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. cauterized
    Oct 27, 2015
    8
    I love this expansion. I never had issues with the Mastery and specialisation "grind".. the Masteries are unlocked account-wide anyway, and the specialisation skills are well, specialisations, and rightfully should not be available upon character creation.

    What issues I had with this expansion can be summarised quickly: the non-soloable Hero Points in the new zones, the annoying bugs,    I love this expansion. I never had issues with the Mastery and specialisation "grind".. the Masteries are unlocked account-wide anyway, and the specialisation skills are well, specialisations, and rightfully should not be available upon character creation.

    What issues I had with this expansion can be summarised quickly: the non-soloable Hero Points in the new zones, the annoying bugs, how the new materials cannot be kept in the bank slots, and how confusing it is to navigate around the layers of maps that is the Tangled Depths.

    These issues aside, it has been amazing exploring the new maps. No longer can you idle around in "unsafe" areas, you have to fight smart and understand your class mechanics. Gliding, which had seemed corny when it was first introduced, turned out to be a fun and fantastic exploratory tool - too many times have we fallen to our deaths due to not being able to glide outside of the new maps. There is really no real need to "grind" or to complete maps in a linear manner - take your time to explore, jump around the maps, and enjoy the sights and sounds of the new zone that is the Heart of Magumaa.    … Expand
  2. Piratemot
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    HoT is a great expansion, and of course if you try to rush it, masteries will seem like a grind, but you only ever need to get them once for your account, and you really only need the first levels to continue with the personal story.
  3. xjustin357
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    More than I expected and I had high expectations for this game.

    The story was amazingly amazing. It took you on a roller coaster ride of emotions and the ending fight was perfect.

    The content and map design gives you so much to do. I wish I had more time to write stuff about this but im lazy af so anyways 10/10 must buy if you've played the core guild wars 2 game.
  4. TheBlankBadge
    Oct 27, 2015
    8
    + Very smooth launch technically. No seriously it's been impressive.
    + Elite Specializations generally add a LOT of fresh playstyles to old classes
    + Revenant is awesome new class, which is quite impressive + The new zones and story are greatly improved from the base game, and the base game wasn't that bad. + The Masteries system is largely a success, adding lots of utility to    + Very smooth launch technically. No seriously it's been impressive.
    + Elite Specializations generally add a LOT of fresh playstyles to old classes
    + Revenant is awesome new class, which is quite impressive
    + The new zones and story are greatly improved from the base game, and the base game wasn't that bad.
    + The Masteries system is largely a success, adding lots of utility to exploring vanilla zones at max level and giving the new zones a welcome "Metroidvania" feel.
    + The revamps to the Guild system are excellent
    + Many minor UI and general game improvements
    + The new content encourages group play
    + Guild Halls rock

    * Stronghold is very "meh." Not bad, not great.
    * Scribe is very "meh" as a crafting discipline, but might not be to you.
    * The new WvW maps seem barren so far.

    - Elites can take a fair amount of time to unlock. Not a horrible amount of time, but a fair amount of time.
    - Unlocking Masteries can be a bit too much of a grind.
    - Encouraging group content is great, but not all groups are equal.
    - The new zones can take a heavy toll on your CPU/GPU. I have a solid mid-range i5 and an R9390 and parts of the new zone drop to 15 fps, with middling settings.
    - Still no build lockers. They really really REALLY should implement those.

    -----------------------

    Overall I'm very pleased with this expansion and with moderate play (1-4 hours a day) feel I've gotten both a lot of value and still have a lot of value to still receive. If you're into f2p GW2 enough to have leveled more than 1 character to 80 and still want more to chew on, the expansion is definitely for you.

    ---------------------------------------------------

    People who want to jump in with both feet without trying GW2 f2p should really try f2p first-- GW2 is great but it's a distinct flavor that doesn't appeal to everyone. HoT is definitely for players who already took a big hunk out of the base game and are looking for more.    … Expand
  5. bob_dobalina
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    A really excellent expansion. I've only got through the first zone after 3 days so far and I'm rather happy how the game and new systems have played out. That and because of the new collections, the entire world is now relevant as far as GW2's unique (for a MMO) horizontal progression. 10/10
  6. amavash88
    Oct 30, 2015
    5
    I have always loved GW2. and the old GW games too. However, recently, I am getting sick and tired of their nonstop crashes, "Send error report" crashes, etc.

    I am being told it is my PC. I am running an octa-core PC 2.6GhZ processor, 2x 3GB VRAM Graphics card (GTX 780), and 32GB RAM. I do not understand how I am out of memory and crashing? This has been happening since the release of    I have always loved GW2. and the old GW games too. However, recently, I am getting sick and tired of their nonstop crashes, "Send error report" crashes, etc.

    I am being told it is my PC. I am running an octa-core PC 2.6GhZ processor, 2x 3GB VRAM Graphics card (GTX 780), and 32GB RAM. I do not understand how I am out of memory and crashing?

    This has been happening since the release of the expansion. I have never had any crash since beta of the core game. I am very much disappointed that Arena Net has not worked on this. It should have been worked on during their various stress tests they had. Every patch they release, every fix they release, seems to be making this more and more often, rather than reducing the crashes or removing them completely.

    I hope to see Arena Net address these issues. It is annoying to keep crashing on major events.    … Expand
  7. SacredJefe
    Nov 1, 2015
    7
    Heart of Thorns is a welcome addition to an MMO which has only received minor permanent content updates in its three years since release. There's a lot of new content to discover and beat including four new maps, world events, WvW updates, character specializations and more. While it's been enjoyable to explore all of this new content for the first time, the mechanics by which one mustHeart of Thorns is a welcome addition to an MMO which has only received minor permanent content updates in its three years since release. There's a lot of new content to discover and beat including four new maps, world events, WvW updates, character specializations and more. While it's been enjoyable to explore all of this new content for the first time, the mechanics by which one must get through the expansion (and the new story mode) is a bit convoluted and arbitrarily gated to slow people down from finishing it all.

    For example, you cannot complete the new story missions in HoT without first grinding out a few of the new Masteries, essentially a new way to level certain abilities for players already at the highest level in the game (80). This may seem trivial to those who play the game daily and for hours on length, but it is much more frustrating for gamers who cannot dedicate daily time to Guild Wars 2. I've been slowly enjoying the story since the expansion released but, after getting through the first eight or so missions, I've been stuck from completing the next one until I grind two masteries in the Nuhoch branch. For me, the story was a bigger seller than the new PvE zones so I was disappointed the developers are forcing me to play content I don't particularly enjoy in order to progress with content that I DO enjoy.

    Again, this will bother some people not at all and others much more. Also, it should be understood that a lot of the content in HoT is geared towards players being in groups, sometimes very large ones at that. Solitary and "lone-wolf" type players might find themselves struggling with the new content due to its difficulty and design for group-play rather than solo. I wish ANet had explained this a little better pre-release, but it is what it is. Just know that if you like going about the game mostly on your own, you may find scarce enjoyment in the expansion but plenty of frustration. If you're a group player, you'll like have a good time.    … Expand
  8. MasterMangoose
    Oct 11, 2016
    0
    Used to be the game you could play how you wanted to get the gear you wanted. Now caters to the WoW exodus and has lost it's way by giving in to the elitist who have segregated a formerly good community in to the "leets" and the "git guds". Raids, eSports, and whiners who forgot they were playing an MMO wanting the content to be increasingly more challenging have ruined a good thing.Used to be the game you could play how you wanted to get the gear you wanted. Now caters to the WoW exodus and has lost it's way by giving in to the elitist who have segregated a formerly good community in to the "leets" and the "git guds". Raids, eSports, and whiners who forgot they were playing an MMO wanting the content to be increasingly more challenging have ruined a good thing. The expansion was a joke and instead of fixing the problem They move forward to the promise of the next expansion. The game itself is horribly optimized, only works well on certain CPUs and GPUs, and is constantly bugged. There are serious game breaking bugs that have been left to be suffered through since the games release four years ago.

    More so to the expansion in general is that we were completely lied to as to what we would receive after we paid for it. Much of the new content was hidden behind raids which we were promised wouldn't be required to play the game. However it is if you want the top tier armor which was to come with the expansion. (which hasn't been released even a year after the expansion came out)    … Expand
  9. OldGamer99
    Jul 4, 2016
    5
    GW2 and HoT have a lot going for it- a fairly action-y combat system (though not as quick as more recent games), great visuals. But with HoT, many of the things that made GW2 great were broken. I used to be able to move between PVE, WvW, sPVP, achievement hunting, and the occasional instance as my mood struck.

    With current rewards (which are still nerfed for all but the new content),    GW2 and HoT have a lot going for it- a fairly action-y combat system (though not as quick as more recent games), great visuals. But with HoT, many of the things that made GW2 great were broken. I used to be able to move between PVE, WvW, sPVP, achievement hunting, and the occasional instance as my mood struck.

    With current rewards (which are still nerfed for all but the new content), and so much of the new content requiring masteries and time gates, the game has losts its appeal. Login went from "what seems fun today" to "I'm only really enjoying sPvP but I need a break even from that".

    I'm a 'steady casual' player: spend a lot of time in-game, spend money in my current games of choice, have moments of decent pvp play but not a great pvp-er, am helpful to other players, like exploring and getting new skins and titles as much as anything else.

    HoT fails on most of the things I like. The mini-games are annoying and seemed designed only to distract me from the fact that there is not that much new content. There are almost no new skins, and what there is ugly (like the gear made out of wreckage- interesting concept if it was part of a much larger offering, kind of weak as one of 3-4 new sets).

    Anet also seems to have made the decision to only spend its dev effort on outfits and black lion weapons, rather than the old armor skins that could be mixed and matched. I much prefer the latter but would tolerate the skins if they weren't cash shop only (technically the blacklion skins aren't cash shop but grinding keys is not practical so you need to buy keys for tickets for skins.)

    It's all rather disappointing. The best analogy I can think of is they had a nicely running jeweled mechanical watch and they threw sand in the gears. They can completely rebuild the watch or pick out the grains of sand one by one but either path is slow.

    The old lead dev responsible for the mess has moved on (great job earlier but I think he lost his way with most recent release) and the company says they are trying to fix things. I have fond memories of the game and will keep an eye on it in hopes that they do but my expectations are low.    … Expand
  10. steve-jobs
    Oct 27, 2015
    9
    After playing the game for several days, I find there's really a lot to like, if you already loved Guild Wars 2. There's a new class that's not just a rehash of some worn out trope, and the 3D map environment is hands down the best part of the game. The storyline is good, with better storytelling than the original. Some might feel there's not enough story, maps, or whatever to justifiy theAfter playing the game for several days, I find there's really a lot to like, if you already loved Guild Wars 2. There's a new class that's not just a rehash of some worn out trope, and the 3D map environment is hands down the best part of the game. The storyline is good, with better storytelling than the original. Some might feel there's not enough story, maps, or whatever to justifiy the price tag, but I'll take a good amount of great stuff, over a great amount of good stuff any day.

