I tried several MMOs before giving this one a shot because the idea of an MMORPG has always fascinated me. I played the WoW free trial for a bit, TERA (arguably not the greatest MMO), Albion Online, and a few others. None of them managed to hook me for more than about 10 hours. They always felt somewhat daunting, and I could never really get invested, even after giving them multiple attempts. I think one of the biggest reasons is that most of those games never truly felt like MMOs to me. Sure, I could see other players running alongside me, but it often still felt quite lonely. Everyone was focused on their own tasks, and there seemed to be very little actual cooperation. Guild Wars 2 managed not only to hook me, but to genuinely fascinate me as a game. The world of Tyria is beautiful, and although it might not be everyone's cup of tea, the horizontal progression allows me to slow down and actually appreciate the world, the characters, and all the little details that went into making Tyria feel like its own living place.
The most impressive part for me so far has been the world bosses. Most of the time, I struggle to understand what exactly is happening on my screen because of the absurd number of visual effects going off all at once. Nevertheless, it looks absolutely epic. More importantly, it makes the game feel alive. You see huge groups of players gathering together for a common goal, which sometimes leads to funny and unexpected interactions along the way. The mounts also feel amazing in this game. Admittedly, I've only gotten to try the Raptor so far, but I can already say that the way it moves and handles feels like a breath of fresh air compared to mounts in other similar games. When it comes to actually feeling like an MMO, Guild Wars 2 absolutely nails it. The world genuinely feels alive, and I haven't even gotten into Fractals or WvW yet. Overall, this is definitely a game worth trying, and I genuinely feel that it's unfairly overshadowed by bigger titles like WoW and FFXIV. I'm looking forward to spending, hopefully, many more hours in this wonderful game!
