izigame.me

Alright, it is time. While this may be long winded, I'm here with intent of truly trying to help you decide. I have EA experience, as do most of the "negative" reviews; but hear me out. And if you stick around until the end; I leave a little nugget that I just discovered in regards to earning gear in Act IV!
20.2% of players beat Malika,, and only 13.1% of players defeated Big Bertha; these are little "mini" bosses literally found easily by just wondering around, 10.2%, of players customized every slot in their inventory, and roughly an average of 45% of players actually did..... well, anything. And I"m not kidding, only 42% of players even beat Act III! Literally most of my achievements clearly show that nobody's really even given this game a chance in it's current state and that's truly mind boggling to me.
TLDR, if you buy this game. PLAY it. EXPLORE it. KILL EVERYTHING. And if you like these kind of games; I guarantee you're gonna dig it.
I bought this game during Alpha EA; and this was like 2016? 2017? Idk it's been a minute brah. At the time, I was grinding hundreds of hours in Grim Dawn; and I was extremely critical of Wolcen. In fact, I put maybe 6 hours in and decided there was no way it was going to be worth my time. Beautiful, but not worthy my time.
Here I am a few years later. And I actually gave this game a shot.
I sat down and started a new game. Things had obviously changed. There was an entirely new introduction to the game, and it's not all "hand holdy" about it. It's story driven, and straight forward. I actually completed the introoduction and before you know it i'd put a good few hours into it. I ended that first session after all these years honestly quite surprised. I called it a night and wondered if I'd pick it up again.
Well.... I did. And here I am a few days wasted later (and 31.5 hours in) and I have just completed Chapter 3. I can honestly say I enjoyed this more than I enjoyed Grim Dawn, Diablo, PoE, and Titan Quest.
Now you might be thinking "Dude, there's 4 chapters, you aint done yet?" and you'd be correct. There is a 4th chapter, the "End Game" chapter. But after doing a quick read up on chapter 4, I realized it's going to take me probably just as long if not twice as long to complete chapter 4 as it did to complete chapters 1-3. This game has longevity to it; and Chapter 4 brings an ARMY of new game mechanics, gear, and goodies that completely freshen up the experience.
I cannot stress enough how critical of this game I was. Just like everyone else. But I can honestly say that looking up as I write this review to see "Mixed" reviews across the board; I'm a bit dumb founded tbh.
The game plays like a dream (I'll share spec's below, but just take my word for it, my machine is a monster). I lock FPS at 100 and it never waivers. The fact that I can just change weapons and respec my build on the fly for a 100% different game experience is incredibly appealing to me.
Offline play: The ONLY experience I care about. The fact I can play this OFFLINE is a HUUUUUUUUUUGE deal (eat donkey sh&(^ Blizzard).
No Microtransactions? WHAT!? Holy crap, you've got to be kidding me. That ALONE deserves a positive review; but I'll continue.
The skill tree system is similar to any other, like Grim Dawn, PoE, ect. ect. Those who say "the skill tree doesn't seem to do anything" clearly don't comprehend basic mathematics. Moving on.
The VISUALS, are just spot on man. The animations are gorgeous, the environment and grography are varied and vibrant. The mob types are detailed and interesting. The armors are cool (I might add not ALL of them make you look like a grim reaper; some of them legit make you feel like you're actually a good guy BONUS points).
I should note, this entire review is based on a SINGLE playthrough, with a single playstyle. And I'm already eager to try out another character, but I'm too caught op in getting Chapter IV finished to worry about a new character at this time.
The story was solid. And I skipped like 50% of it (look, I'm just trying to kill stuff right now mkay); but I still managed, spite skipping a ton of dialogue; to get attached to the main trio. I can't imagine how mind blown i'd of been if I'd of invested into every line of dialogue. It is well written, and captivating.
Look; I get the hate. EA was like any other; and the dev team got hammered like all the others. The project seemed to have gone sour, and yada yada blah blah. But THIS product, this one right here; it's worth your money if you enjoy these kinds of games.
It's made it to my favorites list. And the only reason it doesn't sit above Grim Dawn is because Steam organizes alphabetically. No joke, I will remember this game; and I look forward to many more hours of saving the world.
I know nothing of multiplayer. Why? Idk, because socializing's over rated ;).
If you find this review helpful, rate it up so others can see. This game really does deserve more genuine reviews. Rather than living in the shadow of its former self forced by those who would rather live in the past. It is what it is. I'd buy again hands down. (I'll be buying a copy for my wife, my son, and my father in law here soon...... seriously). Buy it. Have fun.
SPECS:
Arch Linux
Ryzen 9 5950x
RTX 4090 24GB
128GB RAM
M.2 Drives.
EDIT: Update on Act IV.... I don't think I've ever hung on the edge of feeling "overwhelmed" in so long. Jeeeeeeeeeesus Act IV hits the spot man. I just completed a mission that took me 4 different attempts and revisions in spec to accomplish and it was the most grafitying experience I've had in an ARPG. It wasn't just the action; it was the way the mission played out. And this is just ONE of these missions. There have been so many good ones that really start making you feel hopeless; and then just in that last stretch of "I'ma just give up, I can't handle this today" you manage to figure something out that gets you that last little stretch to the finish line.
The satisfaction of dealing with literal hordes of enemies and finally overcoming; oh yeah it's good.
Here's a tip I found to help you with gear. If you get through a really hard mission (I've only done this once); before returning to town; BACKTRACK the entire mission. Not only will you find a more laid back experience "cleaning up" (and you'll need the time to breath; trust me) but I encountered like 10 of the golden beetles in doing so; and earned me several Legendary's. Don't be in a rush to return to town after completing a mission! You will be rewarded for your pateince!
Hands down; best experiences I've had in a very, very long time when it comes to an ARPG.
EDIT: I'm now nearly 65 hours deep. My eldest child and my wife now own the game, and I have had a chance to experience multiplayer. It has been a good experience; but I can clearly tell why many are upset about the "state" of the game. Single player "offline" mode is PRIMO. But multiplayer is indeed full of bugs. Dungeon entrances not rendering so instead sometimes you see the "logic" bubble that acts as the door; instead of what should be a cave or a door entrance.
Sometimes you get black screen and have to return to the main menu and rejoin. Nothing that personally has altered my opinion of the game in any way. It's still hands down the most fun I've ever had with an ARPG, and that's with something like 500+ hours in Grim Dawn and countless hours in Diablo 3, Torchlight, Titan Quest and so on.
if youre a "modern" gamer who can't possibly fathom playing "alone" in a game, and a few visual glitches every now and then bother you; then yes. Avoid it. But if you don't mind a few visual glitches, it's still a blast with friends. And if you're a SOLO player as I tend to be far more often than not, OFFLINE mode performs SO much better than Online mode.
This concludes my review of Wolcen 1.1.7.16 indefinitely.
Mkay now, what was I doing? *glances at Wolcen in the background*
;) Back to it!