increadible story telling and most stunning zones I've ever seen. And yet people complain they can't get everything 1st day of expansion! Hypocrites.
  17. 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
  18. 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
  19. 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.
  20. 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
  21. 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
  22. 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!
  23. bravoart
    Oct 28, 2015
    4
    As a player from the launch, this expansion is highly disappointing because as from the start, ArenaNet has decided to sell one thing, and deliver another.

    Any premise that the game has had of 'casual friendly' and 'no grinding' and so on, has been thrown out the window completely with the new expansion (if not a bit beforehand, honestly). There are multiple reviews here stating that    As a player from the launch, this expansion is highly disappointing because as from the start, ArenaNet has decided to sell one thing, and deliver another.

    Any premise that the game has had of 'casual friendly' and 'no grinding' and so on, has been thrown out the window completely with the new expansion (if not a bit beforehand, honestly).

    There are multiple reviews here stating that people are just lazy and want everything handed to them, but the reality is that if you were told that the game you paid $50 for, the majority of the content was locked behind doing the same events and waiting for the same events to respawn indefinitely with no ability to advance past it until you have done an arbitrary amount of grind, wouldn't you consider that unnecessary? This game has a rabid fanbase that believe that the developers can do no wrong and everyone should be aware of that.

    Gated content, forced group content that can not be soloed, bad rng, separation of reward effort, the list goes on and on of what is wrong with this expansion.

    As we've seen with ArenaNet multiple times before, they don't fix things without changing something else or knee-jerk nerfing whatever the playerbase moves to for counteracting the nerfs. The developers literally go out of their way to hobble progression again and again, yet people still defend it. Unbelievable.

    EDIT: Arenanet has made a concession with the amount of Hero Points needed for Elite specs and the gating of accessible hero points on the first new map. This is great and a solid step in the right direction, but that being said there is still a lot of issues pertaining to bait and switch and effort/reward that still need to be reviewed.

    Also be warned that community sites are actively guilting and insulting people with low review scores to change them to 10/10s. The game is not that great, but the communities about it are even worse.    … Expand
  24. KoalaMeatPie
    Oct 25, 2015
    4
    The following is my own personal experience with the Expansion soo far - I find the expansion to be just a mess of a chore.

    Everything from the level design, story progression, timed events and mastery system has been made to slow you down and hold you back. Let me start with the lesser annoyance, the level design. You can not go from one point to another directly, like in every    The following is my own personal experience with the Expansion soo far - I find the expansion to be just a mess of a chore.

    Everything from the level design, story progression, timed events and mastery system has been made to slow you down and hold you back.

    Let me start with the lesser annoyance, the level design. You can not go from one point to another directly, like in every other map of the game, you must wind and weave, and travel a maze of verticals, up and down, which without a glider is a huge pain because nearly everything are Elites or Vets which knock you down or cripple you. Why oh god, must everything cripple you?

    Story progression: Remember how they added a whole punch of level caps to the story missions in GW2 awhile ago? It's the same thing but with the mastery system. You must always be a level over next in masteries to continue with the "Very Urgent Chase", which is an issue because masteries take a long time to level up, how? Because

    Mastery progression places up huge walls which you need to go around and grind little rewarding events - which are interrupted in Auric basin, at least, by the Gates event - which are literally walls in front of walls. There is a 15 minute period where you can’t go into the city, walls are blocking the doors - then a 45? Minute event where you need to to coordinate with other players on the map to chisel down vines which are trying to get into the heart of the city. And you can forget trying to do this with 15 people.

    This, for the very least, interrupted our Guild hall claiming last night by ONE and a HALF hours because all Waypoints where contested, no way to teleport into the city, no Mesmer, no NOTHING, can’t run and glide because of the bubble at the heart, not even a Waypoint INSIDE the hole inside the heart of the city to act as a rallying waypoint. Those that were in, were stuck in, those that were out were SOL until the event failed or disappeared.

    Now, about the Hero points, it’s very nice and all that they say you get “ten points” each event, but the events are seriously over grindy. Whoever designed them, made it so you can not solo them like in the old world, you need half a raid to to get even one champ down. Their health and toughness is through the roof, not to mention all the conditions they throw at you. You can’t do any one of them with less than 4 people. Try finding 4 people, depending on your Time Zome and IRL commitments, it can be next to impossible.

    Add to that the constant crashes (I pressed Print Screen - I crashed, I was talking to an NPC, double clicked to talk to another - I crashed. I changed maps - I crashed, I FINALLY lvled to Mastery 3 - I crashed, I spawned my glidder - crashed) When you do find a populated event, the chances of you crashing are N times more, and when you log back in - over flow, if you’re lucky. If not, event over.

    TL;DR; : Everything about HoT is made to slow you down, hold you back and pad out the game and you should care.

    I want to raid. I LIKE being in a huge group and taking down challenges - the guild hall claiming was LOADS of fun. I've been doing the same Fractals for two years, it's FUN. "Lack of content" is not an issue - the quality is.

    They purposefully broke up the pace of the game to make it feel bigger. I don’t care about leveling, at all. They way they made it is just soo convoluted. I want to get my masteries up, have my druid healing skills, and raid with my guild.

    Lastly you want to know how to do a well paced story without holding you back and padding things out? Guild Wars 1 (Prophecies and Nightfalls). Somehow - they lost sight of how to do it properly.    … Expand
  25. 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
  26. Aerixa
    Oct 25, 2015
    3
    Incredibly tedious and not rewarding. You're grinding the same events, in massive, empty zones, to try to unlock the next tier of some odd skill to reach that spot on the map you need to be one step closer to that cool specialized class they showed. I've been playing since the game launched, and it's a complete 180 on the fun, solo, play at your own pace gameplay that this game started outIncredibly tedious and not rewarding. You're grinding the same events, in massive, empty zones, to try to unlock the next tier of some odd skill to reach that spot on the map you need to be one step closer to that cool specialized class they showed. I've been playing since the game launched, and it's a complete 180 on the fun, solo, play at your own pace gameplay that this game started out as. I'm going to shelve it for a bit, as it's just grinding to grind. I really wanted to love and support this, but I can't enjoy it in the current state.… Expand
  27. scottmjones
    Oct 25, 2015
    10
    Having read other reviews on here i thought i would correct alot of the negative reviews, first of all i will start by stating that i wasnt a fan of the pve during the first 3 years of gw2 i played the game solely for wvw, my opinion has changed massively during HOT the pve doesnt require "grinding" there are numerous HUGE multi layered maps that you can explore with gliders, by jumping onHaving read other reviews on here i thought i would correct alot of the negative reviews, first of all i will start by stating that i wasnt a fan of the pve during the first 3 years of gw2 i played the game solely for wvw, my opinion has changed massively during HOT the pve doesnt require "grinding" there are numerous HUGE multi layered maps that you can explore with gliders, by jumping on mushrooms or by using portals, there are hundereds of events that take place on these maps that easily give you enough different content to get your characters the traits needed and also to provide tens of hours of entertainment alone. WvW has had a massive overhaul with new desert borderlands and new systems to adress issues with ganking of dolyaks that are being defended. It seems to me that the people moaning expansion just want a game with no challenge, i urge you to ignore such negative and moronic reviews and to try the game yourself, I for one am extremely surprised by the depth and large amount of content that came with the expansion. I'd also like to commend anet on the launch, unlike other mmorpg launches and expansion releases I had no lag, no huge grouping of players causing issues and have found no bugs up to this point… Expand
  28. 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
  29. 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.
  30. 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
  31. Thunderwitch
    Oct 25, 2015
    0
    Developers deceived everyone. They promised one thing and actually do the opposite. "in our game will never have to grind," but a more appropriate name for the game is now "Grind Wars 2: Heart of Grind". My score of 0, I expected more. It is no longer my favorite game. I'm from little friend guild. I paid 100$, but i cant see Guild Hall, becouse need 3 or more people in guild. All event isDevelopers deceived everyone. They promised one thing and actually do the opposite. "in our game will never have to grind," but a more appropriate name for the game is now "Grind Wars 2: Heart of Grind". My score of 0, I expected more. It is no longer my favorite game. I'm from little friend guild. I paid 100$, but i cant see Guild Hall, becouse need 3 or more people in guild. All event is unnecessarily complicated in new location, and on these very hard "group" events extremely small number of people… Expand
  32. Sytherek
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    The initial release had a terrible unexpected grind that marred an otherwise nice expension. ArenaNet fixed in five days -- an amazingly fast effort, and a tribute to company. I am impressed, and have revised my earlier review with this one.

