Guild Wars 2 : Secrets of the Obscure

 PC
  • Publisher: NCSOFT
  • Release Date: Aug 22, 2023
User Score
6.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 26 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 26
  3. Negative: 8 out of 26

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  1. lorkano
    Aug 25, 2023
    10
    Although rating expansion just at the start of the cycle is a little unfair, I am so far very happy with it.
    The biggest highlight is the story. New characters feel fresh and well developed through environmental story telling, notes, and events they take part in. Maps are filled with collections to do, high number of various events. We will see how it goes but so far it's better than end    Although rating expansion just at the start of the cycle is a little unfair, I am so far very happy with it.
    The biggest highlight is the story. New characters feel fresh and well developed through environmental story telling, notes, and events they take part in. Maps are filled with collections to do, high number of various events. We will see how it goes but so far it's better than end of dragons in many ways.    … Expand
  2. zelie
    Aug 24, 2023
    10
    With a lot of innovative ideas, Guild Wars 2 proves once again with "Secrets of the Obscure" that it remains a quality MMORPG. Between the captivating story, diverse content, awesome and breathtaking maps, endearing characters and dynamic fights, it is a content which does not stop expanding and which allows very long hours of play. A new atmosphere emerges from this extension and for theWith a lot of innovative ideas, Guild Wars 2 proves once again with "Secrets of the Obscure" that it remains a quality MMORPG. Between the captivating story, diverse content, awesome and breathtaking maps, endearing characters and dynamic fights, it is a content which does not stop expanding and which allows very long hours of play. A new atmosphere emerges from this extension and for the better. The future of Guild Wars 2 is not in question. A masterpiece, once again, no offense to its detractors.… Expand
  3. Wenrave
    Aug 25, 2023
    10
    The maps feel fresh, the theme is new and the most original stuff Anet has done in years.
    If Anet goes through with what they promise this expansion could be a start of a new great era of GW2.
    The Wizard's Vault is great, option to wield elite spec weapons without the elite specs open a lot of new and interesting builds. The new crew of characters we got are much better as well.    The maps feel fresh, the theme is new and the most original stuff Anet has done in years.
    If Anet goes through with what they promise this expansion could be a start of a new great era of GW2.
    The Wizard's Vault is great, option to wield elite spec weapons without the elite specs open a lot of new and interesting builds.
    The new crew of characters we got are much better as well.

    Considering this should be a smaller expansion but with 3 extra patches coming every 3 months and after that we get a new expansion, this sounds great, we will be paying a bit more but for a lot more content and we already know there is a new expansion coming next year too, no more worrying if GW2 is actually in maintenance mode or if it is actually developed, now we know, it is.

    The new direction of story feels much more like GW1 and much more interesting too, no more eternal Whac-A-Mole with dragons - kill death dragon - new dragon wakes up - kill that one - next dragon wakes up.    … Expand
  4. Sqoozie
    Aug 30, 2023
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This new story after the dragon cycle is incredibly polished. Old fans and new fans alike will love stepping into this new expansion with old and new in-game characters, new mechanics for new systems and old gameplay, and a well-needed update to the daily system. Now is the best time to be a Guild Wars 2 fan as I have been for 11+ years.

    Some may say that I am a fanboy, but this experience has reminded me why I fell in love with this game in the first place, and after taking a year off from the game I realize what I was missing in this last year, my love for this wonderful labor of love that ArenaNet have created!    … Expand
  5. fayie
    Sep 5, 2023
    10
    Great addition the the already great game.
    Daily revamp rewards system is rewarding to players who actually play the game.
    While the new Rift system feels lacking and needs to be more fine-tuned, the overall feel of the game is great and would 100% recommend for all mmorpgers who is just sick of having their progress resetted every single update.
  6. fatek
    Sep 5, 2023
    10
    Just perfect. The game has it's flaws but as with all games. But strictly speaking from it's price tag, what other mmorpg is going give you thousands of hours of fun for the same price?
  7. loganven
    Aug 24, 2023
    10
    Guild Wars 2, with the latest expansion, proves that it remains the best MMORPG. Fun and innovative, the game offers more complexities while offering content accessible to all players.

    SOTO is an extension with quality, unique and diverse content. Despite the years, the game always knows how to renew itself. For knowledge of the game as for newcomers, the game is entering in a new    Guild Wars 2, with the latest expansion, proves that it remains the best MMORPG. Fun and innovative, the game offers more complexities while offering content accessible to all players.

    SOTO is an extension with quality, unique and diverse content. Despite the years, the game always knows how to renew itself.

    For knowledge of the game as for newcomers, the game is entering in a new era and still promises long and beautiful years to come, especially with a fifth expansion planned for next year. Promising.    … Expand
  8. BabaVoss
    Aug 24, 2023
    0
    wasted my money... not one thing feels good, interesting or polished. Gw2 feels more like a mobile game with the shop and lacking combat
  9. Torunn
    Aug 25, 2023
    10
    The Expansion very good. Refreshing and kind to new players and casual players. You get all what was announced. New daily system is better and you can do it for rewards or not at all. Only thing you are forced to do is story, if you want to visit new maps, but story is good as always.

