Recent reviews by Max Deviant

I've been following Brighter Shores' development for a while now, and have been eager to try out Andrew Gower's next MMO.

To set the scene, I'm a long-time Old School RuneScape player. I've logged over 10,000 hours and have a maxed Ultimate Ironman and an almost maxed Group Ironman. I'm no stranger to grinding in a Gower game. One thing I have tried to keep in mind coming into Brighter Shores is that it is not RuneScape. If you try comparing the two games off the bat you'll only be left disappointed that it isn't RuneScape 4.

Brighter Shores brings a lot of fresh ideas to the table. One that I've seen a lot of confusion about is the episodic nature and how it relates to the professions, with professions and gear being tied to each episode. Personally, I haven't had any issue with it. Some people have complained that it feels like your progress is "reset" each time you advance to a new episode, but in practice I haven't noticed it that much. I also think that this will feel less jarring for future episodes, once players have access to professions that allow them to craft weapons (and maybe even armor).

At time of writing I have reached at least level 20 in each of the skills up through Episode 4, as well as done one of the side quests in Episode 2 (Spider's Nest) that required a decent time investment. I have enjoyed every second of it.

The game has a lot of grinds that you can sink tens or hundreds of hours into, if you let it. But so far I haven't felt that the grinds required to advance the main story have been anything too intense. The side quests are a different story, as many of them have fairly high profession requirements. My sense is that they serve as goals to work towards, to provide some direction to players.

Another thing that has impressed me about the Brighter Shores launch is just how smoothly it has gone. For a game that is being developed by a small team, the content that is in the game is incredibly polished. In the 50-odd hours I have played so far I haven't seen more than the occasional visual bug, and the servers have been totally smooth.

In closing, if you like long-term progression in a shared world with other players, give this game a shot.

I am looking forward to how the game develops throughout the remainder of its early access period, and beyond.