I’ve played a lot of fantasy survival-crafters in my time, and while they all have their little hooks and quirks, there isn’t often that much to tell them apart besides how their build mechanics work and the setting they exist within. Sadly, Runescape Dragonwilds does little to break out of this mould, and despite offering a solid, genuinely enjoyable experience, it still doesn’t quite stand on the same podium tier as Valheim or Enshrouded.
It follows your hapless adventurer, stranded on a dragon-haunted island with a group of heroes who came to slay the dragons but ended up shipwrecked instead. They’ve established a base of operations, and put you to work doing the things they could quite easily be doing themselves.
You’ll work your way through five different biomes, each one requiring you to restart the central grind almost from scratch until you’re tough enough to tackle the main boss and move on. It being a survival crafter, Dragonwilds is heavy on both, constantly placing you in mortal danger and forcing you to hunt and gather what you need to get better. Each new area has special resources, for example, but you’ll need to work up to crafting the necessary tools to forage for them.
On the surface, it’s pretty per for the genre. You have hunger, thirst and exhaustion meters, and your early gear breaks to a stiff breeze. The onus is on constantly trying to learn new recipes and gather new resources, while also learning to use magic and getting to grips with the combat which, while not initially tough, soon becomes pretty challenging. Stamina based parry and dodge fare is all well and good, but there’s something about the way Dragonwilds moves that makes any fight against more than one or two enemies a real pain. You’re not smooth or fast enough to juggle multiple combatants at once, and when the enemy density is as high as it becomes after just a few hours, it can feel a little overly harsh.
While the building is simple enough, I couldn’t get on with the menus on controller. I can’t understand why this stuff isn’t just standardised yet, but the menus in Runescape: Dragonswilds are fiddly on a controller, picking stuff up and moving it instead of just being able to click on a thing to interact with it.
What I do like is the progression system, which borrows a little from The Elder Scrolls play book and levels up skills as you use them. So run around a lot and you’ll get better at it, chop down trees and you’ll develop an affinity for it, etc. It’s the same with combat, crafting, and casting; the more you do something, the better you become at it, unlocking new perks and benefits as you play.
This makes the very act of getting stronger feel organic and natural, as your character will bend towards your playstyle with little extra effort. It’s a superb system that slots into the survival-crafter mould so smoothly that it’s a wonder they don’t all do it. It also means that even when the game starts to get tougher (and it does), your playstyle will help you come to terms with the added challenge.
As with most games of this type, the good stuff comes late. As you progress across the land and face tougher foes and obstacles, you’ll unlock and craft better gear, you’ll tame mounts and bend the world to your will somewhat, all of which adds up to a stronger late game after a slightly uninspired start. Playing with others, of course, adds an element of teamwork and camaraderie, which can always elevate such experiences, but I find the appeal of braving the world as a lone hero more enticing.
However you choose to play Runescape: Dragonwilds, it’s clear that Jagex are assembling another forever-game here, and wants you to invest your time and fall in love with the pretty, deadly world they’ve created. If you can get to grips with the slightly clunky and punishing combat, there’s a massive, colourful and interesting land to tame. Unless the dragons get you first, of course.
