EverQuest II Review - PC

What do you do when you need to create new terrain that fits into your existing game world, but that existing world has already been expanded quite a bit? Simple, you build up! Send in a couple of magical floating islands, whip up some new quests, and ship it. Kingdom of Sky may seem like it’s just that simple, but there’s a bit more to it than that, making this expansion is a must-buy for serious Everquesters.

Fly Me to the Moon

Kingdom of Sky, the rather appropriately named expansion for Sony’s uber-RPG Everquest II includes a kingdom in the sky, sending higher leveled players up into the clouds, far above the low-level peons and those who haven’t yet bought the expansion. The kingdom consists of numerous small and large floating islands called Overrealm, each interconnected by magical transporters and mystical clouds and such.

The islands are divided into three areas: The Barren Sky, Isle of Ravasect, and Tenebrous Tangle. Each is ruled over by a sizeable and nasty dragon, and each has a very distinctive visual look and different set of baddies you’ll encounter as you make your way through them. The larger islands are full of lush vegetation or other impressive visual details, making for some good exploring. However, you can practically see to one end of the smaller islands from the other, meaning they can get a bit crowded at times.

The new islands to explore and quests to complete are of course the primary focus of this expansion, but they’re not the only addition. The level cap, raised from 50 to 60 in the last expansion Desert of Flames, goes up again by another 10 to 70 here. This will give power-levelers an opportunity to beef up their characters a bit, though serious gamers will find that another 10 levels won’t do much for their bottom lines. However, they will appreciate Kingdom of Sky’s fierce new creatures to battle, who can pose quite a challenge to those who like to play solo.

Additionally, players who have a need to collect shiny things will dig the bevy of new weapons, items, and armors that have been added, some of which will make you a better fighter, others simply look cool in your pad. There’s also the ability to wear hats now, letting you further customize the appearance of your character. Finally, dedicated Arena PvPers will find two new arenas and a few more champions to face up in the clouds.

Woe Betide the Low Levelers

So, those who hit the glass ceiling at 60 will be able to climb a little higher and will be challenged by the opponents they find in the floating clouds. Meanwhile, those who have yet to crack level 50 will have to keep themselves firmly planted on the ground, as they wouldn’t last 30 seconds up there anyway if they wanted to go do a little exploring.

So, no point in upgrading for newbies? That’s not quite true. The new achievement tree (a little like Everquest’s alternative advancement concept) is in some ways more beneficial for the lower levelers than the higher. The tree lets you extend and personalize the abilities of your character to some degree. Once you hit level 20 you start to earn experience points to be doled out on a tree of abilities upon which you spend points.

Higher level players will still earn achievements as they earn experience too, even after they’ve hit the higher cap, but in many ways it’s better to find and enable these abilities as your character grows, so low-level players will get the most advantage from this addition. However, there’s really not much else for them here.

On the graphics front, there nothing really new or improved about the look of the existing areas. That’s not a problem, however, as Everquest II is already a very good looking game throughout, and, as mentioned above, the new areas live up to that. It’s still very good sounding, too, with musical fugues defining and adding drama to encounters, overall creating a very immersive and engaging gameplay experience.

All But Required

While upgrading is of course optional, serious players will feel more or less compelled to do so. While only high leveled players will really get to explore all that this expansion has to offer, newer ones will want access to the achievements, so they too will want to upgrade, even if it takes them awhile before they get to head to the skies. Once you do make it up there, make sure you watch where you’re going…that first step is a doozy.