    HoT is designed as endgame material,, and isnt some5hing for newbies. It is a fascinating environment, beautiful art, and challenging new places to    The initial release had a terrible unexpected grind that marred an otherwise nice expension. ArenaNet fixed in five days -- an amazingly fast effort, and a tribute to company. I am impressed, and have revised my earlier review with this one.

    HoT is designed as endgame material,, and isnt some5hing for newbies. It is a fascinating environment, beautiful art, and challenging new places to see and people to meet. The new abilities -- gliders, etc. -- can be challenging... especially for older gamers like myself. But I'm managing.

    The story is optional but interesting.

    Overall, my biggest complaint now is that there isnt more to the expansion. It feels small, nowhere near as big as a WoW expansion. I hope the next one is bigger.    … Expand
  33. 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
  34. 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.
  35. Cell1e
    Apr 4, 2017
    7
    Much improved since I last reviewed this expansion, there are a lot more players in the four new maps, all except for Dragons stand, which is pretty ridiculous in how it works.

    I am now enjoying my visits to the new maps. So well done to GW2 team for the great improvements,
  36. 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
  37. ethanDS
    Oct 27, 2015
    1
    The community asked for an expansion when Anet were content with pushing living story.

    This is the result of living story becoming an expansion. It's lackluster, has little meaty content in it and is just paid fluff. I could easily see the majority of this content being living story given to us over the next year, instead due to the demand of an actual expansion, we have it now in a    The community asked for an expansion when Anet were content with pushing living story.

    This is the result of living story becoming an expansion. It's lackluster, has little meaty content in it and is just paid fluff. I could easily see the majority of this content being living story given to us over the next year, instead due to the demand of an actual expansion, we have it now in a chunk.

    I would ask anyone looking to purchase be wary, this is not your typical "massive scale expansion", very little to get excited about. I feel I've wasted money.    … Expand
  38. Volphy
    Oct 25, 2015
    10
    Despite the brigade that is plaguing this page with negative reviews, Heart of Thorns is a wonderful expansion designed by Anet. Despite the few issues that we have at launch concerning the amount of XP it takes to level up masteries, and the issues that Druid has since the changes from beta, Heart of Thorns is a huge, lovely, and downright masterful expansion. On release day it's serversDespite the brigade that is plaguing this page with negative reviews, Heart of Thorns is a wonderful expansion designed by Anet. Despite the few issues that we have at launch concerning the amount of XP it takes to level up masteries, and the issues that Druid has since the changes from beta, Heart of Thorns is a huge, lovely, and downright masterful expansion. On release day it's servers remained rock-solid too, something I have not seen in MMOs to this very day.

    I give Heart of Thorns an outstanding review of 9/10. The extra point is there because of all of the low-score brigading that is happening. Two days after release.    … Expand
  39. 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.
  40. theGinch
    Oct 25, 2015
    0
    Everything is gated behind mastery points and other artificial buzzkills to disguise the very limited amount of content in this 'expansion'. Only the grim or truly desperate can muster the will to grind 400 hero points to actually play one of the elite specializations. For the rest of us the expansion is incredibly empty.

    Not sure if i have ever seen a bigger bait and switch than heart    Everything is gated behind mastery points and other artificial buzzkills to disguise the very limited amount of content in this 'expansion'. Only the grim or truly desperate can muster the will to grind 400 hero points to actually play one of the elite specializations. For the rest of us the expansion is incredibly empty.

    Not sure if i have ever seen a bigger bait and switch than heart of thorns.    … Expand
  41. Loku
    Oct 25, 2015
    9
    0

    What we got with this expansion not only is fun, but also varied. The new personal story is a success, the new maps are awesome and the new ways to explore are simply fun as hell. Most of the progression is account bound and pretty easy to level through standard gameplay. Everyone wants everything immediately it seems. The only issue right now is the gating behind one of the storyline    0

    What we got with this expansion not only is fun, but also varied. The new personal story is a success, the new maps are awesome and the new ways to explore are simply fun as hell. Most of the progression is account bound and pretty easy to level through standard gameplay. Everyone wants everything immediately it seems. The only issue right now is the gating behind one of the storyline missions, which is already being addressed. Adventures are really fun, and the new open world is much more challenging than before. It will take still a while to test and understand every new profession, every new guild upgrade, wvw and pvp builds and tactics, etc... but the expansion is already worth its price. And it's only the beginning: people seem to forget that what they bought entitles them to months (years?) of updates. Raids are around the corner, and soon after them the new living story will start for the HoT owners. We are in for a ride.    … Expand
  42. 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
  43. Jason_Field
    Oct 27, 2015
    2
    No one is going to be more disappointed than myself. After having supported this developer for such a long time I think I'm finally at the point where I have to part ways. The maps are great, enemies look cool but locking the masteries behind such grindy time gates has really been a sour taste in my mouth.

    Had they not locked this content as well as the story behind this, I feel this    No one is going to be more disappointed than myself. After having supported this developer for such a long time I think I'm finally at the point where I have to part ways. The maps are great, enemies look cool but locking the masteries behind such grindy time gates has really been a sour taste in my mouth.

    Had they not locked this content as well as the story behind this, I feel this expansion wouldn't last long at all due to the lack of anything really meaningful.

    On the surface you'll find an intriguing game but you'll soon come to realise there is little substance.    … Expand
  44. AusJock
    Oct 26, 2015
    2
    Massive, massive disappointment with the HoT exapnsion... WvW is going to be gutted, the grind is outrageously bad and like nothing seen in any Guild Wars game previously.
    Casual players can expect to spend the next few months at-least just to get the elite specialization on a single character.
    There is an amazing amount of new content but every portion of it requires grinding in order    Massive, massive disappointment with the HoT exapnsion... WvW is going to be gutted, the grind is outrageously bad and like nothing seen in any Guild Wars game previously.
    Casual players can expect to spend the next few months at-least just to get the elite specialization on a single character.
    There is an amazing amount of new content but every portion of it requires grinding in order to learn masteries or gain Hero Points.

