Secret World Legends

The Secret World (the original, not Legends) is the best MMO and best game I've ever played.
The original trailer that made me buy the game :
I have played TSW from September 2014 to April 2017 (right before TSWL launch) and spent over 6 000 hours on the game. 9 months to get through the main story until Tokyo (what a journey !)
I have been part of the best PVE and PVP teams, was considered one the best players of the game and have explored pretty much everything the game had to offer. I also went very deep into the game knowledge in every sense of the word.
The Game
A secret war between Templars, Illuminati and Dragons, with a greater threat above them all, set in our modern world.
All myths and legends are true, lovecraftian monsters are everywhere.
Mystery and danger is at every corner.
You could travel to London, New York, Seoul, Tokyo, Egypt, Transylvania, etc...
Some locations were incredible, like Kingsmouth, Savage Coast, Valley Of The Sun Gods, City Of the Sun God, Carpathian Fangs, Tokyo...
I did all the story with a friend (Baobei), and we met the friendliest people ever all along the way who invited us in their cabal (In Vino Veritas), and the family kept growing... Overall the best community ever. I have met so incredible people in this game.
The game was unique, very ambitious, the most clever and most captivating MMO universe/story/lore ever. I have never been so immersed in a game.
Amazing art and game design, amazing musics...
Clever missions that needed you to think, travel, investigate and even use a web browser in the game to search the darkest places on the internet to solve mysteries.
An incredibly clever combat and skill system, hard dungeons in which you needed all the team to be in synergy, work together to success.
No levels, no class, and you could perform any role and rearrange skills the way you wanted. No other MMO managed to do this before and after TSW.
A single server.
Also something very rare in games, the modern / realistic setting and the character personalization / modern clothing / general design, enabled a strong character identification by the players to their characters and in game friends. You could feel things (friendship, hate, love, joy, empathy) just by looking at the other players characters.
PVP was also incredible and so addictive, even if it lacked population as time was going. (Stonehenge 5v5v5, Eldorado 10v10v10, Fusang Project no limit, Shambala random 10v10)
.
This golden gem died before its time. A niche game, bad timing release (right before GW2), the economic model (the game was not making enough money), some performances issues, the departure of Ragnar Tornquist a few years after launch was the beginning of the end. The game managed to live a few years without Ragnar, but it ended dying slowly (Tokyo expansion was really amazing though).
You can still play the original game (even if Funcom tried to hide the original game at TSWL launch) but you will not find many people.
I have not been able to play any other MMO since The Secret World. It was just too amazing.
I can't write a good enough review for this game. A game with a soul.
I will have memories for my entire life. Every now and then I feel huge nostalgia for the good old times.
Maybe one day The Secret World will raise from its ashes.
WE HAVE DUG TOO DEEP
EVERYTHING IS TRUE
SECRET BONUS
Here is the very personal 'film' I made in 2016 of this Secret World amazing journey, in order to keep these memories forever.
I tried to recreate The Secret World ambience and my experience of it, with my partner in crime Baobei and the people we met along the way.
The film is made out of the screenshots we made throughout our journey and music, mainly from TSW / funcom games.
Thus I hope you can glimpse what I felt playing this game.
I initially did not intend to publish it, but hey, time goes and I think people enjoy looking back at The Secret World from time to time.
The video might be blocked in some countries, link to download the video

As the Funcom sale may get more eyes on this:
The Secret World was an incredible MMO that would have changed the industry if it got more traction.
Secret World Legends was an attempt to make the original more accessible, which succeeded in a way that lost more than it gained. It's also essentially on life support, there was an attempt to extend the story past its old 'end', but that storyline cuts off in the middle of quest that was added in 2018.
That said, it is still worth picking up for one of two reasons:
A great solo experience
Unique world and story
The world and storyline of SWL is fantastic. The simplified skill trees from the original can get repetitive, but it's entirely worth that to experience the world they've built, with interesting and varied stories in it.
Lore for days
Lore pieces can be found openly (or sneakily) around maps, as rewards for killing enemies, and some requiring specific actions to find. They're interesting and well-written, but also fantastic for completionist addiction. As a long-time player, the process of completing my lore collection was one of the most rewarding things I've done in an MMO.
Optional brain challenges
The game has optional investigation missions that require you to solve actually interesting/challenging puzzles. These were designed to use an in-game browser that no longer works, but alt-tabbing to a normal browser works just fine for almost all of them.
Great for 5 friends
The few players still online have mostly been playing forever, so are in the late-game, which means it's hard to experience what the (again, genuinely interesting) dungeons along the way were meant to be like without being hard-carried by someone overgeared.
If you can miraculously find 4 other players you know to progress with together, learning each of the dungeon's mechanics yourself (and secrets, for you collectionists) is a great experience. And if you get stuck, there's plenty of guides out there to point you back on track.
It does tend to lean towards Tank/Healer/3DPS, but that's more relevant at higher difficulties, do what makes you happy, because any character can learn any skill over time, so you can always pivot to something new if the old thing isn't working for you.
The only important thing is don't spend your money
Honestly, do what makes you happy, I can't resist a good cosmetic, and if you're really enjoying yourself it might be worth the premium membership if you want it that bad.
But always remember the game is functionally abandoned by Funcom. If they started releasing more content, I'd say buy whatever you can afford to reward that, but at this stage it looks like it will never happen.

