TarisLand – Review

My early impressions on the release of the cross-play MMORPG TarisLand… Have you ever found yourself longing for the thrill of World of Warcraft, only to remember that you have to pay a full box price and an subscription on top? Then once you are inside, you feel super overwhelmed with all the new systems, not sure where to get started, a mess of an outdated UI, not sure which addon you need? or just simply because you are far behind and can’t really catch-up because BIS gear is gate-locked behind weekly vaults or raids?

Enter TarisLand, literally a rip of World of Warcraft that completely dumbed down the system; to really add the icing on the cake, it even has cross platform play for both Android and IOS.

Whether you’re a seasoned MMORPG veteran or a newcomer to the genre, let’s see if TarisLand is worth playing?

Gameplay

★★☆☆☆

At its heart, TarisLand draws no new gameplay that this genre hasn’t seen before or rarely sees, it is core to core as simple and as common as it gets. Dailys, Weeklys, Dungeons, Raids, Infinite Climbing Towers, PVP, questing, puzzles, exploration, achievements; the game really does have it all.

It only gets a 2 stars from me simply due to, the system itself doesn’t’ do much to explain what it does. Heck, even after a few days of playing for countless hours. I still have no idea what half of what anything really means. What is Omni, what is Combo attack, what is sped up.. the question just keeps going and there no answers to be found at all.

Gameplay Experience

Despite not understanding half of what anything is really doing, the system does work, teh game does play, monsters and players do die. At the end, the game still has the following

• Classes & Combat: TarisLand has nine classes, each with two talent trees, allowing for role flexibility. Combat is action-based, emphasising skill combos and rotations.
  • Gender & race locked classes, except Mage and Paladin which both allows you to pick it’s gender.
• World Exploration: Players can explore a vast world with four maps, engaging in side quests and puzzles. There are options to fly and mount for traversal.
• Leveling System: Leveling is capped daily to help players catch up easily. Endgame content includes dungeons, raids, and world bosses for gear and currency.
• Crafting & Economy: A crafting system is in place, along with various shops selling gear, materials, and cosmetics. Players earn different currencies through activities.
• PvP Modes: The game features battlegrounds, arenas, and massive battles, with rewards and rankings for competitive play.

In summary, TarisLand isn’t just a substitute for World of Warcraft, far from it. It is meant for a lot more casual play, “jump in, jump out” type of game, no real long term commitment. At the very least, that’s the feeling I get from playing since launch.

Cash Shop

★★★☆☆

I want to say TarisLand cash shop is non-p2w but it isn’t. It’s as pay-to-win as one would get. Despite there nothing to win currently as everyone level cap is only at 35, there isn’t much you can do with the additional gold you get from swiping. However, because the option exist, it is pay to win as in the future, the game would progress where you can just simply buy powerups from the trade shop via the cash shop gold you purchase. Further, the game offers also offers the notorious infamous gacha (Reward of Destiny) form for cosmetics, making it even more annoying to get what you want if that particular cosmetics is in the gacha shop only. From the Prize Pool Chance, it only states that Reward of Destiny which is the gacha, only provides cosmetics which is a W in that sense.

Cash Shop is more or less about the cosmetics and you making your character yours truly, such as Kart part customisation, outfits, emotes & emojis or other goodies that doesn’t affect your game play in other way. While I did mention there are some pay to win such as buying character or karts directly off the cash shop.

Battle Pass

The game also has a battle pass, and it is a great way to gain access to lots of loot over time and is especially worth it for players who are invested in playing Tarisland regularly. It’s designed to enhance the gaming experience by providing rewards that align with the player’s progression and dedication to the game.

• Two Tracks: The battle pass has two tracks: a free track called Hero’s Gift and a premium track known as Destiny’s Gift.
• How to Access: Players can access the battle pass by selecting the banner icon near the top right corner of the screen in the game interface.
• Cost: The premium track can be unlocked for $21.99, which offers additional and better rewards compared to the free track.
• Rewards: Both tracks provide a variety of loot, including Silver Coins, Vigor Potions, Lucky Coins, and more.
• Unlocking Features: Some features of the game, including the battle pass, are locked until you progress through the main story. So, you’ll need to advance in the storyline to unlock the ability to purchase the battle pass.
• Value: The premium version of the battle pass is particularly valuable for those who play often, as it rewards players with items that can enhance their character’s power, which results in, pretty much pay to win.

State of Game

★★★★☆

Currently, TarisLand just released on the 21st June 2024 making it not a week only during this review. This is the time where the game is booming with players trying it out for the first time. Also the best time to start any new MMORPG. You might remember World of Warcraft Day 1 horror clips where you are either stuck in a 10,000+ queue or once you waited hours in queue and log in just to disconnect. None of that is currently present in TarisLand. The game server is quite stable and haven’t had a disconnect since launch.

This game took the MMORPG world by storm in the late 2023 but since then, TarisLand has fully launched with servers available in North America, South America, Europe, Eastern Europe, and Asia and had no reports of server downtime or major issues since the launch, indicating a smooth roll out for the game. To top it off, there is no known exploits so far causing the economy to crash (talking about you New World).

While the game is only on Apple’s IOS, Google Play and their own PC Launcher, it is not quite possible to estimate it’s population, but if we take the Downloads for IOS & Google Play, the game had at least 1 million players at one point playing.

Artwork

★★★☆☆

While, I am not a super fan of the artstyle of TarisLand but it still good enough to not deter me away from playing. My preferred game art style would be something going all in like Black Desert Online or Thrones and Liberty, or the cutest Maplestory pixels.

Fun

★★★★☆

TarisLand has captured the essence of MMORPG day 1 fun for me. While the game isn’t complex at all, I personally had simple, mindless fun the last few days, whether it was doing Dungeons, Raids or battleground PVP with randoms from matchmaking or guildies. To me, that is simply just worth playing as it is delivering the thrills of an MMORPG. Although, if I we had to be honest, it is not a game I would play long term, nor invest in. If you are looking into something long term, I would whole heartily suggest looking into Guild Wars 2; despite having a paid DLC model, it would be a much more worthwhile investment for progression and cosmetics needs with a more fine polished combat. However, as of what it is now, TarisLand is fun and it is worth playing.