Respawn Monday #19: RunScape Dragonwilds isn’t Blowing Me Away

It’s October, and I would like to mark the spooky month as more of a survival builder month. Yes, the new Call of Duty is on the way, and other titles have been jammed thanks to the monster that is Grand Theft Auto 6, but there’s a handful of new survival building open-world games now fully out, and one of them is RuneScape: Dragonwilds, a game that I’m struggling to fully get into compared to how I felt when playing the 1.0 version of Palworld. It’s a fun game, but it’s a slow burn in the first 10 hours, especially when you are playing alone and on the highest possible difficulty. Some thoughts.

Dragonwilds, Alone, and Fighting for My Life

My first playthrough and the struggles I’m facing are self-inflicted, as this game’s Hard mode makes enemies swarming you a clear threat to your survival. As I was learning the ropes, I was targeted by raiding Goblin parties and a dragon that shoots poisonous flames towards my direction if I’m out in the open and visible. It’s weirdly satisfying to have this much pressure as I build my little home near the game’s starting point.

It’s a fun tough game, but it has its cons, as long journeys that result in a death can be discouraging when you have to travel back to where you died to retrieve your gear. An expected outcome when you die in games like this, but it feels more painful considering there aren’t fast travel points everywhere like Palworld and other games like it, at least in the starting area. This adds a bit more pressure when pushing into the unknown.

Dragonwilds has the same bells and whistles you’d expect from a good survival game. Building so far is easy to control and manage with a controller and mouse, plus they have features that make it easier to manage all the items you gather in your journeys.

As the difficulty stares at me each time I dare to do something new, I see my character slowly growing with each activity I do. If I chop down trees for wood, I level up my woodworking, which eventually gives me unique spells and perks for reaching certain levels. The same goes for mining, fishing, melee fighting, and even sprinting. Just being active and doing anything pushes you forward to a level up, which is how it should be as that’s what RuneScape is known for.

The original game has people grinding specific specialties like farming and such, making their character one of its many specialties. In a way, RuneScape is the same way, as you can focus on one over the other, but with me as a solo player, I’m forced to do almost everything, pushing me to simply be the jack of all trades.

It starts to make me wonder how the game will feel with other players by your side. With a group, one might chop wood more than you, or another might spend more time cooking for the group. Naturally, roles are assigned based on the time spent on them, making me think that the nature of the game’s progression just delivers two completely different experiences.

Which is better? In a game like RuneScape: Dragonwilds, that doesn’t really matter much, as the beauty of games like these is that you can tackle them any way you want.

The Future Feels Scary

I’m over 10 hours in, and it feels like a slow crawl, as going out feels like a risk in itself. I love the challenge, and those that look for a more punishing open-world survival game might get a kick out of this. I tackled my first dungeon yesterday, and it took so much out of me and the resources I brought over. I can’t even imagine how much preparation will be needed to fight the bosses or even the raid content available in the game.

I won’t research what’s out there for me, as I enjoy the mystery of it all. I’m curious about how in-depth the game will become as I get access to new zones. Will it be a complete chore tackling any of the future dungeons alone? How much of the gameplay will change in the next tier of weaponry and armor? Repetition kicking in feels like a genuine worry this early on.

I have this feeling that what I’ve played so far won’t change much based on what I saw in each skill tree available, but I will continue to give this a shot, as this is yet another successful early access title that launched not looking like a barebones alpha title.

As far as comparing this with other recent titles in the same genre, this isn’t giving me the same feeling as Palworld during my time with the 1.0 version, as that game had me spending hours on it with the need to keep going. Dragonwilds doesn’t have that appeal. The small wins aren’t enough to push me to keep playing, as I felt the need to take a break.

But it’s a great month for the genre, as we have Enshrouded’s 1.0 release just around the corner, and Valheim was updated to its full release last month. With Dragonwilds and even Palworld’s full release, there are so many survival games just waiting to be played, as each of the recently released titles launched not half-baked. If Enshrouded launches in the same manner, it’s clearly a good year for the genre, as there is a lot to love in either of the titles mentioned.

How was your weekend?

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About the Author - Carlos Hernandez

Carlos Hernandez is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Too Much Gaming, where he writes about video games, reviews, and industry news. A lifelong gamer, he would do anything to experience Final Fantasy Tactics for the first time again and has a love/hate relationship with games that require hunting for new gear to improve your character.