Throne and Liberty is today sold as the free MMORPG that can (and will) reshuffle the cards. Advantageous economic model, ambitious open-world, what is the latest Amazon Games production worth?
After an extremely promising New World, Amazon Games studios had to confirm. A very young subsidiary of the e-commerce giant, this branch dedicated to the development of video games is starting to make a name for itself, with some renowned productions, mainly MMOs. There was therefore New World, in 2020, which was a great success, and Lost Ark (2022), of which Amazon was only the publisher. Throne and Liberty is therefore the studio’s latest entry, a completely free MMORPG.
MMORPG and free are two elements that can scare gamers today. Indeed, the usual free-to-play MMORPGs pushed the player to buy elements to increase their progress, with a strong emphasis placed on the pay to win. With Throne and Liberty, developers seem to not want this economic model. The store they offer in-game nevertheless circulates real money, but these purchases are only used to buy in-game cosmetics. There is therefore no question of favoring those who have the biggest purses, it is progression in the game that is rewarded.
Developed by South Korean NCsoft, Throne and Liberty was initially released in December 2023 in the Asian country. Very quickly, it established itself as the MMO of the moment, with a skillfully written scenario that pushes the player to learn more about the history, the universe and the experiences of the NPCs. It is in the shoes of a hero, whom you will have personalized at length from the character creation tool, that you will set off on an adventure. The objective is simple: find the fragments of Sylaveth’s star while confronting Kazar, the incarnation of absolute Evil who has come to plunge the world into chaos.
Throughout this adventure, the title, embellished with watercolor cutscenes, allows us to meet endearing, moving, surprising NPCs. It gives a lot of flavor to an interesting scenario but ultimately quite dull, and allows us to immerse ourselves in a huge open world which is full of surprises and beauties, although ultimately very conventional. The graphics are quite beautiful, even very realistic, adding a lot to the immersion. The only downside which, however, harms the latter: our main character who is… mute! We thought this era was over, but in the end it wasn’t.
Concerning the gameplay, like any good self-respecting RPG, Throne and Liberty begins with a character creation tool which, it must be admitted, is more than complete. But, and this is where the particularity of the title lies, we do not let you choose a character class, at any time in the game. Here, NCsoft has instead chosen a class of hero defined by the two weapons that he will carry during the game. Each has active and passive powers, which allows the player to no longer be confined to a rather restrictive class. On the proposal of 7 weapons which is made to the player, the combinations are multiple and offer a lot of freedom, with a main weapon and a secondary weapon. Staff and crossbow, wand and dagger… The possibilities seem almost endless, and the player can, on the battlefield, switch between their two weapons whenever they wish. It is also possible to change your weapon combination as you wish, but this will be at the expense of weapon progression. Indeed, they gain in level and abilities, and changing combinations all the time will drastically reduce the speed of progression of the weapons.
Concerning the adventure, the hero will join a guild with which he will participate… in sieges. These can bring together up to 1,000 players, who will compete to overthrow a fortress and seize the throne. Players from the same guild will have to coordinate to most effectively attack a fortress, helped by gigantic creatures which will sometimes serve as battering rams, sometimes as catapults, sometimes as siege towers. A hyper immersive and successful feature, but which is double-edged. Because although these seats are ultra rich and complete, they require perfect coordination. So the one who is fully committed to his guild and who puts in the effort every day will find what he deserves. On the other hand, the occasional player who opens the title two or three times a week risks being completely lost. And it is clear that when you find yourself alone on the battlefield with this plethora of players, you can quickly become lost.
After reading these few lines, you can very logically think that Throne and Liberty is undoubtedly the best MMORPG of recent years. Unfortunately, it still lacks a few assets to give it this precious title. Because even though it has a solid graphics engine offering very beautiful, fairly realistic panoramas and the soundtrack is of fairly good quality, the game suffers from an innumerable number of bugs. In the gameplay on the one hand, but also in the stability of the servers too, which are totally random. If it only needs to be improved over time, the launch of the title was rather chaotic. This is where we say to ourselves that the title could have been further refined, especially when we see the quality of certain French-speaking translations which are not always very faithful.
Conclusion
With Throne and Liberty, Amazon and NCsoft prove that it is indeed possible to offer a 100% free, quality MMORPG that does not constantly encourage the player to spend their money. The title’s economic model rewards the most loyal players in a rich, ultra-exhilarating and fairly visually realistic universe. But unlike other RPGs which are limited to a single class system, TaL favors complete customization of the character and the spells which depend on the two weapons chosen. It may not be ultra innovative, but it nevertheless has the merit of being refreshing. Open world, guild system to integrate and…fortresses to besiege to seize the throne. These seats are very immersive and complete, a bit like Total War, but they require total coordination with your guild, which risks leaving more casual players behind. Finally, the major flaw of this Throne and Liberty is undoubtedly its cascading bugs, which give the impression of playing against a game that is not finished. A few additional months of development would have been welcome to make it the flagship MMORPG of recent years. For this end of the year and the months to come, however, it is certain that he will still be talked about…
_
Follow Geeko on Facebook, Youtube and Instagram so you don’t miss any news, tests and good deals.
Receive our latest news directly on your WhatsApp by subscribing to our channel.
Throne and Liberty
We like:
Really very nice visuals
A true free-to-play which does not necessarily encourage purchase
A quality soundtrack
The class system, modern and refreshing
Quality storytelling
We like less:
Here are some bugs you want
Translation, not always faithful
The seats will only be beneficial to hardcore gamers
A completely silent main character
