RuneScape: DragonWilds Review (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, & PC)

RuneScape has been many gamers’ sweet indulgence for so many years now. Since the franchise initially launched in 2001, it has garnered a loyal following of fans of its magical, fantasy world full of rewarding skill progression. The RuneScape universe has grown immensely over the years, with so many quests, combat, and commerce across its open-world. It’s retro fantasy in MMORPG fashion, with deep lore spanning a multiverse of gods, goblins, fairies, and so much more. Runes is the resource that makes this world go round, powering spells, armor, equipment, and traversal. And we’ll see how many of these traditions translate into the upcoming RuneScape: DragonWilds in both subtle and direct ways that should make long-term fans and newcomers alike pretty pleased. 

So, what’s this new game all about? Well, it’s a survival crafting game, for starters. It wouldn’t be fair to compare it to the recently launched Valheim, but the two games operate in extensively similar ways. You start with barely anything remotely useful in your inventory and loadout, and through exploration, crafting, and building, you gradually expand your toolsets and abilities to empower you to conquer the world. In this case, to defeat the dragons that dominate this world, led by the revered dragon queen, Kuldra. Before the dreaded battle against Kuldra, though, you’ll test your mettle against weaker enemies and bosses. You’ll forage for resources that sustain your health, hunger, and ultimate survival across increasingly dangerous regions of the expansive open-world of Ashenfall.

All the basics aside, is the actual playthrough enjoyable? Will you instantly be impressed by the visual quality, the responsiveness of the controls, how your exploration journey evolves, and the resources and abilities that become available to you as you progress? I’ll cover all these and more in the RuneScape: DragonWilds review below.

Versus Dragon Queen

The gameplay structure in RuneScape: DragonWilds is simple enough to understand. You build, craft, and survive the forgotten continent of Ashenfall, which is set in the fantasy world of Gielinor. Although the lore borrows from the larger RuneScape universe, the gameplay here is survival and crafting your way through quests. You can approach the game on your own terms, picking a direction and taking on whatever the game throws at you. Or you can rely on the somewhat structured playthrough that the NPC quests give you. See, RuneScape: DragonWilds actually has an end goal, which is to defeat the ultimate dragon queen boss, Kuldra. And before that, it gives you manageable objectives like gathering certain resources, crafting equipment, building a shelter, and soon, your activities will strengthen your skills and gear enough to defeat Kuldra. 

I much prefer structure, especially in survival crafting games like these that will easily take hundreds of hours if I’m not careful to plan my next moves. And the open-world truly is a beauty. It’s a vibrant palette of lush greenery, shimmering waters, and clear, blue skies. It’s filled with lots of resources, mining ores, wood, silver, and rune stones, which you actively seek out and farm. Or hunt the chickens, deer, and go fishing. Back at your base, you’ll use your resources to build a shelter. No pressure at all to make it the most impressive structure or castle, but the fundamental rules of construction do apply. Plus, it’s pretty fun to build something from scratch that you can entirely call your own and bring to life from pure imagination. The building systems in RuneScape: DragonWilds will surely support whatever crazy ideas you might have in simple enough ways.

Ashenfall Rules

See, there are already so many activities I’ve already mentioned that you can get up to in Ashenfall. And that’s barely scratching the surface of all that you can get up to. Farming is a great way to bring the resources you head to faraway places closer to you. Mining and fishing, though, may require multiple trips to get what you need. And your storage and inventory space can run out. However, you can always unlock more storage space. One thing to note in Ashenfall is that the map is static. This means that the mining and fishing spots you locate will remain where they are on future trips. When other players log in to the game, they will explore the same map with the regions and points of interest similar to yours. Rather than Valheim’s procedurally generated world, RuneScape: DragonWilds is hand-crafted.

I can see how that might be an issue for you if you prefer to discover the map freely, running into surprises every time you head out. Yet, I didn’t quite mind that I always knew where to get more ores or gems whenever I needed them. I also appreciate that gathering resources isn’t especially taxing. Survival crafting games can send you on wild goose chases. You may never have enough of what you need. Here, though, I always had enough to feel motivated to go on, whether exploring, crafting, or building. Speaking of, what joy it is to craft new equipment and build. 

It All Counts

Your resources will enable you to craft higher-tier equipment, which you need to fight the stronger enemies of newly unlocked regions. That’s another progression element in RuneScape: DragonWilds, where new regions offer a tougher set of new enemies to defeat. But those regions also unlock a better set of resources to farm and mine. It’s also exciting to unlock new regions because they often add a new flavor profile to Ashenfall. From scorching deserts to stormy areas, the regions you unlock are varied in atmosphere and detail. Every new region, though, is a new challenge on its own. So, it’s kind of like starting again from scratch, strengthening your tools and abilities. But something else I appreciate in RuneScape: DragonWilds is that everything you do makes you better.

Nothing is wasted, your efforts, your time. Essentially, the activities that you enjoy doing will result in getting better at doing them. And it isn’t just in the major elements like combat, but also nitty-gritties like fishing and sprinting. RuneScape fans should be aware of this rewarding progression style, though. It’s been a godsend to always feel like you’re working toward a goal. While on this feature, though, I’d like to talk about the runes as well. The resource that powers nearly everything that you do. It’s a magical resource, and so it powers your magical attacks against enemies. And that’s all well and good, but RuneScape: DragonWilds is especially unique in the way you can use runes to power typically mundane survival crafting tasks like felling trees and harvesting.

A Better Way

There are so many magical spells that you can unlock in RuneScape: DragonWilds, and they help you do so many cool stuff. They automate manual processes, enabling you to chop down multiple trees at the same time. They help you mine resources much quicker and even teleport. But are there cons to take note of?

Small Bump in the Road

Combat, firstly, is a mixed bag. It can be exciting, especially against the towering dragon bosses that could make you piss your pants. You have the fundamentals of a tight combat system intact. Melee, ranged, and elemental attacks make up your offense toolsets, and dodges and parries are your defenses. Attacks drain stamina, which you can regain with successful parries. You have meters that track special attacks. These are all balanced pretty well. So, you can experiment and find the play styles that work for you. Archers, sword slashers, whatever you decide should serve you well. The issue is that it can get pretty repetitive, especially against the weaker enemy fodder. But the larger enemy pool could use a larger variety of attacks. 

Combat should feel fun and exciting. It should make you want to actively seek out enemies. The addition of dungeons could have been the place to introduce more enemy variety. Unfortunately, dungeons can feel repetitive as well. They have traps as well, and reward you with resources. However, it just doesn’t feel motivating to actively clear dungeons and initiate enemy encounters.

Verdict 

Yet, even with my reservations about the combat system, RuneScape: DragonWilds is still a most enjoyable survival crafting experience to consider. It simply nails a consistently rewarding progression formula that keeps you wanting more. Everything you do in Ashenfall counts toward something, whether it’s making you better at mining, farming, crafting, or building. Every time you head out to explore, you know you’ll complete objectives and return with resources that unlock higher-tiered equipment or, better yet, new areas to explore. And the new areas come with their distinct enemies, resources, and equipment. But it’s also not a haphazard working your way up toward an unclear goal. In fact, you’ll find a somewhat clear path toward your ultimate goal, which is to defeat the dragon queen, Kuldra. How you get there varies from player to player, of course. But it’s nice to know that there’s an end goal.