    I had a real serious issue with their new class specialization system. It was promoted as something that we'd get to dig into early on, but in the end was going to be something we'd need to grind for. For those buyers that considered this their number one feature, and/or had many alts, the grind level was pretty disheartening.

    I have to say that Anet really did listen to what many of us were saying, and they removed 40% of the grind. To be able to finish the game as the new spec has a pleasing storytelling thing to it. It was a good compromise and I'm happy that they did it. Moreover, I'm happy that they found something we could all live with and get on with playing the game.    … Expand
  11. FlyingChicken
    Oct 26, 2015
    8
    The story so far is great, and the new levels are amazing. This game isn't meant to be completed in week or two and it is still a game that you can leave and come back to as you like. Very enjoyable and so far I have been able to do everything on my own without a party. There are some features where you will need a group, such as raids and clearing out the guild hall, but that is what itThe story so far is great, and the new levels are amazing. This game isn't meant to be completed in week or two and it is still a game that you can leave and come back to as you like. Very enjoyable and so far I have been able to do everything on my own without a party. There are some features where you will need a group, such as raids and clearing out the guild hall, but that is what it was made for. I love the mastery system and the fact that they did not unlock the whole mastery system for the Tyria line was a little disappointing at first but then I thought about it and realized that it gives us more to do. If we created new characters the mastery system wouldn't become unlocked until we hit level 80 and it is also account wide and not character bound.… Expand
  12. MHCerberus
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    New specializations take time to acquire which gave me reason to play my alts again. Many small features like the action camera keep pooping up and giving new reasons to nerd out. The new maps are challenging and make you learn to move, dodge, and play smart. It really does not feel like a grind at all and has kept me on my toes. Beautiful areas, great music, and much more dialogueNew specializations take time to acquire which gave me reason to play my alts again. Many small features like the action camera keep pooping up and giving new reasons to nerd out. The new maps are challenging and make you learn to move, dodge, and play smart. It really does not feel like a grind at all and has kept me on my toes. Beautiful areas, great music, and much more dialogue performed quite well. Rating: Will take my damn time/10… Expand
  13. Anakin1000
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    It's good and solid expansion, and it makes foundation for future expansion packs. I don't get all this hate towards HoT. New maps are huge, engaging and most of all fun. Masteries and Elite Spec are supposed to be END-GAME-PROGRESSION, so stop whining they take long to master... it's supposed to work that way. IF you could master everything in 3 days, they would be no-end-game complains.It's good and solid expansion, and it makes foundation for future expansion packs. I don't get all this hate towards HoT. New maps are huge, engaging and most of all fun. Masteries and Elite Spec are supposed to be END-GAME-PROGRESSION, so stop whining they take long to master... it's supposed to work that way. IF you could master everything in 3 days, they would be no-end-game complains. It's solid 8/10 Expac, worth of it's prize! (I raise note to 10 to counter 0/10 haters)… Expand
  14. kyochievo
    Oct 30, 2015
    0
    I'd played 3500 hours of gameplay and here is my short review.
    This expansion killed off gw2 core pve endgame game-play like dungeons,fractals ect , dot believe me ? check lfg system.
    No new dungeons and fractal maps. Want to play the new exp story mode? than you have to level up yours mastery to progress oh wait there diminishing returns. Want to get Hero points ? good luck soloing    I'd played 3500 hours of gameplay and here is my short review.
    This expansion killed off gw2 core pve endgame game-play like dungeons,fractals ect , dot believe me ? check lfg system.
    No new dungeons and fractal maps.
    Want to play the new exp story mode? than you have to level up yours mastery to progress oh wait there
    diminishing returns.
    Want to get Hero points ? good luck soloing champs to earn it after 3 months when less player doing maps.
    Unnecessarily nerfs class like rev , ranger , nercro ect .
    So much more to say about this expansion so just read others reviews.    … Expand
  15. Krombopulos
    Nov 3, 2015
    0
    All these new features that you have UNLOCK in order to play with, even though you already bought the game and some (even a minimum) of them have to be farmed for, in order to be able to use. But let's not be negative Nellies and try to farm instead. Oh wait! All events now take a ridiculous amount of time in order to be completed, requiring you to have no life whatsoever, in order toAll these new features that you have UNLOCK in order to play with, even though you already bought the game and some (even a minimum) of them have to be farmed for, in order to be able to use. But let's not be negative Nellies and try to farm instead. Oh wait! All events now take a ridiculous amount of time in order to be completed, requiring you to have no life whatsoever, in order to complete them. Oh, also 9 out of 10 events require you to have a party and a certain mastery (for which you have to farm in order to get - with a party lets not forget, which makes the whole thing a ridiculous paradox). You can now, no longer enjoy the game casually at your own pace and pleasure, but have to unavoidably rely on at least 2-3 other people in order to enjoy something that you paid 50$ for. I sincerely hope Anet dispatches these horrible gamewrecking additions to a once great game ! Till then I'm finding something else to play !… Expand
  16. derekgrant3
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Flawless launch, great elements and overall a fantastic experience. Many players feel rushed to do the content or to acquire the new masteries and specializations, but the journey getting them has been enjoyable.
  17. tortietude
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    I am hotly engaged in full-blown addiction. These maps are gorgeous and fresh and the vertical space is cleverly designed. Elite specs are incredible and have made combat even more thoughtful and gratifying (and the synergy in a well-oiled group is amazing!). Personally I really enjoy the pacing and the difficulty of the new maps because you get a real sense of a job well done. Story hasI am hotly engaged in full-blown addiction. These maps are gorgeous and fresh and the vertical space is cleverly designed. Elite specs are incredible and have made combat even more thoughtful and gratifying (and the synergy in a well-oiled group is amazing!). Personally I really enjoy the pacing and the difficulty of the new maps because you get a real sense of a job well done. Story has been great so far and the meta events flow very well. I haven't been this enthralled with a game in a while! Thank you Anet!… Expand
  18. Elvariia
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    Awesome expansion. Beautiful maps, very fun new profession, a lot of goals set, challenging maps. Not even close to grindy - people just would like to finish everything in one day. I'm happy that I can finally work towards something that matters, not only skins. Loving it so far!
  19. SRetr
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    The new PvE maps, gliding, the lore, story telling, boss mechanics, map events (GW2 quest system), endgame progression is a whole level above GW2 core game. It's fun, well done and absolutely brilliant. This expansion exceeded my expectations: it's a solid 10.
  20. Wit_Huntybee
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    ANet really delivered. The hype built up for this expansion was, in my opinion, completely worth it. This expansion provides us with a ton of things to do. The maps are large, diverse, and beautiful, the mastery system is a great way to provide players with more progression without too much of a grind, the story was phenomenal, it blows away the base Zhaitan story and ends with satisfyingANet really delivered. The hype built up for this expansion was, in my opinion, completely worth it. This expansion provides us with a ton of things to do. The maps are large, diverse, and beautiful, the mastery system is a great way to provide players with more progression without too much of a grind, the story was phenomenal, it blows away the base Zhaitan story and ends with satisfying boss fight. I can't praise this expansion enough. The new Revenant profession is amazing. The elite specializations add more to each profession. People complain about having to "grind" to get your elite specialization, I don't think that's true at all. Getting the hero points required for it is in no way "hard," it provides a decent challenge yes, but it is fun. It requires you to actually DO something to gain something.

    My favorite part of this expansion is the difficulty. A lot of people will agree with me. Guild Wars 2 can be Casual Wars 2. I know there is harder content in the game, but most of the world is easy. This expansion doesn't make it easy for you. The enemies are harder, smarter, and faster. It requires you to think about what you're doing, position yourself better, dodge better, etc. Now after saying this, the expansion isn't very hard. It is challenging, and requires you to play better, but it is not so hard that it is impossible, and I love every minute of it.

    I came across a few bugs during my time of playing. One almost game breaking, but I was able to get through it with some effort, and I believe it's been fixed now. This expansion has been great in terms of performance and bugs.

    Side note: A lot of people are giving this expansion bad reviews for stupid reasons. They complain that ANet is not "listening to them" or "not doing anything." For one thing, it's been 3 days since expansion release. You can't honestly expect them to be able to do much, besides bug fixing/tweaking, in that short of time. However, they are listening to their community. They are not sitting idle and not listening to players criticism or complaints. Also, some complaints have to deal with it being too "grindy." This is not true. Yes, it may be grindier than the base game, but that base game was BARELY grindy. A lot of players are looking for more hardcore game play and progression. They delivered us just that.    … Expand
  21. jblade91
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    GW2 is the first game that I've played that released an expansion with no level increase but still give that sense of progress. All my original gear and builds work for every part of the game and instead I simply have more options to add new abilities via Mastery Tracks (gaining experience to learn gliding or unlock unique vendors for example) or Elite Specializations (a way to evolve yourGW2 is the first game that I've played that released an expansion with no level increase but still give that sense of progress. All my original gear and builds work for every part of the game and instead I simply have more options to add new abilities via Mastery Tracks (gaining experience to learn gliding or unlock unique vendors for example) or Elite Specializations (a way to evolve your character after level 80 to gain new combat abilities like a Engineer becoming a Scrapper who can wield hammers with drones). Then there are the four massive new maps with unique items and bosses, Raids, Guild Halls, and so much more. Plus, it continues the story that ended on a cliff hanger in season 2 of the Living World with fully voiced characters and amazing cut scenes. Blend that with beautiful music and art and it's hard to find fault. I hope to be evolving all of my characters over the next year as more comes out with the ever expanding system of progression. Unless you're somebody who can't live without immediate satisfaction, Heart of Thorns will blow you away!… Expand
  22. Trancid
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Heart of Thorns is the best expansion I've ever seen. It opens up an already great game to have huge complex maps with many layers, where you can explore by gliding, finding shortcuts and using powerful mobility skills you unlock naturally as you play and enjoy the game.

    It's hard to sum up the positive aspects of the expansion, the visual and audio design are top notch, the story is    Heart of Thorns is the best expansion I've ever seen. It opens up an already great game to have huge complex maps with many layers, where you can explore by gliding, finding shortcuts and using powerful mobility skills you unlock naturally as you play and enjoy the game.

    It's hard to sum up the positive aspects of the expansion, the visual and audio design are top notch, the story is the best for any MMORPG out there, the open world has many small voice acted stories going on everywhere.
    This expansion is a little more challenging than vanilla Guild Wars 2, but you'll have new skills and allies to help you through, join a guild, make friends and go conquer the incredibly designed new maps and new systems that add so much to the game. One bonus note is that GW2 is remarkable for being an MMORPG without obligatory grind, the core game flows as you explore and have fun, while the more hardcore players can go for prestigious skins and cosmetics to stand out.    … Expand
  23. Kuma
    Oct 26, 2015
    6
    The expansion is great for most pve lovers. I prefer WvW in GW2. I actually enjoy the new maps and enjoy some of the pve that the expansion has brought. The expansion added beautiful maps, story line but also added a more time consuming (yes im dropping the grind word) that is unfamiliar with most of GW2 customer base. Not a perfect expansion but not an terrible one either.

