Surprisingly excellent as a handheld experience. Holds up as an enjoyable and relaxing online action rpg 20 years later.

The first time I played gw was 2005 on a relative's huge grey blob of a PC box with an equally monstrous CRT and severely limited desk space. I couldn't believe it actually ran at the time, fingers were crossed staring at the install bar.

This is my first time running through the PvE experience (wanted it for PvP and never got around to it). And it is genuinely worthwhile and fun on my steam gameboy. Kudos to whoever pushed for this, it's a great game.

If you'd have told me I was going to play through guild wars leveling 20 years later on a handheld back then I definitely would have laughed. But here we are and it's still worth it even considering the competition (ie, what else I could be playing viewing the current top steamdeck games) if you like this type of thing. Also somewhat fascinating it translates so well to the format.

This is a game that originally launched in 2005, and in some ways it does show that age. In other ways, it feels timeless. It's not a traditional MMO, and you will not see other players outside of towns unless they are in your party, but you can play the whole thing alone with AI teammates if you choose to.
For $20 you receive what was originally three distinct games that were $40 each when they came out, so as a deal it's pretty unbeatable. All in all, I highly recommend it.

Many people are reviewing this through a lens of nostalgia (I mean, the game's been around for twenty years, so that's hardly surprising), but here's a review by someone who never played this before.

I started playing Guild Wars 2 when it came to Steam some three years ago (loved it, and still loving it), so I was also quite intrigued when this Reforged update was announced for Guild Wars 1, and I jumped right in when it released on December 3rd. You can see my play time, so suffice to say that I’m liking this quite a lot too.

So, is the game somewhat clunky and weird due to its age? Sure is, it came out in 2005.

Does that stop it from being a great game? Nope, absolutely not.

What I want to emphasise though is that you absolutely need to keep your expectations realistic with this game. It’s a new coat of paint for an old game, so if you can’t live without modern gaming standards in the games you play, don’t buy this. It’s a classic game brought to the modern day with QoL, a slight-touch up in how it looks, controller support, and things like that, but it’s not a full-blown remake and modern game, it’s still the old classic.

So, you might ask yourself then, do I recommend this as a completely new player? Yes, I do.

This game is a prime example of what a classic MMO was back in the day, and, funnily enough, many modern MMO variations still fail to capture this "magic", thus they don’t succeed, while games like this prevail even two decades later. There's simply something in these old games that most newer releases don't seem to get right, no matter how much they try.

I’m going to sink a lot of time into this game now, and complete as much as I can, because I’m genuinely enjoying it very much. I’m going to play everything in order, which is probably going to take a lot of time. I decided to make a sexy wizard (elementalist) as my main character, with mesmer as secondary class, but I think I’ll change the secondary somewhere down the line. I’m currently somewhere in the Prophecies campaign working my way forward:

https://v1.steam.hlxgame.cc/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3628378006

I’ve also started dabbling in the pre-searing stuff and made another elementalist to stay in pre for the Legendary defender of Ascalon thing (hitting max level in the starter zone without leaving). I'm actually quite far into it already even though I'm playing for barely two and a half weeks. I’m currently at level 14, with all the quests completed and ready for turning in on level 16, so I think I’ll be there within the month probably. And, yes, don't laugh, but this alt is currently at a higher level than my actual main character, because I've been loving pre-searing quite a lot 😂:

https://v1.steam.hlxgame.cc/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3628378790

Anyway, here’s a TL;DR with the most important info you might need for this game:

• original Guild Wars with modernized technical improvements and some QoL
  
• preserves the original mechanics, pacing, and class identity rather than redesigning systems
  
• slightly updated environments, lighting, textures, and effects while respecting the original look
  
• story, world, and lore remain intact, retaining the tone and structure of the classic campaigns
  
• emphasis on buildcraft, skill selection, and tactical play over gear treadmills
  
• cooperative-focused design, with either AI companions or grouping with other players for small-group content at the core
  
• minimal modern MMO friction: no subscription, limited grind options, clear progression
  
• appeals strongly to returning players (they can use their accounts from twenty years ago, with all their stuff still there!), while remaining approachable for newcomers willing to learn older design philosophies
  
• combat remains deliberate and skill-driven, with a limited number of hotbar slots and meaningful cooldown choices
  
• respectful of player time, with content that can be enjoyed in short, self-contained sessions (no pressure to log in daily)
  
• a clear example of preservation rather than reinvention in modern game remastering
  
• they started adding updates with new content to the game again. Just a few days ago they added two entire new game modes - Reforged and Dhuum. Reforged is basically an easier and faster mode with an increased XP and gold gain, and stronger followers, whereas Dhuum is a hardcore mode, where, if you die, you’re out.

Conclusion: absolutely worth it 🔥