Padrion.7382 Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 I know I'm late to the party but back in the day I quit the game just before Heart of Thorns released due to a variety of outside reasons and just recently returned to catch up on the things I missed. Just have to say that I'm really impressed how the expansion improved on the base game. The mastery-system is great, gliding is so much fun, the moderate increase in difficulty finally made accomplishments feel rewarding and the story is told in a much more engaging way than the very drawn-out personal story had been. A notable exception was the 'sign cutting' mission which was so atrocious that I almost moved to Path of Fire right there and then if I had not found a walkthrough on youtube. The best moment however came at the very end (heavy spoiler): Spoiler Thank you so much, that you did not only got rid of Trahearne but let the player put him to the sword personally. This was one of the most satisfying moments I ever had in gaming. kitten did it feel good! 6 1 1 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hashberry.4510 Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 Best they ever did. Never got the annoyance with Trahearne I thought he was well done. 12 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randulf.7614 Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 I thought the story was poor (unsurprising given lots were cut), but I agree it’s an otherwise great expansion. I played it so much back in the day and the maps were, whilst everyone working together on events and metas - I don’t think any content since HoT and some parts of ls3 have quite recaptured that feeling of wanting to stay on a map and keep playing through a cycle. It also made a lot of fundamental changes which enhanced the game more than any other content, with the exception of mounts I really hoped EoD was going to rival it, but alas it didn’t even come close (imo) 7 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padrion.7382 Posted November 3, 2022 Author Share Posted November 3, 2022 16 minutes ago, Hashberry.4510 said: Best they ever did. Never got the annoyance with Trahearne I thought he was well done. Part of it might be his German voice acting which is really monotonous, but the main reason for me is that he kind of hijacks your personal story at some point. 1 1 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuks.8241 Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 The best open world maps ever. I like to return to them even though I rarely play open world lately. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padrion.7382 Posted November 3, 2022 Author Share Posted November 3, 2022 4 minutes ago, Randulf.7614 said: I thought the story was poor I'm not saying it is particularly great or anything but it is told in a better way than it was in the base game which relied heavily on dialogue cut scenes that interrupted gameplay way to long and way to often. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kharmin.7683 Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 I hate the maps, but I do give credit for Anet designing and implementing them. Glad people enjoy them. 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randulf.7614 Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Padrion.7382 said: I'm not saying it is particularly great or anything but it is told in a better way than it was in the base game which relied heavily on dialogue cut scenes that interrupted gameplay way to long and way to often. The production values are better for sure and that carries on through every season and expansion as an ongoing improvement, regardless of whether the story is subjectively any good or not. But, HoT’s story felt like one maybe two acts. I was surprised to reach Mordremoth so quickly and defeat it so suddenly. Edited November 3, 2022 by Randulf.7614 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hindenburg.3415 Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 Yes. Best expansion ever. Tangled depths is the most memorable map of all. Auric Basin meta and music and overall feeling are coolest in the game. Path of fire is joke compared to it. I hate everything about it. Colours , one-dimensional map design , enemies , even mounts. It feels low-effort and lazy. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arianth Moonlight.6453 Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 season 2 is so bad I barely paid attention to the HoT story the first time I did it. The second time tho, I realized it was actually good. Unfortunately, the rest... PoF is basically Nightfall written by a 10-year-old kid who has no idea what GW is and EoD is just SWJ kitten written by a 10-year-old kid who has no idea what GW is. Neither are as bad a season 2 but still. 2 2 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astralporing.1957 Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 Indeed HoT ended up being the best of GW2 expansions so far, but that's primarily not because it was so good, but because the others were so bad. PoF had a chance of being better, but unfortunately Anet devs happened to misunderstand the issues people had with HoT and "fixed" the wrong things, in a bad way. In a way, i'd even say that PoF storywise was better, but that (again) was not due to its quality, but due to how bad large parts of HoT story were. In the end the main flaw of PoF however was lack of staying power. Maps in general were less annoying, but there was just no point in getting back to it. The only content that happened to weather the test of time was Choya Pinata, and that content is a joke in many ways than one. Anet seemed to completely misunderstand why people had issues with HoT metas originally and instead of fixing those issues, they decided to get rid of them alongside everything that was good with them. Which resulted in the abovementioned lack of staying power. There's just nothing that might keep players interested in those maps longterm. EoD on the other hand is just too plain and unfinished. It's easy to see that it was something that's been done in a hurry. The maps may be visually stunning, but lack the substance. Story hadn't improved even a little bit. And metas were not designed to keep larger number of players interested, but rather to experiment with different stuff. If we add to it the lackluster masteries, and few extremely annoying "resource" systems, EoD easily ends up as the worst of the expansions. It's only saving grace was how it revitalized the community, but that has mostly happened before its release. 