    Very good game and very good expansion.
  10. hjikqfbiuqdbiqw
    Aug 24, 2023
    0
    Guild Wars 2 with its latest expansion is the nail in the coffin for its future.
    After more than a decade, this game still offers the same button smashing, not enough skill complexity, a bad UI without supported Addons, and a predatory monetized game model, where content lives from buying it instead of farming it, so the actual farm is for currency as a trade-in, comparable to the lately    Guild Wars 2 with its latest expansion is the nail in the coffin for its future.
    After more than a decade, this game still offers the same button smashing, not enough skill complexity, a bad UI without supported Addons, and a predatory monetized game model, where content lives from buying it instead of farming it, so the actual farm is for currency as a trade-in, comparable to the lately added WoW-Token. Normal QoL things, with a character bound preference, are also part of this system.

    SotO is a mediocre content patch, that is marketed as expansion, to monetize it. Every Raid Patch in WoW adds equal amount of content or even more - enjoyable content. Their discounts of previous, up to 10 year old expansions are almost nonexistent.

    For game connoisseurs like me, this game died already after release and never increased the most important stat: FUN. People who can compare to other MMORPGS will understand. Just, in this game, the community is very toxic and prejudicing biased. It is sad, but at least the game and its remaining community of people, that complain about taxes for their whole life, is on the same level.

    Guild Wars 2 identifies as a Shop with an inshop game and fashion outlet.    … Expand
  11. Arkevorkhat
    Aug 25, 2023
    0
    I would've rated this higher, but the developers took the already buggy and annoying to use "Skyscale" mount and not only made it necessary to complete the expansion, but also somehow even buggier.

    Update 8-25-23: Having finally gotten to episode 6, the expansion loses two points just on the merit of this one mission being so horrifically terrible that it single-handedly ruins every    I would've rated this higher, but the developers took the already buggy and annoying to use "Skyscale" mount and not only made it necessary to complete the expansion, but also somehow even buggier.

    Update 8-25-23: Having finally gotten to episode 6, the expansion loses two points just on the merit of this one mission being so horrifically terrible that it single-handedly ruins every other redeeming quality the xpac has.    … Expand
  12. Nightmare90
    Aug 26, 2023
    10
    It is a solid foundation for bright future of gw2. Expanding of skyscale, new maps and we know there will be more. that feel we never had.
  13. Junanelle
    Aug 24, 2023
    0
    Soto is bland, short and boring... But lets go a little into details.

    First discuss, what I liked about the expansion: Good now that we talked about "all of that", lets talk about negatives: The expansion feels like a trial to how little arenanet has to put out for the same amount of money so players are still buying the expansion. The story was short and the storytelling mediocre.    Soto is bland, short and boring... But lets go a little into details.

    First discuss, what I liked about the expansion:

    Good now that we talked about "all of that", lets talk about negatives: The expansion feels like a trial to how little arenanet has to put out for the same amount of money so players are still buying the expansion. The story was short and the storytelling mediocre. In the past where we got 4-5 zones + living world for our expansions money, we just get two zones (a third on the horizon) this time around. The new masteries feel pointless and unintuitive, the new metas and rifthunting are not rewarding at all so I guess they die out in a week or two. The new daily system could be ok, but being forced to do a set of objectives rather then being able to pick ruins that one as well for me. But hey at least the rewards are balanced: 5 Minutes work on each of my alt accounts and I was able to funnel more then 75 gold from each of them to my main account - nice! The zones are designwise... One is a reuse of old assets, the other bright as if you threw a flashbang through the monitor - so both just a pile of trash as well. The new strikes were so boring I almost fell asleep doing them...

    So to sum it up: Arenatnet made every possible mistake and made the expansion the worst possible experience. My advice: Wait if it ever goes on sale for like 10 bucks - thats really already more then the expansion is worth    … Expand
  14. drizztds
    Aug 24, 2023
    0
    A very short DLC that removed the daily system to lay the groundwork for another monetization system. They removed the 6th rune effect to make it go to the artifact system, the problem is that they didn't give as many artifacts as there were runes, so we effectively have fewer builds. Recycling texture on maps, no new music. No interesting events gathering people on the maps. Story isA very short DLC that removed the daily system to lay the groundwork for another monetization system. They removed the 6th rune effect to make it go to the artifact system, the problem is that they didn't give as many artifacts as there were runes, so we effectively have fewer builds. Recycling texture on maps, no new music. No interesting events gathering people on the maps. Story is boring to the point where you want to sleep. Grind rifts forced even in the story.
    Overall, this DLC is a downgrade to the entire game. Being an on and off player, the new DLC completely took away my desire to log into the game, even though the game has always been on my HDD since the base game.    … Expand
  15. Lynnux
    Aug 26, 2023
    5
    Impression after one day revealing 50% of the new map:
    Anet was very clever with the expansion: for the veteran players there are necessary changes like unlocking all weapons and useful ones like expanding their skyscale.
    Unfortunately, the expansion picks up where the "What Lies Within" release (so far the worst content in my opinion) left off: A bit unfinished with bad/missing    Impression after one day revealing 50% of the new map:
    Anet was very clever with the expansion: for the veteran players there are necessary changes like unlocking all weapons and useful ones like expanding their skyscale.
    Unfortunately, the expansion picks up where the "What Lies Within" release (so far the worst content in my opinion) left off: A bit unfinished with bad/missing dialogues (non-English version) and a boring story.

