We can also share first details about the story and setting of Guild Wars 3.
The game world of Guild Wars 3 is divided into two areas. The battle with the dinos, where we learned about the wall jump, took place in an open meadow. There were small trees, bushes, and rocky outcrops everywhere. Some of the outcrops were so high that you could no longer see what was on the higher level. The colors are vibrant, with green and blue tones dominating.
However, we saw the spiders and the backpack opponent in a slightly darker area, which had higher walls and deeper chasms where you could kick opponents. Everything here felt more somber in terms of the color palette compared to the more open world. Additionally, you felt significantly more restricted here, as the high walls almost completely surrounded you in narrow corridors.
The developers also revealed quite a bit about the story to us. In Guild Wars 3, secrets will be unveiled that have occupied fans for 25 years. The title takes place a thousand years before the events of Guild Wars 1.
Accordingly, ArenaNet has also adjusted the available races to fit this era. The Kodan, humans, and Asura are included for that reason. The Tengu, on the other hand, are not playable, as it would currently not fit lore-wise.
We start as members of the very first guild of Orr. Our task is to protect the magical spirits from poachers. They can even function as companions and are part of the pet system. For example, they can illuminate a path when absolute darkness prevails. This was demonstrated to us in the gameplay with a small, glowing sphere that was meant to represent a fairy.
Leya and I were especially delighted by a cute dragon creature in a city that glowed in vibrant colors. It looked like a small lindworm with big googly eyes that you just wanted to cuddle. As we approached it, it licked its lips contentedly with its tongue. Such a cute creature we will definitely have to protect, that is certain to us!
During the presentation, we could also view the first city, Orden’s Watch, from afar. The world offers an enormous vista and already let us glimpse the capital of the third part in the distance. It looked significantly larger than Orden’s Watch and contained many tall buildings.
Enormous pressure from the developers of Guild Wars 3 comes from player expectations
The developers are aware of the enormous pressure from players on Guild Wars 3 to save the genre. Therefore, the master plan is transparent communication and a roadmap that should keep the game relevant for the next 20 years.
Yes, absolutely. We feel the pressure. Many people have been playing the same MMOs for a decade – WoW, Final Fantasy 14, Elder Scrolls Online, Guild Wars 2. Players urgently want to try something new that pushes the genre forward. We believe we can deliver that. Guild Wars 1 and 2 were both built to break conventions. We hope our approach works and perhaps inspires other studios to develop new MMOs again. Competition pushes us all to become better.
Editor-in-chief Leya and I are confident that the game will meet these expectations at the current time. The shown early build version ran so smoothly that the presentation could just as well have been a trailer or a demo for the public.
However, one must consider: The gameplay is a presentation specifically assembled for this showcase. It most likely shows the part of Guild Wars 3 that is already running the most smoothly. Therefore, we must wait and see if the rest of the game can maintain the current benchmark.
The entire combat and movement flow has already been so fluid that it gives hope for a great game. If the development continues to progress as promisingly as it has so far, we can expect a brilliant MMORPG chunk that will make many fans happy.
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