    If I could get a refund for my pre-purchase, I 100% would.    … Expand
  45. Vexia
    Oct 26, 2015
    0
    As someone who Pre-purchased the first game, played the beta, pre-purchased the second game and played that beta as well, I am so severely disappointed in Arenanet, the now "old" content is laggy as hell. While the new content is buggy as hell, I assume the pressure was on them to release it quickly but there are so many bugs in it, that players are getting 2-3 patches a day minimum, andAs someone who Pre-purchased the first game, played the beta, pre-purchased the second game and played that beta as well, I am so severely disappointed in Arenanet, the now "old" content is laggy as hell. While the new content is buggy as hell, I assume the pressure was on them to release it quickly but there are so many bugs in it, that players are getting 2-3 patches a day minimum, and those barely address the amount of bugs in the game, the lag, the same old issues they had before which never got fixed, and a complete disregard for real juicy content, the expansion is a pretty piece of fluff.

    My experience with the expansion, was to login, attempt to do the story, die in it, being unable to revive I had to exit because the pop up button for revival didn't show up, and upon re-entering the game, the story had vanished out of the game but remains in the log, being permanently unable to complete it. It's bugs like these that make you wonder why did I buy the expensive pre-purchase pack with all the gems, when after 5 days I still cannot complete any story, any new content, i'm still stuck in arena net limbo. waiting for the next patch and hoping that my fix will be in this one.

    Guild Halls were a major let down, a very weak monster fight in order to take control of the room, only 2 guild halls to choose from, mapped instances where your guild members are constantly shuffed from instance to instance as the game makes the rooms bigger or smaller, getting pop ups every 2-5 minutes telling you to switch maps. And we all know that Guild Halls are Arenanets way of fixing their very poorly designed market system which has a overflow of too many useless materials, and now all of a sudden these materials (examples carrots) are now needed by the thousands to use as a material to build your guild hall. Guild window looks messy, it's hard to find the things your looking for. THE LAG. IS NO JOKE.
    If you dare to open your guild window to look through your roster there is a huge amount of lag.

    GAME CRASHES CONSTANTLY, my files aren't broken, the game just decides to close it's self at random times. Which beats the black screen of doom that was happening a week ago.

    Fractals are fast, but are still just as boring as ever, but more appealing now, because you only need to be stuck with the same fools for 1 map rather than 4.

    The Elite specializations look cool, but that's about it, most feel slow and clunky and difficult to chain into a real attack.

    THERE WAS SO MUCH HYPE, and I was hyped for it, I even got my friends to play, and so far I've been nothing but disappointed, I knew I needed to keep my expectations low, so I wouldn't be disappointed if something wasn't as great as I'd expect it to be, but this is just ridiculous.    … Expand
  46. Ivaren
    Oct 25, 2015
    9
    Game Review:

    My overall experience has been great, there is so much to do and explore in the new areas. Gliding is amazing, and there has been a lot of quality of life changes that I have enjoyed. And this has been the smoothest MMO expansion or MMO launch I have ever experienced. Very few bugs and the few that I have seen were fixed fast. Going offline for a few hours and coming back    Game Review:

    My overall experience has been great, there is so much to do and explore in the new areas. Gliding is amazing, and there has been a lot of quality of life changes that I have enjoyed. And this has been the smoothest MMO expansion or MMO launch I have ever experienced. Very few bugs and the few that I have seen were fixed fast. Going offline for a few hours and coming back there seems to always be a small bug fix patch to download. If you had played GW2 in the past and left or if you are brand new to the game, now is a great time to hop in.

    Negative reviews Review:

    It is very sad to see all of the low reviews on here for what has been an awesome expansion release to an already awesome game. As of writing this the first weekend is not even over yet and there are so many 1/10 reviews from people complaining about the grind "added to the game."

    First I would not call playing through brand new content that is as diverse as it has been, grindy, and the people complaining about having to look for a group for certain challenges? Why play an MMO if you don't want to play with other people from time to time. I know everyone is excited to play their class's new hotness, and use it through the new content, but I would assume that most people have played their main class for over a year, so what is a another week at most on top of that.

    Think of it this way, if this was any other MMO there would have been a level bump. But there wasn't. So to give that sense of progression ANet added the specializations and masteries. Specializations are a character based progression that really don't take too long to mostly unlock. But, some of the points you need may have been gated by masteries though. And from my experience only the lower tiers of masteries. However those are an account unlock meaning after getting them while working on your first character that gate is gone for every other character.

    In my opinion, think most of the low reviews on here have been blown out of proportion, especially for it still being the 3rd day the expansion has even been out. Remember we are playing a game. Were experiencing new content. This is not an Asian grindfest MMO where you have to grind mobs for 3 months to unlock your spec. Just play the game.    … Expand
  47. 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.
  48. manumotate
    Oct 25, 2015
    8
    - The history is amazing.
    - The mastery system is pretty good.
    - I like the events and the maps are HUGE.
    - Love the elite specializations ( I feel they should reduce the hero points needed to ~200, instead of 400 for my alts ).
    - GUILD HALLS!!!!!!!!!!
  49. Joejones
    Oct 26, 2015
    0
    The Heart of Thrones expansion is a major let down. I sat and watched and waited before purchasing it, and then bought one for myself and a friend. Now I feel like I got ripped off. Arenanet went on and on about how he new specializations were no better or stronger than any other classes, but threw the hero points needed to open them behind gated content and are charging a ridiculous amtThe Heart of Thrones expansion is a major let down. I sat and watched and waited before purchasing it, and then bought one for myself and a friend. Now I feel like I got ripped off. Arenanet went on and on about how he new specializations were no better or stronger than any other classes, but threw the hero points needed to open them behind gated content and are charging a ridiculous amt of points to fully open these specs. You can't go grab them, you can't do most alone, and the main story line is bugged and still hasn't been fixed. Please don't waste your time or money on this product.… Expand
  50. Simbob
    Oct 26, 2015
    3
    The expansion in the current state is terrible. It basically wants you to eat soup with a fork, to gain access to the spoon. Everything is gated and grindy. It is a long way from the original GW2 philosophy of play your way.

    Anet have committed the cardinal sin in gaming of alienating their casual player. The casuals are the ones that keep a game ticking over, pay for the newest skin,    The expansion in the current state is terrible. It basically wants you to eat soup with a fork, to gain access to the spoon. Everything is gated and grindy. It is a long way from the original GW2 philosophy of play your way.

    Anet have committed the cardinal sin in gaming of alienating their casual player. The casuals are the ones that keep a game ticking over, pay for the newest skin, like to change their character design and pay for it. They have scrapped dungeons in favor for fractals, however, they do not give you any new fractals, so you are playing the same stuff over again.

