A solid modern MMORPG
Being an enjoyer of RPG’s and MMORPG’s in general I was keen to look into the early access of Throne and Liberty after seeing some gameplay of the game. As a long time player of World of Warcraft and FFXIV Online, I always love to delve into a new MMORPG when one comes along and Throne and Liberty is certainly enjoyable on first impressions.
NCSofts latest offering into the MMO genre published by Amazon Games takes place in the world of Solisium. You are tasked with seeking out out fragments of the Star of Sylaveth, using its power to defeat the evil threat to Solisium known as Kazar the Wraith of Conquest. It’s a generic “chosen one” kind of story so does not bring anything new, if you’re heavily invested in a great story then there’s nothing to see however if you’re into high generic fantasy then Throne and Liberty brings a lot to any new adventurer looking for something different.
The character creation is one aspect where you can spend hours crafting the perfect character. Both male and female options exist and there are plenty of choices to fine tune just about everything. You can even take a photo and upload it and the built in AI will sculpture your face into the game although the results may be somewhat questionable.
Throne and Liberty starts out with a small introductory series of quests that teaches you the basics of the game and like a lot of other MMOs you are instanced without other players with you doing instanced battles with other NPC’s, here you will be able to practice with the many weapons and skill combinations, combat as well as get to grips with the travel mechanics.
Once you finish the introductory questline you will be in the open world of Solisium. You will take more quests where you will learn about skill upgrades, crafting and the various logs which you can claim rewards. The game does a good job of explaining everything early on as MMORPG’s can feel daunting with it’s many different systems, it does not feel like that with Throne and Liberty.
The combat of Throne and Liberty is strong but feels slightly clunkier than some other MMO’s especially World of Warcraft, as there are no classes in Throne and Liberty you will instead wield two weapons which you can switch between whilst using dual skills of these weapons. For example you can be a Crossbow firing magic user by using Crossbow related skills and switching straight to a Fireball cast using your staff. This combination of weapons really adds depth to the combat of Throne and Liberty and whilst combat may feel clunky you certainly can’t deny that the combat is fun.
The game does feature quests of course and purple quests are the story quests in which you will progress the story throughout the world. Blue quests are tied to smaller areas of the map and are really well done in how they are executed. By doing certain tasks or objectives in an area you can unlock more of the Codex, a handy log which guides you in which quests you have yet to complete, some of these are tied by in game events which only happen at certain times, restrictive in some ways but unique in that you have something you can work towards while doing something else, these in game events are always available and even have tied rewards and there are even prizes for the top participating players. You will find lore books scattered around which are incentivised by the rewards they give, the ornate coins allow you to buy new Titles, Dyes, Weapon Upgrade books and so on.
Throne and Liberty is a fantastic MMORPG in that it feels like a new game full of community spirit. Exploration is a key element and Throne and Liberty does this so well, it does not matter where you go in the world you will find something to do, collect or work towards. The world is vast and full of small secrets. The game also has a great emphasis on it’s travel mechanics as your character is able to dash through the world as a Wolf or Glide through the Sky as a bird and also the rough seas as an Otter. The game has no clutter of different mounts, instead you are the Mount and there are different skins that you can pick for each style of traversal.
Of course an important factor of any MMORPG is its Cash Shop and Throne of Liberty certainly does have one it does not feel like it has power which can be bought, while you can buy skill and armour upgrades through the ornate coins you find you can’t buy power straight from the shop, you can get extras buy buying the battle pass but this a feature you need to work towards by doing various tasks in the game which are not instant.
Throne and Liberty is a beautiful 3D world, while the story does not break new ground the game still has fantastic voice acting, fun combat and great controls and the music and sound does a good job of immersing you into it’s world
A PC Review code was provided by Bastion.