    Im a casual    The expansion is great for most pve lovers. I prefer WvW in GW2. I actually enjoy the new maps and enjoy some of the pve that the expansion has brought. The expansion added beautiful maps, story line but also added a more time consuming (yes im dropping the grind word) that is unfamiliar with most of GW2 customer base. Not a perfect expansion but not an terrible one either.

    Im a casual gamer with other priorities and I dont have time to accommodate what the expansion requires.

    On a side note Its weird though that some of the people calling it a perfect game 10/10 are just ripping the people that gave it a low score. (its a different opinion. get over it.)    … Expand
  24. Kuruk89
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    The Expansion truly added challenging content to Guild Wars 2 and the raids have not even been released yet. I'm having a blast with the new class (revenant) and I'm very glad that I have to work for my achievements and my specialization (which I have fully unlocked already) and could not finish everything on day one. The new maps are visually stunning and have interesting events, storiesThe Expansion truly added challenging content to Guild Wars 2 and the raids have not even been released yet. I'm having a blast with the new class (revenant) and I'm very glad that I have to work for my achievements and my specialization (which I have fully unlocked already) and could not finish everything on day one. The new maps are visually stunning and have interesting events, stories and characters. Also: Gliding is just so much fun!… Expand
  25. OutOfPoint
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    This expansion exceeds my expectations. The maps, gliding, story, music and amount of content are fantastic. Auric Basin is my favorite map so far, and as a wvw player mostly, I haven't even touch on that, and pvp as well.

    Mastery points are account bound so for me it isn't a problem, gives me a purpose to keep playing and progress. Hero points which are character based and needed    This expansion exceeds my expectations. The maps, gliding, story, music and amount of content are fantastic. Auric Basin is my favorite map so far, and as a wvw player mostly, I haven't even touch on that, and pvp as well.

    Mastery points are account bound so for me it isn't a problem, gives me a purpose to keep playing and progress.

    Hero points which are character based and needed for unlocking elite specialization seem to be too much, but the latest update has them reducing the total points needed from 400 to 250.

    Overall, I'm having fun with HoT and can't wait to play it after work each day!    … Expand
  26. DruidIsNerfed
    Nov 20, 2015
    0
    Do not bother buying this crap. Constantly nerfing other classes to highlight the one their Devs play. And they are not even in charge of the nerfed class. Extremely unbalanced and biased. If you don't believe me, just read ranger section on their forum and see it yourself. Great game, horrible development.
  27. TaylorSwift113
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Dis Game is Soh gud, ya'll ned two tri eet I hily recomand eet, I meen cUm oN who doN't wnNNA try this Gaane Peeps thaT giVe It a Bad scOre haVent plAyed iT.
  28. Kylonas
    Nov 1, 2015
    10
    New Maps, a lot of new content, gliding, Guild Halls etc. It's huge!
    I finished the story yesterday and now I have still at least 90% new things to explore.
    The Masteries bring in a rewarding and challenging new playstyle.
    And NO it's not grinding when you don't do the same things over an over again. And in HoT you can be in one map for hours not doing one thing twice.
  29. Gerchak
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    This expansion has been absolutely stellar. The storytelling, Elite Specializations, End-game Mastery system, and all around general Quality of Life improvements have revitalized the game for many people. I can only image how good it's going to get with upcoming Raids, continued bi-weekly living world story releases, and all the other staples that Anet have embedded into their online world. 10/10.
  30. chaninxain
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    I feel Anet has to write a guide on how to launch expansions. No downtime, bug fixes are a daily basis, lots of content.

    - The story has received a major improvement from Living Story 1.
    - Challenging content
    - Lots and lots to do
  31. WMustafa
    Oct 28, 2015
    9
    As someone who isn't a 'fan-boy', this is really quite good. Don't get me wrong: there are issues with this expansion, such as level gating. But ANet has been swift to fix this.

    I was initially confused about the pricing. It still is a little high (£35! I bought the base game for £40!) but I've spent about 15 hours on the first map, with only 55% completion. There is plenty of content,    As someone who isn't a 'fan-boy', this is really quite good. Don't get me wrong: there are issues with this expansion, such as level gating. But ANet has been swift to fix this.

    I was initially confused about the pricing. It still is a little high (£35! I bought the base game for £40!) but I've spent about 15 hours on the first map, with only 55% completion. There is plenty of content, and some room for re-playability.

    The content itself is rather vivid. The maps focus on vertical progression, which makes for an interesting change from typical maps. There is a limited glider system that helps you travel across the jungle. There are also now 'raids' and harder world events. This is a good change from the base game, which has comparatively uninteresting events. Put simply, you cannot just use a glass-cannon build in the jungle; the jungle will kill you and you'll have to find a way back, somehow. (There are less waypoints, too: the moral of the story is 'don't get yourself killed'.)

    As to why I've rated it a 9: originally, I was anticipating to drop a 6 or 7. But ANet's feedback towards the live game has actually been stellar, with loads of swift changes to make the game play less infuriating. The content is beautiful (both playing it and seeing it), and it truly echoes the whole 'open world' statement original reviews of Guild Wars 2 were raving about. The 'gating' is now moderate, and it doesn't really impede my game-play.

    Overall, I really am satisfied with my purchase - I hope that will allay some of your concerns.    … Expand
  32. 83November
    Nov 2, 2015
    10
    Solid expansion, And still more to come! Shame about the trolls.... If you are new to GW2 HoT is amazing value! Anet is doing a great job of offering content for free and will hopefully balance in the right places. Remember it is still early days, we don't even have raids yet.
  33. wyrmbud
    Nov 4, 2015
    1
    I am giving Heart of Thorns an unfavorable review for quite a few reasons. The first is that the game is miscalculating your progress in the expansion. Players are documented as randomly losing all progress in the expansion. This makes the game unplayable. The second is that I was promised raid content when I paid for the expansion. There are no raids now, the beta is an utterI am giving Heart of Thorns an unfavorable review for quite a few reasons. The first is that the game is miscalculating your progress in the expansion. Players are documented as randomly losing all progress in the expansion. This makes the game unplayable. The second is that I was promised raid content when I paid for the expansion. There are no raids now, the beta is an utter disaster and there will not be raids any time soon. This sort of outright stupidity on the part of Anet deserves legal action. I paid for a service I was promised and it was absolutely not delivered. WvW is broken and has been forever. Pvp is broken. (I used to very much enjoy both). Anet very clearly pushed way too hard to get this product out by deadline. Total garbage.… Expand
  34. russellrd
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    Having more fun in the expansion than I did even at launch of the original game! Folks are saying that masteries limit replayability, but they are account-wide. So, yeah, it's going to take time to get them the first time around, but if you do it once, you're all set.

    Revenant is such a blast to play; I might even end up playing it more than my Warrior or Mesmer who are over three years    Having more fun in the expansion than I did even at launch of the original game! Folks are saying that masteries limit replayability, but they are account-wide. So, yeah, it's going to take time to get them the first time around, but if you do it once, you're all set.

    Revenant is such a blast to play; I might even end up playing it more than my Warrior or Mesmer who are over three years old.

    Specializations do take a lot more to unlock than many people expected, but maybe they will eventually adjust the requirements (ex.fewer champion HPs). Map population seems to be screwed up right now, which doesn't help with getting the HPs, but I imagine they'll fix that.

    It's adding much-needed challenge to the game. I'm DYING in open world PvE. OFTEN! No more auto-attack and win.

    Overall, loving this! It's not perfect, but I am already getting my money's worth.    … Expand
  35. LilyK
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    This was the smoothest launch EVER. There were some small bugging issues however the live build system kept the game up while those were worked out. The environments are amazing and please oh PLEASE play with your headphones on! There are places where you just do not want to missed the environmental sound. Sure it takes some time to build your new skills... and that just extends the gameThis was the smoothest launch EVER. There were some small bugging issues however the live build system kept the game up while those were worked out. The environments are amazing and please oh PLEASE play with your headphones on! There are places where you just do not want to missed the environmental sound. Sure it takes some time to build your new skills... and that just extends the game for most people. Anyone whining about time to build a character is doing just that... WHINING. If anything, I'd wish for a few more waypoints. I'm getting SO LOST because I wander off chasing something and can't find my way back to the story step! GOOD JOB Anet! LOVE IT.… Expand
  36. IrisAtlast
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    10/10 great expansion to a GREAT game!
    I LOVE my chronomancer and the dragon hunter is super sick too! I cant wait to see where they take this awesome game :)
  37. Kezika
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    Great complex level design, awesome storytelling and cinematics. Quick at listening to their community and making desired changes on a timely basis. I have been having a blast all weekend playing Heart of Thorns content.
  38. Admiral_Napkin
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    While I haven't even gotten close to finishing the story, just the zones, music, and new mechanics have blown me away. The adjusted elite spec prices are perfect, which was my only major complaint so far.
  39. Northstrider
    Nov 5, 2015
    6
    The first addon for Guild Wars 2 is something that I personally dont see as an actual expansion more like a DLC. There are some points that I would like the mentoin that are make me feel like the addon is a half hearted project.

    1. The Environment The Maguuma jungle is a pretty nice view. The first map cleary shows that the pact assault has failed for obvious reasons. The landscape    The first addon for Guild Wars 2 is something that I personally dont see as an actual expansion more like a DLC. There are some points that I would like the mentoin that are make me feel like the addon is a half hearted project.

    1. The Environment
    The Maguuma jungle is a pretty nice view. The first map cleary shows that the pact assault has failed for obvious reasons. The landscape itself is also designed like the rest of the game: if you wouldn't have your world map you probably would never find your way through it. In this case it's just perfect for a jungle. even though you have your world map you still have to experiment arround to find your way to the multiple layered maps accessable by several masteries. The following maps were also pretty much alike you are in a rampant grown jungle covered in vines everywhere.

    2. The Revenant
    One of the more intresting additions is the new class: the Revenant. This class is a great example how to break the typical berserker meta build style because if you are gonna play him like that you will probably learn pretty fast that other classes can do it better so the class was designed to match into other builds like condition damage or being tanky as hell. The abilities are pretty much fun but the effects are for my taste ways over the top compared to the other classes probably for marketing purposes.

    3. The new class specializations
    The new specializations are a refreshing experience to the entire game yet are they confusing as well. The new class icons displayed at the group members portrait doesn't rly explain what the character is playing. Anyways, the new abilities for all classes bring in some new opportunities to play more classes on pure berserker builds such as the Guardian Dragon Hunter spec which is kinda sad because of that the berserker is still being the superior build for beating each kind of content. I don't wanna review this point any further because it's about your own experience how you like to play the game so i leave this point to you.

