While there’s still a lot to be desired from these updates I must admit this most recent one strung a cord. I think the Tower of Nightmare is absolutely fantastic!
While I’ve heard a bit negativity towards the tower and I won’t dismiss it like it’s not there, I do think a lot more right things were done than wrong this time.
As far as the actual experience goes, finally an engaging fun and immersive gameplay experience that GW2 needs desperately.
At first I was a bit hesitant with the open world aspect of it worrying it’d be nothing more than a zerg train (I understand to some people it is), however though there is a zerg or two in there from time to time for the most part you’ll see smaller groups of players more than anything else.
The tower is engaging and challenging without being cheap. It lets the player explore and take the route they wish, giving much desired control and illusion of choice to the player. There are fun little instances to look for as you’re carefully traveling around in there and so on.
I appreciate the feeling of progression and safety the tower gives you every time you find yourself back in the center, until finally you reach that glorious climb to the top at the end. I do wish there were a few more levels with a bit more to experience but as it is it’s pretty fantastic.
I’ve heard the common complaint that it’s too difficult and can’t be done without a zerg, however often times I hear that coming from glass builds running solo.
Me and one other friend alone managed to get from floor 1 to floor 3 before our first death. Here’s the thing, there is challenge in here and it is difficult, but it’s honestly not that bad once you know what not to do.
We both moved slowly and carefully, killing little by little while not rushing ahead aimlessly, looking at where we were going and picking a route. The only times we actually needed help were with the group events (naturally), but when we came across those we’d just call in the map or look around for downed players and quickly enough at least a few would show up to help and that’d be enough.
The way the tower’s gameplay and experience works should be taken as an inspiration towards future updates. Not saying make dozens of copies of the tower, that’ll make it repetitive and boring, much like what happened with the LS.
All in all, though there’s still the common issues of lack of replayability, low rewards (that’s the issue of there not even existing rewards reasonable to actually give out to players in GW2), and too quick to finish everything, it’s still overall a very enjoyable experience.