4STORY : The Original Review Summary

Evokes strong nostalgic feelings: The game evokes strong feelings of nostalgia, particularly for players who enjoyed the original release. Many players are returning, drawn back by the memories and the opportunity to relive the experience with friends. This nostalgia contributes significantly to the game's current appeal and enjoyment.

Accessible free-to-play experience: The game allows players to acquire good equipment and participate in battlegrounds without spending real money. This free-to-play aspect is a significant positive, making the game enjoyable and accessible to a wider audience. The absence of pay-to-win mechanics is a key factor in player satisfaction.

Fair and balanced gameplay: The game's battlegrounds are free of hackers, and players are not rushing through content with fully upgraded gear. This suggests a balanced and fair gameplay environment, where progression is more organic and less prone to exploitation.

Optional paid upgrades available: The game allows players to support it by purchasing upgrades with real money and rewards for the wishlist were distributed. This indicates a system where players can contribute to the game's development and receive benefits in return.

Visually appealing skill updates: The game features visually appealing graphical updates to skills. This enhances the overall aesthetic experience and contributes to a more immersive and enjoyable gameplay.

Buggy, laggy, and heavily P2W: The game suffers from poor optimization, numerous bugs, and significant lag, making it feel like a downgrade from the original. Additionally, aggressive pay-to-win mechanics create an unfair advantage, diminishing the experience for non-paying players and undermining the game's fairness.

Excessive auto-play features: The game features extensive auto-play mechanics, such as auto-walking and simplified combat, reducing player interaction and making the gameplay feel shallow and automated. This shift towards automation trivializes questing and diminishes the depth of the game.

Overcrowded channels hinder progress: The game suffers from a lack of channels, leading to overcrowding in certain areas and making it difficult to complete quests or level up. This issue is compounded by the high player volume on the server.

Deviations from original version: The game deviates from the original version by including features like all skills unlocked from the start and the presence of a third faction. This alters the gameplay experience and may disappoint players seeking a faithful recreation of the original game.

Useless, unsellable item drops: Items dropped by monsters are essentially useless because they cannot be sold to NPCs for money and are rarely useful to the player. This makes item acquisition feel unrewarding.

Level cap is currently 80: The game's initial level cap is 80, suggesting a focus on long-term progression and potential for future content updates that raise the cap further. This provides players with a clear goal to work towards and anticipation for future challenges.

Deadly early game enemies: Early game enemies pose a significant threat, demanding careful play and strategic decision-making from the start. This can create a challenging but rewarding experience for new players.

Items upgradeable to +24: Items can be upgraded up to +24, giving players a clear goal to work towards. This also allows players to further customize their builds.

Revised skills/progression system: The game features a revised skills and progression system. This suggests significant changes to character development, skill acquisition, and overall player advancement.

Level 40 PvP weapon: 20 Osiris: A level 40 PvP weapon costs 20 Osiris. This provides insight into the game's economy and the cost associated with acquiring competitive gear.

Poor optimization causes performance issues: The game suffers from performance issues, including low and unstable FPS, high ping, and lag. Some reviewers have noted frame rates capped at 60 FPS or running as low as 20-30 FPS even on high-end hardware. Frequent crashes were also reported.

Runs well on Steam Deck: The game runs smoothly on Steam Deck. This indicates that the game is well-optimized for this particular handheld device.

Play on private servers: Many reviewers suggest avoiding the official servers and instead playing on private servers, with some even recommending specific ones. This is due to concerns about the game's current state and potential issues with the official version. Some reviewers suggest changing the server.

Game is a disappointment: Multiple reviewers express disappointment with the current state of the game, viewing it as a decline from the original or a cynical attempt to capitalize on nostalgia. They feel the game lacks depth, has not improved, and predict its imminent demise. Some reviewers call it a "cash grab."

Desire for a reboot: Some reviewers express a desire for a reboot or a return to a previous version of the game, indicating dissatisfaction with the current iteration. Some reviewers suggest giving the game a chance, while others would prefer a subscription-based model.

Play until it's unfun: This point suggests a pragmatic approach to playing the game: enjoy it while it's fun, but stop when it ceases to be enjoyable. This indicates a potentially inconsistent or rapidly changing gameplay experience.

Vague sentiments expressed: These points are too vague to be useful. One expresses mixed feelings without specifics, and the other offers generic encouragement to the development team.

Mirrors existing Gameforge version: The Steam release mirrors the existing version on Gameforge servers. This means players familiar with the original game will find a largely unchanged experience on Steam, for better or worse.

Key features still undeveloped: Key features like territory wars, Marduks, and a fully developed economy are still in development. This indicates the game is incomplete and may lack depth in these areas.

Considered a WoW clone: The game is considered a clone of World of Warcraft. This suggests a familiar gameplay loop and potentially similar classes, races, or quest structures.

Incomplete story content: Only two of the four story arcs are currently available. This suggests the game's narrative is incomplete and players may experience a truncated story.