    What have Anet been doing for the last 3 years? if this is their output of 3 years of work, they might as well call it a day now!    … Expand
  51. SpagettiUpsetti
    Oct 27, 2015
    7
    Ok the main reason I play GW2 was for the WvWvW. I pre purchased HOT with the idea that it would be getting better. IMO they have made really bad changes to it making it not fun. The maps are too big, the mechanics take away from the WvWvW feel and it's generally a bad change. I tried to get a refund but....

    * Update - The anet staff got intouch and gave me a full refund for HOT.    Ok the main reason I play GW2 was for the WvWvW. I pre purchased HOT with the idea that it would be getting better. IMO they have made really bad changes to it making it not fun. The maps are too big, the mechanics take away from the WvWvW feel and it's generally a bad change. I tried to get a refund but....

    * Update - The anet staff got intouch and gave me a full refund for HOT. Pleased with the service provided by them. I may purchase HOT in the future if certain changes are made. Will continue to check up on any updates.    … Expand
  52. Cameirus
    Oct 25, 2015
    3
    HOTs has its good points, nice map design, gliding! and things like guild halls are all nice, however its crippled by the bizzare approach taken by Anet in putting excessive gating and grinds into the game, and locking key expansion features behind walls.

    The big selling point of the expansion is elite specialisations, which change how a class is played, these have been hyped and    HOTs has its good points, nice map design, gliding! and things like guild halls are all nice, however its crippled by the bizzare approach taken by Anet in putting excessive gating and grinds into the game, and locking key expansion features behind walls.

    The big selling point of the expansion is elite specialisations, which change how a class is played, these have been hyped and rightly so they are really fun. I know that from beta weekends. Not from the live game, as in the live game they are locked behind a stupidly high amount of hero points needed to unlock them. A normal trait line takes 65 points to unlock, an elite one takes 60 points just to start, and 400 to unlock, no thats not a typo. Its absurd.
    Yes hero challenges in the new zones grant 10 points, but these generally require groups and are locked behind another gate in requiring specific masteries to access....so that fails as well.

    All in all, very disappointing for Anet to take this path, so contrary to what GW2 was.    … Expand
  53. Fairchild
    Oct 25, 2015
    0
    horrible. they spent a year and half to make jumping puzzles and super tough trash mobs (that drop no loot). i suppose this makes sense...because there isn't any new loot in the expac. 2 new armor sets...original game launched with 30 or more. zero content and none on the horizon.
  54. XYLUM
    Oct 25, 2015
    3
    I give this a 3 out of 10 because, more then add to the existing Guildwars 2 game, they castrated it.

    The nerfed dungeons, they nerfed fractals and locked the loot in box that you have to BUY keys in order to open. They simply took Living Story Season 3 and added some mechanics, and a game update and hard gated the progression through insane amounts of grind, left out all of the    I give this a 3 out of 10 because, more then add to the existing Guildwars 2 game, they castrated it.

    The nerfed dungeons, they nerfed fractals and locked the loot in box that you have to BUY keys in order to open.

    They simply took Living Story Season 3 and added some mechanics, and a game update and hard gated the progression through insane amounts of grind, left out all of the major selling points the promised like raids, new legendaries and new squad system and charged us 50 bucks for it.

    I regret the purchase, and am hoping another polished MMO hits the market so I can give Arenanet back what they gave me with Heart of Thorns ...the middle finger.    … Expand
  55. TacticalLamp
    Oct 29, 2015
    2
    GW2 used to be a really fantastic game with an incredible variety of options and things to do.With the release of HoT that variety has shrunk to mindless killing of mobs and farming of events to gather experience to complete masteries. Other than exploring new zones, elite specialization, and other ridiculous amounts of farming ( because the expansion really botched the economy as aGW2 used to be a really fantastic game with an incredible variety of options and things to do.With the release of HoT that variety has shrunk to mindless killing of mobs and farming of events to gather experience to complete masteries. Other than exploring new zones, elite specialization, and other ridiculous amounts of farming ( because the expansion really botched the economy as a whole), the only thing to do at the moment is bash your face against your keyboard as you tag mobs to participate in events because often it is too difficult to farm mobs on your own as the new mechanics of random mobs disable your character into oblivion. When raids release there will be one more option for things to do fortunately, but with the way arenanet changed crafting and the economy, crafting the needed gear is MUCH more difficult than it was previously. Somewhere in the past several years developers have confused "difficult" for "time consuming" and it is a crime. Difficult content is wonderful. Time consuming content breeds resentment. Many things need to change as this game went from a really fantastic well rounded game to a grind gated, treadmill-like, tread up a giant mountain of broken dreams.… Expand
  56. 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
  57. shaitanbek
    Oct 25, 2015
    10
    I just don't like new WvW map, everything else is just fine. I'm laughing at people who whine that they cannot complete new content in one day. There's no grind unless you choose to grind.
  58. 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
  59. 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!
  60. terryhu700
    Oct 26, 2015
    1
    I rate games on "Will I play or not?".

    One of the core selling points of the HoT expansion is elite specs, just look at the amount of news/threads/releases involving them. It provides a different play style of existing professions/classes. HoT Expansion is a definite "not going to play" due to the fact that elite specs are heavily gated from a currency called Hero Points which are    I rate games on "Will I play or not?".

    One of the core selling points of the HoT expansion is elite specs, just look at the amount of news/threads/releases involving them. It provides a different play style of existing professions/classes.

    HoT Expansion is a definite "not going to play" due to the fact that elite specs are heavily gated from a currency called Hero Points which are ALSO gated behind Masteries which are specific to certain maps. It's like a grind inside a grind.

    I agree that a certain amount of work is supposed to be done before unlocking elite specs but the amount Anet is testing and using players a guinea pigs (as usual) is absurd. I do not appreciate being a guinea pig, I do not appreciate forced grinding just to extend the life of the game.

    With this, it;s a definite "Will not play" for me and rate it a score of 1. Regardless of what else they put in, the core draw of games is the gameplay itself and gw2 is a majorly a combat based game. Not a puzzle, not a mystery, not a dialogue based game; it is a combat based game.    … Expand
  61. RedBaron2015
    Oct 25, 2015
    0
    ANet decided to hide all the new skills behind a huge wall of grinding just to make this expansion to last. Instead of focusing in the playability of the game, ANet decided to make everything hard in order to force the players to invest hundreds of hours just to get the new skills (while using the premium shop boosters to increase their revenues).

    HoT expansion is toxic. Do not waste    ANet decided to hide all the new skills behind a huge wall of grinding just to make this expansion to last. Instead of focusing in the playability of the game, ANet decided to make everything hard in order to force the players to invest hundreds of hours just to get the new skills (while using the premium shop boosters to increase their revenues).

