My UPDATED Honest Review - Is Throne Worth Playing?

Summary

This video provides an updated review of Throne and Liberty, a medieval-themed MMO with a focus on both PVP and PVE content. The game has significantly evolved over the past 10 months, with improvements to its combat system, class dynamics, and balance between casual and hardcore players. While pay-to-win elements exist, free-to-play players can still be competitive. The endgame offers a mix of daily contracts, dungeons, world bosses, and challenge dungeons, providing a dynamic gameplay loop. The video emphasizes the game's progress and addresses common misconceptions based on earlier versions.

Takeaways

• 🎮 Throne and Liberty is an upcoming MMO RPG with both PvP and PvE content, set in an open-world fantasy medieval setting.
• 🆕 The game has undergone significant changes in the last 10 months, making prior impressions and experiences outdated.
• ⚔️ The combat system focuses on tab targeting with optional action combat, and has been revamped twice since release, now offering faster and more dynamic gameplay.
• 🔄 Throne originally focused heavily on PvP, but now includes a strong emphasis on PvE content, making it more accessible to non-hardcore players and smaller guilds.
• 🎯 Gear plays a crucial role in defining your class and playstyle, with no single best-in-slot options. Builds must be carefully crafted, and each has strengths and weaknesses.
• ⛏️ Endgame content revolves around daily quests (contracts), instance dungeons, open-world dungeons, and challenge dungeons, providing a PvE-focused gameplay loop.
• 🗡️ PvP events include World Bosses, Dominion Wars, and GvG content, with key weekly events such as Arc Bosses and castle sieges for guild-based rewards.
• 💸 The game does include pay-to-win elements, where players can buy currency and gear, but free-to-play players can still compete effectively, especially due to the counterplay system between builds.
• 🔧 NCSoft has made efforts to reduce the predatory pay-to-win aspects, but the game still allows significant power boosts through purchases, though these are somewhat gated.
• 📅 Content such as contracts, dungeons, and World Boss events can be stacked to avoid the fear of missing out (FOMO), giving players flexibility in how they engage with the game.

Q & A

What is Throne and Liberty, and what type of game is it?

Throne and Liberty is an open-world fantasy MMO with a medieval theme, focusing on both PvP and PvE content. It uses a weapon-based class system with tab-targeting combat at its core but offers optional action combat.

How has Throne and Liberty evolved since its launch in December 2023?

The game has undergone significant changes, particularly in addressing player feedback. The PvP-only focus has shifted, adding a larger emphasis on PvE content, smaller guilds, and non-hardcore player experiences.

What is the core combat experience in Throne and Liberty, and how has it changed?

Combat in Throne and Liberty evolves with your character's build and power. It starts slower but becomes faster and more dynamic. Recently, NCsoft revamped the combat system to add more movement, utility, damage, and AoE across all weapons.

What are skill specializations, and how do they affect the gameplay?

Skill specializations were introduced with the latest expansion and function similarly to Lost Ark's tripod system. They allow players to enhance and customize their skills, offering more dynamic combat by improving movement, utility, and damage.

How does the game balance between PvP and PvE content?

While PvP remains a core part of the game, PvE content has expanded. Players can now engage in non-PvP activities, including PvE-only boss fights and daily quests, making the game more accessible to PvE-focused players.

What is the game's gear system, and how does it affect combat?

Throne and Liberty has a gear-centric system where your equipment determines your playstyle, strengths, and weaknesses. There is no 'best-in-slot' gear, but rather a rock-paper-scissors system that balances power across different builds.

What is the endgame loop in Throne and Liberty?

The endgame loop consists of daily contracts (quests), instance dungeons, and open-world dungeons. Players grind mobs using tokens from these activities. Additionally, challenge dungeons offer uncapped content with increasing difficulty and leaderboards.

How has PvP evolved in Throne and Liberty since its launch?

PvP now focuses on scheduled events like arc bosses, inter-server PvP, guild-versus-guild (GvG) content, and castle sieges. PvP battles are capped to prevent zerging and allow smaller guilds to participate competitively.

What is the state of the game's monetization system? Is it pay-to-win?

Yes, the game has pay-to-win elements. Players can buy in-game currency to upgrade their gear. However, NCsoft has reduced pay-to-win systems since launch, allowing free-to-play players to compete reasonably well if they join strong guilds.

What life-skilling systems are present in the game?

Throne and Liberty has introduced life-skilling features such as fishing and cooking. These activities provide buffs and materials but are considered side content for now. Both systems have vertical progression with specialized gear.