MMORPG Wild Terra 2 is coming to Steam

In January 2021, the MMORPG Wild Terra 2 enters Early Access on Steam. MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch has already tried it during a free testing phase and documented his experiences.

What kind of game is this? Wild Terra 2 is a sandbox MMORPG set in a large, medieval fantasy world. Instead of a linear story with matching quests, the game focuses more on crafting, housing, and finding your own path.

That’s exactly what I experimented with during the free demo, which runs from October 7th to 14th. In about 6 hours of playtime, I built my first houses and experienced some PvP battles with other players.

But what does the game offer in the long run? And could it convince me?

Sandbox MMORPG with surprisingly good graphics

Here’s how the first steps went: At the start of the game, I created a character, although the selection in the demo was not particularly large. Wild Terra 2 does away with classes, so I could only choose between gender and a few appearance options.

The developers definitely need to improve this by the time of Early Access or at least by the full release. Compared to good editors like those in Black Desert, the game cannot hold a candle.

Upon entering the world, I found myself right between several huts belonging to other players. These can be freely placed in the open world and provide you with immediate opportunities to build storage spaces, a workbench, and your own fields.

This is also one of the core tasks in the game. Just like in Wild Terra 1, survival and sandbox are the focus.

However, the many dwellings seem somewhat strange at first. It becomes especially exciting when many players start building in the same place after release.

What does Wild Terra 2 look like? Unlike its predecessor, you move in the new MMORPG in a 3D world in isometric perspective. The game also offers significantly better graphics and smooth animations.

The good graphics struck me positively right from the start. While they are not exceptional, for a smaller project like this, the grass, trees, and water look very decent. Personally, it immediately reminded me of Fractured, a sandbox MMORPG that I also played in alpha, both in terms of gameplay and graphics.

However, I already like Wild Terra 2 a bit better.

The first battles in the game: In Wild Terra 2, you can move either with WASD or by clicking with the left mouse button. With the right mouse button, you attack.

You have various medieval weapons to choose from:

Swords
Knives
Axes
Blunt weapons
Throwing weapons
Bows

Each weapon has its own skill tree and unlocks (currently) up to 3 new skills along with the auto-attack.

However, the combat system is very clunky and, for me, also frustrating. The animations for swings are long and allow the enemy to simply run away. Due to this animation, it is also extremely difficult to hit with throwing weapons or a bow. Even NPC animals often manage to evade easily by simply walking away.

I would assert that I only hit the NPCs in about 33% of all cases. Against other players, it was at most lucky hits. Here, I think, is where the demo status is most apparent.

Building huts, creating farms, and fighting against players

What do you do in the game? In the first few hours, I mainly spent following the quests that the game offers as a sort of “tutorial”.

You are given tasks to gather materials and craft weapons, equipment, and buildings in your own little village. When crafting, you have many disciplines and hundreds of recipes to choose from that you master right from the start. The amount is quite impressive for a demo.

An interesting factor is that every gathering and crafting has an associated success rate. This can often be increased to 100% with a higher level, but you usually start at 30-60% when discovering a new material. However, the system can also be super frustrating when crafting an expensive item. Because the resources used are lost on a failure.

Balanced diet: In the game, you also need to make sure that you eat regularly. Skipping meals doesn’t kill you, but it makes you tired and hungry. As a result, you can’t gather materials, can’t sprint anymore, and are nearly useless.

Interestingly, your character wants to eat a balanced diet. So you need to consume meat, vegetables, fruit, and mushrooms evenly. This way, you gain the highest stamina regeneration in the game.

But beware: You should identify the mushrooms first. Some of them are poisonous!

PvP and death: After some time, I began to explore the surroundings and encountered the first other players. Players 1 and 2 simply ignored me, but the third attacked me immediately. Thanks to his better equipment, I stood no chance and was killed by him.

However, death had only limited consequences since I apparently can only be “knocked out” in the starter zone. This means you lose no items.

Later, however, I discovered a level-15 zone where a rat killed me. In this “real death”, I lost my entire inventory. This is certainly not for everyone. However, you can return to the place of your death and retrieve the loot. Whether other players can steal it, I currently cannot say – at least there were no other players nearby at my death.

Housing and farming: After this admittedly frustrating death, I started creating more content in my house and fencing it in.

It quickly became clear: The game involves quite a bit of grind. After 6 hours, I have only scratched the surface of crafting, and those who want to can certainly spend dozens of hours on it. I have also not been able to intensively engage with the taming system and mounts.

According to the developers, you will be able to upgrade your hut to a castle, which will then be besieged. Whether this actually works out in reality is hard to say.

Interestingly, my house on day 2 simply disappeared because I “logged out for too long”. However, all items ended up in my inventory. Whether this only applies to the demo or if it continues like this in the later game, I cannot yet say.

Exploration as a positive aspect: What I liked about Wild Terra 2 was the exploration of the game world. It featured various buildings like an old sawmill or an abandoned town where I found chests with loot.

For gathering and crafting, I constantly had to look at the ground to pick up sticks and food. There is no large indicator showing where the next materials are. Anyone wandering the world with closed eyes will actually miss something.

Conclusion after 6 hours: Plenty of sandbox and survival

If you are looking for a classic theme park MMORPG, you will not find it in Wild Terra 2. The game fully focuses on sandbox and survival aspects – and that also involves a lot of grinding and frustration.

In the demo, the many crafting disciplines, the food system, and the selection of weapons are already impressive. The graphics and sound are decent for an indie MMORPG, though not outstanding. During the thunderstorm at night, I felt somewhat transported into the world of Minecraft by the sounds.

However, when it comes to character creation, the combat system, and the explanations of the game (when do you die, when are you knocked out, etc.), the MMORPG still owes quite a bit. Especially in combat, a lot needs to change. I would wish for something along the lines of Albion Online. This game also uses the isometric perspective but has a smoother transition between walking, fighting, and the different animations.

However, one must consider that this playtest report only reflects a demo version and the first hours of play. Nonetheless, the game was well-visited during my gaming session.

In January, the MMORPG will enter Early Access on Steam. I will take advantage of that to try the game in more depth.