RuneScape: Dragonwilds

Game is extremely bright even with bloom turned off, and brightness turned down. Turning it down too far makes it impossible to see in dark or shaded areas, and the brightness is still a problem even then. Tried playing for like 15m and spent the entire time messing with settings, but still can barely see anything, and it's basically unplayable. Searching up this issue shows people complaining about the exact same thing a year ago, so it doesn't seem like the devs are going to fix it. Probably going to refund. And I have an RTX 4080 and Ryzen 9 7950X3D, so it's not my PC.

The early access definitely shows. That is not to say it isn't a good game. I did not enjoy valheim, but the lack of gameplay friction in Dragonwilds makes it a significantly more chill experience. You will never encounter brick walls in progression. If you don't like grindy games, and want a serious difficulty challenge, it isn't for you. If you like prepping for a long time for bosses like in Terraria, this game is for you. In traditional runescape, gear swaps for specific bosses are required, in Dragonwilds it's possible to pick any class. In dragonwilds, most things are gear-locked rather than level-locked like in runescape. Levelling up certain skills is worthwhile, but the grind does not need to be as long as it is. Multiplayer is where the game really shines. Similar to project zomboid, having specific players be experts in specific things is a giant boon. Many things are level-locked rather than gear locked, like runecrafting, meaning dedicating one player to runecrafting or having each player lock themselves to a class can be convenient for all parties involved. The game optimization is [i]not very good.[/i] DLSS is not a crutch for bad optimization. Without DLSS, expect framerates in the 80s at medium settings even with good hardware. The game does feel quite clunky in certain places; combat is extremely easy to cheese and the fatigue system usually tires you out before you finish a dungeon, meaning that for longer dungeons you have to [i]walk back to the entrance[/i] to rest or just endure the stamina loss. I would prefer if the fatigue system was completely removed. It adds nothing to the game other than waste time; there's a spell to create a portable shelter to restore fatigue that's extremely easy to unlock. The mining spell unlocked by skill level is entirely dependent on luck, as most ore veins aren't tightly packed enough to break with the spell. The spell is also so powerful that it's faster to wait for the cooldown and go on a "mining run" than to actually mine deposits. Despite the jank, which I'm sure will be ironed out in later patches, the game is relatively feature complete and is a complete experience on its own, well worth the price tag.

It just feels so generic.

combat is utterly janky

Great game! Still missing some features to really make it pop, but it is still a lot of fun!

The game is uninteresting so far. It feels like a bare-bones copy of Valheim. I know it's an Early Access game, and there will be more updates and improvements, but I can't recommend it in its current state. The performance is far too demanding, likely because it's built on Unreal Engine 5. The game crashes for me, even while I'm in the pause menu, and the overall gameplay feels clunky. The side stories are boring and uninteresting. It really just feels like Valheim with better graphics. There's nothing innovative about it—no new mechanics or features that make it stand out. I've put 25 hours into the game, and honestly, I wish I could get a refund, but it's too late now. It's just a really boring game to play.

We quit the game due to extreme performance issues in multiplayer, the host is lagging and mostly the connected user have huge de-sync the combat is unplayable. Love to see after 1 year release its not their priority.

Quite frankly one of the best survivalcraft games I've ever played. It's so polished and there's so much to do that I feel like I could spend 1000+ hours in this game like I did with titles like Boundless and Pax Dei. RS:DW is survivalcraft with a strong story and fantasy leaning.