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[Review] Wizard*101* Trading Card MMO for kids of all ages.
Wizard*101*
A post Beta review.
I recently participated in a Beta Test for game I stumbled on by accident: Wizard*101* by KingsIsle Entertainment.
What caught my attention initially were the Videos and Screenshots of the game. They seemed very slick, but being the gnarled and grizzled old cynic I am my initial thought was how they probably didn’t reflect the quality of the actual game play?
I was wrong.
Wizard*101* is “exactly what it says on the box”. Kudos to a developer for delivering what they promise.
So, at the risk of sounding like a ‘fanboi’, I thought I would write a review to bring attention to this game which is actually… fun!
Before we begin however, I would like to qualify this review.
This is based on my experiences in a Beta Test – it is entirely possible (though unlikely) that the game may have changed dramatically due to the pre-retail patch?
I played though about 70% of the game content as it was released retail.
In addition to the good points I will cover my concerns near the end of the review.
Now that is out of the way, on with the review!
So, what is Wizard*101*?
Well, put simply, it’s a MMO based around a Trading Card Game, aimed at 8-14 year old kids.
One poster here described it as Harry Potter meets Pokemon. But don’t be put off if you don’t like Trading Card Games or are not a kid… KingsIsle seem to have done something very right with this game… it’s actually a lot of fun.
The premise of the game is that you are a young Wizard at Wizard School and some evil Wizard guy (he scowls so you know he’s bad) wants to rule the world or something…
Anyway, you start by selecting one of the seven schools of magic; Myth, Life, Fire, Ice, Storm, Balance and, of course, Death. Each school has its own story, strengths, weaknesses and spells for you to learn. In addition, you can also learn spells from other schools as the game progresses and players will find that different mixes can yield very different results.
This is where you begin to build your ‘deck’. The spells you learn are represented by ‘cards’ and you build a ‘deck’ which you draw spells from during battle. The spells all do different things too. Some are for attacking, some for defending, some boost attacks or deflect attacks, some are for healing, some affect just you and some can affect others or groups.
Then, you can also equip items to you character that allow you to add still more cards to your deck or boost certain attacks or defense.
This all sounds incredibly complex, but really it only takes a few minutes to learn and the tutorials are very well done. That said, don’t expect to master the game - ever. There are lots of little subtleties and an element of luck thrown in as well!
So, off you go on your adventure in a beautiful 3D MMORPG world populated by wandering monsters and NPCs who give you a large variety of quests and have their own stories. In Beta there were 4 worlds to explore – each with their own unique flavor and theme including Egyptian, Victorian and oriental. This is perhaps where you can begin to see that the game has a personality too – players actually dress their characters like the locals!
I would describe the graphics as cartoony, but in this case that is not a bad thing at all. It fits nicely and is often very comical (If the Ninja Pigs don’t make you laugh, you really need to get a sense of humor.)
Bare in mind the game is made for kids too, so even the ‘scary’ monsters can’t be too scary.
Some of the areas are instanced – most notably most of the Boss fights – and there are a few instanced zones as well. I would describe this as an appropriate use of instancing. The instancing in this game is always done for a purpose – not as a crutch for a lazy design team.
So, you travel around the world doing quests and fighting the local monsters. And here is where you use your wizardry skills when you find yourself in battle.
At its heart, it is a turn based trading card game, but you don’t really notice. It’s all animated in beautiful 3D.
The design is excellent with the battles flowing nicely and quickly. The ‘turns’ simply allow you to plan strategies but there is also an element of luck involved.
As I mentioned earlier, each school has different spells and strengths. Storm spells, as an example, are very powerful. But to counter that, they also have a high chance of failure. So simply playing a card is no guarantee of success, the spell could always fail with a stomach wrenching “FIZZLE”. Monsters will also resist spells from their own school (skeletons tend to be resistant to Death spells for example) so having a good mix of spells is to your advantage.
During the battle you can also build up power which will allow you to cast more powerful spells from your deck, but the trade off is that the longer you wait the more chance the enemy has to hit you too.
Every spell is animated and not just with the same animation each time either, some of the spells have different animations depending on how much damage they do. Some of these animations are superb to the point that players will even deliberately delay battles to show off spells to others. In the non-instanced areas you can simply be a bystander and watch other players do battle.
Perhaps one of the most unique features of the game is the way you can also join a battle any time.
This means you can team up and fight along side your fellow wizards!
This mechanic actually encourages teamwork. If you are having trouble with a Boss you can call in a friend to help you.
