Heart of Thorns was a hugely fulfilling experience.
Whoever did the art design should be given rewards for their incredible work. HoT is by far the most beautiful and immersive game I have seen in a long time. There is nothing like gliding over the massive vines in Verdant Brink with the sun’s light gleaming around you or seeing the Golden Exalted in Aurin Basin and the City of Tarir. Tangled Depths look amazing. The sound design and music are also fantastic and immerse you into each area even more.
The vertical environments are well used where getting to a place isn’t just about going around a corner, but is instead about going up and down levels and between floors.
I love the storyline. GW 2, The Living World 1-2, and now HoT all have a great story to follow and I’ve enjoyed each of them. I can’t wait to see where it goes next. I also like how they avoided many clichés with the way certain characters could go and really delved deep into the Mordrem story.
All the new features are great additions. Gliding is how I dreamed and so fluid. I’m glad they let us use our wings as a glider. Always wanted to fly with them. The Elite specializations, especially the Elementalist’s are a lot of fun and greatly needed. The Revenant has become one of my new favorite professions.
I really like the streamlined process of getting mats for legendaries now with the map bonuses.
The communication, actions, and fluid movement of the conversations in real-time with the team and other characters in the world really helped to immerse me in the story even more. I felt like the commander and that my character really embraced and mastered that role. I’m glad they didn’t use the cinematic conversations this time.
Everything is taken up to the next level in difficulty which is exactly what was needed for level 80 characters and I love how it demands the best from us. We have to be both prepared and act fast to survive and think more perceptively to get around and advance.
I originally felt the masteries killed the pacing of the experience. Because it’s different than what we knew and because we are so adamant to get to the end as quickly as possible, the design felt like a hindrance at first, but after doing it all, it starts to feel cohesive and necessary to the overall experience. It also really added to my preparation of everything to come. Like most new games, once you explore it and get into it more, it starts to make more sense and soon become enjoyable. The masteries also make a great endgame.
The only flaw I found was in the Mordremoth fight sequence. I wish he actually looked like a dragon, like Zhaitan did. When he appeared I thought it was one of his minions.
Also on the Moredremoth sequence in particular… why does every game have to include the line “You will never defeat me!” for their final boss? It’s the most cliche, cringe-worthy line. There was plenty of other good dialogue that fit Moredremoth well. That line just needs to be cut.
Overall the expansion is a great experience and once again the GW 2 team has out-done themselves. They should all feel very proud of themselves and their work. Thank you for creating Heart of Thorns!
(edited by Sairyan.1465)