Oh boy, where do I start?

This game has potential, but the devs behind it don't seem talented enough to make it work. The game is billed as a hardcore PvP MMO. Setting the incredibly niche and difficult to do well market aside, you would think they would release the game in a state where their systems are well thought out. Before we get into that, I'll touch on some other things first.

Character customization is a joke in this game. Don't fool yourself into thinking you'll be able to create a character that is anywhere near unique. This is a serious drawback for anyone interested in roleplay as well. For example, there are no body sliders at all and the options that we do have are extremely limited. 3 hairstyles not including the option to be bald? Cmon, you can do better than that! Within a minute of running around an active Haven starter zone you'll have seen multiple characters who look exactly like yours.

Combat is also lackluster in this game. While it has a more realistic feel to it, it's slow and heavily dependent on your latency, which is a problem because the servers are located in EU only currently. Even when you train up your skills, of which there are many and the process is slow; it's very unrewarding. Movement gives you a good idea of how bad it is. Even when making one of the fastest characters (Alvarin: Veela) and maxing out your DEX and all of your movement skills, you still feel like you're lightly jogging when you hold the 'Sprint' key down. Archery is a bit better in terms of a fun factor (at least for my play style), but it suffers from some problems as well. Anyone decent with a bow with maxed out skills will be able to safely kill just about anyone, which makes it a favorite among a lot of players. The only thing I can't comment on is magic, as I never had the inclination to try it, but I've heard mixed things about it as well.

The starter area Haven is a nice introduction to the game, keeping newer players safe from gankers and griefers since PvP is turned off in it. However, it's a double-edged sword. In introducing you to the various systems in the game, you'll come across people who willfully steal loot that drops from something you kill. In the open world it's not so much of an issue, as you can kill them (if you're good enough) and get your stuff back; and then some. However, in Haven you can't do so. You're also at the mercy of your latency depending on your location. A player from EU can loot something faster than someone located in the US, as an example. There are also various UI bugs, one of which will close the bag on you after opening it.

On the topic of the UI, it's very, very basic. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. But when something so simple has glaring bugs, then it becomes an issue. Then you have performance issues. For a launch, you expect them, of course. And usually I can let that slide. But the game has been up for awhile in beta and it launched with performance issues galore. People were crashing and players were recommending you stay in the Haven starter zone because leaving and going to the main world would kick you out of the game and into a queue that gives you no information whatsoever.

Now on to the PvP aspect of the game. I enjoy PvP games, I play a lot of them. What I don't enjoy are full loot PvP games without proper systems in place to make it difficult for players to abuse. This is one of those games where high level players can and will pick on new players. It was a huge problem in Mortal Online 1, their first game, that kept the game stagnant with a small following. I think it dropped below a hundred players in the last couple years even. The devs did not care about their game, or the players in MO1 and I don't expect it to be any different here. I get their vision and I even admire it, but they're very stubborn and seem unwilling to make the game a real success. They seem to think releasing basically the same game with fancier graphics (which on the surface look much better, but even then still manage to look dated in some regards) will be more successful.

I don't want an easy game, by any means. You can see I've put some time into this game, I played a good chunk in beta with a good group of friends. But I'm seeing a lot of the same stuff from the first game which will only drive away the players they're seeing now. When you go out into the open world and leave a city and get killed, repeatedly, it can leave a sour taste in your mouth. Which is exactly what is happening to a lot of the newer players now. These full loot PvP games just bring out the worst in a certain group of people who don't really care about anyone but themselves. More power to them, but if they keep it up (which we know they will) they'll just help kill this game as well.

I hope the devs can improve upon the first game and I'll be able to change this review, but Star Vault just does not have a great track record as of yet. Maybe their recent funding and shift to UE5 will improve things, I don't know, I just hope they listen to their players and try their damndest to introduce fair systems with harsh penalties to help players police themselves and make this game a bit more enjoyable for all involved. Because the handful of hardcore players from the first game who drove everyone away shouldn't be allowed to do the same here, imo.

Good luck to those who do enjoy it. But I see this dropping players just as fast, if not faster, than New World.