It is a defining feature of most, if not all MMOs, that the game is huge. In almost every sense. I remember that my WoW installation got to something silly like 30GB at one point, but it’s no longer on my computer, so I’m not sure what it is now. In terms of world size, lore, quest text, conversation, items – everything about an MMO screams of immensity. It’s only fitting that such a game would require an equally large investment of your time to gain an appreciation. First impressions are one thing, but to judge an MMO solely on that would be a disservice.

I got the chance recently to play RIFT, an MMO that’s been around for a little while, but has been flying under the radar for a bit. Since I was still playing WoW at the time when RIFT launched, I didn’t pay it much attention. It was certainly on my radar, but not something I could envisage playing at the same time as another MMO; I couldn’t afford a second subscription fee, for one thing. However, since moving to a F2P model in 2013, RIFT caught my eye once again.

A fortuitous confluence of events was what eventually brought RIFT to my immediate attention. Since release, there have been two expansion packs for RIFT, the most recent of which came out in October. Developer Trion Worlds has also offered a host of premium benefits to those who become a “patron” via paying a subscription fee. Given access to a fairly extensive bundle of these perks, I chose to delve in head-first to an MMO that had passed me by.

But as I said, MMOs are huge. They shouldn’t be judged on first impressions. How else, then, should you go about reviewing one? I’ve decided that the best way is to limit my scope. I’m going to focus on what’s important about the game; my views on the mechanics and gameplay, comparisons to other MMOs (having played a fair few), particular areas of enjoyment or criticism and suchlike. To put it another way, there’s a lot more to RIFT than what I’ll be discussing in the coming articles, but what I focus on will be the biggest indicators of what I judge to be important in an MMO.

I thought about doing this in two stages, but over the course of simply writing this preamble, it’s become clear that this isn’t going to be enough. This will instead be the first of four pieces on RIFT, where I will do my best to paint a picture of this game. My next article will focus on the starting experience; what it’s like being a fresh player, character creation, tutorials, basic mechanics, etc. After that will be an examination of the core gameplay, levelling experience, abilities and skills, quests and such. The last article will serve to summarise everything, with a look at high-level experience.

Since I don’t believe in providing scores or attaching other numeric ratings to my reviews, this is the only way I feel I can do anything approaching justice to this game. But I understand there are those of you who don’t share this view and will simply want to know what I think of the game without having to read thousands of words. In an attempt to cater to all audiences, I’m going to be a little unorthodox and slap a conclusion (of sorts) in before I even begin to describe my experience with the game.

RIFT is good. It’s a game I’ve enjoyed playing and I would readily recommend it to anyone looking for an MMO to play that doesn’t come with a price tag, but still provides you with that AAA experience. If you’d like to know more about why, check back here soon for a more in-depth analysis. Or even better, why not try the game for yourself? Wait, hang on… yes, best idea yet: do both.

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