The latest update to Neverwinter delves into familiar territory to Dungeon & Dragons fans of old. Ravenloft gives players of the game a chance to travel to Barovia and eventually face off against Strahd himself! Will this live up to memories of old or simply be as thin as mists in the forest? This is our Neverwinter: Ravenloft review.
It begins with a simple request from a Duchess to clear some Vistani from her lands. From there you delve deeper and deeper into the mists into finally you are face to face with Strahd himself as he welcomes you to his lands with his cold dead eyes aflame with evil powers. Once that meet and greet is over you stroll into town to see how you can help the people against the darkness that engulfs the land. After that it’s time to grind on various quests and heroic encounters to get gear and items to get stronger and stronger so that you stand a chance of beating Strahd.
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The story itself is well done and feels like it’s something that you could be playing with a bunch of friends as you roll the dice playing Dungeons & Dragons. Set in an MMO setting, Perfect World has done a very good job of making the environment feel like it is set in Ravenloft with its little touches of roaming wolves, encroaching mist, and an environment that changes at night. Couple this with good environmental sound effects and music that has at times a haunted feel and at other times sounds like it would be home at a Halloween themed amusement park (that’s not a bad thing by the way, it gives things a interesting feel) and your left with an experience that definitely feels like it belongs in the Dungeons & dragons mythos of Ravenloft.
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But while it has all those feelings of Ravenloft, in the end it’s still an MMO and the name of the game is getting gear so that you can lay the smack down on your enemies. If you’re a fresh level 70, they do give you a box of gear early on that helps out a great deal to make sure you’re not under geared for the content that is offered. Of course, how well you do with what’s available can be affected heavily by your choice of class and if you had done any of the previous “End Game” content. That may be the biggest thing effecting players that are new to the game. While Neverwinter offers a plethora of content, and you could just skip the older things, but you risk being under geared with not only items, but special stat upgrades that can only be obtained by doing dailies and grinding for various currencies (of which there are plenty in Neverwinter).
Overall the latest expansion to Neverwinter feels like something that could fit into a Ravenloft story, both in looks, audio and story. But it may suffer from hurting newer players who are under geared (simply because they are fresh level 70’s) just trying to see what there is to do.
Pros
- Atmospheric music
- Visuals that feel like they belong in Bavoria
- Story that fits well in the Ravenloft Mythos
- A great deal of content to play
Cons
- Fresh level 70 players may have a hard time in the beginning
- While the setting is done well, at times it just feels like the same grind that Neverwinter has at end game