For the story alone this game is worth the price of admission. The price being absolutely free is amazing for the story you get. I have just finished the main quest line of the entire game and am sitting at 188 hours played. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game and enjoyed the story from start to climatic ending.
A few things you should know before playing however. This is not an MMO. It is a shared world RPG akin to Guild Wars 1. You will see people in the main hubs, but out in the world you are often alone in an instanced area of your story. People may pop up here and there but for the most part, you will be alone. Which for me, enhances the horror experience.
This game does not fully download the first time you get it. Instead it tries very badly to stream the area of the game you are in to you. This is awful, will cause lag and make you question whether or not your machine can handle a now 12 year old game. This is easily fixed by first -
- Select options from the launcher
- Click Full Client
- Set background download speed to Unlimited
- In game hit Escape.
- Select Misc
- Make sure Background Download Throttling is set to Unlimited
These steps are essential to actually being able to play the game and enjoy it.
As for what the game is. It is a unique, shared world RPG with MMO elements. The stories and missions are lovingly crafted and well told. If you want an online RPG experience in a modern cosmic horror setting, there really is nothing that comes close to competing with what Secret World Legends has to offer.
The graphics are dated, but the world building and world detail are phenomenal from such an aging game engine. The lighting is pretty damn amazing and very atmospheric. If you want realistic graphics there are other titles out there offering that. This offers an art style unique to the Dream World engine.
The downsides
- Client does not perform a full download unless you manually tell it to
- Combat takes a while to get use to and find some flow, but once it falls into place it makes sense
- The MMO elements in the shared world RPG can be frustrating but hardly game breaking
- There is a cash shop being F2P but it is unobtrusive and I did not open it and pay attention to it until I was in the penultimate zone of the game
- The story ends abruptly and likely will not see a conclusion.
Overall, enjoy it for what it is. A 12 year old project of love from a team who had a story to tell and tried their best to make it appealing to a wider audience. The story is a tale of cosmic horror, local folklore and fantastic beasts with unnerving elements and goofy moments to make for an experience like no other. It is a shame more people did not get to experience this, but if this review can pique just one persons interest and make them curious about what is inside the box, I would be a very happy bee.
Edit - To add one more thing that is not really made clear in game. All dungeons are solo-able from the appropriate level through the activity finder. To do this open the activity finder with Shift + V, click the private team box, select dungeons, then story mode and from there you can chose the dungeon you want to run. After clicking sign up you will be placed into the dungeon scaled for solo play. I found this out at level 48. I wish I had known sooner!

I miss the old Secret World. Combat was better. User Experience was better. Now its story and world exploration is the only reason you should play this game, and they are GOOD. There is a living world out there, no matter how dead it looks from the player count. You can visit Kingsmouth and feel like you have spent a summer there before.

I've played this game on and off since the original "The Secret World" came out. I loved the original, but it had significant performance issues on my hardware at the time that prevented me from playing regularly.
A couple of years later I picked up Secret World Legends, as I missed the immersion and amazing storytelling of the original (and had better hardware). I was pleased to find that they had kept the role-playing and world building intact. However, Legends combat and character building system was a significant downgrade from the original's skill trees, and resulted in a less satisfying combat experience than I'd remembered.
However, even though I preferred The Secret World, I have to say that this game is worth the time to download and try it out. The story alone makes it worthwhile. It's not really an MMO at this point, more a single player experience due to the low population count, but most missions can be accomplished solo. The graphics and performance are somewhat middling for a game in 2024, but the designs, writing, and acting are so good that the glitches don't really break your immersion.
It's also unique gaming experience - there's still really nothing out there like it. The world is incredibly vibrant and horrifying, the characters have extensive backstories, and you're constantly discovering new twists. Plot lines can stretch over hours. It's like the best parts of the x-files, lovecraftian horror, and dc comics happening all at once. It will suck you in, and it's one of those games you'll keep coming back to - despite it's issues. It's very easy to put in dozens of hours and never feel like you're grinding.
All in all, by today's standards, this is a 7/10 game - but it's one I recommend that everyone try at least once. In its own way, it's a forgotten masterpiece that displays a depth and ambition far beyond what passes for gaming worlds these days.

Secret World is among the top 5 MMORPGs I have ever played but it is mostly carried by it's amazing main story line and lore rather than other aspects. Other aspects of the game such as combat, skills, itemization are mediocre. Voice acting and visuals are great and fitting to the theme. Even though the game is currently on "maintenance mode" I would suggest any RPG fan to at least spend 2-3 weeks of their time playing through the story line.

I have very fond memories of playing Secret World when it first came out. I had never played anything like it before. The game stands out with its unique blend of storytelling, puzzles, and immersive gameplay.

One of the most captivating aspects of Secret World is the plethora of puzzles that require you to figure out mysteries or learn something new. The game challenges you to think outside the box and often requires you to go beyond the game itself. I particularly enjoyed the meta nature of it, where you would have to visit websites of fictional companies to solve puzzles. This added a layer of realism and depth that I hadn’t experienced in other games.

A word of advice: try not to ruin the experience for yourself by looking up the answers online at walkthrough sites, at least not until you are truly stuck. The game can be challenging in many ways, like teaching yourself Morse code to solve one of the puzzles. In the end, the effort is worth it, and the sense of accomplishment you get from solving these puzzles on your own is incredibly rewarding.

The atmosphere in Secret World is another highlight. The game does an excellent job of creating a dark, mysterious world filled with rich lore and intriguing characters. The attention to detail in the environments and the narrative is impressive, making every location feel alive and significant.

The combat system, while not the main focus, is engaging and offers a variety of skills and abilities to experiment with. The flexibility in character progression allows you to tailor your playstyle to your preferences, which adds to the overall enjoyment.

In conclusion, Secret World is a game that offers a unique and immersive experience. Its combination of challenging puzzles, engaging story, and atmospheric world makes it a standout title that I highly recommend to anyone looking for something different in the MMO genre.