    4. The mastery system
    Mike O'brien's words about Guild Wars 2 were against the typical MMO grind wall. But the new mastery system did the exact opposite of it. Days after days of pointless event grinding is your daily routine in this addon to unlock new mastery perks to get deeper into the content. For me it feels like a massive artifical stretching feature to hide the lack of overall content in this addon. The Tyria mastery does the same thing except the current existing farming methods to skip this grind to get into the masteries such as the pre-cursor collections within a acceptable time window. Overall I personally wish that the Maguuma mastery should be also avaiable in the vanilla game to make it more fun to grind them. Else I actually don't like that system because it does nothing better than farming in Orr does.

    5. The Pre-Cursor Collections
    In Guild Wars 2 it's called "A legendary journey". For me it plays like "A legendary waste of time for a part of something bigger". I started heading to unlock the collections to finish my first legendary item, the Sunrise. But after I saw the first tier of requirements I was thinking already "Nope. Take my gold, I'm out of this". Participating in tons of events that doesn't even make sense for the theme of the weapons I ways seeing a giant grindwall behind this "journey". I mean I am doing this to obtain a simple exoctic item which is only 1 / 4 of the actual legendary weapon and still you have to deal with it longer than gathering the other 3 components. Again this feature is a massive time killer to stretch the game's lack of content.

    6. The Story
    I don't want to spoiler anything so I leave this point with saying: I've never waited that long for one of the biggest disappointments I've ever had. The entire Story is devided into 16 missions which sometimes are just "WTF". So many artifical emotions and bad designed mechanics are showing that the developers were running out of money or the game was partially made in China's mass production on cost of the quality. The final battle against Mordremoth was kinda fun on it's own but honestly, the designer team failed once again. The explaination of the boss design in the story is a bad excuse to the actual statement "We lack time and money so you have to deal with that."

    As conclusion I cannot say that this game is gonna be the Game of the Year at all. The addons seems to me to be a simple money-grabbing low-budged addon because there are so many unused opportunities in the game: Why not creating actual big trees that can be climbed step by step by unlocking mastery, where are the true dragons? I just saw vines and wyverns but no single dragon. Also the meta event boss in Dragon's Stand is not a dragon, it's a giant ugly worm. Why did you enter the jungle through a small door in the silver wastes? Why didnt you be a part of the assault and had a live experience how your ship was just getting destroyed? Not satisfied.    … Expand
  40. Izzet-Mage
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    While I would say that elements of the grind may prove problematic in the future when zones die down, I have no problem giving this game a 10. Unlike most MMOs which garner a progressive atmosphere by increasing the level cap, Arenanet has provided us with a more fulfilling mastery system. No MMO can exist without some kind of grind element, it's about how well you can hide it. I thinkWhile I would say that elements of the grind may prove problematic in the future when zones die down, I have no problem giving this game a 10. Unlike most MMOs which garner a progressive atmosphere by increasing the level cap, Arenanet has provided us with a more fulfilling mastery system. No MMO can exist without some kind of grind element, it's about how well you can hide it. I think that between the spectacular environments, mini-games, multi-tiered map design, and fantastic meta-events that Arenanet has done a great job.

    I'm sorry that the majority of negative reviews here essentially sum up to "Why do I have to work and partake in the content in order to progress?!?!" but that's how online games work. No one would enjoy this expansion if players could blow through it in the launch weekend having spent 50 dollars on it.

    This is a buy I would recommend to previous players or new people looking to give an MMO a try.    … Expand
  41. larqh
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    This really blew my mind. I wasn't expecting much, but had a blast over the weekend, with the new areas, features and story. Well done, Arena Net!!!
  42. Hepaista
    Nov 11, 2015
    0
    so much hype all year long for this? cant even finish the storyline without grinding for hours I loved gw2, but they lied to us. they said no grind we have never had to grind more...
  43. grenouille
    Oct 27, 2015
    8
    Generally, the expansion feels like more of what I liked about base Guild Wars 2 with some improvements here and there. Exploration is quite enjoyable as the maps are layered with great set-pieces and hidden areas. I thought the difficulty was perfect for offering a challenge to existing players, while still being fair to the point that when I die I always feel it was because I didGenerally, the expansion feels like more of what I liked about base Guild Wars 2 with some improvements here and there. Exploration is quite enjoyable as the maps are layered with great set-pieces and hidden areas. I thought the difficulty was perfect for offering a challenge to existing players, while still being fair to the point that when I die I always feel it was because I did something wrong. The story's narrative arc is much improved over the base game's arc, but the characters new and old are either terribly written or terribly conceived.

    Yet, the main draw for the expansion is the new mastery system that acts as a leveling system to gain new exploration related skills that open the map up as you progress through each area. This was an absolutely genius way of avoiding the mmo trope of making previous progress irrelevant via some sort of traditional level bump in a given expansion (say 80-85). Instead of making existing gear, builds, and weapons imbalanced arenanet preserved the draw of a traditional leveling system with new content rewards that do not throw away the players progress thus far. Plus there's a new class!

    As to the negatives, it is more of the same. The events feel more tied together and centralized but they aren't THAT much different from those from the base game. Dungeons are pretty useless right now since gold drops have been nerfed. And while the new raids haven't been released as of this review, I would much have preferred more easy-to-group-up dungeons over the logistical nightmare of raids (past experience in WoW).

    This is a definite buy for people who enjoyed base GW2, but there are some caveats that might hamper your overall enjoyment of the game. 8/10    … Expand
  44. Segren
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    Taking a little time away from the game to say how much I am enjoying the expansion so far! A-Net has made some challenging changes to the game for all the level 80's out there, and made experience points relevant again. It's a new journey, with lush jungles and a guild hall to build up with my guild mates, and new story lines, and raid challenges, and I can't wait to experience it all!
  45. Chista
    Nov 25, 2015
    9
    The expansion literally brought me back from the de-install. There is a lot of new content that has kept me busy since the expansion launched. There may be fewer maps than i'm used to from different expansions, but each single map is huge, more than making up for it. The maps become easier to traverse as you progress through the new progression system, which for me is a leap up fromThe expansion literally brought me back from the de-install. There is a lot of new content that has kept me busy since the expansion launched. There may be fewer maps than i'm used to from different expansions, but each single map is huge, more than making up for it. The maps become easier to traverse as you progress through the new progression system, which for me is a leap up from simply incrementing LVL_MAX. The story is challenging, sometimes bordering on annoying, but feels hugely rewarding when you manage to complete a part. I'm currently looking forward to raiding, once i finish a healer's set (see below) and working on legendaries. To top it all off, this expansion finally gave me a class I love to play: The revenant.

    Now there are a few issues:
    possibly due to the economy still adjusting, the new profession is unfeasibly expensive. The que times for crafting materials that you first need to get a guild developed enough to even be able to start that que. You cannot level this profession unless you are highly ranked in that guild either. You need access to things stored in the guild, access to the que if you want to be able to even make the items. simply: it's a hot mess.

    Downside for me: I like playing a healer, but the only accepted -not just elitism, i actually accept the reasoning for this- healer set requires recipes that are no longer available, with materials that are so limitedly available that is costs tons of gold to get that set together. Would like to see more healer sets or better accessibility to the materials.

    A minor, tiny, point is that playing as revenant does cause a little bit of a disconnect from your suspension of disbelief: One of the main NPCs also uses the revenant class, and all other characters seem awestruck at this despite you actually using the exact same magic. Can live with it, but still somewhat cringey.

    Of course, we still have the living world to look forward to =)    … Expand
  46. Ikari23
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    Extremely awesome new maps, challenging content, solid story, a change for the actual metagame of only berserker stats, a complete rework for guild system, new forms to obtain legendary items and new ones, and more and more content
  47. PersonalRiot
    Oct 26, 2015
    5
    Heart of Thorns has a lot of good things going for it. The new maps are a joy to transverse, the switching from night to day (and back) is an interesting mechanic, and the music/voice dialogue is a pleasure to hear. It also has a lot of issues. New specialization is fantastic but even the first few abilities will take an excessive amount of time to unlock and even worst, some areHeart of Thorns has a lot of good things going for it. The new maps are a joy to transverse, the switching from night to day (and back) is an interesting mechanic, and the music/voice dialogue is a pleasure to hear. It also has a lot of issues. New specialization is fantastic but even the first few abilities will take an excessive amount of time to unlock and even worst, some are completely gimped until you have a grand master trait which unlock 300+ hero points into them. Many of the objectives on the new maps requires at least a handful of people to do which is a massive turnoff for any solo players which is weird in a game that is capable of scaling almost everything else. The time gating on Masteries isn't too bad but there is a huge lack of forewarning that certain story missions require some masteries to be unlock (almost for no reason at time). Last but not least, the item drops have been ramped up into a massive bag grind. Everything that is rewarded in Heart of Thorn comes in a bag which must be opened, and then it will usually dump out tons of useless green/blue items. This model sucks, and always has.

    Honestly my favorite part of the expansion is the action camera and the core content but it has become increasingly clear that Arenanet is moving more things into to the cash shop, locking things behind paywalls/zerging/time sinks, and is getting far away from the spirit of GW1.    … Expand
  48. azurrei
    Oct 26, 2015
    6
    A mixed bag if I have ever seen one
    Positives:
    Gorgeous new zones, lots of new armor/weapon skins to acquire, some super fun new specializations, pre cursor crafting Negatives: Heavy gating of content right out of the gate forcing XP grind within the first hour or so, empty new zones at launch (not sure what is going on here,) pre cursor crafting requires materials equal to the value    A mixed bag if I have ever seen one
    Positives:
    Gorgeous new zones, lots of new armor/weapon skins to acquire, some super fun new specializations, pre cursor crafting
    Negatives:
    Heavy gating of content right out of the gate forcing XP grind within the first hour or so, empty new zones at launch (not sure what is going on here,) pre cursor crafting requires materials equal to the value of just buying it with gold off the TP + a lot of time investment, elite specializations can not be fully experienced until you have practically exhausted the new content, new zones force grouping due to extreme difficulty which should be optional in the open world not a requirement (there are plenty of activities designed for groups, no need to make the entire game that way- blah blah MMO does not mean grouping 24/7 sorry people.    … Expand
  49. Shogunator
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    While it is true that the expansion has only 4 maps, not including the Guild Halls, They are massive maps and lots in them. Not only are they massive horizontally but vertically as well, so there is a lot of room for gliding and events are everywhere. If I were to say what the map feels like in HoT, I was say they felt a lot like the movie Avatar with huge tall trees, ancient ruins andWhile it is true that the expansion has only 4 maps, not including the Guild Halls, They are massive maps and lots in them. Not only are they massive horizontally but vertically as well, so there is a lot of room for gliding and events are everywhere. If I were to say what the map feels like in HoT, I was say they felt a lot like the movie Avatar with huge tall trees, ancient ruins and the environment to boot. The expansion is worth it just for the atmosphere alone.

    The creatures are some of them most interesting in the game and sometime or many a times vicious, keeping you on your toes as you navigate the maze root bridges, tundra, caves, gigantic trunks of fallen tree to reach your next objective. This expansion is definitely made to challenge.

    While the mastery walls can sometimes block the progression of the story, it is account wide and you only have to grind it once for all your characters and the benefit received from them as worth the grind.

