Nearly four years ago I remember logging on to tsw with the most excitement I’d felt since launch day. Tokyo, which had to begun to seem like a dream that would never come had finally released. After being teased since early 2012 when shortly after launch Ragnar Tornquist confirmed it as the next playfield for tsw and showed off the orochi tower concept art. It had been a long time and what we got wasn’t exactly brimming with content but damn the main story we all loved was back and it was good. Almost a year later when I returned to Seoul and saw the conclusion with my faction handler I was satisfied. Tokyo had ups and downs, there were delays and cut content but in the end it delivered on the stuff that made the original story of tsw so engaging.
It’s been nearly three years since we had a continuation of that main story. In that time I thought tsw was dead, then came a relaunch that brought mixed feelings but also hope. Hope that if funcom was willing to develop a new version of the game so drastically changed they hadn’t given up on tsw and we would be seeing another chapter of story.
Now here we are, almost out the blue season 2 is literally out there. At this point I must confess I haven’t played it yet, I won’t until Friday evening at the earliest. But I’m not sure if I’m excited. I didn’t mind how long I had to wait for Tokyo because when we got it, I loved it. However from the trailer I’ve seen and the article on massively I’m more concerned than happy. The quality of the environment doesn’t seem anywhere near as good as the rest of the game, the animations seem off and the voice acting not up to par. I’ve even heard that the new content does not involve new cuts scenes from our faction handlers. Which given the ending of Tokyo as a Dragon player this was what I looked forward to the most, seeing the new boss in play.
I’m beginning to wonder, maybe it would have been better if tsw had been the end? Is it worth having season 2 if it tarnishes what came before? Do we need to pretend season 2 doesn’t exist like the Matrix sequels? Or is this what we’ve all been waiting for.
I’ll post my own thoughts when I play the content, but I’d love to know the honest views of everyone out there. Is dawn of the morning light worth the reboot, lock boxes and years of wait? Is it good enough?
Is it worth it?
Yes.
Absolutely.
It is classic Secret World and has some mighty fine writing. I can’t vouch for the replayability, of course, but my first playthrough was very nice. I actually liked it better than Kaidan. It felt much more polished, much less empty.
But what is much more important, is that, if you look at the Map, there is room to grow. They could, if they would, flesh out New Jerusalem into a full fledged, Kingsmouth sized, Zone.
So, yeah, it’s a bit short now, but it has real potential. It all depends on if they squander it or not.
I have to say despite my skepticism, I really enjoyed this. Of course the map is far smaller, but I have no problem with it. In fact, it is imho better than release of Kaidan, when we got far bigger map but with only 4 instanced quests and nothing. This new map is nicely fitting to the story and without any spoilers when we opened the last door, it looks really good.
I know there will be rants, but take it as the first chapter of Season 2. At least one more batch quests is coming.
I don’t know how it will go with group content. At least new lair would be nice. And if not full dungeon, something like Penhouse with three bosses would be really nice. There are more rooms in mansion to explore
So… I know a lot of my comments here are usually more negative than positive, but well done team. And the best moment of all new content are these moments with KG (“listening Nicklebag for eternity” made me really laugh).
So keep working and let us surprise with new map of REDACTED next year and until then, few more quests and stuff to do in SA.
It’s precisely what I expected. I never thought I as a player was going to somehow make six missions last 6-12 months until the next update now that I guess it’s full steam ahead on their shooter. I didn’t think it’d be an entire ‘season’ worth of stuff–they never claimed it would be. I expected about three hours of fun, it was about three hours of fun.
And they gave me back something I’ve been missing…if only for about fifteen minutes ;>
Now it’s back to other games and hoping something new pops up in the winter.
And the map really does not feel unfinished. Even not recycled. All is fitiing and compact. I really don"t see any need to have New Jerusalem bigger. What we could get were some areas around, but I am not naive. It would end like Kaidan when it was released. Bigger map, but nothing to do there.
To the sides of the City itself are a pair of canyons which have a series of clearings, three to a side, that look like they are all set up to harbour future missions, and one of the Pamphlets mentions that you could be sent out of the Compound on missions from the higher ups. At least I hope so.
Totally worth it, i had some yaw dropping moments related to the story;D And the area is well made a long with all the characters and cutscenes.
Although i was hoping for a bit more, this was an awesome start to season 2, and i can’t wait for the rest to come out.
opening last gate
first phone call from KG during the fight
arrival of KG
“nuclear family”
The only real downside: too many altered soldiers in the last area. It somehow doesn’t fit to design and atmosphere. It felt more like a cheap filler. And especially how they can be easily killed by rocket launcher. And maybe a little more& longer dialogue options or one or two more NPCs. But I know, budget was limited and all got Che and faction handlers
Thoroughly enjoyed the first time through. Worth the wait, although I wish the wait hadn’t been so long! (no more “soooon’s” please!) and hope it’s not another long wait.
No down side to what I saw. No lag, no d/c’s, no missing anything. Great detail in the huts, and everywhere. Definitely need to poke in the corners for all the lore.
Love all the layers of references to the original zones.
Actually, I felt it kind of did, and that that was actually the point. The Morninglight are still expanding and some of the more void-feeling bits might turn into more content, like that mysterious Coming soon… mission for various achievements.
During sabotage mission when I finally got to the last computer with information I needed to finish the quest, I got info there are more files hidden in other computers, I already passed. Of course I hacked them all, but without info from the last one, player is unable to get to those files. Actually you had no clue there are some hidden files in those computers. It is something you don’t need, quest is already finished, but those files are from lore standpoint pure gold.
I appreciate that the SWL team has no doubt worked very hard over the last few years to deliver the game we have now. Especially with season 2 arriving near enough on the mark with regards to the road plan. Questioning that content immediately must seem very rude. However as it has been such a long time and the game has changed a lot, I believe some trepidation is understandable.
Regardless I will no doubt be buying the CE and all the bells and whistles. Once I’ve played the content I’ll post my honest thoughts as well.
Is it worth it?
As at this point a long time player and the one guy that pokes around far to much in discord, the forum and the game: Yes.
It still feels a bit bare bone but it has the room to expand and the stuff we got is grade A coolness. Some things are meh, like I think the suppersoldiers are strange looking things but other things amaze me. Like those new droid balls adding a cool new mechanic to stealth that doesn’t seem to be buggy like the orochi droid ball.
Or the last fight being far better than most the bossfights the story had before.
There are only a few things that bug me…and those are minor pet peeves.
Personally, I’m ok with it. Taken as a classic six mission issue like 6 and 7 the new place is a fresh experience. What I don’t like is how some missions feel artificially drawn out and the lack of investigation missions is a bit disappointing too.
I won’t return there though until the “my weapon went missing” bug is stomped. I don’t want to risk parting with my hammer for one second.
I absolutely loved the new content. I actually bought some aurum just to support Funcom after I’d finished. My main criticism, as always (aside from the age old ‘should have been a single player game’) is just that I want more. As it stands, the content is excellent and inventive, there are some cool new (and old) mechanics and I can only imagine what they could do with the budget of a more successful MMO. They really are the best in the genre for story, character and atmosphere. Regarding the quality of the map…they do some fun things with it that could be well served in other existing areas. Yes, it is kind of a case of making good use of little resources but at least it really is GOOD use. If it’s followed up in a reasonably timely fashion with more story content then I’d say that the game is in pretty good shape.
Oh and there is absolutely input and appearances from the faction handlers
I can’t remember where, but I’m certain it was mentioned that there will be more quests added to the area, including an investigation mission. The lines are all voiced, it’s the more technical aspects lagging a bit.
