Brighter Shores

🏝️ Same Problem, New Coat of Paint - Save yourself from the pain⚓ I actually dropped this game back in 2024 for exactly the reason I'm writing this review now. When I heard about all the new content — new map areas to explore, new professions to try — I got my hopes up and came back expecting things to have changed. A few hours it was interesting, but then it just got boring again. The base problem is not fixed. 👤 The Core Issue Never Left: More zones, more professions, more surface area... but the same fundamental problem underneath it all. Progress in this game is gated so hard behind profession levels that you can't move forward on quests without grinding first — and that grinding is just repetitive fishing, foraging, cooking, and potion-making with nothing woven in between to make it interesting. Gameplay should feel engaging while you level up, not like a chore you tolerate to reach the next actual moment of fun. 🔒 Quests Are Locked Behind Walls, Not Woven Into Progress: Want to do a quest? Better already be Woodcutter 100. Carpenter 80. Forager 150. These aren't small asks — they're long stretches of pure collection grind with zero story or variety attached, just to unlock the next few minutes of actual content. Even systems meant to make money more efficient, like the cooking Bounty Board, got pushed even further out of reach — it used to unlock at level 9, now it's level 100. Instead of smoothing the early game out, updates seem to be stretching the grind even longer. 🐝 What's Missing: This could easily be solved with more low-and-mid-level quest content that scales alongside normal leveling, instead of demanding you max out professions in isolation first. Right now the "adventure" part of the game is on pause for the majority of your playtime, and the "grind" part is the whole experience. 👤 Logging Back In Felt Like a Demotion: The biggest gut-punch was realizing my progress had actually been pushed backwards. Enemies I could already beat in 2024, gatherables I could already access, recipes I'd already unlocked — all gone. I had to relevel from the middle to get back to where I already was. There's nothing more discouraging than regrinding the exact same low-level resources you already farmed in bulk, to re-reach achievements you'd already earned once before. That's not new content, that's erasing old progress and calling it a system update. Final Verdict: New areas and professions sound exciting on paper, but they didn't fix what pushed me away originally — they just gave the same grind more rooms to happen in. If you love pure incremental skilling with no urgency to reach story content, this might work for you. If you're hoping to actually adventure while you level up, this still isn't it. Since it's still in early access, I hope they won't demote the users again! And I will try it out again after the early access is over to see if the main issues are fixed, since they are promising to add more guests into the game.

really boring

It's fun if youre looking for a side mmo. Like something you grind while doing other stuff. Its def a grind. If anyone is coming from Runescape (I thankfully was privileged enough as a kid to pass over runescape for things like everquest) dont take their opinion too seriously, give it a go and try it for yourself.

It's a fun casual game. Great if you only able to play a game for 1-2 hrs a day. You can do passive play which helps get the levels up. This is perfect for busy work life schedule.

having seen it for what it is in early access i cant say any amount of development will change it

Absolute ass

a good grindy rpg. I cant wait till the multiplayer stuff starts. maybe being able to party and share exp or trade items to help lvl cooking or alchemy while your friend makes all your gear. fingers crossed this keeps going.