Christmas has come and gone. For the most part, so has Wintersday. The events will run through Jan. 3, but no new content is scheduled between now and then. So I think it’s time to give some impressions if how ArenaNet’s second jab at holidays in Guild Wars 2. The short verdict: I had a lot of fun.
Art
This needs its own section because ArenaNet once again knocked it out of the park. The redecorated Lion’s Arch and mini-game zones look absolutely gorgeous. Not only do the decorations and zones fit the holiday setting, but they keep the Guild Wars 2 style of big, surreal set pieces.
The attention to detail was also impressive. When I first logged into Lion’s Arch after the Wintersday patch, I saw someone in map chat remark, “I guess we got a big blizzard.” It made me pause for a second, wondering how a beach-side city was suddenly washed with snow. It wasn’t until I later panned my camera up that I saw the Asura snow machines, pouring snow all around Lion’s Arch. At that moment, I realized just how incredible ArenaNet’s art team is. Some have called them the best in the MMO industry, but I think that’s an understatement. I would say they’re among the best in the entire games industry.
Winter Wonderland
The jumping puzzle for Wintersday was definitely easier than Halloween’s clock tower, but it was still challenging enough to require some effort. Personally, I finished it after two tries, but I have since done it a few more times because it was fun. (It also rewards 3,500 karma on a daily basis.)
I totally understand why ArenaNet decided not to attach a challenging jumping puzzle to a holiday event that runs for a limited time. Holiday content is supposed to be first and foremost about enjoying the holiday. Gating that kind of content with difficulty goes against the spirit of it all. It’s one thing to put a difficult jumping puzzle in Southsun Cove; it’s another to attach it to a limited-time holiday event.
Bell Choir
After some key rebinding and personal adjustment, I grew to love Bell Choir. From a purely technical standpoint, it’s impressive ArenaNet managed to deliver a Guitar Hero-like game in a setting that’s prone to high latency. From a gamer’s standpoint, it was just fun. I had no problem completing the achievements because I was enjoying myself so much.
My only complaint is I wish there was a way to queue into Bell Choir with friends. ArenaNet clarified in a post that it’s something they would like to do, but they didn’t have the time or resources to get it up and running for Wintersday. Still, it’s a shame group-based activity queueing couldn’t make it live because it could have led to more “Billie Jean” moments during free-play sessions.
Snowball Mayhem
At first, I wasn’t really feeling Wintersday’s PvP, capture-the-flag mini-game. I started out with the heavy gunner, and then I tried the supporter. Neither of the classes did much for me. But then I tried the scout, and the first time I stealthed into a Sniper Shot, I knew I was going to have a lot of fun. I found myself completing the achievements for Snowball Mayhem in one sitting, and it was absolutely worth it. Picking up a damage boost and killing a flag-runner with a Sniper Shot followed by Rapid Fire felt so good.
As an aside, I really hope ArenaNet are using holiday PvP mini-games to test out future structured PvP modes. With Snowball Mayhem’s capture-the-flag mode and Halloween’s MOBA-style gameplay, it’s clear the Guild Wars 2 developers are very capable of designing modes that aren’t conquest. I’m very excited to see what will come out once all the e-sport features are in the game and ArenaNet can work on more gameplay options.
Open-world content
To be honest, open-world content was the only big disappointment of Wintersday. I’m probably being greedy, but I really liked investigation quests from the Halloween event. It would have been nice to see similar content in the Wintersday event.
But the available open-world content was good. Building snowmen and opening giant presents provided decent encouragement to travel around the world for special tokens that unlocked skins. I understand some people didn’t like the Christmas-themed skins, but that’s part of the holiday spirit. Seriously, what warrior or guardian doesn’t want to run around and kill people with a giant candy cane while dressed up as Santa Claus?
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Post was too long. Read the rest at my blog.
(edited by Lopez.7369)