    It is worth it? Yes!    … Expand
  50. Sinclairr
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    I have been playing WoW for about 8 years and the heart of thorns expansion has been far better than anything wow has come out with. The amount of time and effort the Devs have put into this expansion has really been mind blowing. Everything from the open world to all the new systems they have put into the game just made the base game 100x better!

    But just a disclaimer if you are    I have been playing WoW for about 8 years and the heart of thorns expansion has been far better than anything wow has come out with. The amount of time and effort the Devs have put into this expansion has really been mind blowing. Everything from the open world to all the new systems they have put into the game just made the base game 100x better!

    But just a disclaimer if you are actually reading this review, Some people have been trashing the game here on metacritic to try and strong arm the devs. Mainly because they are unhappy that they have to actually work towards getting masteries. I find that it's completely unfair to trash this expansion after everything the devs have done just because you dont want to actually play the game and get everything for free.    … Expand
  51. thexlr8d
    Oct 27, 2015
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I love the challenge to obtaining the elite specializations, and the addition to Fractal of The Mists. Only downfall is the story still has a lot of bugs to squish. The dungeon rewards being heavily nerfed is a downside to the new release as it was a big pillar of PvE content. The new maps complement the greatly improved Story. And the new weapons and armor are all superb! The story was left on a slight cliffhanger, but it paves way for a great new season of Living World!… Expand
  52. dhakor
    Oct 28, 2015
    8
    Awesome expansion, but for WvW gamers it's a pity not have the option to glide in the competitive maps T.T

    The amount of materials needed to upgrade a guild or level a character with the new specialitzations will paralize some time the competitive world, because a lot of us has a job and not so much time to farm or lvl up.
  53. Drakortha
    Oct 27, 2015
    9
    I pre-purchased heart of thorns some months ago and I've been having a great time in the Maguuma jungle. it's tough, engaging, but most of all, it feels like my character is progressing past the level 80 point and more. I still need to run through more story missions and explore more than the 2 maps I have so far, but so far the experience has been nothing short of spectacular. Thank youI pre-purchased heart of thorns some months ago and I've been having a great time in the Maguuma jungle. it's tough, engaging, but most of all, it feels like my character is progressing past the level 80 point and more. I still need to run through more story missions and explore more than the 2 maps I have so far, but so far the experience has been nothing short of spectacular. Thank you for the experience!… Expand
  54. Vatras
    Oct 28, 2015
    9
    HoT is one of the best things that happened to GW2. ArenaNet added so much new content to the game most people don't even know what to begin with.
    ANet added masteries to the game, which contrary to what all those casuals say, are easy to unlock. You will get all of the masteries you need to progress your story just through playing the game normally. If you want to do the entirety of your    HoT is one of the best things that happened to GW2. ArenaNet added so much new content to the game most people don't even know what to begin with.
    ANet added masteries to the game, which contrary to what all those casuals say, are easy to unlock. You will get all of the masteries you need to progress your story just through playing the game normally. If you want to do the entirety of your story instantly you will have to grind apporximatly 2 hours though, which in all honesty, is nothing compared to other MMOs.

    With the most recent patch ANet also reduced the amount of Hero Points needed to unlock your elite specialisation (a new traitline that unlock various new features for your class when selected). The current amount is 250 hero points, if you did world completion you'll already have 200 of those meaning you'll only have to do 5 of the 40 hero challenges in the new maps which takes about 20 minutes.

    Sadly the game does crash quite frequently due to a currently unfixed memory leak in the new maps. Until that issue is fixed only 9/10.    … Expand
  55. ballywaug
    Oct 28, 2015
    9
    Excellent and very challenging new content. Beautiful environments and the new revenant class is extremely fun to play. The expansion has really re-ignited my interest after a long break from the game.
  56. Lkvtnl
    Oct 28, 2015
    9
    I have been playing on and off since release, rest assured Arena Net cares about us. They fixed the things people complained about and it just goes to show that t hey do in fact care.
  57. someidiot
    Oct 28, 2015
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a great expansion for many reasons. I will only touch on one of them here as that alone can fill the minimum of 150 characters.

    Great developers:

    Anet has proved to me, over the last three years, that they are the best at making an enjoyable MMO. Their pricing strategy and the way they seek funds is great in the sense that people like me, who just want to play a game, gets to do just that without the fear of an axe above our heads in the name "monthly subscription"

    Anet has also proved that they listen. and they listen well. No the half assed listening you get from other developers, nor the generic responses from nexon. They put great effort into listening. And this is clearly reflected in both in and outside the game.

    Look at the current expansion and you will see it.

    Many fans complained that the difficulty scale was too high, Anet conceded and lowered the scale. This i agree, it made it manageable for many of us.

    But yet more people complained. And once again Anet provides, by making it even easier. Much to my bewilderment. (SERIOUSLY YOU CAN ALWAYS COME BACK WHEN YOU GET BETTER)

    *ahem* but yes, a great developer.

    I am taking one point away, cause seriously speaking you guys aint perfect and neither am i so who the hell am i to say you get a 10?

    But other then that. go anet go.    … Expand
  58. Syco_
    Oct 28, 2015
    9
    This has been one the smoothest expansion launches in history. Apart from a minute few bugs with story and map completion it has been flawless. A major point of contest on the official forums and reddit was how much grind the expansion bring into the game, To these people please remember everything we were saying before the launch "Please give me more to do" well we finally have somethingThis has been one the smoothest expansion launches in history. Apart from a minute few bugs with story and map completion it has been flawless. A major point of contest on the official forums and reddit was how much grind the expansion bring into the game, To these people please remember everything we were saying before the launch "Please give me more to do" well we finally have something meaningful to put our time towards through Masteries and Elite Specializations. The story was amazing, The maps are vast and gorgeous, The music and sound design takes my breath away. In whole this is a beautiful expansion and I am looking forward to the next one.… Expand
  59. gugliam
    Nov 2, 2015
    10
    Anet did it again, wonderfull place to play in a beautifull environment.
    The best mmo get one of the best expansion you may ever desire.
    The revenant is simple a perfect class for who want to play diffferent role.
    Great value for a mmo without a subscription.
  60. Gamergonemad2
    Nov 2, 2015
    10
    Exceeded my expectations!! Launch was near perfect and exploring the new content is fun, engaging and a challenge!! I even like the mastery system although at first I did find it all overwhelming. Once I got the hang of it even the verticality is a hoot! Even dying can be fun when your glider ends before you reach land. LOL. I especially like knowing there are places, events etc that IExceeded my expectations!! Launch was near perfect and exploring the new content is fun, engaging and a challenge!! I even like the mastery system although at first I did find it all overwhelming. Once I got the hang of it even the verticality is a hoot! Even dying can be fun when your glider ends before you reach land. LOL. I especially like knowing there are places, events etc that I can return to once I have the specific mastery. .Guess I like knowing there is a future instead of done and forgotten. Looking forward to years of game-play!… Expand
  61. Shootsey
    Oct 29, 2015
    1
    Disregard the good ratings on the website. It's just fans who want to increase the population of their game for the sake of making it Slightly when it comes to doing events. Save your money and don't waste your time on this grindy and hellish expansion. Play it free.
  62. wahush
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Love the Expansion so far, I love exploring the Jungle, gliding and jumping around on mushrooms to find every nook and crany is amazing, its revitalized my inner explorer lol. specializations are new thing to gw2 in the expansions, each class gets a kind of "sub class" that changes there roll mechanically "dps to support/healer" also have the final class in the game, Revenant! itsLove the Expansion so far, I love exploring the Jungle, gliding and jumping around on mushrooms to find every nook and crany is amazing, its revitalized my inner explorer lol. specializations are new thing to gw2 in the expansions, each class gets a kind of "sub class" that changes there roll mechanically "dps to support/healer" also have the final class in the game, Revenant! its kind of a odd ball of a class to explain, , its a heavy armor class like a warrior but uses the powers of past characters/enemys to help them in battle, fun to play but good luck explaining it to another person xD , new mastery system is amazing tho, its like a rewarding side thing to do that actually has an inpact on how your playstyle go's in future eg, instead of gliding i can go pact, which lets me work on getting revive people fast over flying longer, little differences like that make you feel like your choices you take first are impactful for the future until you master everything

    Story = 10 / 10 so far the story is amazing, thought it would be short but its fricken huge, been grinding it for 2 days now and just keeps going, seems bigger then base game imo

    Audio = 7/10 i like it, similair to jeremy sauls style which i like, so far nothing overly amazing but decent

    Gameplay = 10/10 this is were i gotta give it to anet, its beautiful, combat is alot harder now, mobs arnt mindless anymore, bigger enemys all have break bars so you cant just run up and burst them down as before, or they will stomp your butt :), mastery changes like gliding and mushroom jumping are fun, overall completely satisfied atm with game play

    Replayability = 7/10 still playing through it, mastery's are account bound so you dont have to redo them on all alts, which is awesome but not sure how replayable it will be on alts, as an mmo its amazing i can see endless replayablility, story seems to have couple choices in it so we might be able to get couple replays out of it on alts or by starting story over again

    over all, im loving it, played alot of mmos over the years and this has the feeling of back when i was still a big wow player and a new expansion came out, sept now i get that awesome feeling but subscription free lol    … Expand
  63. gw2fanatic
    Oct 28, 2015
    0
    New Class elites are too powerful and ROFL stomps anyone playing non-elites in pvp and guess what there's no way to unlock elites for your class unless you spend $50+. GW2 pvp now becomes pay2win. Ranger class elite is an exception that doesn't synchronize with the base ranger at all. Many made their ranger to dps not to be a freaking cleric.

    The new WvW maps are empty on Blackgate, a    New Class elites are too powerful and ROFL stomps anyone playing non-elites in pvp and guess what there's no way to unlock elites for your class unless you spend $50+. GW2 pvp now becomes pay2win. Ranger class elite is an exception that doesn't synchronize with the base ranger at all. Many made their ranger to dps not to be a freaking cleric.

    The new WvW maps are empty on Blackgate, a T1 server and one of the most populated, even Eternal battleground is empty. Seems like most of the players lost faith in Anet and stopped wvwing, are in pve, or doing Halloween activities. Can't blame players losing faith in Anet's ability to fix problems as they arise when things like spawn trebs and catapults were never fixed on the old maps despite years of complaints, thieves gaining stealth from walls was fixed after 2 years then quickly reverted, and projectile attacks getting obstructed on flat ground continues to this day.

    People with small guilds lost all their influence and weren't compensated for the lost even if they spent real life money on gems then convert to gold to earn them. Personal guilds are now useless; to earn influence you need 3+ members and all the things you struggled to earn and built are gone.

    The story is heavily gated behind the mastery system and hero points which is slow and painful to earn. If you want to speed through the story to see how it goes what happens you can't because Anet took away the ability to choose how you want to play even if you paid them over $50. Now you have to progress how they want you to....slow, painful and step by step to artificially stretch out the expansion content.

