Secret World Legends

After growing disillusioned with the development of VtMb2 and the current state of WoW, I searched and found this little gem. Is it perfect? No. It is glitches, it has flaws but....the essence of this game is wonderful. The premise is that you are thrust into conspiracy laden underworld where supernatural creatures are alive and well, often needing intervention from you the player. Vampires, werewolves, mummies, Lovecraftian entites...you'll come across all those and more along your travels.
This game feels like a vampire-hunter themed extension of Vampire the masquerade Bloodlines, minus the poor firearms combat. Combat in this game is crisp and enjoyable; after spending 120 hrs in the game i'm still enjoying the blood magic abilities, watching NPC health bars tick away. If you are a fan of 80's/90's horror movies, you will find TONS of references in here, including the Reanimator himself! the constant horror easter eggs were my favorite part of the game.
That being said, there are issues with the game. There are still glitches that cause characters to be stuck while moving along a seemingly safe pathway; enemies became untargetable several times (LoS for the win); The missions, while a pleasant upgrade of difficulty/rewards, were sometimes head scratching in their execution.
There was real effort put into this game with languages and locations recreated with care. The game is now free to play with some microtransactions fueling the service. That being said, I do feel the game is worth a try. The community i have encountered has been rather pleasant and very very helpful as well.

The original game was epic. I loved this game, but I came in late, right before the swap-over to "Legends".
Before, it was a buy to play, with boosted elements w/ monthly sub. They had a "permanent subscription" plan, which I purchased just weeks before they discontinued it (because they swapped to Legends and the f2p garbage that now exists).
I didn't know they were working on "Legends" and that they were going to kill the original. Only a fraction of my stuff transferred over (thanks for wiping my cash investment) to the new game and that's the minimal issue.
The original had a skill wheel, you could think of it as a talent tree, where you could pick so many skills from the wheel at any one time. By mixing and matching skills you became a different class. This made it somewhat of a steep learning curve, but it was a FUN learning curve, and made each character unique. This was my favorite feature of the game (beside story, which I'll get to).
After the swap to "Legends" they cut it to a skill path, where you could only pick individual weapons and then had to pay to swap to other weapons or reset talents, etc. I'm writing from memory, as I haven't played in quite a while. Regardless, the combat system and UI interface and control setup all changed for the new version, and it wasn't a good change. They tried to make it like a fps game, but w/ mmo style buttons. It wasn't a good change. It's not complete trash, it just isn't as good as it was. Update: So, I've played again since writing this review, spending some time on both The Secret World and Secret World Legends. I've noticed some of the major changes to skills and classes (such as blood magic not being able to spend health to cast when out of resources).
The Skills: The wheel of the old let you pick and purchase skills on the wheel as you choose and as you spent enough points you could move up to "level 2" of the wheel and pick from those skills. The path, however, requires more of a buy this skill then this then this and so on. You still get somewhat of a skill choice, and you can still ultimately use skills and passives (I'm mixing up the technical terms here) as you wish, once you've unlocked them.
The Combat: The original is more of an MMO style combat with the ability to swap to fps style of combat with auto targeting. Legends swapped it so that the fps format is the primary by default and mmo style combat doesn't really work the same as it used to. But I'm not actually against this as much as I was with the initial change (I don't like change q.q). This does work, and it's somewhat clunky, but it's a little better for control. They changed the resources for combat (mana, vs energy, etc.) and added stuff like shotgun shells that reload and heat resources for elemental, and corruption for blood magic and so on. The resources change is actually pretty slick, because it requires more finesse when fighting.
The Graphics: We were told Legends would have updated graphics. It does. But it doesn't. The models are still the same models, just smoothly rendered. I think this was my biggest grief with Legends, (well beside them not passing over all my costumes I paid for), because the character models are still just as glitchy. If making a new game, why not fix the glitches??! *cough* Ark *cough*. Buuuut they are a touch better-looking at least. I guess.
The Pay-to-Win garbage: I lied, this is the absolute worst aspect of this game. Want more Ability Points? spend money! Want more Skill Points? Spend money! Want to run faster? Spend money! and on and on and on. Loot chests in dungeons? Require fkn keys! If you pay to sub, you get 1 key per day (not unlimited, cheapskates). You can buy 25 keys for like 15 bux. wtf. Everything is overpriced. EVERYTHING. This, I think, is what absolutely killed this game. Killed dead. I hate it. Whatever jerk wad thought this was a good idea should've been fired, or downgraded to janitor, or something horrible, because their greed killed this game.
The story is what brings me back every now and then. It's like X-Files meets Zombies meets Aliens meets Stargate. It's dark, it's horror, it's gruesome, it's amazing.
You can still download the original and play as well at least, which I do sometimes (usually), since I have all my stuff over there (I think).
The story line for the original is amazing. I loved it. Starts with some zombie infestations and moves into supernatural stuff, and it's just a ton of fun, even if it looks goofy af. The quests were story driven, with some mystery/investigation type quests that have no guidance, just a little bit of info and a need for lore understanding to sniff it out (google also exists if you need help, naturally). But if you wanted to do the research yourself, you could do it, and it was brilliant.
There's some creepy story in there, stuff that gives the creepypasta feels with hints of backroom (before backrooms) and bizarreness.
The story has changed in places, cutting some and adding others, so there's some plot holes now as a result.
I will still recommend the game, because I think it's worth a play through, and the last time I played, there were still a number of people actually playing (I don't think the original still shows up in steam stats).
What I would love to see, now that they've got an income again from the Dune series, is a remake of THE ORIGINAL (maybe even Legends), with new graphics interface and better character models, etc. I think it would fly if they actually put some love into it. There's good money hidden here, they're just letting it rot, and that's gd heartbreaking.
Hell, I'd love to see them just resume work on the game, kill the p2w elements and bring the stupid price jacking down to nickle and diming (especially in this economy jfc). Even a small team doing little fixes and updating, I think they could breathe life back into it and bring back the fun of The Secret World.

