Hello! Over the next few days we’re going to be going back over some of our favourite games and moments and themes and whatnot from this very strange year. We hope you enjoy looking back with us!
Maybe I’m getting old (or just slower) but it wasn’t New World’s rather thrilling and actually challenging combat that kept me coming back for more – it was poking around at bushes and boulders that did it for me.
You see, New World rewards crafting and sourcing materials with experience. Other games do similar things, but it’s a bit more noticeable with Amazon’s MMORPG. Completing quests is better, of course, but I didn’t find that gripping. Having spent too many years (decades!) completing overly familiar quests, I fancied crafting and being overwhelmed with options.
Because of all this, exploring the world of New World is incredibly distracting. You’ll start heading towards a quest location then realise there are a bunch of boulders nearby that you could hack away at, gain some resources, then pick up some experience along the way. Once you stop, you realise there’s a copse nearby – ohh, plenty of trees to chop down! Then there are herbs, a small pond to collect some water. Wait, what was I doing? Ohh yeah, that quest. Anyway, I think I saw an interesting source of ore nearby.
As someone who likes to feel like they’ve found ‘everything’ (don’t let me near Minecraft), New World is a never-ending supply of distractions. And you know what? It’s incredibly relaxing because of it. So I don’t care about the quests or particularly about levelling up either. I hear there are some amazingly vast battles within the community, but I’ve got some herbs to collect.