    HoT expansion is toxic. Do not waste your money. You will be paying to suffer and get frustrated. A complete waste of money and time.    … Expand
  62. popgoblin
    Oct 25, 2015
    0
    After being a loyal customer for 8 years this is the breaking point. $50 for 4 new zones, a raid that isn't released yet, nerfed content rewards in non-expansion areas, and arbitrary grind walls. The core game philosophy was that you could reach endgame however you like, this was first altered with the release of the new player experience forcing new players to grind levels in PvE beforeAfter being a loyal customer for 8 years this is the breaking point. $50 for 4 new zones, a raid that isn't released yet, nerfed content rewards in non-expansion areas, and arbitrary grind walls. The core game philosophy was that you could reach endgame however you like, this was first altered with the release of the new player experience forcing new players to grind levels in PvE before being able to play PvP or WvW, craft, or do other basic things. Now the only way to get the new specializations is either grind them out in the Maguuma or do an even longer grind in WvW. They've changed so much from their old positive values I don't think I can financially support this company anymore, unless the next expansion goes back to the old ways.… Expand
  63. Daraku9
    Oct 25, 2015
    10
    Heart of Thorns adds to GW2 by improving the combat, adding better late game content, improving the story and tons of other things that you can find out more about on GW2's website. At the moment the only problems that people have found is that a couple of the quests are bugged so you might have to restart your client or the instance to fix them. Considering that the bugs can be fixedHeart of Thorns adds to GW2 by improving the combat, adding better late game content, improving the story and tons of other things that you can find out more about on GW2's website. At the moment the only problems that people have found is that a couple of the quests are bugged so you might have to restart your client or the instance to fix them. Considering that the bugs can be fixed and none of the bugged content was in the beta weekend so none of it was thoroughly playtested it isn't much of a problem. Some people claim that the expansion is grindy but I'm honestly not sure what they were expecting as content that can be played over and over again will eventually become grindy and since im 36 hours into the expansion and I haven't even explored all the maps yet it's going to take a long while to reach that point.… Expand
  64. Gamermama
    Oct 26, 2015
    3
    The new WvW - cool with it's new challenges and change of maps. Guild Halls - just long over due (should have been a part of GW2 upon release). The new map - a basic waste of 74.99. I spent the whole weekend (even took a vacation day) to get level one in gliding LOL. This map is impossible for a gamer like me. Will not waste any more of my fun time in there. I'll gather my Hero PointsThe new WvW - cool with it's new challenges and change of maps. Guild Halls - just long over due (should have been a part of GW2 upon release). The new map - a basic waste of 74.99. I spent the whole weekend (even took a vacation day) to get level one in gliding LOL. This map is impossible for a gamer like me. Will not waste any more of my fun time in there. I'll gather my Hero Points other ways for specializations - even though it will take a year. Mostly disappointed it isn't soloable - which is what I prefer in my PvE time. Not the "play as you want" game I paid for.… Expand
  65. MordinAshe
    Oct 26, 2015
    1
    Long time GW2 player here. TL;DR version> Avoid this for now, some poor game design decisions have serious impact right now.

    More elaborate version: GW2 were always about non-grinding and going directly for the fun stuff. This expansion is the antithesis of this, as was already mentioned. Core mechanics are either character-exclusive or require tens of hours of grinding. Who says    Long time GW2 player here. TL;DR version> Avoid this for now, some poor game design decisions have serious impact right now.

    More elaborate version: GW2 were always about non-grinding and going directly for the fun stuff. This expansion is the antithesis of this, as was already mentioned. Core mechanics are either character-exclusive or require tens of hours of grinding. Who says otherwise is lying, the only thing account bound in this expansion are masteries and you need 80+ hours of making a dent here.

    New locations are terrible by design. Too difficult for almost every solo player. That wouldn't be that bad if there were people around, but there aren't. You barely make any money on the map so when you finish it you move forward. As it is now most diehards already completed the map and it is now terribly empty, which means that almost no one can get those champion hero points you need for elite specialization that would make you stronger, which you need to be able to survive on this map. A loop of failed attempts of various kind is sure to follow.

    Another downside is that some game mechanics are still not as they should be. Anet tried to banish the holy trinity (DPS, tank, healer) but only achieved moderate success. DPS has its place, tanks have place too but healing characters are still ridiculously not worth the investment. It mattered little in original game but now when champions kill 30-40 people in a fight you really could use some healing. Sadly healing is as discouraged as ever, effectively shrinking the holy trinity to holy duo (tank, DPS).

    This expansion pack is difficult to assess right now because when there are hundreds of players on the new map it somehow works. When they leave for the rest of eternity it will be an empty, desolate place where no one will go because they won't have a chance at surviving. Diehards won't come back because there are no rewards and all of this will be for nothing.

    Many bad game design choices, and choices that go completely against the original intent of GW2. What made GW2 great is no more true in HoT.
    Also, I hope that Anet didn't spend too much money on paid meta critic reviews because this game moved from 3.8 to 6 in only a few hours. Coincidence?    … Expand
  66. RainbowSix
    Oct 26, 2015
    1
    I was extremely excited for H.O.T., I was looking forward to playing through the new maps using the new elite specs, turns out that they are locked behind a huge mind-numbing grind. In fact, just about everything in H.O.T. is locked behind a grind. Moving around in the new maps are extremely frustrating because of confusing map designs and brutal mobs that just one-shot you. Hero pointsI was extremely excited for H.O.T., I was looking forward to playing through the new maps using the new elite specs, turns out that they are locked behind a huge mind-numbing grind. In fact, just about everything in H.O.T. is locked behind a grind. Moving around in the new maps are extremely frustrating because of confusing map designs and brutal mobs that just one-shot you. Hero points cannot be soloed because most are champs with massive amounts of HP that are on a timer...good luck trying to get a group to help you out, with most zones being empty. Heart of Thorns turned out to be a huge let down, stay away from this poorly designed expac until ANET fixes this disaster.… Expand
  67. zyndr0m
    Oct 26, 2015
    1
    HOWEVER. Everything is gated. Hard. ArenaNet is falling back on their pre-expansion ways of making everything a confusing chore, which is something I was hoping they would NOT do seeing as the expansion is already PAID.
    I can't play my elite spec properly until I've already completed 50-100% of the jungle including all masteries that gate those hero challenges, and some of them absolutely    HOWEVER. Everything is gated. Hard. ArenaNet is falling back on their pre-expansion ways of making everything a confusing chore, which is something I was hoping they would NOT do seeing as the expansion is already PAID.
    I can't play my elite spec properly until I've already completed 50-100% of the jungle including all masteries that gate those hero challenges, and some of them absolutely require groups. To make matters worse, some elite specs require pretty radical stat shifts from the previous meta, which are made more expensive by how ascended gear was changed to require more materials. Time-gated materials. I don't think I'm ever going to use Scrapper in any serious capacity because I simply don't have time to invest in the gear.
    I have to grind mindlessly for masteries. In the case of language masteries I'm grinding to have the opportunity to grind to purchase items, as if this is supposed to make me feel accomplished.    … Expand
  68. 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
  69. 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
  70. 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.
  71. Dallyoop
    Oct 25, 2015
    0
    This expansion has added a massive grind for content that was suppose to be available on release. I wouldn't pick this up until it's corrected. Not only will you be required to grind a massive amount of a elite specialization, but you will have to do it over and over and over again for EVERY character class you want to play. It's insane.
  72. SlipperySnake
    Oct 25, 2015
    0
    So depressing and dull one loses interest in the new 'content' after say 20 mins of trying to figure out which mushroom to jump on to reach the champion you cannot fight. Soulless game that forces players to play the new 'areas'. Problem is no one wants to play there.
  73. azerty247
    Oct 25, 2015
    0
    Unfortunately, the systems in this expansion are tedious enough to make me feel like this is a free-to-play expansion, even though that's not the case.
  74. Psychocadillac
    Oct 25, 2015
    0
    HoT's selling point was added maps, extended content and new specializations. Would not have purchased this product if I knew Anet would turn GW2 into a "grind" oriented game with story gating. The expansion had potential and the developers dropped the ball.
  75. kittening
    Oct 25, 2015
    0
    Anet replaced the grind for gear (common in the mmorpg world) with the grind for masteries.
    Both absolve to the same function, gating content.
    If the endgame was just a cosmetic race in the past, this is no longer true.
    Plus they nerfed most of the old content (dungeons/fractals) in order to sell this smoking cow pie they call expansion. Shame on them. Loved Anet since GW1 launch. This is BS.
  76. mon34480
    Oct 26, 2015
    3
    I shall try to be unbiased as possible in this review:
    Pros:
    - Essentially newer game modes (raids), dungeons, maps, WvW, pvp...etc in an already good game who can complain? - New "classes" - New game mechanics such as gliders which bring new ways for those who enjoy jump puzzles. Cons: - One of the main selling points of the game (druid) which was marketed to bring in new play    I shall try to be unbiased as possible in this review:
    Pros:
    - Essentially newer game modes (raids), dungeons, maps, WvW, pvp...etc in an already good game who can complain?
    - New "classes"
    - New game mechanics such as gliders which bring new ways for those who enjoy jump puzzles.

