New World: Aeternum is seemingly finding new life thanks to its console release, but the MMO from Amazon also simultaneously feels like it's left its existing player base behind at the same time, in many ways.
One glaring issue for me as I booted up on the Xbox Series X version earlier this week to start my full review was the fact that, in doing so, I was leaving my level 65 character on PC to wallow, left behind for higher server population and couch gaming.
But it really needn't be the case, as so many multiplayer games nowadays on console and PC offer a simple (in theory) solution: cross progression.
The lack of cross progression is less of an issue if you just started to play on console, picking up the MMO for the very first time. It really will only start to turn its ugly head if you ever decide to pick it up on PC, thus falling into the same predicament we long-time PC players find ourselves in: starting over.
As someone who has played since the 2021 launch, doing our review back at the initial start of New World's life, I still run the same Rapier-toting character I painstakingly leveled through that initial grind. I've taken this character through the Elysian Wilds, overcoming Artemis and the Angry Earth's plans, running elite chest runs and fighting mammoths with literal laser beams on their head.
Yet, when faced with the prospect of playing on console - which, as I spend more and more of my time sitting at my PC during the day the idea of lounging on my couch and just firing it up on my TV is so enticing - I was forced to make a choice: do I abandon that character I have dropped so many hours into, or do start over?
If you read my review in progress earlier this week, you'll note that it was done on the Xbox Series X, so I clearly started over. Yet this wasn't down to personally wanting a fresh start, but rather feeling as though reviewing the entire experience as a new player would, on console, was the best way to review this relaunch.
However, after spending about six hours playing last night, getting my first mount on the new character, becoming a Soulwarden, and grinding levels in life skills and my new favorite weapon, the Void Gauntlet, I started to grow frustrated at the frame rate buckling, especially as I helped defend Monarch's Bluff's fort in an influence race against the Marauder's and Syndicate (I went Covenant on this character, and still feel dirty about the decision). Running through a forest would present its own host of performance issues, while the FSR ghosting was starting to get too much for me on Xbox.
I longed to climb back into the familiar saddle of my level 65 character's mounts and race to the Cursed Mists, ready to get slaughtered by better PvP players. Or, at the very least, rush to my RTX 4090-powered PC, where framerate issues won't present themselves, and pick back up where I left off on Xbox.
Yet the lack of cross progression tied my hands, meaning that if I wanted to abandon the Xbox version, I would again be starting over - or at the very least, hopping onto a server that felt dead in comparison thanks to the lack of legacy characters being able to transfer to fresh start servers.
Another issue that makes the lack of cross progression as a long-time PC player is losing out on all the cosmetics and mounts I have purchased over the years if I decide to truly stick with console long-term. My favorite cosmetic, the Roman Legion armor released a few years back, isn't available to re-purchase as far as I can tell, and I'm missing out on weapon skins, housing items, and more I've unlocked and am now faced with paying for a second time should I decide to get them again.
I have to wonder where the decision to nix cross progression ultimately came from. Was it Microsoft or Sony, allowing cross-play but not progression? One of the most popular MMOs on the planet, Final Fantasy XIV, does this with ease and has since launch. Even forcing an Xbox-specific currency on the game when it launched earlier this year on Microsoft's platform didn't stop those servers from finally being hooked up. Warframe didn't start as a cross-play, cross progression game, but now has it across all platforms, including its iOS version. So it makes me think this was an Amazon decision more than anything else.
It's such an incredible experience hopping on my PlayStation 5 and playing my Red Mage in Final Fantasy XIV, and then swapping to my PC when I want a change of scenery, picking right up where I left off. Smashing through a mission in Warframe on my console and then running to a coffee shop to play more on my phone has helped me stay immersed in that world more than if I had to start over wherever I wanted to play next.
I think for many of us PC players who also own and play consoles, cross progression would be such a welcome addition - and could even see some long-time players buy console versions of Aeternum to keep their adventure going there. I completely understand and agree with the decision to not allow for server transfers from legacy servers to new ones, it's an easy way to ensure huge PC guilds don't simply roll into a server and lock down territory. But cross progression doesn't stop that from being in place, and it should be standard with these types of games, full stop, in my frank opinion.
It's a shame, too, as I am, by and large, really enjoying the overall experience. Questing flows much better than the original questlines ever did. I love the cinematic focus during dialogue scenes, and some of the quality-of-life changes, such as removing repair parts, which was a constant source of frustration for me in the early levels, have been great. I still wish ammo was in the MMO, but I understand the friction it caused and why it was removed the more I play without them.
As a result, I'm at a crossroads in my review playthrough. While I am really enjoying the heavy armored cleric build I've created with my new toon, I do wish it wasn't coming at the expense of my already established character - or at the very least, the flexibility to play the same character across platforms, like so many other games in the space allow nowadays. I'm really hoping Amazon revisits this down the road, though I'm sure that will have some incredibly unintended consequences and server woes to deal with should they do so. It simply makes the user experience better, in the end.
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