The new RuneScape: Dragonwilds doesn’t feel too far removed from the 2001 classic, and might even be what RuneScape could have been.
By Erik Hodges
RuneScape originally became available to players as a browser game in 2001. Quickly soaring in popularity, the MMORPG (one of the earliest at that) is often cited as being the favorite of many in the vast and competitive market, due in large part to the game’s unique sense of community and its genre-defying gameplay. Though RuneScape has simmered down in popularity over the years, especially after an unsuccessful remake, its legacy remains in the minds of its over 300 million total players. With RuneScape: Dragonwilds ghost dropping recently, many nostalgic RuneScape players have found themselves with a renewed love for the franchise and its new title. Playing it myself has brought me to the conclusion that RuneScape: Dragonwilds is what classic RuneScape wanted to be, but the technology simply wasn’t there yet.
To reach the same conclusion I did, you first have to be familiar with what RuneScape was and what RuneScape: Dragonwilds is.
RuneScape was like many other MMORPGs when it released back in 2001; the game featured a large world to explore, with a progressive quest chain that allowed players to engage with the story and worldbuilding of its medieval fantasy setting Gielinor. For players who wanted the typical MMORPG playstyle of questing, killing progressively stronger enemies, and earning new and better gear, it was very much a possibility in RuneScape.
Where RuneScape really stood out was how it handled gameplay and player progression. In most MMORPGs, you begin the game with a single class, and must gain experience points to level up, done most easily by completing quests. Progression in these games, generally speaking, was very straightforward, especially at the time.
In RuneScape however, rather than a class, you had 29 skills (19 available to non-premium players). While some of these skills covered combat, most of them involved crafting, gathering, and other professions that weren’t necessarily needed for a typical adventure. Each of these skills were leveled up by using the skill, and players were never forced to do any quest or play the game in any one style. With the ability to play as purely a chef, a fisherman, or a smith, RuneScape was essentially an open-world crafting game with several optional professions, or skills, for players to unlock.
When you really think about it, RuneScape transitioning into the world of open-world survival crafting feels like the most natural thing in the world. It’s no surprise, then, that RuneScape: Dragonwilds, a game that is literally just the RuneScape IP in the survival craft genre, proved itself to be so popular, instantly upsetting the incredibly popular Blue Prince in Steam’s trending and popular games tabs. It feels as if RuneScape was always meant to be an open-world survival-crafting game, and it just didn’t have the technology to do so.
Still don’t believe me? Let’s go over the gameplay in RuneScape: Dragonwilds. It is still an open-world RPG, with players starting in a church and being given free control of the world as they see fit, with an overarching questline available for those who wish to participate in it. TDragonwilds still features the same skill system from RuneScape, although many skills have been condensed to broader-covering skills. Everything you could do in RuneScape you can do in RuneScape: Dragonwilds, except maybe dance for gold at the Grand Exchange; the game’s Early Access state currently doesn’t allow for servers greater than 4 players.
What’s new in RuneScape: Dragonwilds? Beyond enhanced combat and magic gameplay, the game also features hunger and thirst mechanics, expanded crafting and gathering, and the ability to build structures. All features that, I promise you, would have been highly lauded if they were present in old-school RuneScape. Each of these mechanics feels like a natural progression to what RuneScape already had to offer, rather than a drastic change to what the game was.
When you compare the two titles, RuneScape: Dragonwilds doesn’t feel too far removed from its predecessor. I often found myself ruminating on the thought that RuneScape: Dragonwilds might as well have just been called RuneScape 2. Looking at the game as a full on remaster of the original RuneScape experience, including much of what the game was and expanding on it with mechanics that feel utterly natural to the old gameplay, makes RuneScape: Dragonwilds feel all the more special. It’s like the amazing game from my childhood has finally grown up alongside me.
Get access to exclusive stories on new releases, movies, shows, comics, anime, games and more!
By signing up, you confirm that you have read and agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge our Privacy Policy.