    Cons:
    - One of the main selling points of the game (druid) which was marketed to bring in new play styles which place emphasis on more organisation, support and team based runs is entirely non-existent. After the beta week end the class was completely guttered making it a long drag which is virtually unplayable which takes out alot of the promised new play styles promised.
    - Everything is now a grind. Everything is time gated which turns what was a fun game into an endless grind.
    - There are many issues with the new classes, notably over power and/or severely over nerfed classes which bring along many issues where classes are deemed "unplayable" or classes which clearly need to be changed.
    - Dev response. There has been many beta weekends which occurred prior to the release of the game for the sole purpose of community feed back and testing. From the implementation of the new expansion it seems that very little of the feedback was actually reviewed which unfortunately resulted in the overnerfing of one of the key selling points of the game.
    - The game currently lacks any end game content and the new expansion does not improve upon this.

    For 50$ your hard earned cash is better off elsewhere for such little addition to the game. If you are a gw2 player you're planning on buying the expansion I would hold off until many of the glaring mechanics are fixed and addressed.
    The expansion isnt bad as it does expand on a great game however for the price you're paying you would expect a much more well rounded game and much more legitimate content.    … Expand
  77. writetyper
    Oct 25, 2015
    4
    Anet bringing the bittersweet changes as usual - amazingly fleshed out and beautiful zones filled with iffy stories and incredibly questionable design decisions.

    The negative: Heart of Thorns completely backflips on the "we don't want people to grind in Guild Wars 2" manifesto which has already had more backflips than Nitro Circus. HoT's PvE is a lot of grind. Grind to complete the    Anet bringing the bittersweet changes as usual - amazingly fleshed out and beautiful zones filled with iffy stories and incredibly questionable design decisions.

    The negative: Heart of Thorns completely backflips on the "we don't want people to grind in Guild Wars 2" manifesto which has already had more backflips than Nitro Circus. HoT's PvE is a lot of grind. Grind to complete the story, grind to get masteries, grind to unlock specs, etc etc etc. It's not really content, it's just pretending to be because grind is easy to make for a developer and stretches out the gameplay. We could all do without it being compulsary to continue in the game I paid full new release game to play.

    Another thing: HoT brings GW2 firmly into the P2W zone. Core game owners and F2P'ers need to buy HoT to keep up with the new elite specs as well as obtaining benefits from masteries like a free revive in fractals and the ability to actually open fractal reward chests, among other things. Nerfs to dungeons (a revenue source for F2P players)? I thought NCSoft split from Nexon? Apparently not...

    As always with GW2 though, the world design team is absolutely on point and the maguuma jungle and it's denizens are beautifully designed and it's nice that open world PvE is actually approaching something akin to difficulty.

    Stronghold is quite bad. More PvE than PvP. Also P2W elements due to the masteries and HoT required to unlock heroes which are pretty plainly stronger than the default.

    Hopefully raids are entertaining. If so, this review might be updated to be higher.    … Expand
  78. syreenorder
    Oct 25, 2015
    1
    As someone who has played GW2 since shortly after it's release, I'm sad to say how disappointed I am with the Heart of Thorns expansion. I always loved this game as it felt so open towards the casual player and made everything about the experience and not some boring grind. With this new expansion, that has all completely changed. Anet advertised the expansion that you would have allAs someone who has played GW2 since shortly after it's release, I'm sad to say how disappointed I am with the Heart of Thorns expansion. I always loved this game as it felt so open towards the casual player and made everything about the experience and not some boring grind. With this new expansion, that has all completely changed. Anet advertised the expansion that you would have all these new skills to use for your character but in truth, you have to do a terribly long grind in order to access them. To me, this expansion has killed the game and completely gone away from what it once was.… Expand
  79. Phoenix4th
    Oct 25, 2015
    1
    GW2 right now is in its grindiest form. However it isn't always about how much you have to grind - farm but how do they force you/shape you to do it.

    The Masteries/Specializations on its current form is a complete failure. The expansion is on its prime and logically it should have many people on the new maps but it doesn't , the 4 new maps are either semi-empty or they have people but    GW2 right now is in its grindiest form. However it isn't always about how much you have to grind - farm but how do they force you/shape you to do it.

    The Masteries/Specializations on its current form is a complete failure. The expansion is on its prime and logically it should have many people on the new maps but it doesn't , the 4 new maps are either semi-empty or they have people but half of the events fail for various reasons

    -Bad scaling
    -Many events at the same time
    -Lack of people
    -No motivation
    -Forced grinding

    You are given a rich map in terms of level design and art but it has so many interactive objects with which... you can't interact. Unless you have the X/Y unknown mastery which you were never told about it nor you will need it elsewhere

    You need a Mastery which takes super long to exp it to something basic such as gather a plant.

    Like , this game was a pioneer in terms of freedom and with HoT they went the Korean way and put artificial barriers between progress and fun.

    To be honest there are many negatives aspects i could mention but i would surpass the 5.000 characters limit and i'm trying to contain myself.

    Then you are on the 3rd day of the expansion and the new map has 3 people on the main chain event you know that something is up. When Guilds on WvWvW which are enemies make deals to KTrain to farm the Specialization (to avoid PvE) you know that something is up.

    When people avoid the new content and just spam CoF P1 only to farm their Kryta Masteries... its just wrong.