The quests and plot development are interesting and varied. Being an MMO there are a fair amount of ‘grind’ missions but again the design is good in that the travel distances are not excessive and you never seem to be put in a position where you are forced to grind to progress. New areas become accessible on a regular basis too and there are even bonuses to be had for those prepared to do a little exploring.
If you want to try your skills against other Wizards (players) there is a dueling arena and there are also several Mini Games to play – a number of which will provide a real “blast from the past” for you retro-gamers out there.
The chat system could also stand a mention here because parents have the option of restricting chat options for youngsters. Trial players and children are restricted to a pull down menu style chat system which actually works very well. A little bit unwieldy at first, but it does allow you to say what you need to say with practice. It also has the definite advantage of preventing chat spam and trash talk.
Well, having read this review you probably realize that I quite liked this game?
That is very true. There is a lot to like here and I think this game has the potential to do very well. It is aimed at 8-14 year olds but I would suggest that any child with competent reading and comprehension skills can play and enjoy this game. The trading card style battle system can teach logical thinking as an added bonus (there you go – it’s educational!).
Many adults will enjoy this game as well. The game style and pace will suit casual gamers and gamers who don’t like too much pressure. There is a fair amount of humor and references to popular culture, film and literature dotted through the game too. This really is a “family friendly” game.
On the down side, my concerns about this game are that it lacks content (for hardcore gamers) and a sustainable endgame at this point. Now, sure, a fanboi might say “games like this have new content added all the time”. Well, yes, but I am reviewing what I see now. At a guess, a ‘hardcore’ gamer could probably get through all the existing content in 1-2 months at most.
There is no crafting (per se) and the RPG element is lacking – but the counter to this is that perhaps this game doesn’t really need these things anyway?
In Beta the game still had a few bugs too (only to be expected – it was a Beta after all!) but nothing ‘game breaking’. Issues raised and community feedback seemed to be addressed by KingsIsle very well.
Anyway, don’t take my word for it. There are free levels available for play – and with the download system KingsIsle use you DON’T have to download a 2 Gb client just to have a look.
I was pleasantly surprised to be playing the game within an hour thanks to the fact the game downloads in the background while you play.
The website is well laid out, detailed and contains screenshots and videos too.
There is also a “wizard creator” – good for a bit of fun and to see which school you should belong to.
You will find the game forums are tightly moderated and posting (post release) is restricted to paying customers only. Again, I suppose this fits in with the family friendly theme?
The subscription plan is also explained on the site – at this stage it is a monthly subscription rate backed up by micro-transactions for those who want it (not necessary IMHO)
Based on my experiences I would have to say that this game and the developer (KingsIsle) are worth keeping an eye on.
Pros
Free Trial levels immediately available.
Minimal download required to begin play.
Family Friendly
Casual Game play
Strategy is rewarded
FUN!
Cons
Limited content (5 worlds at release)
Unknown endgame?
Homepage
www.wizard101.com
PS Please don’t ask for a score out of 10 – as I won’t give it.
I would rate this game as “excellent” however. It does what it set out to do – and it does it very well.
Regards
Gyrus.
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
Comments
reading now, before it gets deleted xD
I spotted this game the other night. My kids are Harry Potter fans so we did the downloads on both PCs.
I let them play for a bit before bed....then once they were out, I made a toon ...
I never heard of this game but it is a really well made and fun game to play. The kids loved it. Everything about, from the way you generate your character to the card game combat is unique and fun. (for an MMO)
Anyway, parents, its a cool little game for the kids on a rainy afternoon with nothing to do. Hell, I'm thinking about getting them the sub. I'll see if they stick with it a week or two.
www.wizard101.com/site/home2/wizard101/page_8ad6a4041aa7b7bd011ac6f9ae9805fe/page_8ad6a4041aa7b7bd011ac6f9ae9805fe;jsessionid=86496A1865050FACE18715D4FE3272F7
Why would it be deleted?
The Beta is over. The game is retail. I said nothing confidential. :-P
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
Why would it be deleted?
The Beta is over. The game is retail. I said nothing confidential. :-P
I hear ya, its nothing on you, it's just how this site works sometimes :-p delete first, ask questions later.
Well, MMORPG.com Admins and Mods... I have got one on you in this case...
Wizard*101*
New MMORPG.
Been in development for ages.
Been in Beta for a while.
Now retail.
And
No forum on MMORPG.com?
Not even in your game list!
Tsk tsk.
I think you better run a staffer over to KingsIsle for an interview and some mega grovelling...
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
I think ive met a kingsisle dev.
Hold on Snow Leopard, imma let you finish, but Windows had one of the best operating systems of all time.