    Overall this was one of the worst MMO expansion I've played. I pre-ordered GW2 based on their manifestos. I didn't know they were going to abandon it after GW2 launched. I'm done giving my money to NCSoft/Anet. No more GW2 expansion for me.    … Expand
  64. Mank
    Oct 28, 2015
    9
    Stable servers, no game breaking bugs but a few client crashes for me. Maps are fantastic, beautiful, chock full of content with lot's of variety and things to do. Mastery system really changes how you play, gliding is very fun, and there's a couple of little things gated behind masteries that give a good sense of progression when you come back to them. Solid experience overall.
  65. SwiftZero
    Oct 27, 2015
    8
    The expansion adds a deceptively large amount of content to the game. I've heard many people refer to the content as a grind, but the most accurate description I've seen is that it brings the spirit of Metroidvania to the MMO. Having to move on from the first zone before you can fully complete it might be disheartening to some, but the game has much to offer in each of the subsequentThe expansion adds a deceptively large amount of content to the game. I've heard many people refer to the content as a grind, but the most accurate description I've seen is that it brings the spirit of Metroidvania to the MMO. Having to move on from the first zone before you can fully complete it might be disheartening to some, but the game has much to offer in each of the subsequent zones. As you explore those you will earn plenty of experience to rank up the required Mastery lines to then return and conquer the earlier challenges.

    The developers did a wonderful job on the creation of this expansion. It was worth every penny. I am thoroughly enjoying the scale and variety of the new maps. The new gliding mechanics and mastery system make traversing the waypoint-sparse zones much more fun and encourage you to find new routes of travel.

    The audio and story are simply splendid. I could probably spend hours just gliding around the maps admiring the view and the new tunes.

    All that said, it was not a perfect launch. Some issues with bugs hindered the progress of the player story or game mechanics, and some even had ripples into old content. Most notably was a mishap with the megaserver system that caused many maps to have a sparse amount of players in them over the launch weekend. Responses from the developers have been positive and it is clear they are monitoring the playerbase for feedback.

    That said, I have been playing MMO games for many years and have never seen the launch of an expansion go this smoothly from a technical standpoint. Arenanet truly does a wonderful job of hosting an MMO that has virtually zero downtime and even introduces patches and hotfixes in a very unobtrusive way.

    The expansion might not be for some people, but as a 3-year veteran of Guild Wars 2, I am thoroughly enjoying the time spent in the game. I look forward to exploring the nooks and crannies in all of the new content.    … Expand
  66. DaHunt
    Oct 28, 2015
    10
    An amazing expansion that adds a ton of features even for free to play players. There are not enough hours in a day to do everything I want to do, and I see myself playing this for months as the repeatable content is so rich and rewarding. Definitely delivers its money's worth even compared to games of old.
  67. lecramstar
    Oct 28, 2015
    10
    Guild Wars 2 Heart of Thorns features:
    - An awesome new profession which feels like a throwback to Guild Wars 1 - The Revenant
    - 4 Huge explorable maps
    - Unique mastering which gives the player solid endgame content
    - Guild Halls
    - And much more

    Must buy if you like the base game.
  68. Sk1ppeR
    Oct 28, 2015
    10
    Arena Net are stemming professionalism with this expansion and personally I think they just gave an example to the whole industry. In times when every MMO launch, expansion or not, is faced with mile long queues, lags, crashes and disconnects, Arena Net had one of the smoothest launches in gaming history with basically zero downtime. As for the expansion itself, it iterates over everythingArena Net are stemming professionalism with this expansion and personally I think they just gave an example to the whole industry. In times when every MMO launch, expansion or not, is faced with mile long queues, lags, crashes and disconnects, Arena Net had one of the smoothest launches in gaming history with basically zero downtime. As for the expansion itself, it iterates over everything the community has been asking for in the past 3 years. Meaningful progression, new content, new specializations which bring much needed new skills. action camera, guild halls, hard content (the jungle is pretty vile place to be alone at, especially at night *pun intended*) raids and that's just on the PvE side. On the pvp front we got new pvp leagues and a new World vs World borderline map. And seriously, that's not all. There's tons more content, nooks and crannies about this expansion. The expansion is extremely polished. I already have majority of mastery points and have completed the story, nothing appeared to be broken. A lot of hard work went into this expansion, it's not just dust in the face. It's not cash grab. It is by all means an expansion to the game. In conclusion, I'm a person who values their, sadly limited, free time. But I do not regret spending every free second of it in the Heart of Thorns expansion. And in the this is what matters to most people. It's fun, it's relaxing and there's always something to do. Arena Net deserves a massive tap on the back for this expansion.… Expand
  69. TNFox
    Nov 11, 2015
    10
    The greatest tragedy of these 'reviews' is the abuse of the word grind. If you are actually here for information that'll tip you to buy or abstain, go elsewhere. We got subreddits openly admitting in their submissions that they are part of a troll/hate group to affect the result of the metacritic scale just because.

    If you have not played gw2, try it out. It's free. If you're returning    The greatest tragedy of these 'reviews' is the abuse of the word grind. If you are actually here for information that'll tip you to buy or abstain, go elsewhere. We got subreddits openly admitting in their submissions that they are part of a troll/hate group to affect the result of the metacritic scale just because.

    If you have not played gw2, try it out. It's free. If you're returning and wondering if you should invest in the expac, get info from players in the game. Its one of the most helpful and mature communities so ask their experiences and if their values align with yours. Base your decision on who says what, not just what is being said.    … Expand
  70. Tatsu-Kan
    Nov 17, 2015
    10
    First, I would like to point that, yes, there are bugs, but all of them are going to be fixed.
    This expansion add a new way to explore content. I'm honestly in love with the news maps.
    And the gliding :] My only wish is that one day I can use the glider everywhere. This expansion does not add new levels to the character progression, which is perfect, it does not make our old stuff    First, I would like to point that, yes, there are bugs, but all of them are going to be fixed.
    This expansion add a new way to explore content. I'm honestly in love with the news maps.
    And the gliding :]
    My only wish is that one day I can use the glider everywhere.

    This expansion does not add new levels to the character progression, which is perfect, it does not make our old stuff obsolete. Arenanet found the perfect way, the new progression is based on masteries which is an account wide progression of ALL your characters.
    The first mastery you unlock is the glider, once done, you can use it on all your characters, even if they're not lvl 80. Ok, it does not matter, since the map where you can use the glider are for lvl 80 characters.

    Story : 10/10
    Open World : 10/10
    Music : 20/10 (They are fabulous)
    Fractals Dungeons : 8/10 (Need to be polished and the reward reevaluted)
    Raids : 9/10 (This is the hardest content of the game, added today)
    WvW : 8/10 (The new map is available for everyone, it's _too_ huge & beautiful)

    And the story continue, I'm expecting a pursue of the living story for a third season. I'm really impatient to see what they're planning for us :)    … Expand
  71. Big
    Oct 27, 2015
    4
    Wanted to play story mode first like I did with vanilla campaign. Sadly I'm forced to grind for tens of hours to unlock some **** mastery I want even use later on. I'm done 50 hours plus in it and I'm bored as hell. Do not spend 50 $ on it it is not worth it !
  72. andchat
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Breath-taking work! Surely it has things that need to be tuned but the new zone design is amazing and the mob animations are mind blowing. Excellent class specializations and tons of new content to explore.
  73. nice_aim
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    Im a veteran of the game with over 11k ap and been playing since day one. The xpac definitely makes the game more enjoyable with lots of goals to work towards. It extends the game in a way where you don't lose any of the work you put in during the last few years. Endgame is here and it's not grindy, everything can be earned by just playing the game.

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

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

    Finally, don't trust all these overly negative reviews. While the game is not perfect, it is a masterpiece to me and easily deserves 10/10.    … Expand
  74. PatagoniaTheMan
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    I really enjoy the expansion, since it offers lots of new content and challenges. I think the most difficult thing to overcome in an expansion for an MMO, is to create content that can't be beaten in one or two weeks. Most classic expansions I know (from the ones for Dark age of Camelot to the ones for World of Warcraft or Everquest) just raised the lvl-caps, so that it necessarily tookI really enjoy the expansion, since it offers lots of new content and challenges. I think the most difficult thing to overcome in an expansion for an MMO, is to create content that can't be beaten in one or two weeks. Most classic expansions I know (from the ones for Dark age of Camelot to the ones for World of Warcraft or Everquest) just raised the lvl-caps, so that it necessarily took loads of time for people to get all new equipment and reach the new maximum level.
    Since Arenanet wanted to choose another path (which I am really grateful for), they had to think of a new way to make the expansion enjoyable for a rather long period of time. And in my opinion, that worked fabulously.

    The new PVE maps have interesting event chains with high replay-value due to map-wide meta-event contributions and the class specializations take some time fo finish and are therefore more valuable when achieved. There are really loads of changes, which I may not all account here, but among my favourites are the redesigned Fractals, the new map rewards and of course the new masteries.

    For me the expansion is a must-buy, which adds a lot of new goals and achievements to keep me motivated for quite a while to come.    … Expand
  75. BaconyInfusion
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    So far I've loved Heart of Thorns. The maps are beautifully designed, and a very complex. You can spend a lot of time just exploring each corner of each maps. The story so far is fantastic, its very emotional and i felt caught by the story! It makes me want to read the Guild Wars books again! The mastery progression is a very wise way to progress characters past level 80. They give you aSo far I've loved Heart of Thorns. The maps are beautifully designed, and a very complex. You can spend a lot of time just exploring each corner of each maps. The story so far is fantastic, its very emotional and i felt caught by the story! It makes me want to read the Guild Wars books again! The mastery progression is a very wise way to progress characters past level 80. They give you a good feeling of progress and it really feels like you are accomplishing something, when you level up. Not is this system very good to give you the progression-feel, it also doesn't leave a wasteland of content behind.

    So far I'm having a blast in this expansion! If you like core Guild Wars 2 you wil love Heart of Thorns!
    Buy, buy, buy!    … Expand
  76. Splatypus
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    10/10 in almost everything. Well worth the money, it provides hours of gameplay. The story is awesome, and the new zones have amazing replay value. New classes and specs are amazingly balanced and the new PvP maps and gamemodes are the most fun I've ever had in an MMO PvP.
  77. DeviousDVS
    Oct 27, 2015
    8
    Every aspect of the game has been refreshed, rebuilt, or updated in the Heart of Thorns expansion, without diminishing the already great content in Guild Wars 2. While I was nowhere near reaching any sort of saturation point with this game, the expansion has given me a lot to think about and provided some new goals to aim for.

    Probably the standout change for me is the increase in    Every aspect of the game has been refreshed, rebuilt, or updated in the Heart of Thorns expansion, without diminishing the already great content in Guild Wars 2. While I was nowhere near reaching any sort of saturation point with this game, the expansion has given me a lot to think about and provided some new goals to aim for.