I dont understand why funcom dont want to reinvest this game
- setting and lore is top notch
- the story is nothing ground breaking but for f2p game? Its amazing
The highlight of this game for me
- the puzzle quest, dear god the puzzle quest is probably the most amazing thing i play ever, you dont just click or kill stuff, you actually have to use your brain to solve it, and the best part? Many of the puzzle require real life knowledge to solve it, morse code, searching on google, etc. Its amazing, if you play this for the first time, the puzzle quest will blown you away
- the atmosphere in this game is amazing, there was some quest in this game that made me legit scared, not scary as in monster jumpscare but scary as in you want to keep moving but slowly because you not sure what will happen next, best example? The parking garage quest in tokyo, omg that was spooky as hell
I just dont get it why funcom abandon this, this is literally a gold mine, i really hope one day this game will get update again, or maybe a remake

An ambitious game with some of the best world-building, writing, and storytelling of its time.
Having pre-ordered the game and played it at release, I've really enjoyed diving back into the game after all of this time.
Few games have captured my imagination so effectively as the Secret World. As much as I'd like to hope that its story might continue some day, I'm still very enthralled by what context *does* exist.
Keep your expectations grounded, play the game for its story, and enjoy the vibes.
There's nothing quite like The Secret World.

pretty fun so far, seems to be a small friendly community still playing. Ran into a few other players while leveling (level 12 right now). Definitely worth a try if you're bored of all the other generic fantasy mmo settings.
Edit: level 32 now, holy cow this is a unique MMO. The quest design is refreshing, with multiple different types of quests. The investigation quests are something i've never seen before. I had to read sheet music, google things and really rack my brain to solve one. Crazy. Give this game a try.

I have been with Secret World before it became Secret World: Legends, as a lifetime subscriber - now referred to as a lifetime patron. Thus, my actual hours are not reflected here, on Steam.
When you were subscriber, during those days, you would be given a number of in-game currency, similar to the usual microtransactions many of today's games are plagued with. This model doesn't provide longevity as it once used to, when the "hype" began by companies. I believe that path is doing more damage than good.
On the game itself. Its graphics are a bit outdated and it desperately needs a cloth system. However, the atmosphere and the story are simply incredible.
Are there glitches? Yes, there are. If you repositioned the UI windows at a higher resolution, expect them to stay vanished when you switch to a lower one. In quests, if you act too fast in some areas as the quest updates, it doesn't register as the part completed, so you'll have to repeat it.
Is it different than the original release? In several aspects, it is. The weapon building and upgrades, for example, are quite different. In the past, you had to attain certain materials and form them in the right combination. Now, it's basically "melting" one item into another to level up what you already have equipped.
Even the clothing system has been changed and you receive new items like eyedrops. In the beginning, you could attain in-game money, different than the subsciber ones, and you could go to the stores and buy yourself some new stuff. Not the super fancy ones, but it was a variety. Now, that's all under an "locked" status, which I find rather annoying.
There are a lot of things that I still have to re-discover, as a lot of UI and mechanics have changed, but one thing has remained the same. The incredible atmosphere and the writing. It will keep you hooked and you will actually enjoy it.
Hopefully, Funcom will see the writing on the wall, with the recent release of Expedition 33, and follow a different path, making the game more desirable for the changing audiences and player base. It's okay to have some micro-transactions, but let's not overdo it. Games that do are lately sliding down the hill and into the abyss. And I don't foresee them recovering. Let's not allow this game to follow the same path, as it has a solid foundation.

