Stepping into the universe of Tarisland for the first time was an exciting prospect. I’m a die-hard World of Warcraft and Rift player, and I’d be the first to admit that I need to branch out more when it comes to picking my MMORPG titles.
Upon first glance, Tarisland looked like an intriguing foray into the fantasy MMORPG subgenre, promising vibrant regions, intricate content, and memorable characters. Featuring colorful graphics that are suited to both PC and mobile, it’s certainly been an experience so far.
I’m currently halfway through my official review of Tarisland, with multiple characters nearing the level cap. Here’s a summary of the good, the bad, and the ever-so-familiar in Tarisland.
The Good
For my review, I decided to play Tarisland on PC, as I feel it works best for an MMORPG experience. While the MMO does seem to need very frequent updates, it’s been running well on my middling PC and hasn’t thrown up any specific bugs or glitches other than a few misshapen text boxes or slow dialogue pieces.
In fact, the overall performance has been positive. The game aesthetic is very stylized, but each area that I’ve explored so far has had plenty of detail and depth to it. The combat animations are engaging, too, as it’s clear the game artists put a lot of thought into them.
The mobile-oriented game style was immediately apparent when I hopped into the character creation screen for the first time. This isn’t a bad thing by any means, but it certainly was interesting seeing “Tap to Skip” on a myriad of repeated character introduction cutscenes while playing the game on PC.
There’s a decent selection of classes to pick from when building characters in Tarisland. You’ve got your standard classes like Mages, Priests, and Rangers, along with uncommon picks like Bards and Phantom Necros.
For a balanced review experience, I decided to simultaneously level up a Mage, a Phantom Necro, and a Paladin.
Each class I’ve tried so far feels distinctly different, with its own fighting techniques and memorable aesthetics. The character creation screen has some interesting customization options, too.
As someone who adores completionist content and collecting aesthetic items like mounts, I was very pleased to see a detailed achievements tab and plenty of interesting outfits, mounts, and pets to pick up. There’s a fair chunk of paid content, but there’s enough to engage with as a free-to-play user that I didn’t feel put off by it.
Overall, the introduction to the game felt easy and accessible. There was nothing that I felt particularly challenged by as a gamer with a very standard level of ability, which can be a good or a bad thing, depending on your gameplay preference. The combat is approachable, navigation is easy, and the visuals are clean.
The Bad
Speaking of the introduction to the game, though, there’s still much to be desired with the character customization process. It would’ve been great to have more options for races when picking out classes, as the classes are all tied to a specific character type. Why can’t there be an elven Barbarian, for example, or a human Bard?
Characters from different cultures are a hugely important element of fantasy games, as they can help to flesh out the wider world and provide better context to important lore points or quests as you explore the world. Tarisland is lacking here.
The gender-locking of classes was frustrating to see, too. Some classes let you pick which gender you’d like your character to be, but others are tied to a specific gender for no apparent reason. I’d love to play as a guy and be a Priest, but unfortunately, that’s just not possible.
In terms of replay value, I’ve already found the process of leveling up multiple characters to be somewhat monotonous, especially since I did the first 10 levels for each toon back to back.
The game opened up significantly after level 16, though.
It’s still somewhat linear, but I’ve found the middle game much more enjoyable than the frankly repetitive introductory stage to the game.
While there’s sure to be some repetition when it comes to introductory content, I was surprised at the lack of dedicated class content or variation in the early game. I adore creating alts in most MMORPG titles, and I’m very used to grinding out content, but I was on autopilot by the time I got my third character through the introductory Blight Dragon fight.
I’ve mentioned how the zones in Tarisland feel rich and detailed - I wish the story felt just as good. Fantasy MMORPGs are, in my opinion, carried by their quests and lore, especially in the earlier stages of the game, and I’ve not been overwhelmingly impressed by the story so far.
I must clarify that I don’t mean the quest design here, though. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the wide variety of quest types - ranging from stealthy sniping missions to intricate puzzles.
The story itself isn’t overwhelmingly engaging, as it leans very heavily on standard fantasy tropes. It’s fine enough, but currently, Tarisland isn’t a game that I’d recommend for lore-driven players. It’s possible this could change as I get closer to endgame content, though.
The Familiar
Standard fantasy fare is how I’d currently describe Tarisland based on my experience up to the point of writing this progress review.
There hasn’t been much that’s stood out to me as unique or particularly Tarisland-flavored, although this may be due to the fact that I spend a lot of time immersed in fantasy MMORPG content. It is a busy genre, after all.
It’s hard to write this without drawing at least a few comparisons to World of Warcraft, which is sure to be the bane of every fantasy MMORPG developer’s existence at this point. There have been some standalone, creative moments, but there have also been combat encounters, Dungeons, and lore snippets which felt very reminiscent of the MMO behemoth.
All in all, I’ve had a decent time playing through Tarisland but I’m unsure if I’ll return to it in a major way after I’ve finished my review.
I’m hopeful about the endgame content, though, as the Dungeons have been fun, and it’s possible that endgame PvE content could add to my final score for this game. Questing is fine enough, and I’ve not tried PvP yet, but the PvE absolutely carries the title currently, with some unique themes and fun boss battles.
Make sure to check back in here in a week or so - I should have three max-level characters with plenty of endgame content under their belt and plenty more stories to tell about the sprawling plains of Tarisland.
