I never understood the appeal of the standard open world MMO formula until I played Guild Wars 2. My initial impression of the game was somewhat sour - after an hour and a half with my first character, playing solo, my experience was that Guild Wars 2 was nothing but a game where you run around, farm map events, complete often tedious sidequests, trudge through a story that has little depth, lament your lack of cool-looking armour, and wait for endgame before you're allowed to have fun. Perhaps it was silly of me to make this judgment based on the early solo experience - especially given that this is, critically, a multiplayer game - but that was years ago. Much later, I tried Guild Wars 2 again. A new character, with a different class, in a different starting zone, and this time in the company of a friend. This experience with Guild Wars 2's base game was a sheer delight. The story of Guild Wars 2 is expansive, adapting to player choice with a shocking amount of depth in fully voice-acted dialogue sequences. The lore of Guild Wars runs deep and complex, even where the plot is simplistic at best. The base game has sequences where the story is often boring, but it doesn't really matter. Guild Wars 2's cast of characters is incredibly lovable, and the game never takes itself too seriously. It's a refreshing departure from many of the other games I play. GW2 isn't trying to be an epic narrative or anything - it's trying to be a grand, fun, whimsical adventure, and through its free-form appproach to questing and exploration, as well as an almost overwhelming emphasis on open zone exploration, GW2 accomplishes what most modern MMOs don't - a sense of a journey. Though it's often janky and its gameplay is an acquired taste, Guild Wars 2 has quickly become one of my favourite games to play casually. The base game, as well as Living World Seasons 1 & 2 earn an 8/10 from me.