If the Powerball lottery was like Lotro, nobody would win for 2 years, and then everyone in Nebraska would win on the same day.
And then Nebraska would get nerfed.-pinkwood lotro fourms
AMD 4800 2.4ghz-3GB RAM 533mhz-EVGA 9500GT 512mb-320gb HD
I, too, have been in the beta for the last few weeks and really, really like Wizard101. In fact, my entire family got hooked on it - 5 of us, both male and female, ranging from 9 - 39. That's quite an accomplishment! It's a very fun game, the battles can get unexpectedly exciting (sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse
) due to the random nature of the cards your dealt, the possibility of a card fizzling and the attack order (who attacks first, you or the mobs). You've covered some of the major positives. There are definitely some issues with the game, though, in my opinion:
1) Grouping - the inability to have a consistent group is real hassle - if I want to group with my family, we all just have to follow each other around and jump in to battles. There's no group mechanism, it's all basically a free-for-all.
2) Grouping - you can't lock down a circle so that nobody else can join. How many times have I fought a battle and had the monster down to a sliver of health , or I'm at a sliver of health, when suddenly one or more players jump in, extending my fight and either killing me or forcing me to stay for several extra rounds when I'd rather be doing something else. Fleeing battle isn't an option, because you lose your XP and mana for doing so. So, it's either stay and hope you survive, flee or die and lose everything anyway. Furthermore, I've been seen scenarios where 3 players will jump into a battle, pulling in three additional monters, then all three leave, letting you stay to die or flee! That sucks. If it bothers me as an adult, imagine how it will bug a kid! If a player brings in a monster, then the player leaving should dispel the monster...
3) Chat - I added my oldest daughter as a friend. In order for us to chat back and forth, we have to click the text chat link in the friend's list every time. - That's a pain.
4) Chat - no dedicated groups mean no dedicated group chat.
5) Cost - $10/month might be livable for a single account for somebody who's really into the game, but--in general--I think the price is too high for what is, ostensibly, a kid's game that doesn't have major features like dedicated groups, guilds, crafting, item-trade, etc... Also, this is a game that appeals strongly to families, but there's no family plan (there are master accounts where I could control access to the game for my entire family, so there's already a launch pad for family plans). That seems very shortsighted of the publisher. I might pay $25 - $30/month for my entire family to play Wizard101, but I won't pay $50.
6) Quests - lots and lots and lots of running back and forth to talk to people, collect quest items, etc... This gets really, really tedious. One NPC might send you back to the same place three or four times in a row, once for each subsequent quest, which is only granted upon completion of the previous quest.
Regardless of these issues, none of which are necessarily insurmountable (except maybe the pricing), the game is still a lot of fun. I would recommend it to anybody looking for something fun and casual, but especially those with kids.
~Ripper
I agree, It is a great game.
All it would need is a few more Arenas and that would be the End Game. Though they promise to add more worlds continually.
Strategies get quite complex in this game, especially with LIFO buff and debuff system.
Edit: I agree with most of Rhinoks cons. But since it went live all the people who would jump into your battles, or do malicious things are gone.
Adding a family plan is such a great idea for this game, i'm surprised they didn't think of it.
Even though there were many tweens during beta, i did meet quite a few young adults and adults. Even a couple Husband and Wife duos. If you don't care for real time combat, and like turn based strategy with wonderful graphics in a creative world, this game can't be beat.
Big complaint i read is about their Cash Shop. You can Subscribe to use all the features and you earn an allowance of Crowns each month and/or you can buy Crowns with money. Many people feel this method is a scam.
I don't agree. Cash shop items are good, but they aren't focused. At level 42 I was using items drop by bosses instead of Cash Shop gear because it was more focused to my Deck.
So many of these complaints are Unwarranted by people who have not yet played enough.
"The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius."
-Oscar Wilde
Thanks for the feedback all.
Ripper, I cut a couple of bits out of your post for comment.
Your notes on grouping are true, and I initially had a similar opinion. But, I changed my mind because I found that NOT being able to stop others joining in was a good way to meet new friends.
It was very rare I got a "leech". Only twice in two weeks in fact.
By contrast, I had over 2 dozen people on my friends list I had met because they joined my battles or I joined theirs.
And the other thing about that - did you notice that toward the end of Beta a community etiquette developed?
People would actually ask if it was okay if they joined you?
As for the quests, I learned to look around before I ran off to do a quest. It is often possible to do several quests concurrently.
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
Well, as I said, none of these issues are insurmountable
. The game is both playable and enjoyable even if these aren't addressed. That being said, addressing them would be great and would probably entice more "mature" gamers.
