Over the past couple of nights, I have run through all the free content in Wizard 101 (my apologies for not asking for a referral beforehand). Is this pretty much what the entire game is like? There are a few buffs, heals, shields, pets, etc., but most of the time is spent with attacks that have a summon animation. There are some tactical options, but mostly it is hitting an attack and waiting out the 5-10 second animation that you have now seen a couple dozen times. Most things drop in a few attacks, absent the fizzles, so it is slightly more than the standard MMO 1-2-1, but it takes 30 seconds for those few clicks.
My problem might be falling in that age range between playing Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh and having kids who play Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh. Even a few years of playing Magic: the Gathering will not banish the stigma of “what those annoying adolescents were doing just after I stopped being an annoying adolescent.”
: Zubon
Glad you are giving Wizard 101 a try – I admit, when I was playing the free content, I had the same opinion. And to some extent combat does stay the same – the main difference is that is you level up you get attack spells with bigger, flashier animations, but you also get a larger variety of spells. The challenge definitely ramps up as you start to fight enemies with a lot more health, a lot nastier spells, and more enemies at a time.
There is definitely an interesting element of strategy to the combat – it’s not the challenge of an “adult” MMO, but I still like it – once you start throwing attacks that hit multiple enemies, minions of various types that do everything from tank to heal you, spells that convert your spell damage to other types, etc into the mix, it gets better. You also have the option to fight in the PVP arena, which is a completely different animal, strategy wise.
For me though, what really gets better is the theme of the game as you advance through the worlds. You start in the basic fantasy landscape of Wizard City, then move to the far more interesting (to me) Egyptian land of Krokotopia, then the very neat Victorian British Marleybone, and so forth. I think this game really grabbed me when I left Wizard City.
It’s been said — but yes, the basic mechanic remains the same, but as you go, you have to get very much more strategic and tactical. The challenge goes up enormously by the time you hit the final instance of the final world, but by then, you would be up to the challenge.
As a storm wizard it always feels like gambling in Kroktopia, especially against bosses. Do I go for the big lightning drop (with a 30-X% fizzle rate) or play it safe? Do I spam cantrip (what I call zero cost spells) damage boosters or cantrip damage mitigators? It starts to feel a lot more like a CCG where your decisions really affect the match. You might win no matter what (especially against trash), but with less health, etc. thereafter.
Except for maybe the slight challenge Golem Tower offers, the game feels much different after the free areas.
The animations have been shortened up quite a lot since the beginning. I used to get really tired of the long animations.
I actually prefer the earlier combat as it is over faster. When I play W101 it is just to kill a little time. I don’t take it very serious. The golem tower is a fun challenge though if you have not tackled it. Fighting in PvP has been fun the few times I have done it.
Already covered by others, but the further you go the deeper the game gets. It’s dead simple at low levels by design. At higher levels you will have to be planning several moves in advance just to get through “yard trash” pulls.
Still, if you hate the basic mechanics card decks and summoning monsters to attack your foes, it won’t be enjoyable to you.
I’m fond of soloing group instances, m’self. Nothing like tackling content designed for a group to really stretch your strategies.
Other than that, I’ll echo what has been said. The core “fight in a ring with decks of cards” stays the same, but the strategic depth and difficulty ramp up to interesting levels. I’ve found that Marleybone hits a sweet spot with me when I want to zone out with some mild challenges, but the aforementioned soloing of group content is great for when I want to try something with a bit more kick.
I came to the same conclusion. Game seems sound, but the repetitive lengthy animations drove me away.
nice to see people like Ravious , who got owned and ran out of WoW for being a noob, found a game in wizard 101 that he cant realte to by using lame wow terms