    Probably the standout change for me is the increase in viable build variety. So many fun and interesting ways to surprise your opponents, or creative ways in which to deal with mobs. Really good fun.    … Expand
  78. blinddemon
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    The Expansion is amazing %_% so many things to do and explore, then have to unlock masteries which unlock more things to do in areas you have already been to. beautiful lands, astonishing music definitely 10/10 no questions asked.
  79. StacyX
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    Heart of Thorns expansion for Guild Wars 2 has brought in some much needed changes to the game and added a great way to progress your characters - the Mastery System. That coupled with the nine new specializations, maps, new class, guild halls, etc is coming together to be a wonderful expansion to a great game.

    ArenaNet has thrown out the idea that an expansion means raising the level    Heart of Thorns expansion for Guild Wars 2 has brought in some much needed changes to the game and added a great way to progress your characters - the Mastery System. That coupled with the nine new specializations, maps, new class, guild halls, etc is coming together to be a wonderful expansion to a great game.

    ArenaNet has thrown out the idea that an expansion means raising the level cap that traditional MMOs offer that keep people chasing after ever higher levels and ever more gear grind. The gear grind is finally over! Once you achieve the highest teir gear in the game that's it, they will never raise the gear level or level cap - which means all your hard work is never invalidated by future expansions and updates.

    The new maps are beautiful, the Mastery System is a fun way to give your character meaningful progression without creating power creep and without creating an environment in which new people first coming into the game are left at a huge disadvantage. The new maps and events are a lot of fun, and everything has been given a level of detail and beauty that has to be seen to believed.    … Expand
  80. Sephard
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    The smoothest launch of an expansion I've seen so far.
    ArenaNet have stepped up their story telling game a LOT, with the HoT story being superior to the old Personal Story. The new maps are beautiful and intricate, filled with little nooks and crannies you just HAVE to see. Elite Specialisations are balanced and SO much fun to play with - the new class /Revenant/ has become a well    The smoothest launch of an expansion I've seen so far.
    ArenaNet have stepped up their story telling game a LOT, with the HoT story being superior to the old Personal Story. The new maps are beautiful and intricate, filled with little nooks and crannies you just HAVE to see. Elite Specialisations are balanced and SO much fun to play with - the new class /Revenant/ has become a well polished and (in a good way) complicated part of the game. Can't give them anything less than a 10!    … Expand
  81. PanicGiraffe
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    It is as a vanilla WoW vet that I say, this is the single greatest expansion I have ever experienced the launch of. The complexity of the new areas, the improvements made to the game's mechanics and the compelling story make this expansion truly peerless.
  82. Belmagus2
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    Heart of Thorns is a 10/10, A+, extra-credit affair of an expansion pack, adding a tonne of extra features, quality of life improvements and explorable locations. This is enough to sell me on the expansion, and truly proclaims Guild Wars 2 as king of MMORPGS in this new era of immersive combat, mutable worldstate and sideways progression.

    What makes this a perfect expansion is the    Heart of Thorns is a 10/10, A+, extra-credit affair of an expansion pack, adding a tonne of extra features, quality of life improvements and explorable locations. This is enough to sell me on the expansion, and truly proclaims Guild Wars 2 as king of MMORPGS in this new era of immersive combat, mutable worldstate and sideways progression.

    What makes this a perfect expansion is the story. By god, the story. The game pushes out pathos and catharsis by the truckload, story beats flowing naturally (and in stark contrast to the first barely-passable attempt at a personal story...) giving a real sense of power, structure and growth in your character's emotions, personality and RESPONSIBILITY.

    If ArenaNet can keep the same design philosophies as before, keep nurturing a MMORPG environment where you're never unhappy to see another player and show responsiveness to the playerbase's wishes (See recent changes regarding Elite Specializations.) then GW2 will only ever be superseded by GW3.    … Expand
  83. Sinreth
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    This expansion only contains improvements to the base game, and is well worth the cost. Expansions should always improve and expand on the base game, and this one does that. If you didn't like Guild Wars 2, you might still not like this expansion.
  84. KaciFox
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    I have been a player for a couple years and have gained so many achievements to the point that I was finding it harder to find something to do. There was still content that I could do and content that I wanted to do but it was no doubt that to get achievements that I wanted, it was getting more of a grind then it was initially. With the release of HoT, I have found new things to lookI have been a player for a couple years and have gained so many achievements to the point that I was finding it harder to find something to do. There was still content that I could do and content that I wanted to do but it was no doubt that to get achievements that I wanted, it was getting more of a grind then it was initially. With the release of HoT, I have found new things to look forward to. Now with new content I have been finding to get to what I want is less of a grind and I can relax and also have more to explore. I find things more challenging but achievable. I have had the most fun in HoT then I have had when I started out on the game.… Expand
  85. humor4fun
    Oct 28, 2015
    8
    HoT is expansive. lots to do, lots to learn, lots to grind, lots to collect. and its all rated at level 85-90 from what I’ve judged. I found the Elementalist Elite spec is pretty amazing. I can spread might and auras around in seconds and nuke for 15-20k dmg while spec’d for Divinity (all stats) gear, which is absurd. Even that isn’t enough to easily take down some mobs though. That’s whyHoT is expansive. lots to do, lots to learn, lots to grind, lots to collect. and its all rated at level 85-90 from what I’ve judged. I found the Elementalist Elite spec is pretty amazing. I can spread might and auras around in seconds and nuke for 15-20k dmg while spec’d for Divinity (all stats) gear, which is absurd. Even that isn’t enough to easily take down some mobs though. That’s why I’d estimate most content at 85-90 in HoT, even though the max is still 80. The extra weapon that Eles got (warhorn) is super lame in terms of skills, but the shouts are fantastic to play with: Lets me switch-hit my staff build between quick/slow cast skills.

    The game has been plagued with a slightly larger than expected amount of game breaking (event blocks, client crashes, npc bugs) bugs but Anet has been hard at work around the clock to fix these as quickly as they can. Initially, Elite Specs cost 400 points which essentially meant that unless your character had stockpiled hundreds of skill points years ago before they were removed, you would need to complete most if not all of the HoT content in order to utilize the full Elite Specialization. This seemed outrageous to me, but didn't stop me from working on it. I was happy to see the cost reduced to 265 points.

    I think that releasing the Mad King events (Halloween) at the same time as the WvW and HoT content was a completely terrible decision. I would have separated them because the WvW changes BEG for gliders to be used, but they are not enabled, so essentially the WvW community has just been disrupted by all this new PvE content to play in HoT. Meanwhile the HoT content is disrupted by the Halloween content which is limited time only stuff. You should have done WvW for 1-2 weeks, then drop Halloween, then at least a week later drop the HoT content. No I didn't forget the PvP Stronghold update, but that seems tightly coupled with HoT so I am bunching those together. I don't think PvP draws people out of Halloween, WvW and PvE content.

    The HoT story is intriguing and presents an epic journey through an incredibly dangerous jungle. Gliding is fantastic and the Mastery system is.... immense. I love the idea of needing to "train" a passive skill track. That said, I'm not convinced there is enough HoT content to make it not feel like a grind to unlock the Mastery skills. I've found myself staying in a single map for hours on end repeating the same sets of events over and over to grind for XP to build my Mastery track simply so that I can progress my story to unlock the next mission (some of which require tier 1 mastery skills from multiple tracks, which equates to millions of XP.) The T1 mastery skills cost roughly 500-600kXP which would have meant 2-3 levels (in the previous 80+ terminology).

    The scenery in the jungle is incredible, Anet did a fantastic job with the art. Also, the Guild Hall claiming mission (my guild, Attuned[att], did the Precipice one). The map is huge and required a ton of coordination. Lots of fun there. I'm looking forward to getting in deeper with my guild and playing the new maps.

    The mindset of map-meta events works quite well, though map activity coordination has not proven to be workable really. I'm sure that will come with time.    … Expand
  86. gamer99
    Oct 30, 2015
    10
    This is a really great game for people who want to have fun in mmorpg and an expansion that tries to lvl up the efforts the first game were put in. The Guild halls are great, once again people are logging on and talking in guild chat and donating goods to the guild. The maps are great with fun events such as the funny Lord Faren event. The story is alright, nice twits or one of the racesThis is a really great game for people who want to have fun in mmorpg and an expansion that tries to lvl up the efforts the first game were put in. The Guild halls are great, once again people are logging on and talking in guild chat and donating goods to the guild. The maps are great with fun events such as the funny Lord Faren event. The story is alright, nice twits or one of the races and the hero challenges are well challenging which themselves fell like a mini game that sucks you in for hours.… Expand
  87. BeardRex
    Oct 28, 2015
    9
    Probably THE smoothest launch of an online game I've ever played. Heart of Thorns is the culmination of all the experiments with content Arenanet has been doing over the last 3 years.

    The world events are the most engaging yet. And the story is wonderful. The level design, which focuses on vertical and exploration makes every zone 3 times as big as it looks on the map. The mastery    Probably THE smoothest launch of an online game I've ever played. Heart of Thorns is the culmination of all the experiments with content Arenanet has been doing over the last 3 years.

    The world events are the most engaging yet. And the story is wonderful.

    The level design, which focuses on vertical and exploration makes every zone 3 times as big as it looks on the map.

    The mastery system accomplishes its task very well. As you venture through the jungle you really feel like you're mastering it. Traversing it becomes easier and easier as you learn the secrets of the jungle.

    There's a real sense of progression in Heart of Thorns that I haven't felt since launch.    … Expand
  88. Excelliate
    Oct 27, 2015
    9
    Amazing expansion. Beautiful map design, improved story, amazing soundtrack. Adds much needed endgame progression, and adds in-depth systems for guilds and groups. The expansion brings challenging and engaging content to a game that was already innovative and fun.
  89. jamesday5
    Oct 31, 2015
    10
    My god - this expansion is addictive. It took the innovative vent system (an answer to boring questions) and made it 100x more epic. Crazy events with lots of other people. The music is STUNNING, the visuals and environment design, breathtaking - i'm hooked.
  90. PlasmaPunch
    Oct 31, 2015
    9
    Heart of Thorns is easily one of the best expansions I've played for an MMO, perhaps the best. Even as a pretty tough critic it's hard to find problems in Guild Wars 2's first expansion. The joy of: gliding around, completing fun events, exploring a wonderfully crafted world or being apart of an organized meta event. I've not even experienced all of the content available to me yet, there'sHeart of Thorns is easily one of the best expansions I've played for an MMO, perhaps the best. Even as a pretty tough critic it's hard to find problems in Guild Wars 2's first expansion. The joy of: gliding around, completing fun events, exploring a wonderfully crafted world or being apart of an organized meta event. I've not even experienced all of the content available to me yet, there's simply too much to have experienced it so early after release. I've thoroughly enjoyed the story this time around as well, a lot less poorly crafted dialogue and what felt like generic questing for tidbits of story this time around, instead the story focuses more on exploring the jungle for the first time, looking for your potentially dead friends in the wilderness as the army you built up from the first game slowly catches up behind you. Fractals, a revamped high-level dungeon alternative was also made much better this expansion, for those looking for that experience - it's very difficult, requires some solid play and is overall very fun.

