Neverwinter

Neverwinter is a disappointing MMO. There isn’t a lot of freedom for players to roam and it doesn’t re-imagine itself in the open world genre. For a free-to-play game it offers too little.

Neverwinter is one of the best free-to-play games this year, with its fluid combat, extensive amount of quests, and Foundry tool in which players can create their own adventures. Most importantly, premium points and items don't affect the game for those who choose to adventure on the free route. Role-playing fans owe themselves an extended journey to the world of Neverwinter.

The new MMO transposition of the famous paper role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons is a success, and one of the best examples of free-to-play titles currently available.

Cryptic let us explore again the Forgotten Realms with this free to play MMORPG but not everything works fine.

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]

A sensationally addictive massively multiplayer action RPG, and it's free. What are you waiting for?! [Aug 2013, p.78]

A unique and surprising MMO, for creators and dungeoneers alike. [Sept 2013, p.75]

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

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

A really solid MMO with fast paced combat completely free. Don’t miss the chance to try this great adventure.

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

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?

Even though Neverwinter doesn’t challenge MMO norms in terms of content structure, it delivers retail-quality gameplay, endless expandability with user-generated content, and a fantastic twist on crafting that had me obsessively checking my crafting queue for hours. With a pricetag of free, all you have to lose is your time, and I can imagine about a hundred worse ways to spend your evening than playing Neverwinter.

Neverwinter certainly has room to grow, but the amount of game that's available with no barrier of entry — neither fiscal nor educational — is mind-boggling. It misses the mark somewhat on that Dungeons & Dragons feeling of absolute character ownership, but that doesn't make the game any less refreshing to play. With its fast-paced combat and ubiquitously streamlined design, Neverwinter nails the concept of what an action-MMO should be.

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.

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.

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.

With an excellent combat system and a good work on the source material, Neverwinter could be one of the best MMORPGs out there. Too bad the end-game and the group mechanics tend to be so repetitive.

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.

It's hard to deny there are some issues, but we've really enjoyed it playing with friends. If you like the theme, taking into account that it's free, we think it deserves a try.

Neverwinter is a free-to-play MMORPG, with a very nice combat system and a wonderful user-generated content organizer, The Foundry, that let players shape their own quests. PVP is a bit poor and you have to pay if you want to respec, to have more bags or more space in the bank, but in the end this is one of the best free-to-play MMO in town.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Neverwinter is most certainly a fun game to play, standing proudly amongst the other F2P MMOs as one of the front liners. However, the suspect use of the F2P model along with a linear, unimaginative quest progression and a lack of good end game content make me feel it still has much to grow before I can proclaim it to be the F2P that completely wiped away the stigma they hold in today’s game market.

There’s no denying that Neverwinter is derivative. It’s a game of borrowed parts and tweaked ideas that sometimes seems a little behind the times. But each of the game’s systems, from combat to crafting, is expertly crafted--simultaneously offering depth, fun, and accessibility.

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.

Neverwinter is definitely one of the best Dungeons & Dragons games that we have seen using the MMO archetype. The world is quite descriptive and the developers ensure that it is well linked to Dungeons & Dragons. Although at times, it is a game of grinding, Neverwinter for us is more about exploration and team work which definitely has us addicted.

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.

Fun and engaging and and well worth the time investment.

Neverwinter was purpose built to be free-to-play, but they have also made the pay aspects fairly non-intrusive. They’ve provided an incredible amount of content wrapped around character classes that are a great deal of fun to play.

Neverwinter is an extremely fun adaptation of D&D's 4th Edition, with all of its strengths and weaknesses. Though the game is arduously linear at times, they've made the roller coaster gameplay into a wild ride with beautiful environments, and just the right amount of freedom to explore.

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

Quotation forthcoming.

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.