Thanks to Sony Online Entertainment temporarily lifting the NDA, we’ll share initial impressions and details on their upcoming game, EverQuest Next Landmark, currently on alpha.
Actually acquiring the alpha is expensive now, but won’t be for very long. If you are interested, you can purchase a Founder’s Pack now, starting at the full retail price of $ 60 going up. The game will be free-to-play upon official release.
Sony makes it clear that this is an alpha, so elements like combat are completely missing. For the moment, you will be able to play with and test out crafting and building.
A fan preview indicated that the game is very impressive in scope. This is the case even though it is lacking in polish at the moment, with multiple bugs, imperfect UI, and many little details. What does work is great.
The act of building is itself also hard, because of the level of detail you will have to commit too. The game’s scale also shows up in terms of acquiring rare materials. Building a small wall can take as much as 18,000+ stone, and creating an Iron Pickaxe takes a full hour of farming trees.
Overall, EverQuest Next Landmark is a game that will make you want to make your own fun. It’s a great game for patient players, who like getting the big payoffs from hours of acquiring resources and construction. If you’d like to give it a try, know that you will need at least an Intel i5 Dual Core/ AMD Phenom X3 and above, among others. Get the full requirements here.