The journey to RuneScape: Dragonwilds ‘ 1.0 update has been long and arduous, akin to the early hours of the game itself, but one filled with rewarding experiences and nostalgic yet fresh encounters that make each step in Ashenfall worth taking.
RuneScape: Dragonwilds is an interesting game for me. As an old school RuneScape player, far removed from any of its modern iterations and as someone who typically isn’t a fan of the survival crafting genre, I still found myself drawn to the world of Dragonwilds. Thankfully, despite not being hugely into the survival crafting genre, I am a fan of the granddaddy of the genre, Minecraft. In many ways, RuneScape: Dragonwilds feels like the best elements of RuneScape imbued with the gameplay loop of Minecraft, or really, any modern survival crafting title worth its salt.
For the uninitiated, or for those whose idea of RuneScape lives and dies in a web browser, RuneScape: Dragonwilds is an ambitious leap forward for Jagex, giving players the brand-new continent of Ashenfall to explore. The ever-looming threat of dragons has reached its tipping point, as an adventurer on the shores of Ashenfall, you take it upon yourself to seek out and challenge the tyrannical Dragon Queen Kuldra.
There is a lot that stands between players and their showdown with the Queen, which culminates in a brand-new biome, the Scorned Wilderness area and a new raid-style dungeon. But I’m getting ahead of myself — RuneScape: Dragonwilds is a massive game, taking anywhere from 40 to 60 hours, depending on how laser-focused you are on pushing through its story content. Beyond that, as RuneScape: Dragonwilds is a crafting-heavy title, players can potentially spend hundreds of hours just rebuilding Ashenfall to their liking, thanks to the deep and rewarding crafting system that Jagex has refined.
The joy of RuneScape: Dragonwilds is its flexibility, blending traditional RPG action with a solid crafting and survival gameplay loop. If you’re more like me and prefer a focused experience with narrative beats, characters to meet and foes to vanquish, Dragonwilds delivers. From its refined and modern take on RuneScape’s combat, featuring a wealth of familiar weapon types, including swords, scimitars, daggers, staffs, wands, whips and various styles of bows, overlaid with distinctly RuneScape DPS numbers, returning players familiar with the MMORPG proper will feel right at home.
“RuneScape: Dragonwilds feels like the best elements of RuneScape imbued with the gameplay loop of Minecraft, or really, any modern survival crafting title worth its salt.”
Combat itself also feels varied and nuanced, with melee weapons offering a solid parrying system. At the same time, magic and ranged attacks benefit from various augments, including different runes and arrow types, both of which add a lot of depth and variety to your builds. Magic in particular, something I focused on during the latter half of my time with the game, felt wildly different (no pun intended) from my time as a poison dagger-wielding attacker, but even in contrast to other games, the ability to equip different runes made magic feel distinct, with each element changing up the attack pattern and AoE of various animations.
One of my favourite aspects of RuneScape proper that has seemingly carried over into RuneScape: Dragonwilds is how the game approaches your stats. Instead of being locked in or committing to a specific build, simply using your tool or weapon of choice will net you levels in that skill tree. Old memories of cutting yew logs and trapping lobsters returned as I spent my time between dungeons and monster-slaying, levelling up my skills in RuneScape: Dragonwilds.
If I had to nitpick, some of my only gripes with RuneScape: Dragonwilds stem from its early game, which can feel daunting at times, made worse by the lack of healing potions, something I’ve come to learn was removed during a prior update to the game. The game has hunger and thirst metrics that, when full, gradually heal your character when you’re not in combat, but this quickly falls apart in more challenging encounters. Eventually, more robust recipes can be unlocked via advanced cooking vessels, which alleviates this issue, but nevertheless, it makes the early game harder than it needs to be.
Pivotal moments in the game are similarly gate-kept by requiring very specific items, which in turn require unlocking a slew of crafting gear, something that might deter those looking for a pure roleplaying experience. Thankfully, playing with a group of friends can speed up the process and make it rather fun to tackle different elements of an otherwise daunting list of things to do, making it much more manageable.
“Old memories of cutting yew logs and trapping lobsters were rekindled as I spent my time between dungeons and monster slaying, levelling up my skills in RuneScape: Dragonwilds.”
RuneScape: Dragonwilds features a large and expansive world to explore, but thanks to its robust crafting system and in-game mounts, it can quickly be conquered, given time. Players can place loadstone teleporter panels almost anywhere they wish, if they have the materials to build them. It can feel immensely satisfying to finally map out a dangerous biome and claim it as yours by placing a convenient teleporter that takes you back to the safety of your home base.
Finally, on the topic of materials, Dragonwilds features a treasure trove of stuff to collect, with many of them being relegated to the many Vaults that litter the map. Vaults and Rifts act as the dungeons of the game, featuring often incredibly challenging levels and hazards that will test your skills.
One surprising element of RuneScape: Dragonwilds is its reliance on platforming and parkour, something I wasn’t expecting in a game of this genre. Many dungeons feature precarious platforming sections, including sprints and time-sensitive challenges that go beyond the scope of a typical survival-crafting experience. Interesting enemy variety and boss encounters bookend these harder areas, making most of them worthwhile and fun to conquer.
For my time with the game, I primarily stuck to the main story beats. Still, I did take the time to explore some side ventures, including a full-on Fight Club-style gauntlet in a sandy biome, which left me wanting to go back and explore some of the other side areas present in Jagex’s latest project. With full crossplay support with consoles and a roadmap ahead of new updates and content drops, RuneScape: Dragonwilds is an easy recommendation and a must-play for fans of the genre, or even RuneScape proper.
