RuneScape: Dragonwilds
" Vibrant action-adventure RPG with addictive building and combat, but tedious survival mechanics "
RuneScape: Dragonwilds Review
RuneScape: Dragonwilds is an early access survival crafting game blending familiar elements from RuneScape with inspirations from popular survival titles like Valheim. Players praise its vibrant, colorful graphics and engaging building system with intuitive snapping mechanics. Combat, especially melee with its parry mechanics, is often described as challenging and somewhat "souls-like," though magic and ranged combat are currently underdeveloped. The game features a limited but atmospheric storyline with some memorable side quests, and cooperative play enhances the experience significantly.
However, the game suffers from various early access shortcomings. Players report frequent bugs, performance issues, and clunky mechanics such as constant eating and drinking requirements that disrupt gameplay flow. The dragon attacks, while intended to add tension, are often seen as annoying and poorly balanced. Content is limited, enemy variety is low, and the world feels small and repetitive. Many hope for more skills, spells, and quality-of-life improvements in future updates. Overall, it shows promise but needs substantial polish and additional content to fully shine.
Highlights
Players highly praise the colorful and vibrant graphics and the addictive building system that allows creative base construction anywhere. The melee combat with parry mechanics receives positive notes for its challenge and depth. The spell system, though limited, adds tactical variety, and the soundtrack and atmospheric world design enhance immersion. The storyline, while brief, includes engaging side quests that resonate emotionally with players. Multiplayer co-op is highlighted as a rewarding way to experience vaults and boss fights.
Criticisms
Common criticisms focus on the overly frequent need to eat and drink, which many find tedious and immersion-breaking. The dragon attacks are viewed as frustrating and unbalanced, often forcing players into limited building zones. Combat outside melee is underdeveloped, with magic and ranged skill trees missing. The game world is described as small and repetitive with limited enemy variety, reducing exploration appeal. Performance issues, including forced motion blur and bloom, cause visual discomfort. Additionally, animation locks in combat frustrate players, and the lack of pause function in solo mode is inconvenient. The overall content is sparse, leading to concerns about long-term engagement.
Pros
- • Vibrant and colorful graphics create a visually appealing world.
- • Addictive and intuitive building system with flexible placement.
- • Challenging melee combat with satisfying parry mechanics.
- • Spell system adds tactical depth and variety to gameplay.
- • Engaging and emotional side quests enhance story immersion.
- • Soundtrack and audio design effectively complement the atmosphere.
- • Co-op multiplayer enriches vaults and boss fight experiences.
Cons
- • Eating and drinking mechanics are overly frequent and tedious.
- • Dragon attacks are frustrating, unbalanced, and limit building zones.
- • Magic and ranged combat skill trees are missing and underdeveloped.
- • Game world is small with repetitive enemies and limited exploration.
- • Performance issues include forced motion blur and excessive bloom.
- • Combat suffers from animation locks causing player frustration.
- • Lack of pause function in single-player mode is inconvenient.
Rating Criteria
About This Game
Special Offer
About the Game
Locate them, throw down the gauntlet and carve your path to the Dragon Queen herself.
Your progress will be under constant threat from the looming shadow of the Dragons, as you level up, arm yourself and prepare to rise to face them. Follow the trail of destruction and uncover the mysteries of the continent to learn not just how to confront the dragons, but how to overcome them. Prepare potions, craft gear and level yourself up to do battle with the most powerful force on the continent. Make history, or become history. The smart money's on the dragon. But we do love an underdog!
Chop Trees! Shield yourself with runic energy! Turn bones into... peaches?
Journey through the vast, vibrant regions of Ashenfall and unveil the ruins of forgotten civilisations to discover why wild, transformative magic spills from its fractured lands. Explode ore veins with a snap of your fingers. Conjure a spectral axe to chop down a line of trees in an instant. The Anima-rich landscape of Ashenfall offers you a power unlike any other.
Embark on quests, level skills and wield runes to shape the world around you.
Explore a stunning, hand-crafted landscape ravaged by Anima. This all-new adventure blends High Fantasy, light RPG elements, and iconic RuneScape lore into a never-before-seen continent. Venture into a land hidden since time immemorial, uncover ancient secrets, and battle legendary RuneScape creatures alongside entirely new foes like the fearsome Garou. Prepare to face a world filled with mystery, danger, and unforgettable encounters.
As with all RuneScape games, community is at the heart of everything we do.
RuneScape: Dragonwilds is being shaped by player feedback every step of the way, from alpha through to 1.0 and beyond! The expansive continent of Ashenfall remains uncharted, and what lies beyond the veil is still a mystery… for now. Together, we’ll uncover its secrets. Our community will continue to help build and guide our roadmap, a living document that will change and adapt to make this adventure the best it can be. We can't wait!
RuneScape: Dragonwilds started Alpha testing in late 2024, and is launching into Early Access in Spring 2025. From here, our humble team of heroes is developing the project with player feedback at the very core.
This Steam Early Access game is currently not a finished game and may or may not change significantly over the course of development. To learn more about Steam Early Access, please visit the Steam Early Access FAQs.
On RuneScape’s forgotten continent of Ashenfall, dragons have awoken. Gather, build, skill and craft to survive in this co-operative (1-4) survival crafting game. Only by mastering survival and uncovering ancient secrets can they hope to slay the Dragon Queen—alone or with allies.