Rank 4 – Guild Wars 2 – Story in Focus
Release: August 28, 2012 | Platforms: PC | Payment model: Base game is Free2Play, expansions cost money | Guild Wars 2 website
What is Guild Wars 2? Guild Wars 2 is an MMORPG from ArenaNet that continues the story of its predecessor about 250 years later. The game world is now more open than in GW1 and focuses on players working together against the dangers of the world.
The focus is on PvE, which has been designed with a lot of effort and story. Additionally, the game features PvP in the form of arena battles or open battles in the “world versus world” mode.
What content does Guild Wars 2 offer? The MMORPG offers regular content updates in the form of the Living World and new expansions. The game receives:
- new areas
- new story chapters
- new masteries
- new content such as armor or weapon skins.
In the world of Guild Wars 2, there are also many tasks:
- world bosses
- huge world events
- Jumping puzzles
- achievements
- PvP in arenas and as server versus server
With the expansions Heart of Thorns, Path of Fire, and End of Dragons new vertical progression with abilities like gliding, using jumping mushrooms, and mounts has been added, so veterans still have something to do.
Additionally, the developers announced that in the future, a major update will be released every quarter along with faster new expansions. The first of the “new” expansions is called Secrets of the Obscure, which released in August 2023. It introduced three new areas, new stories, and a completely revamped daily system.
A year later, the most recent expansion Janthir Wilds followed, which introduced a housing system, the Warclaw mount, and the weapon type spear to Tyria.
Teammates yes, but without close bonds
This is the highlight: In Guild Wars 2, you encounter large world bosses or challenging event chains early on in the open world. Almost every area can build on at least one major content that you cannot defeat alone. You will always find players on site who share the same goal as you and work together to complete these events.
Accordingly, joint combat with other players is often in focus. However, the challenging tasks are either well organized by the community or simply crushed with a large number of teammates, making agreements with other players almost unnecessary.
Rarely do you develop a close bond with other players. For the personal story and also for the ongoing story instances of the Living World and the addons, you can completely forgo teammates.
The content within guilds or in dungeons and raids is rather optional. Much of it can also be accomplished unorganized and without meetings in voice chat. You will experience a large part of the game basically in single-player mode.
The future focuses primarily on the story
That’s why it’s worth playing Guild Wars 2 in 2025: Guild Wars 2 is the perfect MMORPG if you enjoy exploring the world. The endgame gear is quickly obtained, and afterwards, everything revolves mainly around achievements, exploring the game world, collecting achievements, customizing the appearance of your character, and fun in the game. With no monthly fees, breaks are easily possible.
Guild Wars 2 is regularly expanded with new content:
Conclusion: If you enjoy following an exciting story and want to immerse yourself in a new universe, you will have a lot of fun in Guild Wars 2. Additionally, you can experience exciting content and large battles without having to engage too much with other players.
A win-win situation, as fighting alone against a huge dragon is only half as realistic as with 49 teammates.
Guild Wars 2 is free to play in the base version. You can experience the content beyond the max level. Additionally, there are no monthly fees. However, if you want to experience the areas and classes of the expansion, you will need to buy the five expansions: Heart of Thorns, Path of Fire, End of Dragons, Secrets of the Obscure, and Janthir Wilds.
