The Saga of Ryzom: Better Than Before, but is it Good Enough?

When The Saga of Ryzom first came out, it was unfinished, buggy and all in all, not a very good game. But since then, the producers of Ryzom have added content, fixed bugs, and polished up the game, making it a much more enjoyable experience. It is not as good as some of the more mainstream MMORPGs, like World of Warcraft and Everquest 2, and still has its problems, but Ryzom can now hold its own, both in storyline, and design.

Ryzom is an absolutely beautiful game. It s full of breathtaking landscapes, and the world of Atys is a lot of fun to explore. It also sounds great. There is no background music, except in cities, where the music fits perfectly with the cities. Instead, it fills its lands with natural ambience, with lots of wind through the trees, and animal noises. The sounds are not just a recorded sound loop, as nearby creatures also make sounds, which is helpful in the game, as monsters can tend to creep up on you unless you are listening. If you don't pay attention, then you are in for a surprise fight.

The battles in Saga of Ryzom are somewhat boring, one of the downfalls to the game. The fighting scheme, which uses actions and stanzas, a setup for actions, can be hard to learn, and the game has a somewhat steep learning curve. Quests are also fairly simple as all you do in most quests is get x amount of items from the y creature.

There are grand events, which reshape the world, and players have a direct hand in how it affects the world, which is a great system, and very interesting. The land of Atys has a great storyline, one of the best in MMORPGs, as there are hardly any games that let the players decide how the world is shaped. Not all of the events are good, and everyone has events that they dislike, but it is, all in all, a pretty good system.

Speaking of system, you will need a pretty good computer to witness the graphics I told you about. There is so much detail in Ryzom, that it can be a drain on your computer, if you do not have a fairly up to date computer to play Ryzom on. It doesn't require much to play at the minimum settings, but you may need to upgrade your graphics card to see it and its expansion at its full glory.

Ryzom has an expansion, Ryzom Ring, which they supply for free if you own Saga of Ryzom. Ryzom Ring allows players to create their own instances, and to let other players play in them. You can make it so the instances are available when you are online, or make a small payment to the company to make it available permanently. It allows you to make anything, from a big boss fight, to a deep dungeon, to a clearing for a wedding, if you so prefer. It is a very promising concept, and it is a lot of fun to do.

If you like running around in a beautiful landscape, and don't mind the few bugs, and the monotonous fighting, then you may enjoy the Saga of Ryzom. But, if you are picky, then you would probably prefer playing a game like World of Warcraft, or Everquest 2, instead. Ryzom may be better than it used to be, but it still has a ways to go if it wants to make it in the big leagues.