In regards to the grouping, I'd like to see an option for creating/joining groups for +13 chatters/true friends (true friends so family members can group and chat together more easily). Of course, group chat goes with this. I'd also like to see a toggle that lets one choose to lock down circles or not. Choice is good. I would agree that the general maliciousness I witnessed was fairly limited, but the "accidental" adds were still pretty commonplace, at least for me. I know they made my oldest daughter nuts.
In regards to the quests, it's definitely possible to "collect" quests that require one to go to a specific area, but not from the same NPC. As an example, I could gather requests from 3-4 different NPCs in Cyclops, all of which would have me go to the same general area. After completing all those quests, I'd turn them all in at once. That being said, the new quests I'd get would just send me right back to the same area. That's more or less what I'm referring to.
I definitely think Wizard101 is a lot of fun, but I really hope the pricing doesn't bite KingsIsle in the butt. It's immediately obvious that the number of people currently subscribing to W101 is much, much smaller than the previous beta population. It's evident because the number of posts by players on the official boards dropped off sharply (only paid subscribers can post) and almost everybody in game has the no chat symbol (common to under 13, but in beta I saw a very good mix of players who could text chat and those who couldn't - after beta - almost exclusively non-chatters). I see two reasons for this:
~Ripper
A friend and I tried this game on a Saturday evening just for the heck of it. We played for probably about seven hours total that night. That's all the time I've spent in the game and I just wanted to make that clear before I went on.
What rhinok said about questing is accurate. It's not necessarily a bad thing, it just depends on what a person likes, but it is a very task driven game. You are forever running to collect 4 of these or kill 3 of those or talk to that NPC and the moment you finish one of those tasks you are given another.
The problem I have with that type of design is that you end up feeling like you have to keep running and running and running to get things done and you can't ever stop to smell the roses or just explore for the sake of exploring. Also, because everybody is running back and forth on their own little tasks, and because there is no grouping system, it means that social interaction is almost non-existant.
People can jump into fights alongside other players but even there it doesn't feel much like a group effort. It's more like everyone in the battle circle just doing their own thing. There may be a guy in the battle circle right beside you but he does his thing and you do your thing and you pretty much ignore each other. Or at least that was my experience.
Regarding the actual battles, it seemed to be very lacking in complexity to me. Remember that I only played for that one evening and was low level. But trading card games usually have a fair degree of complexity from what I've seen and I didn't see that in this game. You have damage spells, healing spells, damage enhancing spells, damage mitigation spells, and some spells that are a mix of those things. But mostly it comes down to a very simple process of throwing damage at things untill they die.
Maybe it gets more complex at higher levels, I don't know. But by the end of that one evening I was already getting a little bit bored with the combat. The effects were pretty enough but there was hardly any stratagy involved in it.
It's an ok game for kids from what I saw and I did have some fun with it but it's not something I could play for very long.
*/UPDATE*/
KingsIsle has announced a family prcing subscription plan for Wizard101. This is something many of us have asked for. I've "voted with my walltet" and have chosen not to subscribe to Wizard101 unless they implemented a family plan. The good folks at KingsIsleh have listened to our concerns and are putting the new plan in place later this week. I'll be subscribing shortly thereafter. FYI, here's the link to the announcement:
Family Pricing Announcement
As listed in the announcement, the new family subscription price will be $6.95/month/account vs. the previous $9.95/month/account. By implementing this plan, KingsIsle gets my $34.75/month instead of getting $0/month.
~Ripper
Rhinok,
Since you are now a subscriber - how about you give Kingsisle a prod and show them this thread and MMORPG.com?
MMORPG.com seem to be a bit slow to pick Wizard101 up as an MMO?
Time to poke people with a sharp pointy stick?
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
Well, I'm not a subscriber yet, since they haven't actually implemented the ability to subscribe to a family account, but I will be soon. That being said, I think we can actually get Wizard101 on MMORPG ourselves, per this thread:
linky...
/*edit*/
Submitted Wizard101 for inclusion to the list of MMOs, per the link above.
~Ripper
Yup, did that a couple of months ago. I wonder what the hold up is?
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
Yes, I'm digging up this old thread sense I love this game. I believe mmorpg.com needs to show this game more love. PLS, MMO GAMERS PLAY AND RATE THIS GAME.
thank you all
~Sarkai
This game is great. I have only been playing for a few hours, but i have to say, the game is fun and the spell animations are awesome. After months of searching for something to tide me over , this is it. If your looking for a fun, no grind mmo, mixed with a TCG, this is it.