    Maybe the biggest change is the changed dailies system which will give you a new currency as reward. You can accumulate this currency up to a certain limit. To make it short: It seems that the cheap items you can buy will give you less than the old dailies but the expensive ones will give you more. For sure the rewards are more flexible now.
    Also the chances of failing to fulfill a task and therefore not getting the daily reward can be higher now depending on your choice you want the tasks to be from (PvE, PvP, WvW)

    Pros:
    - didn't encounter any bug so far
    - you will listen to music from all previous expansions on the map, not only one theme
    - more flexible rewards from dailies
    - as a new player you can do this expansion first since the story is not connected to the previous GW2 content
    - Zojja (a key NPC in this expansion) is less toxic so far

    Cons:
    - the rewards of the new dailies can be worth less than the rewards of the old dailies
    -- dialogue of the new story is not good and audio partly missing (non-English version)
    - the story is boring so far but this may be individually per player
    - a communicator is necessary for the story. It's rarely used and otherwise totally useless and takes up one inventory space of each character
    - the map reuses a lot of existing assets which likely adds to the content being boring for GW2 veterans but also reconnects the veteran player a bit to the previous content
    - I could reach all locations on the new map (I already own all mounts) so far which renders some of the new masteries almost useless. I don't have them yet and obviously don't need them but you still have to do them to advance the mastery track, of course. Basically they are a waste of mastery points.
    - Compared to the previous expansions this one offers less for the money.

    On one hand it may be good for players new to Guild Wars 2 to do this expansion first since you unlock the best mount in the game (with way less grinding, I think) and can use all kinds of weapons which will enable you to use a lot of builds published by other players. On the other hand this will somewhat spoil the experience. E.g. the positive effects when unlocking gliding in Heart of Thorns or unlocking your first mount in Path of Fire may be vastly diminished.    … Expand
  16. wetyxx
    Sep 5, 2023
    9
    Amazing story, better delivered that eod. Excellent world building, great level on detail, lots of collections and side quests to do.
    New characters are much more enjoyable that the older crew. Metas are easy, at least the second one is a spectacle. New vault system is a trading post from wow, just better. Rift hunting is ok but I’m really looking forward for convergences. Normal strikes    Amazing story, better delivered that eod. Excellent world building, great level on detail, lots of collections and side quests to do.
    New characters are much more enjoyable that the older crew. Metas are easy, at least the second one is a spectacle. New vault system is a trading post from wow, just better. Rift hunting is ok but I’m really looking forward for convergences. Normal strikes are joke but that is what they are supposed to do. Can’t comment on new weapons or strike cm difficulty now as they are releasing later. I was really worried about the quality of the expansion but I can definitively say that expansion is actually solid and I’m hyped for quarterly releases.    … Expand
  17. thegoldengod69
    Sep 5, 2023
    0
    The latest expansion to Guild Wars 2 has once again made the masses go "why am I still playing this?" and "I heard FFXIV is doing kinda good right now, maybe I should check in on that"

    Guild Wars 2 is a western developed game owned by a korean company & with that comes with the usual array of psychological shenanigans & loot boxes. If this is not something you enjoy, don't bother with    The latest expansion to Guild Wars 2 has once again made the masses go "why am I still playing this?" and "I heard FFXIV is doing kinda good right now, maybe I should check in on that"

    Guild Wars 2 is a western developed game owned by a korean company & with that comes with the usual array of psychological shenanigans & loot boxes. If this is not something you enjoy, don't bother with the rest of the review & just look for another game.

    The expansion itself brought us a 3 hour story which is some of the better writing arenanet has done. It also gave us 1 asset reuse excuse & 1 new map with the latter running very poorly due to an increasingly outdated engine.

    The company has decided to nickel & dime its playerbase & for the current pricetag Secrets of the Obscure does not offer nearly enough content. It may potentially be less bad once the developers have pushed all of their content out one year from the date of me writing this review.

    tl;dr game is on a major decline, only pick up if you enjoy loot boxes & have already tried the other MMOs    … Expand