Neverwinter Reviews

Perfect World and Cryptic's Neverwinter is fully live and ready to consume your mornings, afternoons, and evenings, but not until you've read through the first wave of reviews, I suppose.  Here we go!

Forbes goes scoreless:
Despite some glaring open beta mishaps, Neverwinter has what it takes. The combat is possibly the best in any MMORPG on the market today; it may have hit the elusive sweet spot between the old and the new. There are a wide variety of options and activities that cater to both solo players and group enthusiasts. Neverwinter offers experiences for players that normally wouldn't play MMORPGs, and also provides a framework for core genre players. Looking for action and adventure in the world of Forgotten Realms? Neverwinter delivers.

Venturebeat gives it a 70/100:
While the free-to-play system doesn't cripple Neverwinter by any means, it will start to annoy some players because of its weird restrictions. (I hate those guys with the giant spider mounts,) one player told me in game. I agreed. Cryptic could benefit from lowering the value of Zen a bit or making it more accessible to players who don't want to spend real money (maybe by allowing them to buy it with ADs?). In addition, the developer's next focus should be to continue cleaning up the bugs, refining and adding more PvP modes, raising companion level caps, and definitely working on a more user-friendly Foundry Editor.

The Escapist gives it a 4/5:
Dungeons & Dragons fans will enjoy this game for the iconic feel that the game has, and for the huge host of favorite monsters that Cryptic has included. Spending some money is almost a must, but the bang for your buck can get you far if you spend it wisely. Casual and social gamers will have a blast playing through this with their friends, while more hardcore MMO players might want to take a pass for something more dedicated.

MMORPG.com gives it a 7/10:
Neverwinter is worth a visit by anyone who is a fan of both MMOs and of action-RPGs. Despite some glaring issues, including the lacklustre PvP and the Zen Market, the game is wildly fun and is a worthwhile detour on one's journey through the MMO space today. It remains to be seen what Cryptic does with the feedback it has received from the players during the past month, but Neverwinter is one to keep an eye on as time goes by. As the title says, Neverwinter is an Astral Diamond in the Rough.

Game Revolution gives it a 3.5/5:
If you're in-between MMOs and looking for something to soak up time, Neverwinter is a good choice. Its action-oriented combat will make your stay memorable, and you might find yourself spending long nights in The Forge. Once you realize it doesn't make an effort to build community and heavily rewards those who invest wallets full of money you may become turned off as quickly as you fell in love. If you're a Dungeons & Dragons fan you may be willing to push aside the shortcomings. For everyone else it's a great vacation spot but not the kind of place you'd want to live in.

Gaming Trend gives it an 80/100:
Neverwinter was purpose built to be free-to-play, but they have also made the pay aspects fairly non-intrusive. They've provided an incredible amount of content wrapped around character classes that are a great deal of fun to play. Sure there are some balancing issues in the PvP realm, but otherwise the game is pay-for-convenience, not pay-to-play. The team at Cryptic have worked very hard to take the pen and paper game and bring it to life, and without a doubt they've succeeded. The Foundry is a revolutionary step, and it extends this game infinitely. I'd like to take my hat off to TiLT from our Forums he is consistently among the top of the highest-rated content creators, and I look forward to running more of his adventures. In my opinion, Neverwinter has taken the crown for F2P MMOs. You don't have to take my word for it as you can download the game and join us in the world of Faerûn.

Bag of Games gives it an 8.5/10:
Overall, Neverwinter is far more than just a simple nostalgia trip. While for the most part, it's a fairly standard fantasy MMO, it's one that uses those old tropes oh so well. If it seems a bit old school in tone, hey, it's based on the game that started it all. Yes, you'll spend a fair amount of time questing, hacking and slashing, but that's what you came for, ain't it?

And Ten Ton Hammer gives it an 89/100:
I was happy to spend the 60 bucks on the Guardian of the North Founder's Pack many months ago. Even though the game is totally free to play, and I could have gotten almost all the same stuff (or equivalent to it) through the Zen Market for the cost of a few hours of gameplay, it still feels worth it. Neverwinter is fun and engaging, and well worth the time investment even if you don't want to spend the money.