Neverwinter

In a year without high-profile, high-quality MMOs, Neverwinter is the best so far.

It's easy to pick up and play, the cash shop is non-intrusive and the combat is quite dynamic. It's a solid piece of MMO, easily warranting that client download, maybe you even try out your dungeon master chops in the foundry editor?

Online incarnation of Neverwinter is an interesting proposal for fans of MMO and action RPG, that enjoy a fantasy setting. The game is pretty and playable, but I'm not sure if the Foundry is enough to keep players for a long time. Creating your own quests is really cool, but it does not make up for an unbalanced PvP. Let's hope Cryptic Studios considers all of the opinions and solves the problem of expensive micro-transactions, as well as gives max-level players something interesting to do.

It would be an understatement to describe the free-to-play MMORPG market as saturated right now, but Cryptic have tried to boldly move in and change the game, designing Neverwinter with the free model in mind from the outset.

If you’re a Dungeons & Dragons fan you may be willing to push aside the shortcomings. For everyone else it’s a great vacation spot but not the kind of place you’d want to live in.

It may have its flaws, but Neverwinter is highly enjoyable and accessible to veteran, beginner, and casual players alike.

Neverwinter is worth a visit by anyone who is a fan of both MMOs and of action-RPGs. Despite some glaring issues, including the lacklustre PvP and the Zen Market, the game is wildly fun and is a worthwhile detour on one’s journey through the MMO space today. It remains to be seen what Cryptic does with the feedback it has received from the players during the past month, but Neverwinter is one to keep an eye on as time goes by. As the title says, Neverwinter is an Astral Diamond in the Rough.

Neverwinter isn't a hardcore MMORPG, nor is it likely to compel you to cast aside your current favorite MMO to devote your full attention to it. But taken in small doses, it's a generally fun and free romp through one of fantasy's most beloved universes.

Generally it makes a pretty good impression but fails to thrill. Letting players create new adventures is a great feature (I already found some real gems), but the game lacks a proper open world, microtransactions are pricey and the animations look worse than in old World of Warcraft. [CD-Action 09/2013, p.60]

This is yesterday’s MMO by the merits of its own content, but compensates by potentially ushering in a DIY revolution.

Either way it’s worth venturing in – just don’t expect a tale for the ages.

Perhaps Neverwinter has more potential, perhaps it will grow beyond this, but games can only be reviewed on what they are, not what they might become, and for now the many user-forged forays into fantasy are, just like the rest of Neverwinter, mostly about going to a place, bashing heads in and grabbing swag.

Neverwinter's combat is very good, but not quite good enough to carry the thin game built around it.

Neverwinter is a polished, if uninspiring MMO. There's a welcome fluidity to combat, but it doesn't do anything innovative, taking the successes of Star Trek Online and implementing them in a D&D world, as well as borrowing from other post-World of Warcraft action-orientated MMOs. Ultimately, it'll live or die on the lasting success of The Foundry, which promises potentially unlimited creative content that will let you experience stories far beyond the cookie-cutter nature of the ones in the main storyline.

Cryptic uses Star Trek Online success to fuel its Neverwinter, a D&D Free to Play MMO that is as comprehensive as it is nice to play. But its balancing issues make it far to easy! With some corrections in that regard, and some additional Dungeon Master tools in their content creation system, Cryptic could produce one of the most interesting free-to-play games; let's hope they do.