5 3 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patton the great.7126 Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 I enjoyed path of fires advanced professions more and the overall map design. I wish it had hot's meta boss reasons to go back. Hot was good though. Not factions good, but def good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padrion.7382 Posted November 3, 2022 Author Share Posted November 3, 2022 3 hours ago, Arianth Moonlight.6453 said: Unfortunately, the rest... PoF is basically Nightfall written by a 10-year-old kid who has no idea what GW is Well I have yet to play this but I guess the mounts are fun at least... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randulf.7614 Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 35 minutes ago, Padrion.7382 said: Well I have yet to play this but I guess the mounts are fun at least... PoF is fine, it’s a decent expac. It just lacks the innovation of HoT and the replayability. It’s still got some decent maps and really interesting map storytelling. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 7 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arianth Moonlight.6453 Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 3 hours ago, Padrion.7382 said: Well I have yet to play this but I guess the mounts are fun at least... oh yeah, mounts are totally worth it. 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nilkemia.8507 Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 (edited) Disagree. It's okay, even maybe decent. But great? No. Edited November 4, 2022 by Nilkemia.8507 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lezbefriends.7516 Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 It was fun before mounts. Now there's no accomplishment. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kharmin.7683 Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 4 hours ago, lezbefriends.7516 said: It was fun before mounts. Now there's no accomplishment. This doesn't make sense to me. What is preventing players from enjoying HoT maps without mounts? You can still enjoy these maps without using mounts if you want. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiilimon.6094 Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 I think it's mostly about actually having to deal with terrain that was hard to navigate, with mounts there's no chance of running into a dead end 🙂 HoT made the players feel like explorers, not tourists. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lezbefriends.7516 Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, kharmin.7683 said: This doesn't make sense to me. What is preventing players from enjoying HoT maps without mounts? You can still enjoy these maps without using mounts if you want. I would just feel stupid inconveniencing myself now. Plus, the reality is other players now have mounts. They'd just zip right past me instead of engaging in group events and I'd be expected to get my character up to speed at a certain pace lest I fall behind. Point is, it's just not the same. Edited November 4, 2022 by lezbefriends.7516 1 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astralporing.1957 Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 38 minutes ago, Tiilimon.6094 said: I think it's mostly about actually having to deal with terrain that was hard to navigate, with mounts there's no chance of running into a dead end 🙂 HoT made the players feel like explorers, not tourists. It didn't made me feel like explorer. It only made me feel annoyed. Mounts made HoT maps 200% better. 1 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoni.7015 Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, Tiilimon.6094 said: I think it's mostly about actually having to deal with terrain that was hard to navigate, with mounts there's no chance of running into a dead end 🙂 HoT made the players feel like explorers, not tourists. True, the maps are fantastic. Mounts made them a little bit boring but they are still the best maps in the game. Edited November 4, 2022 by yoni.7015 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibson.4036 Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 21 minutes ago, Astralporing.1957 said: It didn't made me feel like explorer. It only made me feel annoyed. Mounts made HoT maps 200% better. I totally agree. Even with all the mounts I still feel like I’m exploring a threatening place. I have to be aware of when and where I stop moving, and tangled depths is still a maze even with mounts and wallows mastery. I took a long break from the game shortly after HoT launch, and coming back with raptor, springer and griffon is what made HoT enjoyable for me. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zok.4956 Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 19 hours ago, Padrion.7382 said: Heart of Thorns is a great Expansion Yes, it is. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caille.7214 Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 I really like HoT. It's a masterclass in world design. I think it's a masterpiece. but the voice ''actor'' for Trahearne.... no. ''ohmygodI'moverburdenedwithgriefonecouldsaydistroughtwhatevertodo...'' 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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