I remember seeing this game back when i was muuuch much younger, All i knew at the time was it was Modern and there were people with guns fighting and im like 'Helll yeah this looks good' but then i saw it was just more than that, but people with guns and magic hunting down Lovecraftian Supernaturals and Conspiracies and went... 'Hell yeah this looks amazing!!', This is one of those few Urban Fantasy games that you've probably seen but didnt bother trying but im so glad as i got older i finally got to try it out.. well.. that and that its Free to Play now
If you like the stated above of.. Mysteries.. Conspiracies.. and the Supernatural then this is the perfect game to pick up if you can tolerate dated janky tab-targetting gameplay, the gameplay is this game's biggest downfall as it really doesnt hold up nowadays so expect me to bring it up a lot, but everything else is fantastic, the Design and Storytelling is phenomenal though you've probably seen that being said 100 times over but its soo just.. true! it is what it is! Its really good and im glad i took my time to sit down and play through it!
Maybe the part of this game's charm is the 2000's MMO jankness because it does bring that nostalgic vibe, this game's vibe is all about the early 2000's even within its storytelling, but as the story goes, you're basically an Agent of one of the three underworld agencies, a familiar name being the Illuminati, you're sent to deal with one conspiracy event after the next, for example the starting location is about Zombies on a small Island, starting within a quiet small town (Sorta Silent Hill-ish vibes) and you're basically tasked to find out whos behind it but no one outside the island knows about the events, its all about being this Discrete Supernatural Agent or even Detective and reporting all the discoveries to the Director of your Faction, As you resolve the main mysteries you move on to the next Landmark, so far theres Egypt, Transylvania, Tokyo and Africa
Lets talk about your character... You are a random citizen that becomes Agents within a night, A sort of 'Chosen' one archtype that you'll discover as the game goes on, at the start you have those three factions to choose from, but beyond that theres playstyles/classes.. Theres Melee/Guns/Magic, I personally went Hammer and Shotgun as that was the suited playstyle for solo but you can unlock the other weapons down the line with currencies that you can earn through dailies, eventually i unlocked Blood Magic, Swords and Pistols, certain weapons are aligned to certain roles, like Hammer and Shotgun is like Tank/DPS, Blood Magic can be Heal/DPS, Swords and Pistols being straight up DPS, i personally loved using the Shotgun and Pistol playing myself as a Trigger Happy agent
There are side mysteries/quests within the game which are actually worth doing since you really need to wring out every bit of EXP to level up to go to the next Zone/Area but they've also got some really creative narratives here, like some quests actually require you to look up certain topics in the in-game browser or sometimes even on Google in real life!!! like what year was the town founded in being the code to a Safe, it starts of easy enough, but the Mysteries become even more and more puzzling as you progress in the game, admittedly having me use a guide to cheat answers and get more on-the-nose hints
The more i kept playing this game, the less i felt it was more like an MMO, but more of like its own Detective game as the presence of other players was completely absence during my playtime but unironically i think thats what lets the Horror/Isolated mood settle in better instead of seeing 20 other Gun-Blasting and Magic-Casting agents running around killing everything in sight as amazing as that'd sound. Speaking of Players though, there is surprisingly an active RING of players of up to like 50 daily players maybe even more, consider playing this game around a seasonal event like Halloween or Christmas! Which i kinda liked! It made the game feel very communal and the people are very friendly, most of them are more than happy to help you run a quick dungeon for clears, although Dungeons are very optional and not apart of the Main Story!
In my experience, the design of the first level dragged me immediately, this was the Supernatural Urban fantasy that i itched for in years, i explored every pixel of the map from top to bottom taking in the view, Small Town surrounded in Mist with Zombies and other lurking horrors? It was so peak.. I cant say the same for the next Location, Egypt, honestly this is when i had to stop playing for a bit, I liked the Cultist threat, but then it brought like literal demons and going into this demonic version of the pyramids which sounded cool to hear, but it was suuuch a slog to go through, and the puzzles... dont get me started, Egypt and Puzzles always go hand in hand in any level design. Transylvania which was very much like the first location which i loved again, Then theres Tokyo which was a breath of fresh air and i loved every bit of it even more than the first level, It brought an Outbreak vibe, Streets of Tokyo and its Evacuation checkpoints deserted and there were so many wacky characters more than the previous levels. There is Africa, but admittedly i havent played it yet because firstly its giving me egypt vibes and also the game unfortunately becomes grindy after a certain point, not in just character level, but item level which is expensive and sorta hard to obtain... but mostly because the game ends on a cliffhanger i heard and i dont want the story to end so abruptly.. but maybe soon i'll catch up
Pros;
+ Phenomenal Storytelling + Level Designs
+ Puzzles can be very interactive (Use of in-game browser and reading texts)
+ Cool ideas for Classes
+ 2000's Vibes
Cons;
- Game is no longer in active development
- Lack of Players for an MMO (Although not really a problem if you dont plan to socialize)
- Dated Gameplay / Gameplay can get tiresome (You unlock most of your abilities for your weapon very early in the game, but consider unlocking other weapons for more variety)
- Grind for Item Levels
If there were any miracle plans for a sequel for this game consider me the first in line, but i wont be holding to it until confirmed