    Also for the first time in GW2 there are Hero Points , aspects of the game in open world which you can't solo and they don't scale. You are alone ? Its a champion with 4 adds. You are with 5 people ? Its a champion with similar stats and 4 adds.

    Meanwhile in old GW2 the boss would change rank depending on how many people it has nearby (would go from Veteran to Champion)

    Personally i barely found people to duo some Hero Points , i can imagine that will happen in about a month in which most people will have done those and newcomers won't , and they won't be able to solo them.

    Begging for assistance for such basic stuff ? Going the Korea way.    … Expand
  80. mirta000
    Oct 25, 2015
    3
    The grindyest that Guild Wars 2 has ever been!
    Hey, ever wanted to buy a game, where instead of doing quests, or progressing the storyline, you're stuck either killing enemies repeatedly, or doing the same 3 events over and over and over and over again? Well you're in luck as this is Guild Wars 2 right now!
    They literally reduced the game into a state of a Korean Grinder. You need all    The grindyest that Guild Wars 2 has ever been!
    Hey, ever wanted to buy a game, where instead of doing quests, or progressing the storyline, you're stuck either killing enemies repeatedly, or doing the same 3 events over and over and over and over again? Well you're in luck as this is Guild Wars 2 right now!

    They literally reduced the game into a state of a Korean Grinder. You need all of your masteries unlocked to get elite specialization and to be able to finish the story, events give you 4 000 exp, you need 19 million for the last tier. You can't grind said exp in other zones either as it's tied to the Maguuma jungle.

    TL:DR tiny maps, lots of grind, sucks the enjoynment right out of this one.    … Expand
  81. Oxide07
    Oct 25, 2015
    2
    With a highly polarized approach too additional content via its use of living story, this expansion is an official clear cut world building and game design attempt to reinvigorate the fans and bring back the old and bring in the new.

    In a lot of ways Anets work has payed off, but there is a reason why I cannot advice the game passing the half way barrier. Anet's design philosophy has    With a highly polarized approach too additional content via its use of living story, this expansion is an official clear cut world building and game design attempt to reinvigorate the fans and bring back the old and bring in the new.

    In a lot of ways Anets work has payed off, but there is a reason why I cannot advice the game passing the half way barrier.
    Anet's design philosophy has always catered around systems that help more casual time players enjoy a fulfilling experience. Unfortunately they have progressively turned towards grinding systems that still feature lack luster rewards as the original launch title suffered.

    Lacking in variety of end game stats, you would think Anet would cater on expanding further with armor set variety, especially with the introduction of new specializations. Unfortunately it is only another measly teaser, and once again the strengths of an mmorpg of it's type seems to be restricted on the player.

    It's unnerving the lore butchering GW2 has taken, the new plot is a better attempt yet still suffers from uninspiring events and awful pacing. If the characters didn't win you over the first time, there will be nothing of offer in this installment.

    While GW1 expansions progressively extended the features at each expansion, their timing and content was superb.. yet despite the work put into GW2, it feels lackluster and too late, especially with the current effort required to enjoy the new content.
    And that is where the game has crumbled, it's effort, not an adventure or experience. The direction the franchise has taken appears to be an irredeemable mess. A great patch, but not deserving of the time for people to come back.    … Expand
  82. Grahaka47
    Oct 25, 2015
    10
    awesome expansion,Anet is really daring to take a different approach considering the current generic MMO market.

    awesome maps,tons to explore, secrets and amazing events this expansion is pretty awesome. best expansion i hve played in years in any game. all talks about grind is by casual players who lack skill level and still need all tasty loot and masteries lol. the expansion    awesome expansion,Anet is really daring to take a different approach considering the current generic MMO market.

    awesome maps,tons to explore, secrets and amazing events this expansion is pretty awesome.

    best expansion i hve played in years in any game.

    all talks about grind is by casual players who lack skill level and still need all tasty loot and masteries lol.

    the expansion encourages to group together and not ravel alone and hero pints need minimum 4 man group equipped with loads of CC.

    the jungle maps are riddled with content and all sorts of mechanics, but players whose sole aim is to grind events and get all mastery on day one will never find these and will soon leave and I am happy t see that.

    this expansion is not aimed at players who have experienced linear progression its for explorers, adventures, lore searchers and hard core people not filthy casuals who want instant gratification and then yell for more content and complaint the game lacks end game.    … Expand
  83. Columba
    Oct 26, 2015
    1
    This is a horrible expansion. Ranger pets require 6+ hours sitting and waiting for spawns. The zones are nearly impossible to cross. They wrecked wvw with tons of pve gimmicks. If you hate pve, you are forced to endure hours of buggy pve to compete in pvp or wvw. Horrible expansion.
  84. 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
  85. DavidDean
    Oct 27, 2015
    1
    This expansion does one thing right, great looking environments. Unfortunately it doesn't take long to see the weaknesses and the lack of content locked behind heavy time gates.

    This expansion seems rushed and incomplete and I'd go as far as to say not worth the initial price at all.
  86. Slivyr
    Oct 28, 2015
    6
    Despite my lengthy initial review posting a 1/10 score, I have come back to change it with the recent changes made to the Hero Points required to unlock the elite specializations.

    The story is improved with much better VA, and some of the combat is very interesting, but I still find this release a bit of a mixed bag. I would still argue that the Hero Point costs are still too high at    Despite my lengthy initial review posting a 1/10 score, I have come back to change it with the recent changes made to the Hero Points required to unlock the elite specializations.

    The story is improved with much better VA, and some of the combat is very interesting, but I still find this release a bit of a mixed bag.

    I would still argue that the Hero Point costs are still too high at 240, but it's not completely unbearable. The difficulty of the champions/challenges themselves may need to be toned down when less people are playing the map, as already in less than a week it's tough to find groups to do them with. Masteries are a logical grind, which is fine, but I feel the map is not rewarding enough to keep people playing it, especially with the gold reduction for dungeons; more players will be pushed back into the SW. It's not bad combat, but it's very build-specific and not particularly rewarding.

    The map design is both incredible and terrible at the same time. The art is always beautiful, which is a plus.

    The WvW BL's are relatively poor. They're too large and too gimmicky with the newly-introduced mechanics, and posing an attack on small structures or camps is extremely difficult for small groups or solo players.

    Guild mechanics changes almost destroyed small guilds. Not a fan.

    The lack of new skins is also a bit irritating. The release of so many outfits and Colin's announcements at PAX stating that he wanted to release skins as part of the core game and not the gem store is a bit upsetting in that there really were not many available. Lots of missing features on release is also worth docking points.

