Is New World Worth Playing Again In 2023? I Have The Answer (After Quitting A Year Ago)

New World’s newest expansion, Rise of the Angry Earth, is now live. This update introduces several new features to the MMORPG, including the addition of mounts, a new weapon called the Flail, the Elysian Wilds zone (replacing First Light), and the Savage Divide Expedition. There’s also a new main story quest line, overhauls to Edengrove and Great Cleave quests, the incorporation of Artifacts, alterations to weapons and perks, the inclusion of the Primal Fury Heartrune, adjustments to trade skills and gear scores, the concept of an Influence Race, and a revamped Season 3 Rewards Track.

Amazon Games also injected dozens of quality of life changes into the MMORPG, so ultimately the game basically feels like New World 2.0.

And then there’s me. Hi, my name is Matt, I’m only Level 50. I played this game the very second it officially launched, two years ago. Despite sinking like a hundred hours into New World, I only got to like Level 40. The reason I stopped was because questing felt like a slog. I got so sick of running back and forth just to turn in quests. Then the game introduced Fresh Start Servers about a year ago, so I jumped back into New World. I wound up getting to Level 40 yet again on a different character, and subsequently quitting yet again. It took like half as many hours the second time around, but the game ended up still being a slog.

When New World announced mounts earlier this year, I was pumped, and yesterday, that excitement finally reached the finish line. But was it worth the wait? Yup. Riding on a horse is fun and practical...like in other MMOs since about 2004 on. The ability to summon your riding companion, which is fast and can dash, whenever you want is a gamechanger. Plus you can auto-run on paths/roads for an additional boost in speed, making traveling much more efficient. With my trusty steed by my side, continuing the main story quest line no longer bored me to tears. It wasn’t necessarily enjoyable, mind you…just tolerable.

Now I know what you’re thinking. Really, Matt? The game introduces mounts and suddenly all of New World’s flaws disappear? No. Of course not. I still think the combat is clunky, for example. It frustrates me that there’s so few skills and that there’s no other types of attacks besides light and heavy. Why can’t we have a jump attack, or even a running one? On that note too, I wish we weren’t restricted with weapons. Why can’t I use the Greatsword with an Ice Gauntlet? I understand the need for a class-based system — hence Attributes and Damage Scaling — but I feel like the game could work just fine letting people pair any two weapons without a loss in power.

There’s dozens of more problems too, don’t get me wrong. Like, nobody wants to sit in a one, two, three-hour long queue just to play something they spent $30 on. New World had the same server issues at launch, and yesterday was like deja vu. Why aren’t there megaservers? Another reason I was hesitant to play the game again was fear of my server dying. Why can’t there be one server each for US West, US East, SA East, EU Central, and AP Southeast? The current cap of somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 players works in the sense of each server feeling populated, but I fear the hype will die down (like it always does) in a month or so. What happens then?

The list of New World imperfections goes on and on, really. I haven’t even reached the endgame yet. I’m just enjoying this big, beautiful world that the game beholds. I heard things get stale once you reach max level (which is now 65). I’m worried, but at the same time stoked to see what awaits me once I get there. All I know is that this game seems like the perfect MMO for casual players like myself. If not before, then definitely now that we’re in New World 2.0. I don’t even feel like I’m way behind. This game doesn’t have that gut-wrenching FOMO that many of the other MMOs do, even the most popular ones. And for that reason, I’m in. I’m in for the long haul, baby. (That being said, I’m still skeptical, so look out for my next column a week from now when I reassess!)