    That said on release this expansion was unstable, the only bad part about the expansion in my opinion. The game is crashing after about 2-3 hours of gameplay, which obviously is a problem when the setup time for a meta event usually crosses over into that time, and you lose all of your progress. I've wasted at least 8-10 hours of gameplay due to this and it's a huge influence on my rating.

    Though the crashing has been frustrating, and it's confirmed to be a widespread problem - I'd still suggest this expansion to anybody who's played the original Guild Wars 2 and enjoyed it, and anyone that's been interested into Guild Wars 2 should try out the F2P and think about buying this later. It's been a mostly great experience so far, and honestly the best MMO experience I've had.    … Expand
  91. Kheadley
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    great expansion.
    Story is great, new maps are large and fun. plus lot to do.

    new PvP and WvW are spot on.

    The Elite professions are epic. And i'm ok with the cost to unlock them- but i playing ranger, necro, and revenant. So i will admit some people will be pissed at the cost if u on a thief who can't get his dodges or a engi who can't get his drones.
  92. LovecraftianIde
    Oct 26, 2015
    9
    HoT gives veteran players what they've been asking for for a long time. Challenging content, an interesting world to explore. Tons of bugs, but that's to be expected with any brand new game. It's fantastic, fun, and the only downside is the number of new armor skins they've released. I was hoping for more, but we'll see what the rest of the Living Story has to offer!
  93. percyhg
    Oct 27, 2015
    1
    Don't bother. If you're into grindy Korean MMOs this is for you, otherwise steer clear. To make up for lack of content severe grind is now in place to slow you down from completing what little there is. The hardest content in the game Fractals Level 100 were finished day 1. To stop this happening to the whole expansion time gates are everywhere. Even the main story is behind a grind!Don't bother. If you're into grindy Korean MMOs this is for you, otherwise steer clear. To make up for lack of content severe grind is now in place to slow you down from completing what little there is. The hardest content in the game Fractals Level 100 were finished day 1. To stop this happening to the whole expansion time gates are everywhere. Even the main story is behind a grind!

    Masteries are a mixed bag between extremely overpowered and extremely underwhelming verging on awful thanks to nerfs from the devs to classes they don't play. All you need to know is that they love their Ele's and Mesmers. If you must play this pick that class and you'll be forever happy!

    Level design isn't enough to save this game and I don't look set to log in again any time soon, unless something happens to stop the tediousness of this expansion. So little to offer for it's price, big misstep here.    … Expand
  94. JulianSullivan
    Oct 26, 2015
    10
    The new specializations removed a lot of the stealth meta from PvP, which made it a lot more fun. The story of the living world is a lot more dramatic and Game of Throne-y. The open world is a legitimate challenge instead of everything dying in a single hit. The missions are tuned a bit low right now, but that might change. Everything about this game is absolutely beautiful, even at theThe new specializations removed a lot of the stealth meta from PvP, which made it a lot more fun. The story of the living world is a lot more dramatic and Game of Throne-y. The open world is a legitimate challenge instead of everything dying in a single hit. The missions are tuned a bit low right now, but that might change. Everything about this game is absolutely beautiful, even at the lowest settings (which I have to use because I run it on a potato). There's a tiny bit of grind to get mastery points, but you really don't need that many and the "grind" is doing distinctive missions and quests in the open world. That's hardly a grind. It's slightly annoying that you have to move away from the story, but honestly it's making me take it in small chunks so the game is lasting a bit longer.… Expand
  95. Kheft
    Oct 26, 2015
    8
    Pros: -New Zones are beautiful and well designed.
    -Story is a vast improvement on the vanilla personal story.
    -Masteries add a nice measurable goal in place of increasing the level cap. -The elite specialization adds a needed variety to the classes(From what I've seen) -The new zones have more challenging content. Cons: -Masteries feel like they could become too grindy especially for    Pros: -New Zones are beautiful and well designed.
    -Story is a vast improvement on the vanilla personal story.
    -Masteries add a nice measurable goal in place of increasing the level cap.
    -The elite specialization adds a needed variety to the classes(From what I've seen)
    -The new zones have more challenging content.
    Cons: -Masteries feel like they could become too grindy especially for people who will get the expansion later and might find zones are less populated.
    -The new zones may have too much content that requires a bigger group, blocking out people who play alone or find their zone is empty.
    - The elite spec is a grind to max out. It forces you to map complete more, which is harder in the new zones.

    From what I've played so far the expansion is great. If you aren't having problems getting into populated zones you won't have to much trouble playing most of the content. The masteries can get a bit grindy but I haven't been blocked much trying to progress in the story, and I feel they are supposed to be unlocked over time, it's only be 4 days since release I don't expect to have everything unlocked. I'll probably update this when I've played more of the expansion.    … Expand
  96. AlwaysLost
    Oct 27, 2015
    9
    GW2: HoT has been everything I could have ever asked for an expansion and it was released in one of the smoothest launches I've had the privilege of being apart of. HoT delivers on the harder content that a good majority of veteran players had been asking for. Teamwork is essential for making it through the jungle in one piece and grouping is encouraged for those hard to get Hero points.GW2: HoT has been everything I could have ever asked for an expansion and it was released in one of the smoothest launches I've had the privilege of being apart of. HoT delivers on the harder content that a good majority of veteran players had been asking for. Teamwork is essential for making it through the jungle in one piece and grouping is encouraged for those hard to get Hero points.

    The maps are truly stunning and have a depth I've not seen in a game in quite a while and the music is top notch, bringing an ambience that fits the jungle motif and lets players truly immerse themselves in the adventure. The story itself has improved greatly and well worth diving into! As you progress the story you will naturally gain mastery points to help unlock those much needed masteries.

    The elite specs, while I find 400 pts to be a bit of a grind, are paced reasonably well and are not to terrible to get. A good chunk of Hero points can be done soloable, there are a fair amount that do require a large group (looking at you frogs!). A majority of the negative criticism I find around the Elite specs relates more to not having the unlocked right away. Not sure if people just assumed you'd get them as soon as you logged in, or if it is just an entitlement thing where everyone wants everything on a silver platter without having to put in any work. I personally don't mind having to do the work. To me it adds a sense of accomplishment to the task at hand and a feel of real progression, which was ANets stated goal. And lets be honest, most vets had enough skill points to unlock more than half the spec.

    WvW got a wicked new map as well that will shake up the meta and hopefully get people out there fighting for their servers honor! PvP gained a new mode called Stronghold, Fractals has been revamped into the new dungeons, Guilds got the biggest overhaul ever and guild halls are now totally a thing! Even the base classes got a much needed balance pass.

    I can't wait to put many more hours into unlocking all of the jungle's secrets and hope others are as excited. New players or returning vets, I encourage you to check out reddit and the GW2 forums for a more accurate representation of all the goodies HoT has brought to the world of Tyria.    … Expand
  97. Paulaberry
    Oct 28, 2015
    8
    Heart of Thorns had a very smooth launch, which is remarkable for an MMO. I experienced minor lag for about 30 minutes after launch, and then no problems whatsoever. The new maps are amazing, guild halls are FANTASTIC (and bring group-utility to the game that will greatly affect people who like guild-based MMOing) and the new profession mechanics are very fun to play with.

    This    Heart of Thorns had a very smooth launch, which is remarkable for an MMO. I experienced minor lag for about 30 minutes after launch, and then no problems whatsoever. The new maps are amazing, guild halls are FANTASTIC (and bring group-utility to the game that will greatly affect people who like guild-based MMOing) and the new profession mechanics are very fun to play with.

    This expansion adds some useful general features to the entire game. The excellent new action camera change has done a lot to make combat feel faster and more immersive. I would highly recommend it! There are so many little features that have been added that I really can’t list them here, but let me just say a huge thank you for the achievement hints. People who play will know what I mean. It’s awesome.

    I haven’t had time to check out PvP yet. There are new maps but I don’t know anything about them. What I do know is that if you like PvE and you’re level 80 and wondering what to do with yourself, Heart of Thorns answers that question in a meaningful way.

    Heart of Thorns introduces a much-needed progression system to Guild Wars 2. The fact that Arenanet chose to take on the challenge of working on an alternative progression system not based on the tried and tested method of raising level cap, is commendable. The new systems are looking to introduce region-based progression that will not invalidate all previous content, achievements and gear. Now, this was a risky and ambitious move and their new systems aren’t perfect. They need tuning and polishing. The developers have already heard the initial complaints from players and made several adjustments (only 5 days in). I am positive that they will continue to improve the system until it is fluent and works to its fullest.

    Some complaints I have is that I don’t feel the fractal system is rewarding enough, and that there have been issues with the megaserver. Arenanet has confirmed that the megaserver’s been unnecessarily putting players in empty instances, which is a major problem due to the importance of group-play in the meta-events on the Heart of Thorns maps. I also believe that events in Maguuma should award more experience points upon completion. There have been bugs, but I haven’t encountered many. I have also heard from a few players who have been experiencing crashes. This is the exception though and I myself haven’t had a single crash since launch. These issues don’t worry me because I’m confident that the above problems will be addressed to the best of the developers’ abilities. In the meantime, members of the community are doing their best to provide useful feedback that helps the developers to see which areas they need to focus on.

    Heart of Thorns is important because it lays the foundation for future content, and that foundation is looking pretty solid. Guild Wars 2’s potential has now been massively increased and I can’t wait to see where it all goes. Meanwhile I have more than enough new content between bouncing and gliding along the new maps discovering everything, adventures, and earning new skills to last me for quite a while. I give Heart of Thorns a solid 8/10 for execution. If the problems are fixed and the systems are tweaked, I’d even call it a 9. But not quite yet! ;)    … Expand
  98. badtzor
    Oct 30, 2015
    10
    ArenaNet's expansion to Guild Wars 2 is amazing! They've listened to the community and gave us what we had asked for. Progress in the expansion is smooth, you're not actually making your character "stronger" but making them more capable. The masteries are account wide so you only need to invest time into them once. Almost one week into the expansion and I haven't even completed the firstArenaNet's expansion to Guild Wars 2 is amazing! They've listened to the community and gave us what we had asked for. Progress in the expansion is smooth, you're not actually making your character "stronger" but making them more capable. The masteries are account wide so you only need to invest time into them once. Almost one week into the expansion and I haven't even completed the first zone yet! I've invested $50 into the original Guild Wars 2 and got over 8000+ hours of gameplay. What a deal!

    The expansion is worth well the cost of about $60. I wouldn't pay over $150 for it though, even if it did mean getting a lot of hours out of the game.    … Expand
  99. Wensy
    Oct 28, 2015
    10
    Best & smoothest release of ex. pack I have ever experienced.
    Beautiful maps and music.
    Maps mechanisms are more interesting and fun than in older maps.
    So many nice details to find every day.
  100. djbrooker99
    Oct 28, 2015
    8
    This game is truly innovative in the worlds of MMOs. New mechanics interesting bosses and TONS of new stuff to explore along with a moving story make this well worth the buy.
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

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