    So, it's okay. I feel like this is just a conglomeration of LS content all released at once with little of the content truly scrutinized for perfection. It's decent, but I don't know if I got $60 worth of content.    … Expand
  87. 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
  88. Sir_Appleby
    Oct 25, 2015
    1
    Lots of hype, but everything promised is not there. No content, just gated waypoints/traits really. And locked Fractals behind a paywall. It's a mssive grind in order to reach a level where you get to grind for masteries to grind for more... etc
  89. Xit
    Oct 26, 2015
    0
    Let's start out by saying I've loved GW2 for a very long time. That being said, as other users have mentioned, GW2 has taken an extreme 180 to what it once was. Before it felt rewarding for doing dungeons, fractals, and most PvE content. Whether it was fun or not is up for you to decide. You also used to get to play at your own pace, level and gain income how you want. Now after the mostLet's start out by saying I've loved GW2 for a very long time. That being said, as other users have mentioned, GW2 has taken an extreme 180 to what it once was. Before it felt rewarding for doing dungeons, fractals, and most PvE content. Whether it was fun or not is up for you to decide. You also used to get to play at your own pace, level and gain income how you want. Now after the most recent patch, they made it as grindy as possible and pretty much stripped that freedom away. No reason to do dungeons or fractals anymore. Users are now forced to run PvE events just to be able to unlock specs that we paid good $ for. I don't want to be spoon fed by any means but sticking the specs behind a huge grindwall is just disgusting to me. Not to mention the fact that they removed almost all effective ways to earn gold by nerfing dungeon rewards by 66%. They also promised a "new and improved" fractal system. There is nothing "new or improved" about these fractals. They added exactly 0 new fractals, removed all the rewards from them AND added a huge gold sink for players who want to receive any worthwhile loot. Also, they screwed over F2P players but that a whole different topic entirely. Overall I was disappointed by the lack of new content and the direction the game is going. Don't believe people who say this is not a grind fest. They are most likely people who played GW2 before the expansion and ran world events all day every day. Can that be fun? Yes, to some people. Are they fun when you are forced to do them to progress in the game that you paid money for? I don't think so but some might like it.… Expand
  90. blorfman
    Oct 25, 2015
    1
    Terrible expansion, seriously. ANet has managed to replace "fun" with "grindy and frustrating". Before HoT launched, they promised "challenging content." The biggest challenge is staying logged on long enough to play the game for a few minutes. It's that bad. Buyer beware...
  91. saniok
    Oct 25, 2015
    1
    This isn't a joke guys. Think critically like consumers.

    I used to love this game and was very excited about it on the day of release. Now two days have passed and I feel like I’ve done nothing but waste my time. The new content is unengaging, grindy and gated. Instead of having the players get their elites through fun quests, treasure hunting and story, Arenanet thought grinding    This isn't a joke guys. Think critically like consumers.

    I used to love this game and was very excited about it on the day of release. Now two days have passed and I feel like I’ve done nothing but waste my time. The new content is unengaging, grindy and gated. Instead of having the players get their elites through fun quests, treasure hunting and story, Arenanet thought grinding masteries was a better way

    Things like this make people learn to avoid pre-purcheases. If you keep letting Developers do what they want with poor choises that affect players and still get our money they will keep doing it, the only way that player has to raise voices is with our wallets. Think for the sake of yourself using the product and leaving with a pleased sense of interest.

    One of the people I've met tried to go through support attempting a refund. ArenaNet will tell you that they will disable your account access in general if you do; your entire account will now held behind that $50 paywall.

    I hope you can make the best choices for yourself and make sure the marketers know what YOU want before diving in with wallets and enthusiasm blazing.    … Expand
  92. xcenic
    Oct 25, 2015
    1
    this game is no more for casual player, the grindfest its over 9000. Spended whole weekend and i dont feel like completing anything more than. every step i do i found myself blocked by a need to grind point.
  93. Dougie99
    Oct 25, 2015
    2
    This expac should have been called Grind Wars. It is ridiculously bad. I would heartily recommend people DO NOT waste your money of this unless you wish to grind grind grind until your fingers bleed, become infected and fall off - Note this may actually be preferably to playing the game
  94. 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.
  95. MarkAttica
    Oct 26, 2015
    0
    The expansion is so limited and shallow that it begs the tough questions. What exactly has anet been doing for the past year and a half? And more importantly how could they just take my 50 bucks and deliver nothing in return?

    I feel robbed by a company that promised an expansion with specializations, essentially new versions of the old classes that you could play from day one. As it    The expansion is so limited and shallow that it begs the tough questions. What exactly has anet been doing for the past year and a half? And more importantly how could they just take my 50 bucks and deliver nothing in return?

    I feel robbed by a company that promised an expansion with specializations, essentially new versions of the old classes that you could play from day one. As it turns out they are playable but only after a 60 hour grind through the hellish jumping puzzles anet calls a map. An utter ripoff and a damn shame thats all this expansion is. Do not buy this.    … Expand
  96. stevebmbsqd
    Oct 24, 2015
    1
    Grind, grind, grind... This game is now the antithesis of what Anet had promised. Raids are inbound, content is gated, and there are huge time sinks intentionally inserted into the game play making it an obscene grind.
  97. MrSeagull
    Oct 25, 2015
    2
    They took the idea of 'play your own way' and decided that they didn't want you to do that for this expansion. For example the mastery system they introduced to gate progression through the new maps and story line, requires multiple hours of grinding exclusively in the new maps. The new specializations that were used to hype and promote the expansion... require hours upon hours to unlock,They took the idea of 'play your own way' and decided that they didn't want you to do that for this expansion. For example the mastery system they introduced to gate progression through the new maps and story line, requires multiple hours of grinding exclusively in the new maps. The new specializations that were used to hype and promote the expansion... require hours upon hours to unlock, the real biter though is that the quickest way to unlock these new class functionalities is to complete the entire expansion. At which point you're back to grinding pre-expansion content to 'enjoy' these new class functions.

    Simply put, a flawed, deeply deeply flawed, expansion pack.    … Expand
  98. djz3r08
    Oct 25, 2015
    1
    Worst exp I have ever played since GW1 released. Grinding like some kind of Asian games. Farmed the same event for 5 times to unlock the next step in the main story quest. I cannot play for more than 20 minutes - so boring, and frustrated
  99. sng
    Oct 25, 2015
    0
    same thing as all other reviews. Grindfest. I have to run the same circuit of events over and over to gain masteries to progress the story. Hero points required to progress your elite specialization mostly can't be soloable, you have to be lucky and end up in a map that isn't empty and with people who are willing to help you kill the champion elite mobs.
  100. Savoyah
    Oct 25, 2015
    1
    Such a bad expansion, fun's on a scale of 0.5 to none. Really grindy new content and ArenaNet doesn't listen to player feedback. The new rewards are junk and a really big pile of mess. It’s very frustrating, boring, grindy and gated, money you gotta pay. Also if they call undodgeable and unblockable attacks "challenging content" then I won't be back for a while.

    I should have gone with    Such a bad expansion, fun's on a scale of 0.5 to none. Really grindy new content and ArenaNet doesn't listen to player feedback. The new rewards are junk and a really big pile of mess. It’s very frustrating, boring, grindy and gated, money you gotta pay. Also if they call undodgeable and unblockable attacks "challenging content" then I won't be back for a while.

    I should have gone with my gut and ignored the hype. Since I bought the game 1.5 years ago, now it became free to play. Tells you something about the company after it disregards your investments. Weekend after launch, their staff was on forums silencing negative, most of the times constructively helpful feedback.Be warned, if you order the expansion and apply to support for a refund, your account gets erased.    … 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]
See all critic reviews »