Forsaken World was one of those games that seem like every other...but it isn't!From just looking at a few videos I was able to tell that Forsaken World was graphically intense as well as game play intense!To those of you gamers that claim to have a "real life"(pfft yeah right) Forsaken World is limited to how many instances,events,and of course daily quests you can do.After you have done all of those quests you have to wait until the server resets the next day so you can do them again.This might seem like a bother but it is actually very smart.Due to the amount of exp these quests and events give it would be insane to not have them limited!You are forced to do quests later on to level up and this requires you to do some instances,so be careful which ones you choose to do!Also Forsaken World has some quests that give a huge amount of experience as well as some nice items!
Now I am not going to sugar coat this and scream "OMG BEST GAME EVAH!" Forsaken World like any other mmorpg has its flaws.One of them being the boredom from levels 1-40.I had rolled a Protector and wanted to get into crafting epic armor for myself so I could tank more efficiently.It was only later that I found out that crafting became unlocked at level 30.Though the grind to level 30 wasn't slow,it was quite difficult to do due to not having the appropriate gear!Of course to make things easier you can farm shards from elite monsters and get gear that way but at the time I did not know about this!Thankfully some friends were kind enough to help me farm sapphire shards for my gear and I was ready to go from that point on!Population wise Forsaken World is filled with people!Not crowded to the point that questing is impossible but just enough so you don't feel alone.And if you are feeling emo you can switch to a more empty channel at any time!
As for races and classes Forsaken World has a nice selection of both!Even a Vampire race and class for you Team Edward peeps...no werewolves yet though!You have a total of five races to choose from and each have certain classes special to them only.Dwarves and Stoneman are stuck with one class though and Stoneman can only be male.As for Kindred,Human,and Elf, they have a total of four classes each!Racial abilities are obviously included so for you hardcore players out there be sure to choose your race and class wisely!
Forsaken World also has a pet system where certain monsters can turn into souls for you to capture!This pet system should interest certain people since they can provide the player with buffs in PvP or against instance monsters!They also get stat points per level up so you will have something to do when you are bored.Some monsters can only be caught by a character that has chosen the Tamer profession so if you want that awesome looking boss as a pet you will want to choose Tamer.The pets can also learn skills and some pets will have different attributes or have better stat growth so don't think it is as simple as catching one.You can also fuse pets together to make one stronger or have certain skills.
Equipment wise you can infuse your gear with gems provided they have an empty socket!You can obtain said gems from doing instances or completing quests.But this is where I had a problem with Forsaken World.The cash shop takes advantage of this system and sells stones,ingredients used to combine stones and items that are used to remove stones.These items can be bought of course from players or you can trade in in game gold for a certain amount of cash shop currency.The only downside is that you cannot obtain in game currency from doing quests.Quests give you "Soul" currency which is currency that is bound to your character.You can't trade or deposit with it and you cannot exchange it for "real" in game currency.So unless you learn the ropes of playing the auction house you will have trouble with this system.
The new expansion has added more areas as well as a new race the Lycan.Unfortunately the Lycan do not receive a unique class and are only limited to one class that is gender locked.Males can be assassins and females can be priests.This is a disappointment because honestly a sword wielding Lycan would make for a more interesting choice.Now the Lycan can transform into a werewolf and use skills to keep the transformation up.But aside from that there racial skill is horrible.They get an increase of 100% movement speed for 2 seconds.You know what I can do with that? Absolutely nothing.
The new "Soul Leaf" system has made things a bit less cash shop oriented.You can get these by mentoring or by doing "Life in Freedom Harbor" quests.There may be more but I have not fully explored this new system.The items you can buy with the soul leaves is limited to a few pets,mounts,and costumes but nonetheless it is helpful and I expect the developers to add more things into it such as refining items and fusion materials.
The new "Soul Leaf" system has made things a bit less cash shop oriented.You can get these by mentoring or by doing "Life in Freedom Harbor" quests.There may be more but I have not fully explored this new system.The items you can buy with the soul leaves is limited to a few pets,mounts,and costumes but nonetheless it is helpful and I expect the developers to add more things into it such as refining items and fusion materials.
The community has not diminished and is very much alive.You can find parties and guilds for whatever you may need be it help,info,or just a casual guild.Currently they have a 2k soul leaves+title+goodies event going on.You can find more info here Event Thread
Final Review:
Gameplay: 9/10
Population: 8/10
Content: 8/10
Cash Shop: 6/10
