Guild Wars 2 trailer: an intense look

MMO_REVIEWER

Hey there!

I've just watched the Guild Wars 2 trailer about 400 times. Just couldn't get enough of it. Before I start reviewing it and giving incite to the lore that was hinted at in the video I want to rant. Ranting: THAT WAS AMAZING! OMG! OMFG! WOW THAT WAS SOOOO AMAZING!: End Rant.

Now down to business.

First I have to say that Arena Net knows how to make a teaser. The timing and overall look of the teaser was impressive even in the artwork portion. It wasn't your typical all CG - rendered in a super computer stuff that you see from most games. It was an interesting twist. Andwhen the artwork faded to game-play I almost didn't notice(until the camera started to move). Clearly the art style has been retained and the great Jeremy Soule has directed his way into the heart of NCsoft and become their regular director. Clearly the man is a musical genius whos works cannot be ignored(as they fan fared through the entire trailer).

To start off obviously the dragons are introduced to those unaware of the lore. The dragon Xitan Rose form the depths of the ocean bringing with him the sunken city of Orr.

Orr was sent into the depths of the ocean by the Vizier seen in the Guild Wars 1 campaign. The Charr attempted to invade Orr and he read some forbidden texts and down went the city.

Obviously bringing something up out of the ocean has a bit of a butterfly effect. Other cities were sunken and nations cut off from the world. Cantha has become an isolationist nation and cut off almost all communications with the outside world(even though the world is crumbling around them). I'm sure they'll be reintroduced in some expansions to Guild Wars 2.

Digging deep into the preview and sinking my teeth into all the meat that is Guild Wars 2 I caught some quaint hints and want to speculate a bit. When the narrator says "Our ancestors Fought against the tide...But Xitans power was too great I think thats an explanation of whats happened to your origonal character from Guild Wars. It's only speculation but i suspect that maybe Anet will have some kind of event in Guild Wars close to Guild Wars 2's release depicting the city of Orr rising from the sea and we have to fight the "tide". Ofcourse its only speculation but it makes some sense.

About a minute or two into the video it looks like theres a necromancer awakening a woodland beast in the forest. Perhaps inciting to some new mesmer skills and also giving some incite to what kind of stuff you'll be able to do in the sequal. Wether or not it was a necromancer can be contested but the armor and looks sort of matched the current necros.

Ofcourse the depiction of Charr, Asura, Sylvari, Humans, and Norn says that all the races will be playable. That, and the line "We learned that no single nation can fight alone and succeed...The five races must stand together against their enemies" says, to me, that you'll be able to play these races.

Ofcourse they're going to introduce new armor and weaponry. Some armor and weapons will complement a class. Perhaps they'll do something to make more people want to use hammers...maybe.

The scene that goes from Art to In-game is impressively done ofcourse but it depicts a place that seems a bit familiar. To me it looks alot like ascalon. Visual hints that gave me that impression were the wind gauge on top of the house on the left and the style of the houses and city seen in the back. Clearly technology has advanced with the depiction of more advanced golems and what looks like a dam. The characters(a warrior was seen standing in the water and even got a close up on his face), as in the first Guild Wars, dont look very "Korean-mmo". They seem to have a hardened look to them and appear to be very refined.

The cities look impressive. Especially the asura city depicted in the teaser. It looked very grand and was built on an epic scale. The camera couldnt capture it all in one look it had to move through the city and then fly up to an upper level that was even more impressive and captivating. Many other interesting locations were shown including a sylvari city which further solidified that sylvari will be playable.

The sylvari are hinted at in the Guild Wars manuscript that came in the game box. The manuscript says "Years ago, many tribes

 of human druids lived among the Maguuma’s lush greenery and wildlife. But it has been a long time since anyone has heard word from them, and many believe that they were eaten by hostile jungle creatures or simply swallowed whole by the man-ating plants now rampant in the jungle." Perhaps this is hinting at the sylvari? maybe these are the remnants or the tribes that lived there. Or maybe they have become one with the jungle(note the strange structures you see in the maguuma jungle).

Ofcourse the underwater scene incites swimming and im sure jumping will be paired with it. The ending scene where they have some characters standing shows off some pretty impressive armor. Definitely they have taken more time with creating the armor Unlike in the first Guild Wars. I am ofcourse referring to the Warrior armor sets that were less than visually appealing. they looked cool at a distance but up close they looked very ugly. Obviously alot of work has gone into creating this game. And they have learned alot of things graphically and in terms of game play.

I expect alot from this game. I like that they are introducing races. Races will add more depth to the classes. Obviously this game is going to be intense and a fresh step in a direction that could lead NCsoft to the #1 spot on the MMO company list. With Aion, Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2, and Blade and soul in its hip pocket NCsoft seems to have alot of potential.

I can't wait to see what the future holds for both NCsoft and the Guild Wars world. I am excited. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go watch the teaser 400 more times.

Cheers!

sorry for the eye cancer ^^

MMO_REVIEWER

I take that back. I don't think it was a Necromancer. I think it was a Sylvari.

bleyzwun

I bought the original game, and I can see how it's good, but I couldn't get into it.  I'm definitely going to pick up GW2, not because I'm excited, but because there won't be a sub.  If I like it, it may be the game I play, or a game I play once in a while. I felt the original had stiff movement (not clunky, but stiff.  if that makes sense), no jumping,  invisible walls, and the whole world being instanced made me not play the original. As long as the things that I didn't like about the original are gone , I think I will like this game.