Rift is the fantasy free-to-play, 3D fantasy MMORPG developed by Trion Worlds and released in March 2011. It takes place in Telara, a fantasy world with two competing factions of different races and classes. The game features many players’ housing and dynamic zone-wide events. It also has a low player base, but you can still enjoy the gameplay.

If you have followed the story of this cool game, you know that in 2018, publishers launched Rift Prime, which they closed down in 2019. Then they developed this current version with different subtitles, such as ‘Planes of Telara’ and ‘Heroes of Telara,’ before settling with the singular Rift.

Interesting And Unpredictable Plot

The world of Telara is the focal point of the elemental planes: air, water, fire, life, and Death. The Planes intersect with one another in Telara. Each Plane has its dragon-deity, which are personifications of the planes. But in comes Regulos, the Dragon of Extinction.

He forms an alliance with the other dragons to unite into a partnership called the Blood Storm, intending to invade Telara and harness the intersection. The inhabitants of Telara thwart their attempts with the help of the most powerful of the gods, the Vigil.

After many years, during which the dragons were captured and kept in chains in Telara, Regulos, the Extinction Dragon, is back. He wants to feed on the strength of the other dragons and destroy Telara. The inhabitants of the land have split into two factions: The Guardians and Defiant, with two different ideologies on how to save their world.

Now you have to face a long line of banshees, ghouls, drakes, and ghosts who make up the army of the Plane of Death. These encounters lead you up to a climactic encounter with Regulos.

Interesting Gameplay Through A Rich World

When a rift is opened, the monsters begin to spawn and go to strategic areas of the map, causing havoc. Your job is to destroy them and shut the Rift; otherwise, the monsters will overrun the whole map, inflicting casualties and causing significant problems in the area. As you approach a rift, you can decide to join a public group or create your group. After the Rift has been shut, you get rewarded based on your contribution to the fight, which gives you an incentive to contribute a lot to the battles. There are several types of dungeons in this world that you can raid. They always seem super complicated but are quite straightforward. You can complete a dungeon in about 45 minutes or less and be rewarded with a special item.

The game comes with a lot of content to play through and a rich world to explore, which is great. It also comes with many options: you can select from four generic class callings, each with at least ten souls or skill trees. You select up to three souls so you can combine them as the battle demands.

You also get many options for your character design like hairstyle, hair color, eye color, height, and other extensive customization options. There are no restrictions to how you can build your character, but this can lead you to make a gimped-up character who is useless.

The game makes a statement about teamwork, which is a good lesson. As long as everyone knows their parts and plays it well, the monsters will be destroyed, and the rifts shut in a short time. The game has quite a steep learning curve which may be hard for newcomers to the RPG gaming world. But on the good side, the game has fewer bugs, less lag, and more client stability than many others in the same genre.

Player Versus Player Fun

Rift’s PvP is a ton of fun. You may access four warfronts at different levels, and although they all follow the same game models as other MMOs, such as capture the flag and capture points, the maps are nicely made and offer tactical placement choices for almost all roles. The trees in Black Garden cover Fang carriers’ ground attacks, but the nearby walls make them vulnerable to strikes from above.

Comes With Amazing Collectibles

The collectibles part of Riff is really good. You get to hunt artifacts that look like glowing balls, hidden worldwide. When you complete a collection, you get a token for a vanity reward, but collecting is so exciting. These orbs are usually placed off the beaten track, behind a box, in a tree, or even between rocks.

They have been placed such that you won’t find them unless you are intentionally looking for them. Treasure piles require you to wade through difficult locations to get to them, while others require you to hop from rock to rock. Off-mission explorations like these are what make me enjoy MMO, and it does a great job more than any game in this regard.

Vibrant And Dynamic Graphics

The world is vibrant and attractive, which makes it pleasurable to explore. It is also very stable for a fully featured game. It comes with very dynamic and active landscapes, which bring the world to life, making very immersive gameplay. Despite these positives, the game seems very derivative from other MMORPGs.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Rift is a very feature-rich MMORPG that fans of the genre will definitely enjoy. If this is your first foray into playing RPGs, you may have to start with other basic ones before playing Rift. If you have played World of Warcraft, you will feel at home because of the similar game interface and pace.

The story is told through action and dialogue, which means you can follow it without sacrificing game time. In addition, Rift stays true to its MMO heritage by being free to play.