Wizard 101 Review

Rating: 7

Intro: Unlike most MMORPG games, Wizard 101 follow a very linear set storyline. Similarities can be drawn with the Yu-Gi-Oh! cartoon in regards to battling and also with Harry Potter due to the wizardry theme. Aimed at young children, the game offers a level of playability that they will enjoy.

Publisher: KingsIsle Entertainment

Player base: High

Graphics: Low

Type: MMORPG

Exp Rate: Low

PvP: Arena

File size: 11MB

Pros: Card battle system, Simple interface, Player safety protocols.

Cons: Badly rendered graphics, Minimal character customisation, Slow text speed and combat.

Storyline:

You start as a young wizard enrolled in the Ravenwood School of Magic. As the game progresses and you complete quests you find yourself facing evil forces. Eventually you are given tasks of great importance in order to save the world of Spiral.

Features:

Combat is a battle between your wizard and Malistaire’s or Morganthe’s minions. You have to use spells from your deck to defeat them. Characters in Wizard101 who are defeated in combat are sent back to the common area of the world they were currently fighting to regain their vital characteristics. A wizard may also play mini-games to help restore health and mana quickly. The minigames also give a wizard gold and other valuable items to be used throughout the game.

KingsIsle released a player housing feature named “Castles”, enabling players to edit and customize their own virtual space. Items such as desks, lamps, carpets, plaques and more can be obtained through enemy drops from battle or purchases at the bazaar. Three tiers of housing are available: dorm, modest castles and luxury castles. Each wizard can equip up to three residences (four with a Special Elixir found only on Epic and Mega Gift Cards) at one time; however, houses cannot be traded between characters on the same account. A player starts with a small dorm room, a student’s basic room, which can be found in Ravenwood, Boy on one side girls on the other. Once a player increasing their level to 15, he or she can buy a modest castle or a land. To obtain these houses, a player must go to the house shopkeeper or the crown shop. There have been a few additions like school-themed houses, with one for each school, though players can buy any of these houses. Others, like an underwater ship and a Wizard’s Watchtower are not attributed to one school. School houses cost 10,000 Crowns, (which equates to US$20). Most houses found in the Crown Shop can also be paid using in-game gold. Players can also Craft a house if they so choose. There are currently two, found in Grizzleheim and Celestia. Houses can be found in areas such as the crown shop and housing shops throughout the spiral. Some cost coins, some cost crowns.

Pets are obtained throughout play. A wizard can receive a pet egg from shops, boss drops, playing mini-games, purchasing a gift card or even the Crown Shop. All pets have a variety of hatch times; which range from 5 minutes to 24 Hours. A wizard can see the remaining hatch time by checking on his/her pet egg in their backpack. Once the pet is hatched they may equip it. The 6 Pet levels are as follows: baby, teen, adult, ancient, and epic. After a pet has increased to the next stage of progression, they will become more helpful to the wizard in battle. They can increase the wizards defenses, giving additional cards and also assist with healing. Wizards can have their pets participate in Ranked Pet Derby matches (Pet PvP) and compete with other wizards’ pets for Arena Tickets or gold. As a pet’s PvP rank increases, the wizard has more options for PvP level specific items.

Due to its young core audience, Wizard101 restricts player interaction when compared to other games in the massively multiplayer online genre. There are two different types of chat: Menu Chat and Text Chat. In Menu chat, what a player types can be seen by every other wizard in the area either from a word bubble on top of the speakers head or in the chat box. Text Chat is when a wizard wishes to speak in private to another wizard.

Aside from the different levels of chat filters available depending on player age, duels between players are available only in a special player versus player arena designated for the purpose. The PvP arena can be found upon entry to Unicorn Way from the Commons in Wizard City.

Rewards for combat or completing a quest are distributed equally among the party, so players need not fight for spoils.Players may trade a special type of spell card called a treasure card, which offers boosted stats to a regular spell card, but so far they are currently unable to trade items between one another (it is possible, however, to trade items to one’s other wizards on the same account, through the use of a shared bank).
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