[Register now] By “entry”, it means just the first few levels. And to be honest, I am liking what I have played thus far in Neverwinter‘s Beta Weekend 2 (or simply Closed Beta 2). The overall feel of the game, aesthetically, feels like Guild Wars 1.5, but features wise, it is a whole different ball game.
Let me start with combat. Yes, it is WASD action combat where multiple enemies can be struck, not the traditional “point and click”. However, if you are looking for a full twitch-based experience like Dragon Nest, Neverwinter is not the game. The skill system works slightly different compared to other online games, but it shouldn’t be a hindrance.
Players will still have to aim manually, although actions such as moving combat, double tap a direction to dodge etc is not part of the movement system. There are skills for some classes to dodge, some to block, hence I guess why these actions are not implemented.
I have so far only encountered 1 small open world area, while most of the fights and quests take place in instanced dungeons. While Asian games usually allow players to choose from 4 chests at the end of each, together with scores and points, Neverwinter sticks to the Western style of 1 big chest for shared loot (in a party).
The biggest feature for me has to be the Foundry. It is a system where players level 15 and above can create their own quest-based dungeons and campaigns (a series of instanced missions). Before hitting level 15, players can still access dungeons created for them, the low level crowd.
This is an awesome feature for Neverwinter‘s long term goal, where content is not solely being pushed out by developers. These missions can be repeated as well, allowing me to gain a couple of levels without really bothering about the main story quests, which I can put on hold until I am more suitably equipped.
Neverwinter, despite some rather ugly-looking character facial models, is a step forward for allowing player-contributed content. I know that a couple of online games tried this before, but I am not really sure why all of them flunk. This is a good game by itself, with the awesome Foundry feature being the icing on the cake.
