Staff Writer Paul "LockeColeMA" Cleveland dives into Perfect World Entertainment's latest free-to-play MMO. Is the game worth checking out? Read on to find out!

As my character progressed through the zone, more abilities were unlocked at each level. These could be upgraded at various class trainers along the way. Far past the tutorial zone I found that talents unlock at level 20, offering three separate talent trees to improve abilities further. For a vampire, these trees focused on either my blood (draining), fire or dark powers. The trees themselves seemed a bit bland, as most of the talents were “your X ability does Y% more damage,” but due to the large numbers from the very beginning of the game, you could see a 5% increase immediately.

By the end of the tutorial I was around level 11 and was transported directly to Freedom Harbor, one of the main cities of the game. Although it was incredibly overwhelming at first, Forsaken World guides players through their first city visit quite well. Although the storyline had me itching to get out into the world, exploring came first! I ended up not leaving the city until level 19 – everything in this game seems to give experience.

The game guided me to my first three jobs – botanist, alchemist and chef. Much like in most games, these jobs involve finding raw materials and/or turning them into useful items. As I mentioned before, Energy was used as a throttle on how many items could be collected during a day; in the same way, there is a limited amount of Vigor, which is used every time a potion is brewed or a meal is cooked. The job trainers also offer daily tutorials which award experience, job experience and useful items. The alchemy tutorial, for example, gave four drinks that immediately grant experience, but only a limited number can consumed in a day.

Another interesting repeatable quest series is “Life in the Harbor.” The quests are usually quick and easy to complete, and the first 10 done a day give increasing amounts of experience and coins. The quests can range from visiting the local library to listen to a history lesson, to scouting the city for potential targets to be attacked by the Storm Legion (main bad guys of the game), to killing a few enemies just outside the city gates. The experience rate is pretty ridiculous – just from this series I leveled from 12 to 16 in the space of about 15 minutes. After 10 turn-ins, the quest can be repeated again 20 more times a day, but for significantly lower rewards. According to the guild I joined, players can receive a title for completing the quest all three times several days in a row.

On that note, one of the best things I did while in Freedom Harbor was join a guild. Some of the quests are ambiguous, and even with the automatic routing and in-game pointers I was lost. For example, in the alchemy tutorial I didn't realize I had to place the ingredients in a pot; I asked my guild and they pointed out the obvious. They also gave me helpful hints, such as where to find a pet and what use was of the obsidian shards I received as free loot.

Actually, free loot is abundant at the beginning of Forsaken World. Starting at the beginning of the game, a player can pray four times a day. The first time I prayed, I received some beginner equipment in a box that contained a bunch of goodies like experience boosters, and a new box every five levels that had more free items. I have a sneaking suspicion that these items are very similar to the ones found in the cash shop in the game, as many of them expire after several days. If so, it seems like a genius idea – I'm not looking forward to having my mount disappear in three more days, and I'm already aching for additional bag space!

One final aspect to touch upon is pets. One of the early quests received in Freedom Harbor allows a player a choice of three pets; a middle-of-the-road pet, a DPS pet (wolf), and a tank pet (turtle). There is an entire line of methodology behind the pets and their stats that I wasn't quite able to grasp, but my wolf pet was a sizable DPS boost, his regular attack matching my auto-attack in power. Pets gain experience and level through fighting alongside their owner so, beside the minimal cost of feeding and healing them, they make great companions!

Before I knew it, I had managed to sink quite a bit of play time into a game I had almost judged before even trying; and I feel I've hardly even scratched the surface! Forsaken World also has instances for various sized groups and level ranges; PvP combat; a large achievement and title system; and several other jobs I have yet to unlock. I have a strong feeling that after level 30 the game will become much more of a grind and all of these dramatic experience gains will go from feeling like boosts to mandatory actions, but until then Forsaken World has enough to make me hope for an assignment for a follow-up article!

Paul Cleveland, Staff Writer